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This application is in the field of social expression products, and more specifically is directed to greeting cards having a novel pop-up lock which maintains the greeting card in an open or unfolded position.
In one embodiment, the greeting card with pop-up lock of the present disclosure and related inventions includes a greeting card comprising a first greeting card panel and a second greeting card panel attached to the first greeting card panel along a fold line, a pop-up element attached to the greeting card, the pop-up element operative to move between a first or closed position wherein it is folded between the first and second greeting card panels and a second or open position wherein it is unfolded atop an inside surface of the first and second greeting card panels, and an arced perforated line or fold line which extends from a lower left section of the first greeting card panel to the lower right section of the second greeting card panel, wherein opening the greeting card and folding the greeting card along the perforated line or fold line maintains the greeting card and pop-up element in an second or open position.
In another embodiment, the greeting card with pop-up lock includes a greeting card comprising a first panel attached to a second panel along a fold line, the greeting card operative to move between a first or closed position wherein the first panel is folded over the fold line to lie atop the second panel, and a second or open position, wherein the first panel is unfolded over the fold line to lie adjacent the second panel, a pop-up element that opens when the greeting card moves from the second position to the first position and closes when the greeting card moves from the first position back to the second position and a lock element comprising a perforated or fold line which begins at a bottom left section of the first greeting card panel and ends at a bottom right section of the second greeting card panel creating an arced segment at the bottom of the greeting card beneath the perforated line or fold line, wherein moving the greeting card from the first or closed position to the second or open position and then folding the perforated line or fold line in a downward direction, maintains the greeting card and pop-up element in open positions.
And in still another embodiment, the greeting card with pop-up lock includes a greeting card having a first panel and a second panel and an arced fold line which bifurcates the greeting card into an upper portion which lies above the arced fold line and a lower portion which lies beneath the arced fold line, and a pop-up structure which is attached to an inside surface of the greeting card, the pop-up structure operative to move between a first or closed position wherein the pop-up structure is collapsed or folded and a second position wherein the pop-up structure is upright or unfolded, wherein folding the greeting card in a downward direction along the arced fold line maintains the pop-up structure in the second position wherein it is upright or unfolded.
Many greeting cards having pop-up devices, specifically 180-degree pop-up devices, do not have a way to display the greeting card and pop-up element in an open or unfolded position as both panels of the greeting card, between which the pop-up element resides, cannot remain flat and in contact with a display surface. Other greeting cards with 180-degree pop-up elements have very intricate folds and flaps which operate in conjunction with the pop-up element to keep the pop-up element open or have means by which the pop-up element is removed from the greeting card in order to be maintained in an open or unfolded position. The greeting card with lock mechanism of the present disclosure and related inventions solves and simplifies this issue by creating a lock mechanism to maintain the greeting card and pop-up element in an open or unfolded position without the use of locking tabs being used in conjunction with the pop-up element.
The greeting card 100 of the present disclosure and related inventions includes a greeting card 10 and a 180-degree pop-up element 12. The greeting card 10 includes at least two greeting card panels, a first panel 10A connected to a second panel 10B along a first fold line F1. Each of the two greeting card panels 10A, 10B has an inside surface 10AI, 10BI and an outside surface 10AO, 10BO opposite the inside surface 10AI, 10BI.
A pop-up element 12 which includes various pop-up sections 12S that interlock to form the 180-degree pop-up element 12. At least one pop-up section 12S is attached to the inside surface of the first greeting card panel 10AI and at least one other pop-up section 12S is attached to the inside surface of the second greeting card panel 10BI.
The greeting card 10 is in a closed position when the first panel 10A rotates along the first fold line F1 towards the second panel 10B to lie atop the second panel 10B wherein the inside surface of the first panel 10AI and the inside surface of the second panel 10BI are in direct contact or in a face-to-face orientation, as shown in
The pop-up element 12, which resides between the two greeting card panels 10A, 10B and which is in contact with the two greeting card panels 10A, 10B, is operative to move between a first position, where the sections or pieces 12S of the pop-up element 12 are folded together or collapsed into a substantially flat position between the two panels 10A, 10B of a closed greeting card 10 (see
Once the greeting card 10 has been opened, the recipient may wish to display the greeting card 10 and pop-up 12 on a display surface by maintaining them in an open position. The two panels 10A, 10B of the greeting card 10 contain a second fold line F2 thereon arranged in an substantially horizontal arced position which spans from the lower left section of the first greeting card panel 10A over the first fold line F1 and on to the lower right section of the second greeting card panel 10B, which divides the greeting card 10 into a first or upper 10U section and a second or lower section 10L. The line is hereto referred to as a “fold” line, however, portions of or the entire line may be perforated. The second fold line F2 may be a full fold line, a full perforated line, or a combination of both. Folding the greeting card 10 downward (or towards a display surface upon which the greeting card is to be displayed) along the second fold line F2 creates a slight elevation of one end of the greeting card 10 with respect to the other end (see
While the object of the present disclosure and related inventions has been described herein as being of a particular size, shape, etc., other sizes and shapes of both the greeting card and pop-up element have been contemplated and are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. The pop-up element may contain any number of interlocking pieces and may take on any shape or form. The foregoing embodiments of the present invention have been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. These descriptions and embodiments are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principle of the invention and its practical applications to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in its various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the invention be defined by the following claims.