FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to wallets, purses, handbags, and clutches, and more particularly to wallets and billfolds intended to carry multiple cards, such as credit cards.
BACKGROUND
Many ladies and gentlemen choose to carry a wallet that holds various personal items in one place for easy access. Originally, wallets were cases for carrying paper money, and the size of the paper money dictated the dimensions of the wallet. Eventually, the design of wallets evolved to accommodate the need for carrying credit cards, but wallet dimensions have remained associated with the dimensions of paper money.
Credit cards have been accommodated by incorporating a series of overlapping pockets into a wallet, with each pocket designed to hold a single card. This design has two serious flaws. First, the partial overlap configuration results in an uneven distribution of thickness created by the cards stored in the wallet. This uneven distribution creates a “lump” in the wallet in the portion where the most cards overlap. The lump is even worse when the overlapping card pattern is used on both sides of a bi-fold wallet, because the thickness of the lump is exaggerated. When a wallet is carried in the back pocket of an individual's trousers, it often remains in the pocket even when the individual is in a sitting position. When the individual sits on the wallet, the lump creates an uncomfortable pressure point. The lack of even distribution causes excess thickness, causing an uneven sitting position that dramatically changes the posture of the individual. Such a change in posture from sitting on a thick wallet often causes lower back pain.
The second flaw of the typical modern wallet design results from the use of a separate pocket for each individual card. The added material separating each card adds thickness to the wallet. Since each pocket is meant to place a card in a partially overlapping position with adjacent cards, the added material for each card is placed in a partially overlapping position with other cards, creating an uneven distribution of material, and a lump similar to the lump associated with the cards. The material remains, whether or not a card is placed in the pocket, thereby exacerbating the thickening effect of the cards. And additional material is used to separate the card pockets from the larger pocket required for storage of paper money. All of this additional material independently contributes to additional thickness of the wallet, causing a painful change in posture when the wallet remains in the back pocket of the individual's trousers while in a sitting position.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
SUMMARY
This Summary provides an overview of concepts that are described more fully in the Detailed Description below. This Summary is not intended to aid in the determination of the scope of the claimed invention.
One object of the invention is to provide a wallet capable of storing multiple credit cards and other various documents while using minimal amounts of material. Another object of the invention is to provide a wallet designed to store its contents in a manner that results in a consistent thickness throughout the wallet. An additional object of the invention is to provide a wallet with selective magnetic shielding.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 represents a partially-opened wallet in an embodiment.
FIG. 2 represents a fully-opened wallet in an embodiment.
FIG. 3 represents a fully-opened wallet in an embodiment.
FIG. 4A represents the top view of a layout of four stacks of credit cards in a wallet when open in an embodiment.
FIG. 4B represents a side view of the credit card stacks of FIG. 4A when the wallet is closed in an embodiment.
FIG. 5A represents a prior art wallet having overlapping credit card pockets.
FIG. 5B represents a side view of credit cards when situated in the closed prior art wallet of FIG. 5A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
General Overview
FIG. 1 represents a partially-opened bi-fold wallet 100 in an embodiment. The wallet 100 is made of durable material, such as leather or fabric. In an embodiment, different materials may be used for the inner sheets and the outer sheet. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, wallet 100 is made of leather or imitation leather. The outer sheet 125 of leather is slightly larger than the surface area of four credit cards. This results in a wallet 100 that is larger than wallets which have a design dictated by paper money. However, the resulting larger wallet 100 is still an appropriate size for placing in back pocket of one's trousers. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a first inner sheet of material is affixed to the outer sheet 125 to form pocket 115. Pocket 115 is substantially twice the width of a credit card, and has an opening large enough to accommodate two separate stacks of credit cards or other similarly sized cards. Throughout this specification, cards will be referred to as credit cards for convenience, but other cards such as membership cards, health insurance cards, or other similarly sized cards can be used interchangeably. For example, pocket 115 can hold a first stack of two credit cards and a second stack of two credit cards, with the stacks placed side-by-side into pocket 115. The stacks of credit cards do not overlap, thereby creating a uniform thickness throughout pocket 115. In a preferred embodiment, the aperture of pocket 115 is large enough to accommodate two separate stacks of credit cards, each stack having three credit cards placed one directly on top of another.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a second inner sheet of material is affixed to the outer sheet 125 and affixed to outer sheet 125 along a medial line 125, creating separate pockets 105 and 110. Each of pocket 105 and pocket 110 are substantially the width of a credit card, and each pocket has an opening large enough to accommodate a stack of multiple credit cards. For example, pocket 105 and pocket 110 may each have an opening large enough to accommodate a stack of two credit cards. In a preferred embodiment, the aperture of pockets 105 and 110 are each large enough to accommodate a stack of credit cards, each stack having three credit cards placed one directly on top of another. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, each pocket opens toward the medial hinge line 120 on which the wallet is to be folded, thereby securing the contents of each pocket. In an embodiment, space is provided between the edge of the pocket opening and the medial hinge line to allow cards to protrude from the pocket enough to allow the cards to be easily taken from the pocket by hand.
FIG. 2 provides a view of open wallet 100 in which the wallet is holding a first stack of cards 220 a second stack of cards 225, a third stack of cards 230, a fourth stack of cards 235, and paper money 240 folded in half. Each stack of cards represents a stack of more than one card in an embodiment. In an embodiment, pocket 115 may have a different aperture (e.g., a larger aperture) when compared to that of pocket 105 and pocket 110 in order to accommodate additional cards, paper money, or other contents, it is not recommended that pockets 105 and 110 differ in the number of cards they are able to accommodate. This uniformity helps to ensure a somewhat uniform distribution of thickness throughout the wallet, a primary object of the invention. However, pocket 105 may be dimensioned to hold a different number of cards than pocket 110, and the distribution of thickness may remain even so long as the stacks of cards in pocket 115 are uneven in a complimentary way to the uneven thickness of pockets 110 and 105.
FIG. 3 represents an alternative embodiment in which a wallet 300 is open. Wallet 300 is similar in construction to wallet 100, but instead of having one large pocket 115, there are two pockets in its place. The result is a wallet 300 with four pockets, pocket 305, pocket 310, pocket 340, and pocket 345, holding a first stack of cards 320 a second stack of cards 325, a third stack of cards 330, a fourth stack of cards 335, respectively. In another alternative embodiment not shown, wallet 300 could be configured to have two large pockets instead of four smaller ones, each pocket being similar in size to pocket 115.
FIG. 4A represents a diagram showing a top view of the configuration of card stacks in an embodiment. Card stack 410 and 420 are placed in the wallet side-by-side on one side of the medial hinge line, while card stacks 430 and 440 are placed on the other side of the medial hinge line. FIG. 4B represents a profile view of the card configuration after the wallet has been closed by folding the wallet in half along the medial line. Stack 410 becomes aligned with and sits on top of stack 430 and stack 420 becomes aligned with and sits on top of stack 440. This results in a maximum thickness of four cards, distributed evenly throughout the wallet, which has a width similar to twice the width of one card.
By contrast, FIG. 5A represents a bi-fold wallet in the prior art, having a series of overlapping pockets 510. FIG. 5B shows the resulting card configuration after the wallet has been filled with eight cards, and then folded along the middle. Portion 520 represents the section in which only two cards overlap with one another. Portion 540 represents the section in which four cards overlap with one another. Portion 560 represents the section in which six cards overlap with one another. Portion 580 represents the section in which eight cards overlap with one another. This is due to the overlapping pockets, which are designed to make access to each card easier. The result is a large number of cards dictating the maximum thickness of the wallet. In addition, portion 590 represents the distance between the top card in each half of the wallet when the wallet is closed. If the wallet is sat on because is is stored in the back pocket of one's trousers, then the space between these two top cards will be reduced by pressure, causing the cards to bend and potentially break. Meanwhile, portion 580 cannot be reduced, and since the thickness of the cards is unevenly distributed, a small lump forms at portion 580. This lump is very uncomfortable to sit on. The present invention provides a clear improvement by reducing the thickness of the wallet, and by evenly distributing the thickness of the wallet to make it more comfortable to sit on or place in a front pocket.
In an embodiment, magnetic and electronic shielding material may be part of the material used for outer sheet 125. However, such shielding limits the usefulness of the wallet when it is used for carrying certain cards. For example, cards used to pay for public transportation when entering or leaving subway stations, light rail stations, busses, and other forms of public transportation often use radio-frequency identification (RFID), near-field communication (NFC) or other similar technologies to wirelessly allow commuters to pay for their transportation. Although electronic and magnetic shielding material can be used to protect users of a wallet from theft resulting from unauthorized reading of cards, this benefit can be outweighed by the hassle of removing the transportation card from the wallet every time one enters or exits a station. In an embodiment, one of the pockets 105 or 110 is left unshielded, while the other pockets are shielded with the electronic and magnetic shielding material. In another embodiment, half of pocket 115 is left unshielded, while the rest of the outer layer remains shielded. In an embodiment, an inner sheet or the portion of the inner sheet between two stacks of cards may be shielded, to allow for the protection of the adjacent stack of cards. For example, referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, leaving stack 410 unshielded exposes stack 430 to an electronic attack. However, magnetic shielding material may be placed in the portion of the inner sheet associated with pocket 410 or the inner sheet associated with pocket 430 in order to ensure that only the contents of pocket 410 are exposed. By placing the transportation card with one or more other cards that are not at risk for electronic theft in pocket 410 in this embodiment, the card does not need to be removed from the wallet in order to be effective for transportation needs.
In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The sole and exclusive indicator of the scope of the invention, and what is intended by the applicants to be the scope of the invention, is the literal and equivalent scope of the set of claims that issue from this application, in the specific form in which such claims issue, including any subsequent correction.
Patent Application
20190350328
