This invention relates to a security protected billfold container for credit cards, debit cards, identity cards and the like and paper currency. More particularly, it relates to a wallet size billfold having protection against surreptitious remote retrieval of the information stored on the cards with electromagnetic scanning device such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) and similar electronic means.
Credit cards, smart cards, and debit cards which are commonly referred to as charge cards for payment of commercial transactions, and personal identity cards, are provided with magnetic means such as a magnet strip or a magnetic chip for storing on the cards the details of account and/or personal information of the card owner. The information is retrieved during use by scanning or inserting the card into a card reader for payment of a variety of services or for identification purposes. The information recorded on the card may however also be accessed remotely with an RFID or similar electronic means located in the close vicinity or proximity of the card. Since the cards are always carried by the owner in the owner's wallet or purse, it is invariably freely exposed to illegal or surreptitious access of the information by some one carrying a portable RFID or similar electronic scanning device by positioning the scanning device near or in close proximity of the card owner to retrieve the information from the cards for illegal purposes such as recreating duplicate cards for illegal uses or payments. Many methods have been employed to prevent such illegal remote surreptitious retrieval of the card information. Since RFID signals can not penetrate through a shielding plate such as a metal plate or alloy plate, one method is to locate one or two shielding plates on the outer or both sides of the outermost part of the container of the cards in a wallet or purse. The shielding plate or plates would block the RFID signal from reaching the cards to access the information. However, the inclusion of shielding plates invariably renders the card container rather bulky or the physical access of the cards during use by the owner difficult.
Moreover, charge cards and identity cards are commonly contained in pockets or plastic sleeve envelopes provided in a wallet. In the case of plastic sleeve envelopes, they are clear plastic sleeve envelopes bound in a bundle or a stack manner in the wallet. One or more cards may be inserted into each sleeve envelope. In use, a required card can be removed from the particular sleeve envelope containing it. As the sleeve envelope are of the same size of the card, it is awkward and frustrating to remove the card out of the sleeve envelope or to insert it into the sleeve envelope, particularly when two or more cards are necessarily contained in each single sleeve envelope for accommodating a plurality of cards. Same problems exist when the cards are stored in pockets provided on the side panels in the wallet or inside the wallet.
Furthermore, due to the stacking or bundling of the sleeve envelopes, particularly when two or more cards are contained in each sleeve envelope or pocket, some of the cards in the stack are not readily visible since they would be sandwiched or covered completely by other cards positioned in front, behind, or on top so that often it is difficult to locate a particular card from the stack or bundle.
Hard plastic cases have also been employed for carrying the cards in a stacked manner. The cards must all be removed simultaneously from such a hard case for selecting a particular card required during use and that the simultaneous removal of all the cards are susceptible to accidental misplacement and loss of the removed cards. Moreover, most such plastic cases are provided with a cover which is held in the closed position with a latch, or the case consists of two half cases held together with a latch. Such cases are difficult or unwieldy to operate requiring the . user to operate it with both hands.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a billfold container for carrying and protecting the charge and identity cards contained therein from surreptitious access of the card information with a remote RFID or similar device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a billfold container in which the cards can be easily placed therein or removed therefrom.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a billfold container in which all the cards stored therein are readily identifiable for selection of any card during use.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a billfold container for carrying charge and identity cards which is convenience to operate and can be operated with one hand.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a billfold container including means for carrying paper currency.
Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the several views.
With reference to the drawings, the billfold container 10 of the present invention consists of a top housing 11 and a lower housing 12 mounted together with a hinge 13 so that the container can be opened and closed easily during use. The billfold container 10 may be made of a plastic material, metal or similar material, and may have convenient overall dimensions of 7.5 cm by 11 cm by 1 cm similar to a common small wallet.
As best shown in
The lower inner side wall 26 of the top mounting frame 19 slopes downwardly and outwardly from the shielding plate 18 towards the inner rim surface of the top mounting frame 19 as best shown in
Two retaining arms 29 and 30 having a transverse L shape are provided on opposite sides and are located about the middle portion of the inner rim of the top mounting frame 19. The retaining arms 29 and 30 have an inner free edge extending in an overhanging manner towards one another so that charge cards may be inserted into the top mounting frame 19 under the retaining arms 29 and 30 in a stack manner. When the lower edges of the charge cards inserted into the top mounting frame 19 would invariably abut separate transverse steps 28 in the downwardly sloping inner side wall 26 so that the top edge portions of the charge cards in the stack would also invariably be exposed in a staggered manner to provide ready identification of the cards in the stack to facilitate easy selection of a particular charge card in the stack. The sloping upper inner side wall 27 of the top mounting frame 19 also facilitates the card stack in the top mounting frame 19 to be pushed forward in order that a selected charge card may be removed easily from the stack.
Two torsion springs 31 and 32, which may have a generally C shape, are mounted on the opposite inner side walls of the top mounting frame 19 and preferably located beneath the two retaining arms 29 and 30 respectively. The springs 31 and 32 press against the opposite sides of the stack of charge cards in the top mounting frame 19 to maintain the stack securely and neatly in place.
The lower housing 12 has similar construction as the top housing 11. As best shown in
Two retaining arms 48 and 49, preferably having a cross sectional L-shaped, are provided on the inner surface of the opposite sides of the lower mounting frame 38 and are located preferably just below the middle portion of the sides of the lower mounting frame 38. The retaining arms 48 and 49 have an inner free edge located in an overhanging manner over the opening of the lower mounting frame 38 for retaining the stack of charge cards located within the lower mounting frame 38.
Two torsion springs 50 and 51, which may have a C shape as shown, are mounted on the opposite side walls of the lower mounting frame 38 and preferably located beneath the retaining arms 48 and 49. The torsion springs 50 and 51 press against the opposite sides of the stack of charge cards in the lower mounting frame 33 to maintain the stack in a secure and neat manner within the lower mounting frame 33.
As best shown in
A currency clip 68 may be mounted to the adjusting pins 64 and 65 exposed through the two spaces located between the end extension portion 57 of the top housing 11 and the extension base portions 52 and 53 of the lower housing 12 such that the currency clip 68 will be positioned in a raised angle position as best shown in
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above. It will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.