The present disclosure relates to a card sleeve and, more particularly, to a plastic sleeve for holding items such as credit cards, photographs, and identification.
The accumulation of credit cards, reward cards, photos, and licenses in a wallet is often inevitable. Undesirably, as the wallet becomes full, the wallet can be stretched. In addition, the storing of many items in the wallet leads to disorganization. This disorganization can also cause frustration on the part of a user during frequent, clumsy searches for credit cards and other items stored in the wallet.
One known solution for organizing items such as cards in wallets is to use “card sleeves.” Card sleeves are individual plastic sheaths that provide discrete locations for placement of the cards within the wallet. The card sleeves can be either connected to the wallet or provided separately and inserted into a pocket of the wallet. However, these known card sleeves can also become disorganized. The wallet may also have too few or too many card sleeves, resulting in further frustration on the part of the user
There is a continuing need for a card sleeve assembly that facilitates organization of items such as credit cards. Desirably, the card sleeve assembly is modular to accommodate different quantities of the items to be stored.
In concordance with the instant disclosure, a card sleeve assembly that facilitates organization of items such as credit cards, and which is modular to accommodate different quantities of the items to be stored, has been surprisingly discovered.
In one embodiment, a modular card sleeve has a hollow main body and a flap. The hollow main body includes an opened end, a closed end, a front side, a rear side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge. The opened end is configured to receive a card for placement of the card within the hollow main body. The closed end is disposed opposite the opened end. The rear side has a first pouch and a second pouch disposed thereon. The first pouch has a first opening. The second pouch has a second opening. The first opening of the first pouch faces the second opening of the second pouch. The flap has a first wing, a second wing, and at least one connecting portion. The at least one connecting portion is disposed between the first wing and the second wing. The at least one connecting portion is disposed on the front side of the hollow main body.
In another embodiment, a modular card sleeve assembly has a plurality of modular card sleeves, including a first modular card sleeve and a second modular card sleeve. Each of the plurality of modular card sleeves have a hollow main body and a flap. The hollow main body has an opened end, a closed end, a front side, a rear side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge. The opened end is configured to receive a card for placement of the card within the hollow main body. The closed end is disposed opposite the opened end. The rear side has a first pouch and a second pouch disposed thereon. The first pouch has a first opening. The second pouch has a second opening. The first opening of the first pouch faces the second opening of the second pouch. The flap has a first wing, a second wing, and at least one connecting portion. The at least one connecting portion is disposed between the first wing and the second wing. The at least one connecting portion is disposed on the front side. The first wing of the second modular card sleeve is disposed within the first pouch of the first modular card sleeve. The second wing of the second modular card sleeve is disposed within the second pouch of the first modular card sleeve. The modular card sleeve assembly further includes a closed configuration, a horizontal spread configuration, and an open configuration.
In a further embodiment, a modular card sleeve assembly has a wallet and a plurality of modular card sleeves disposed in the wallet. The plurality of modular card sleeves includes a first modular card sleeve and a second modular card sleeve. Each of the plurality of modular card sleeves have a hollow main body and a flap. The hollow main body has an opened end, a closed end, a front side, a rear side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge. The opened end is configured to receive a card for placement of the card within the hollow main body. The closed end is disposed opposite the opened end. The rear side has a first pouch and a second pouch disposed thereon. The first pouch has a first opening. The second pouch has a second opening. The first opening of the first pouch faces the second opening of the second pouch. The flap has a first wing, a second wing, and at least one connecting portion. The at least one connecting portion is disposed between the first wing and the second wing. The at least one connecting portion is disposed on the front side. The first wing of the second modular card sleeve is disposed within the first pouch of the first modular card sleeve. The second wing of the second modular card sleeve is disposed within the second pouch of the first modular card sleeve.
In an exemplary embodiment, the modular credit card sleeve assembly for a wallet has one double sided flap piece on its front, and two flat, inverse, facing pockets on its back. The flap piece is a flat, flexible piece of material. Except for a lead flap piece in the modular card sleeve assembly, whose frontal surface is void of any added structure, the frontal surface of each of the other flat flap pieces is adhered only at its frontal center to the credit card sleeve. This adherence of the flat flap pieces allows the flap material's top and bottom edges to remain free, like wings. The top and bottom wings of the flap are utilized to slip smoothly into separate corresponding inverse, facing pockets of a sleeve that is directly toward the front of the modular credit card sleeve assembly.
Due to this unique structure, a series of sleeves that slip one into another that forms the modular credit card sleeve assembly by way of the flaps slipping into the pockets, which then correspond to the desired length by the wallet user. Over time, the wallet user can easily reverse or continue this process depending the need.
A modular credit card sleeve assembly for a wallet has at least two sleeves with one double sided flap piece on its front, and two flats, inverse, facing pockets on its back. The flap piece is a flat, flexible piece of material. Except for a lead flap piece in the modular card sleeve assembly (whose frontal surface is void of any added structure) the frontal surface of each of the other flat flap pieces is adhered only at its frontal center to the credit card sleeve. This adherence of the flat flap pieces allows the flap material's top and bottom edges to remain free, like wings. The top and bottom wings of the flap piece are utilized to slip smoothly into the separate corresponding inverse, facing pockets of a sleeve that is directly toward the front of the modular credit card sleeve assembly.
Consequently, the flaps fit relatively deep and flush within the pockets of their adjacent sleeve. Since they are not as wide as the pockets an extra width of roughly 0.5 inches of horizontal space within each pocket allows the double flap piece and its attached sleeve to slide freely about 0.5 inches from left to right within the pocket of its neighboring sleeve, but not freely up and down.
This type of sleeve attachment allows a user to store their cards flatter, easily add or remove as many sleeves as they need, and enables them to organize, view, find and manipulate a large number of cards with fluidity, utilizing a booklet style or horizontal spread style for viewing.
Other fan out styles and modular credit card organizers, standard or high end, don't offer the same amount of support, freedom, and versatility, nor are comparable designs as inexpensive to manufacture. The instant design is cheaply made, is practical, easy and fun to use, and can be freely adapted to function sleekly within numerous wallet designs.
The goal of this present invention is to help organize large amounts of credit cards and other items, so the cards are secure, take up less room in the wallet, and are instantly and easily accessible.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The above, as well as other advantages of the present disclosure, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, particularly when considered in the light of the drawings described herein.
The following detailed description and appended drawings describe and illustrate various embodiments of the invention. The description and drawings serve to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any manner. In respect of the methods disclosed, the order of the steps presented is exemplary in nature, and thus, is not necessary or critical unless otherwise disclosed.
As shown in
With reference to
In particular examples, the hollow main body 102 is configured to hold an item 118 such as a card within, for example, as shown in
Within the present disclosure, non-limiting examples of the item 118 for insertion into the hollow main body 102 may include a credit card, a license, a debit card, and a reward card. It should be appreciated that although the term “card” is used generally herein, the item 118 may also include photographs or any other item that can fit within the hollow main body 102, as desired.
In some examples, the modular card sleeve 100 is manufactured using a flexible material such as plastic. More specifically, the hollow main body 102 is formed from a flexible material that is transparent or translucent. Desirably, the transparent or translucent hollow main body 102 permits a user to see the item 118 stored within the hollow main body 102, without having to remove the item 118 from the hollow main body 102. It should be appreciated that other flexible materials may also be selected for the modular card sleeve 100 within the scope of this disclosure.
In order to accommodate standard credit cards as the item 118, the hollow main body 102 may have a first body length BL1 of about eighty-five millimeters (85.60 mm) and a body width BW of about fifty-three millimeters (53.98 mm). The body width BW may be selected so as to accommodate the width of a standard credit card as the item 118. Although these dimensions are being supplied for the purpose of illustrating the modular card sleeve 100 of the present disclosure, it should be appreciated that a person skilled in the art may select other suitable dimensions for the hollow main body 102, as desired.
In some examples, the first body length BL1 is less than the length of the item 118. It should be appreciated that where the body length BL1 is less than the length of the item 118, a portion of the item 118 remains outside the hollow main body 102. Advantageously, the portion of the item 118 that remains outside of the hollow main body 102 functions as a convenient area for the user to grasp the item 118 for removal.
In particular embodiments, and as shown in
With reference to
In other embodiments, the first pouch 120 and the second pouch 122 are co-formed with the hollow main body 102 as a single, unitary, and one-piece structure.
With continued reference to
Furthermore, the flap width FW is selected to be substantially less than the body width BW so that the hollow main bodies 102 upon assembly can be moved to and from the horizontal spread configuration 154 as described further herein. In more specific examples, the body width BW is about five-and-one-half centimeters (5.5 cm) and the flap width FW is around three-and-one-half centimeters (3.5 cm). It should be appreciated that these differences in the dimensions FW and BW allow the modular card sleeve assembly 200 to be used in the horizontal spread configuration 154. It should also be appreciated that although these dimensions have been shown to be useful, other dimensions may be selected by a person skilled in the art, within the scope of this disclosure.
As shown in
With continued reference to
As shown in
It should also be appreciated that since the at least one connecting portion 128 is disposed on the hollow main body 102 and the first wing 130 and the second wing 132 are unattached from the hollow main body 102, the first wing 130 and the second wing 132 are allowed to have greater ranges of flexibility. Desirably, having greater ranges of flexibility, simplifies the manually insertion of the first wing 130 and the second wing 132 into the first pouch 120 and the second pouch 122, respectively.
In some examples, and as shown in
In a further example, and as shown in
In addition, there is a connecting portion length CL that is defined by the distance between the first axis 138 and the second axis 140. Also, there is a first distance D1 that is defined by the distance between the first opening 124 of the first pouch 120 and the second opening 126 of the second pouch 122. In particular examples, the connecting portion length CL is only slightly less than the first distance D1. This slight difference in length between the connecting portion length CL and the first distance D1 permits there to be minimal gaps between the first axis 138 and the first opening 124 and the second axis 140 and the second opening 126. The minimal gaps allow the first wing 130 and the second wing 132 to be disposed within the first pouch 120 and the second pouch 122, respectively, while still militating against any significant lateral movement of the modular card sleeve 100 when assembled in the modular card sleeve assembly 200. It should be appreciated that other configurations of the first connecting portion 134 and the second connecting portion 136 may be employed by a person skilled in the art, within the scope of this disclosure.
It should also be appreciated that the connecting portion length CL is scalable according to a skilled artisan, as desired. For example, increasing the connecting portion length CL decreases the lateral movement of the modular card sleeve 100 when assembled in the modular card sleeve assembly 200. Decreasing the connecting portion length CL increases lateral movement but allows the first wing 130 and the second wing 132 to be manually inserted more easily in the first pouch 120 and the second pouch 130, respectively.
In some examples, and with reference to
With continued reference to
As shown in
In operation, and as shown in
Advantageously, disposing the first wing 130 and the second wing 132 of the second modular card sleeve 150 into the first pouch 120 and the second pouch 122 of the first modular card sleeve 148, respectively, friction fits the first modular card sleeve 148 to the second modular card sleeve 150. Desirably, the friction fit militates against the first wing 130 and second wing 132 of the second modular card sleeve 150 from being accidentally removed from the first pouch 120 and the second pouch 122 of the first modular card sleeve 148, respectively, unless sufficient manual force is employed by the user. It should be appreciated that while friction fitting the first wing 130 and the second wing 132 to the first pouch 120 and the second pouch 122, respectively, has shown to be useful, other suitable connecting methods may be employed by a skilled artisan within the scope of the present disclosure.
The closed configuration 152 of the modular card sleeve assembly 200 is shown in
The horizontal spread configuration 154 of the modular card sleeve assembly 200 is shown in
Now referencing
In further embodiments, and shown particularly in
In yet further embodiments, and while still referencing
Advantageously, the modular card sleeve 100 and the modular card sleeve assembly 200 facilitates organization of the items 118 via each of the closed configuration 152, the horizontal spread configuration 154, and the open configuration 156. In addition, the modular card sleeve 100 can be manually connected or removed from another modular card sleeve 100 for increased or decreased storage capacity of the items 118.
While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for purposes of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure, which is further described in the following appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/779,504, filed on Dec. 14, 2018. The entire disclosure of the above application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4589549 | Hehn | May 1986 | A |
20020088516 | Olson | Jul 2002 | A1 |
20200016920 | Ong | Jan 2020 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20200187614 A1 | Jun 2020 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62779504 | Dec 2018 | US |