Patent Application
20110154705
This invention is directed to a card display holder attached to the interior of a vehicle windshield that allows placement, display and storage of a variety of different shaped and sized placards (including but certainly not limited to authorization slips, tickets, receipts, coupons, permits, and access cards). More specifically, the invention allows a driver to place a plurality of placards into the holder for display and storage to reduce clutter on the vehicle dashboard.
Vehicle drivers, especially those in urban areas, typically acquire and maintain a plurality of various authorization slips in order to park, drive and gain entry into a variety of parking areas (both on-street public lots as well as private lots) and garages, events, sporting arenas and other facilities. One example of such an authorization slip is the ticket commonly purchased from ticket machines used for regulating parking in urban areas and car parks. More specifically, recent advances have led to automated so-called “pay and display” ticket machines along urban areas and car parks which allow drivers to purchase spans of time to park within a certain locale. Upon credit card, debit card or cash payment, these machines produce a ticket that generally identifies the location and operator of the machine, expiration time, fee paid and time entered, with such ticket to be displayed proximate to, and in a manner clearly visible through, the driver's windshield.
These placards are required to be clearly displayed such that an enforcement officer is able to verify if a vehicle is authorized to access or to park in a designated area. Over time, these tickets invariably accumulate on vehicle dashboards, which could make it difficult for parking enforcement to verify. This may not only cause clutter and confusion, but may also risk compromising the vehicle's ventilation system—as these tickets/receipts could become lodged in the air vents. In addition, depending on the design of the vehicle, these tickets may become lodged in the tight corner where the dashboard and windshield intersect, becoming difficult for the driver to retrieve. Also, some vehicles have dark window tinting along the bottom of the windshield which may have the effect of obstructing the display of the ticket/receipt through the windshield when placed on the dashboard. Whether due to accumulation or obstruction, or simply in the event that the placard falls off the dashboard, if parking enforcement authorities are prevented from verifying the ticket, the driver could receive a parking fine or penalty.
A second example of an authorization slip is a ticket or receipt to allow access to a facility such as a parking garage, a nature preserve, or a musical, sporting, religious, or other cultural or business event. Drivers typically must receive and post these parking slips upon entering the facilities. Often, these facilities require the continued display of the authorization slip through the windshield while the vehicle is parked in the facility. It is desirable to allow a clear and unobstructed display of such slip. Routine use of such facilities (and/or automated “pay and display” ticket machines described above) again can often result in disorganization of these slips causing clutter and difficulty for relevant authorities to verify authorized access.
As a third exemplar of an authorization slip, drivers often must use an electro-magnetic or RF-tagged card when parking at the workplace. This tagged card denotes entry into the parking facility as well as exit from that facility. A computer often determines the times and frequency of use of the parking facility at the workplace. For example, unless the driver uses the card for entry into the parking facility, the card cannot be used to exit that facility. Thus, it is important to properly house and store these tagged cards when not in use for easy and ready access to the tagged cards.
A fourth example of an authorization slip is a coupon or pass for utilizing a toll road or turnpike, where the driver needs to access and present the coupon or pass at various stops while utilizing the road. It is useful to have a holder for these cards when not in use for easy and ready access to the cards.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple yet effective solution that allows effective and direct display of vehicle authorization slips (i.e., placards) such as parking tickets, receipts, coupons, permits, and access cards for view by municipal authorities, parking attendants and other enforcement personnel. Moreover, there is a need for an apparatus to help organize and store a plurality of these placards. Finally, such system should also allow for easy transfer or removal of the placards by the driver in and out of the system to properly shuffle and arrange the placards during different times of day to correspond to different authorization needs or to remove the placards for accounting purposes or for disposal.
The present invention solves many of the aforementioned needs for a placard display and holder to help better organize and maintain various placards which can include various authorization slips, parking tickets, receipts, coupons and the like. The card display holder, preferably located in the interior side of the windshield of the vehicle first includes a left side wall and a corresponding right side wall where the left side wall is essentially parallel to the right side wall. Positioned between both side walls is a back wall.
In addition, the card display holder can include front wall that has a left portion and a corresponding right portion, the left portion being essentially parallel to the right portion. A bottom wall connects the front wall to the back wall, as well as creating a surface area sufficient to maintain and house one or more placards. The left and right portions of the front wall connect to the bottom wall which creates an opening that is adequate for the placard to be viewed directly through the windshield (i.e., the card display holder is mostly open in the front displaying the placard directly through the windshield). The back wall may include an opening that facilitates arrangement, relocation and removal of one or more placards.
The card display holder may be of unibody construction and manufactured from a plastic or composite which may be solid, translucent or transparent. The card display holder can attach to the windshield through one or more fasteners which can include (but is no way limited to) an adhesive such as glue or a hook-and-loop fastener. The card display holder may also attach in certain vehicles through wedging it in the corner created where the windshield and the dashboard intersect.
The invention further contemplates a method for using the card display holder. This method may include affixing the card display holder to the interior side of the windshield. This can include use of a fastener such as an adhesive or hook-and-loop fastener. Secondly, one or more placards may be positioned within the card display holder, where at least one placard is capable of being viewed from (and through) the exterior side of the windshield. When affixed to the windshield, the most-current placard may be placed and displayed first through the windshield, unless otherwise purposely arranged. As yet a third step, these placards may be arranged through use of an aperture or simply removed for accounting purposes or for disposal. These three steps may be repeated to display and organize the various placards as needed dependent upon the authorization needs of the driver.
For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating various embodiments of the present invention, in which:
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
As shown in
As further illustrated by
The card display holder 100 illustrated in
As shown in
Further shown in
In addition to the apparatus described above, the invention is also directed toward a method of use. The method first includes the step of affixing the card display holder to an interior side 202 of the windshield 200 shown in
The second step is positioning one or more placards 160 within the card display holder 100. As is further shown in
These three steps can be repeated dependent upon the desired placard 160 to be displayed. For example, in the morning a parking pass may need to be shown through the windshield 200. Later, a handicapped authorization may be shown when transporting an elderly family member. Still later, a driver may acquire a pay and display ticket that needs to be displayed after parking along an urban street. As shown by the foregoing, each of these various placards 160 can be arranged, stored and maintained within the card display holder 100 in an organized fashion—thereby reducing clutter.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/290,865 filed on Dec. 29, 2009, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61290865 | Dec 2009 | US |
