The application relates generally to a pencil pocket capable of being fitted in a blouse or jacket pocket.

In health service, the employees of a hospital or health clinic are wearing, generally in a breast pocket of their service outfits, a simple and, due to its flaws, impractical pencil pocket, which is made of thin and flexible plastic and in which it is possible to hold, in an easily accessible manner, e.g. pencils, a penlight, a thermometer, and scissors needed in the work.

The pencil pocket has a pouch-like pocket portion to be fitted inside a breast pocket and having placed therein instruments to be held in the pencil pocket, and a front flap attached to its front edge and abutting an outer surface of the breast pocket.

The front flap has a card pocket made up of transparent flexible plastic. It is in the card pocket that employees may place a smart card used for identification. A problem with the card pocket is its susceptibility of ripping at the seams of transparent plastic as the card is inserted or removed, whereby the ripped edges may scratch e.g. a patient's face. Likewise, the ripped edges may inflict cuts in the hands of a caretaker with a possibility of thereby contracting a bacterial infection. In addition, the transparent plastic is stretched by fingers, the loosened plastic enabling the card to fall easily from the pocket or to be easily picked up by an outsider.

The front flap disengages freely from a surface of the breast pocket as the employee leans normally forward, whereby the smart card-carrying, free-moving front flap may hinder the performance of a work assignment. To avoid this, the front flap is provided with holes enabling attachment of the front flap to the breast pocket with a safety pin. A drawback in safety pin attachment is the formation of holes in or even tearing of the breast pocket of a service outfit in case the front flap is moved abruptly without observing the attachment.

In addition, when the employee is leaning forward, there is a chance that instruments held in the pocket portion may fall from the pencil pocket or that the entire pencil pocket, if not secured to a front pocket, may fall on top of a patient or into unhygienic places, e.g. into toilet facilities

Another drawback is that scissors held in a pencil pocket can be too easily removed from the pencil pocket with the risk of a confusedly or threateningly behaving patient being possibly able to grab the scissors from the employee's pencil pocket without obstruction.

One objective of the invention is to eliminate some of the prior art problems and to provide a pencil pocket, which is held with sufficient firmness in a breast pocket and from which instruments are neither capable of falling nor easily accessible to outsiders. The pencil pocket is applicable e.g. for employees in health service, construction sites, forestry operations, agriculture, defence forces, and regulatory authorities.

One objective of the invention is attained with a pencil pocket according to the independent claim.

According to one embodiment, the pencil pocket capable of being fitted in a blouse or jacket pocket comprises a pocket portion and a front flap. The pocket portion is adapted to be fitted in a pocket against its internal surface. The pocket portion consists of a rear edge and a front edge. The pocket portion comprises a pencil space intended for holding pencils. The front flap is constructed at the pocket portion's front edge. The front flap is intended for to be placed on top of a pocket in such a way that an internal surface of the front flap settles against an external surface of the pocket. The front flap comprises a card slot intended for holding an identification card. The pocket portion has its rear edge provided with at least one pencil holder by means of which the pencil or penlight attached thereto retains its fixed position in the pencil space.

Other embodiments are presented in the dependent claims.

Embodiments of the invention will now be presented in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures:

fig. 1a

shows a pencil pocket diagonally from the front

fig. 1b

shows a pencil pocket from the front

fig. 2

shows a pencil pocket with the front flap disengaged from the rear portion

The figures illustrate, in views from various directions, an occupationally safe and hygienic pencil pocket 100 capable of being fitted in a blouse or jacket's breast pocket or optionally side pocket.

The pencil pocket 100 comprises a pouch-like pocket portion 102 made up of a rear edge 104 and a front edge 106 joined thereto at the sides. An upper part of the front edge 106 does not extend all the way to an upper part 105 of the rear edge 104, leaving the upper part 105 of the rear edge 104 vacant.

The pocket portion 102 is intended to be fitted in a breast pocket against its internal surface and it includes a pencil space 108 established between the conjoined rear and front edges and defined thereby, which is suitable for holding i.a. pencils, felt pens, a penlight (pen lamp), a thermometer, and scissors.

In addition, the pencil pocket 100 comprises a front flap 110, which , is provided (attached) to an upper part 107 of the front edge 106 in such a way that it begins to fold downward from the upper part 107 towards a bottom part of the pencil pocket 100.

The front flap 110 is intended to be placed on top of a blouse or jacket's breast pocket in such a way that an internal surface 211 of the front flap 110 settles against an external surface of the breast pocket.

The rear edge 104, the front edge 106, and the front flap 110 may all be fabricated from a single thin and flexible plastic or thermoplastic piece of material, wherein a single fold is made between the rear and front edges 104, 106 for establishing a bottom edge of the pocket portion 102, the front and rear edges 104, 106 are conjoined to establish a pouch-like pencil space 108, and finally a fold is made to establish an upper part 107 for the front edge 106 and the front flap 110.

Alternatively, the rear edge 104 can be a separate piece, and the front edge and flap 106, 110 to be joined thereto can be a separate piece, or the edges 104, 106 and the front flap 110 may all be separate pieces which are conjoined for a single entity.

The fabrication material for the pencil pocket 100 is smooth over its surface and not embrittled by cleaning agents, being easy to sanitize daily and thereby hygienic.

In addition, the pencil pocket 100 can be manufactured in various colors as necessary and, if necessary, can be printed with a desired pattern or logo, e.g. the employer's logo to create uniformity in apparel. Caregivers working with children can be outfitted e.g. with child theme images, which create in a child the impression of a person no need to be afraid of. In addition, the images would draw the child's attention away from a scary healthcare procedure, whereby e.g. vaccine administration or a therapeutic procedure may become easier.

The front flap 110 comprises a card slot 112 intended for keeping an identification card, e.g. a smart card or an identity card, for a wearer of the pencil pocket 100. The card slot 112 comprises an identification card dock 112, the identification card being removably attachable thereto. The dock 112 is mounted on a front surface 113 of the front flap 110 in such a way that an outsider is able to read the identity card information and thereby to identify the employee. Attachment of the dock 112 can be implemented e.g. with a permanent type of attachment or removably with a double-sided Velcro or the like self-adhesive tape attachment. The self-adhesive tape attachment comprises fixing a first piece of self-adhesive tape to the front surface 113 of the front flap 110 and a second piece to a rear portion of the dock 112, such that the dock 112 becomes attached to the front flap 110 as the pieces of self-adhesive tape are fastened to each other.

Alternatively, the card slot 112 can be a card pocket constructed according to the prior art on the front surface 113 of the front flap 110 and made of transparent thin plastic joined at the edges.

The rear edge 104 of the pocket portion 102 has in its upper part 105, on a surface facing the pencil space 108, at least one pencil holder 116 by means of which a pencil or penlight attached thereto retains firmly its position in the pencil space 108. The number of pencil holders 116 can be e.g. 1, 2, 3, or, as depicted in the figures, 4 pieces.

In addition, the rear edge 105 is provided in its upper part 105, on a surface facing the pencil space 108 alongside the at least one pencil holder 116, with a thermometer holder 118 by means of which a thermometer attached thereto retains firmly its position in the pencil space 108.

In addition, the front edge 106 of the pocket portion 102 is provided in its upper part 107, on an internal surface of the pencil space 108 opposite to the at least one pencil holder 116 and the thermometer holder 118, with a scissors holder 120 by means of which a pair of scissors attached thereto retains firmly its position in the pencil space 108.

The holders 116, 118, 120 of a predetermined size can be fabricated from a piece of thin and flexible plastic or thermoplastic material and attached to the pencil pocket 100.

Alternatively, the holders 116, 118, 120 can be (stick-on) holders attachable with self-adhesive tape, whereby the article to be affixed need not be of standard design or size as the self-adhesive fastener can be used for adjusting the size of the holders 116, 118, 120, depending on the size of an article.

Alternatively, it is possible that just the thermometer holder 118 and/or the scissors holder 120 are attachable with self-adhesive tape while the other holders 116 (118, 120) come in predetermined sizes and are fabricated from a piece of plastic or thermoplastic material.

The front flap 110 is provided in a surface mounted or embedded manner with a fastening magnet 122 and, as a counterpart therefor, the pocket portion 102 has its front edge 106 provided with a surface mounted or embedded fastening magnet 223. It is by means of the magnets 122, 223 that the front flap 110 retains firmly its position against the external surface of a pocket as the pencil pocket 100 has its pocket portion 102 placed in a breast pocket with the magnets 122, 223 pressing against each other to leave the front flap 110 of a breast pocket's front part and the front edge 106 of the pocket portion 102 therebetween. The employee is able to bend forward without the front flap 110 dangling in front of the breast pocket and thereby distracting the employee and hindering a given work procedure. At the same time, the pencil pocket 100 fastens more firmly to a breast pocket, not being able to drop as the employee is leaning forward. It is further by means of the magnets 122, 223 that the pencil pocket 100 retains firmly its position regardless of the fabrication material for a blouse or jacket, the shape of a breast pocket, or how the pencil pocket 100 is fitted in a breast pocket.

At the same time, the magnet 223 included in the front edge 106, along with the scissors holder 120, secures a pair of scissors in the pencil space 108, preventing the same from dropping e.g. on top of a patient or from being picked up by an outsider as easily as in prior known solutions.

In addition, the pocket portion 102 has the upper part 107 if its front edge 106 provided in a surface mounted or embedded manner, in the proximity of the scissors holder 120, a second fastening magnet 124 with a purpose of securing, together with the magnet 223, a pair of scissors in the pencil space 108.

It is by virtue of the holders 116, 118, 120 and the magnets 124, 223 that the working instruments used e.g. by a nurse in healthcare service remain properly immovable in places allocated therefor and are quickly accessible in speed-requiring care situations. In addition, the working instruments secured in designated spots in the pencil space 108 save time and trouble of searching the same, thereby allowing more time for implementing the actual care work.

In addition, it is possible that the front flap 110 has formed in its lower part, the front surface 113 below the card slot 112, a separate pocket wherein it is possible to hold e.g. a pulse oximeter used by healthcare personnel for measuring oxygen saturation and heart rate from the tip of a finger.

In addition, it is possible that the rear edge 104 of the pocket portion 102 has formed on its external surface, which faces away from the pencil space 108 and lies against the chest of an employee when the pencil pocket 100 is in attachment with a breast pocket, a separate holding pocket wherein it is possible to hold in a quickly accessible manner e.g. a mobile phone, a pager, or important cards or papers, e.g. identification numbers, key codes, phone numbers or guidelines. In the separate holding pocket, it is also possible to hold scissors, if the workplace guidelines or working environment are in favor of keeping scissors in concealment.