Patent Grant
8813398
In the art, assemblies for gift cards, pre-paid cards, stored-value cards, etc. (uniformly referred to hereinafter as “gift cards”) are well known. By way of example, gift card assemblies are described in each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,918,909; 5,958,174; 5,760,381; 5,667,247; 5,650,209; 5,402,236; and 7,293,701 as well as each of U.S. Published Application Nos. 2008/0149709; 2007/0246548; 2006/0231609; 2006/0186196; and 2005/0246230. For the sake of brevity, the disclosure within each of these patents and published applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The following describes a three-dimensional gift card assembly. The gift card assembly generally includes a substrate or backing, a gift card, and a card carrying member interposed between the substrate and the gift card. The card carrying member is releasably attached to the substrate and releasably attached to the gift card. More particularly, the card carrying member may resiliently or movably carry the gift card relative to the substrate such that the gift card is allowed to be spaced from the substrate when the gift card assembly is in a displayed configuration (which thereby provides a three-dimensional effect to the gift card assembly) and is allowed to achieve a position adjacent to the substrate when the gift card assembly is in a stowed configuration.
In the illustrated example, the card carrying member, constructed from a paper, cardboard, plastic, or similar material, is provided with at least two folds which define at least a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion. The first portion is releasably attached to the substrate, the second portion is releasably attached to the gift card, and the third portion is disposed intermediate the first portion and the second portion. Owing to the folds, the third portion is moveable relative to the first portion and the second portion during any transition between the displayed configuration and the stowed configuration.
A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the subject gift card assembly will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth an illustrative embodiment and which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.
For a better understanding of the gift card assembly described hereinafter reference may be had to the following drawings in which:
Referring now to the figures, a gift card assembly 10 is now described. As illustrated in
The gift card 12 supported upon the substrate 14 may be any type of card such as, but not limited to, gift cards, stored-value cards, financial-transaction cards, reservation cards, pre-paid cards, loyalty cards, merchandise return cards, employee cards, frequency cards, etc. (collectively “gift card”). In the event that the gift card 12 is, for example, a card used by a merchant to issue a spending credit to a customer, the merchant would typically provide the card in exchange for money received, merchandise returned or other consideration in a conventional manner, e.g., the gift card 12 would be “loadable” or “chargeable” with monetary value that the customer can use or give to another individual. In such a case, a record of the monetary balance on the card may be maintained on a database, other electronic or manual record-keeping system, or, in the case of “smart” cards, for example, on a chip or other electronics or devices on the card itself and the gift card 12 would generally include a feature, such as a barcode, magnetic strip, etc. having data that represents an account number or otherwise serves to link the gift card 12 to the database or other electronic or manual storage device or system as is also conventional.
The gift card 12 is further releasably secured to the substrate 14. More particularly, with reference to
To allow the gift card assembly 10 to have a three-dimensional like appearance when displayed in the area of the retail store, the card carrying member 12 is preferably provided with at least two folds as particularly illustrated in
To allow the card carrying member 24, and accordingly, the gift card 12 to be attached to a gift or like when removed from the substrate 14, as illustrated in
While a specific embodiment of a gift card assembly has been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangement disclosed is meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20100018090 A1 | Jan 2010 | US |
