Patent Application
20250151862
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The present invention relates to currency storage containers and in particular to a currency storage container for emergency cash.
It can be important to have money available in an emergency, where an inability to pay for goods or service can expose an individual to significant risks to life health or property. In such situations, alternative payment methods, such as credit cards or electronic devices like phones, may not be accepted and, for this reason, a source of emergency cash may be preferred.
Individuals often address this problem by partitioning a small amount of cash in their wallet, purse, or vehicle, separate from cash used for routine transactions, and yet readily accessible in an emergency. These conditions of being both separated and readily accessible are inherently in tension and may result in an individual using the emergency cash in non-emergency situations, when convenience suggests this use, leaving the emergency cash depleted in a genuine emergency.
What is needed is a method of storing emergency cash that is both readily accessible and yet resists use in non-emergency situations.
The present invention addresses the problems of storing cash so that it is both immediately accessible and yet resistant to casual use, by providing a denomination of cash sealed in a glass tube. The resulting container can be readily carried, for example, in a purse, for ready accessibility, and yet resists casual use both by means of the physical barrier presented by the glass tube and the psychological barrier rising from our natural reluctance to irreversibly break a glass object. In this way, the invention provides a balancing between availability and resistance to nonemergency use of emergency cash.
More specifically, in one embodiment, the invention provides an emergency cash container having a tube with a glass outer wall and closed at opposite ends to define a sealed volume. Paper currency having a value of greater than $20 in 2023 may be positioned within the sealed volume so as to be removable from the sealed volume only by breaking the tube.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a useful amount of emergency cash that resists casual use.
The glass outer wall may be transparent allowing inspection of the paper currency.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow consumer or transferee to confirm the presence of the currency before extraction or use.
The paper currency may be arranged within the glass tube to allow a printed denomination on the paper currency to be viewed through the outer wall.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to permit the value of the currency to be assessed prior to breaking the tube by a consumer or transferee.
The glass tube may be sized to allow at least two digits of denomination to be viewed.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide sufficient exposure of denomination digits necessary to uniquely identify some denominations of bills in a compact container.
In some embodiments, the paper currency may be a US $50 bill.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide value of cash of appropriate value for an emergency and capable of being identified by as few as two digits.
The glass tube may have an internal diameter of greater than 5 mm and less than 10 mm and a length of greater than 76 mm and less than 127 mm.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a container that is both large enough for currency and yet small enough to be conveniently carried without undue risk of breaking.
The glass tube may be a borosilicate glass.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a container that is highly resistant to temperature shock, water, acids, and the like providing a long-term reliable storage of cash.
The opposite ends of the tube may be sealed by glass.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a robust container that may be constructed from a single glass tube to provide an assembly that is resistant to delamination, depolymerization, and the like, that might occur with other fabrication techniques.
The opposite ends of the tubes may present outwardly convex surfaces having a radius of greater than 3 mm.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a container with a smooth outer surface that resists catching or snagging on other materials such as may damage the container or those other materials.
In some embodiments the container may include a pouch sized to receive the tube and include a clip for attachment of the pouch to a personal article.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to improve the accessibility and convenience of holding the personal cash on person.
The pouch further may further include a file adapted to cut a nick in the tube outer wall to break the tube.
It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a method opening the tube with lower risk of shattering or the creation of dangerous fragments.
These particular objects and advantages may apply to only some embodiments falling within the claims and thus do not define the scope of the invention.
Referring now to
Positioned within the volume 22 is folded paper currency 24, in this case, a US $50 bill positioned so that at least two consecutive digits 26 of the currency 24 are visible through the outer wall 16. It will be appreciated that, at least for US currency, two consecutive digits 26 uniquely identify a $50 bill and thus allow a possessor of the cash container 10 to verify the contained denomination.
Referring now also to
For manufacture, a tube 12 of the appropriate length is cut and the end 18a is sealed by heating it with a propane-oxygen torch at a temperature of approximately 2800° C. near the inner blue flame cone with rotation at approximately one revolution per second. This heating allows the glass within a few millimeters of the end 18a to soften and flow together to create a glass plug. The resulting glass plug 20 has an outer convex surface along axis 14 with a radius of curvature approximating or greater than the radius of the tube 12 and greater than 3 mm and free from sharp edges.
The end 18b may be lightly flame polished to remove sharp edges that might catch on the currency 24 when the currency 24 is inserted. After cooling, the folded currency 24 is inserted into the tube 12 and moved as close as practical to the end 18a. The process described with respect to sealing the end 18a is then repeated for end 18b. During this second sealing process, the currency 24 is displaced from the end 18b by a spacer distance 40 at least three quarters of an inch determined to prevent singeing of the currency 24 during this process and consistent with the disclosed dimensions. In addition, the open end of the tube 12 may be tipped away from the axis of the flame during the sealing process so that the flame gases are directed at about a 30° angle to the axis 14 away from a direction entering the tube 12. This process of sealing either or both of ends 18a and 18b is facilitated by viewing the ends 18a and 18b through the outer wall 16 at an angle of about 30°.
Referring now to
Referring now to
As shown in
In an alternative embodiment, the currency 24 may be rolled about itself in a spiral whose cylindrical outer form may then fit within the tube 12. The rolling may be facilitated by a slotted mandrel, formed, for example, by a stiff wire folded back along itself to provide a slot between the folded wires. A short length of one end of the currency 24 may be inserted into the slot and then the mandrel rotated while maintaining slight tension on the currency to tightly wind the currency about the mandrel. The mandrel may then be removed and the currency, as so rolled in a helical spiral, may be inserted into the tube 12. Proper orientation of the currency 24 and rotational direction of the mandrel exposes the digits 26 as discussed above.
Referring now to
It is appreciated that the contained currency 24 may in fact be used without removal from the glass container because of the ready verifiable denomination and in certain circumstances this may be used to provide increased purchasing power because of the value of the currency as contained within a sealed container. Nevertheless it is believed that use of the container in this regard, that is without breaking the container, is sufficiently cumbersome as to prevent nonemergency usage. More generally, the container provides for long-term storage of currency in a variety of applications where environmental contamination might be a concern, for example, in moist or corrosive environments.
Certain terminology is used herein for purposes of reference only, and thus is not intended to be limiting. For example, terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “above”, and “below” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. Terms such as “front”, “back”, “rear”, “bottom” and “side”, describe the orientation of portions of the component within a consistent but arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to the text and the associated drawings describing the component under discussion. Such terminology may include the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import. Similarly, the terms “first”, “second” and other such numerical terms referring to structures do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context.
The term breaking is intended to indicate practical irreversible separation of material including shattering cutting sawing drilling and the like.
When introducing elements or features of the present disclosure and the exemplary embodiments, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of such elements or features. The terms “comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements or features other than those specifically noted. It is further to be understood that the method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
It is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein and the claims should be understood to include modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims. All of the publications described herein, including patents and non-patent publications, are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
To aid the Patent Office and any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants wish to note that they do not intend any of the appended claims or claim elements to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112 (f) unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.
