Card magnetic strip protector sleeve

A protective sleeve for the placement of credit cards or other cards bearing magnetic strips and bar codes on a rear surface of the cards is presented to place such card into the protective sleeve to prevent damage to the bar code and the magnetic strip attached to the cards, the sleeve having a front clear portion for the visual identification of the front of the card and a rear portion having a thin non-conductive metallic strip imbedded on the rear portion coinciding with the location of the magnetic strip on the card, and a smooth fabric portion coinciding with the location of the printed bar code on the card, the bar code and magnetic strip being generally provided on the rear surface of the card.

No cross-reference to related applications .

I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

A protective sleeve for the placement of credit cards, driver license or other cards bearing magnetic strips and bar codes on a rear surface of the cards is presented to place such card into the protective sleeve to prevent damage to the bar code and the magnetic strip attached to the cards, the sleeve having a front clear portion for the visual identification of the front of the card and a rear portion having a thin non-conductive metallic strip imbedded on the rear portion coinciding with the location of the magnetic strip on the card, and a smooth fabric portion coinciding with the location of the printed bar code on the card, the bar code and magnetic strip being generally provided on the rear surface of the card

2. Description of Prior Art

The following United States patents were discovered and are disclosed within this application for utility patent. All relate to card sleeves. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,942 to Godfrey, a cardholder is disclosed having a thin sheet of magnetically soft ferromagnetic material with high resistance to eddy currents, referenced as “keepers”, to maintain at least one pattern of magnetism carried in at least one magnetic strip. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,375, a clear plastic or PVC sleeve is formed having pockets for the insertion of thin metal strips is provided to shield the magnetic portion of a card inserted within the sleeve, the metal strip defined as rolled aluminum or a nickel/iron alloy. Another sleeve protector intended to shield contactless smart cards or card containing RFID microchips is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,544 to Petsinger.

In addition, it is known through publication that a product is available on the market containing a fabric known as TYVEK®, which is marketed as an ATM Credit Card Protector Sleeve located at www.championbp.com. TYVEK® is manufactured by Dupont and the MSDS sheet on that product is disclosed herein, TYVEK® identified as a spunbonded olefin product. While these prior art reference discuss similar goals and similar concepts, the sleeve disclosed in the current invention is distinguished by elements which protect both the magnetic strip and the printed bar code ink material from damage during containment in the sleeve, which is not anticipated by the disclosed prior art either individually or in combination.

II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As indicated in prior art, the problem of damage to magnetic strips on credit card and the wear of ink on the printed portion of the card has long been a problem. Over time, the magnetic strips and ink comprising bar codes, numbers and signatures is know to wear or erode, rendering the card invalid or dysfunctional. As technology advances, these cards, used for identification, medical information and financing become more important to commerce, medical treatment, insurance information and identification. A solution to the protection of the several sensitive areas of the card requires more than the existing technology.

It is therefore the primary objective of the invention to provide a protective sleeve to prevent damage to the printed material on a credit card and shield the magnetic strip on the card from contact damage, friction and external magnetic or electric fields in a simple embodiment.

IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A credit card magnetic strip protector sleeve, shown inFIGS. 1-5of the drawings, for the protection of credit cards, driver licenses or other cards100containing printed bar codes102and magnetic strips104with encoded information comprises a flexible rectangular sleeve10a,10bhaving a front section20a,20bhaving a perimeter22a,22band a rear section30a,30bhaving an outer surface32a,32band a perimeter34a,34b, the front section perimeter22a,22band rear section perimeter34a,34bjoined along at least two sides, the front section20a,20band rear section30a,30bdefining a cavity40a,40b,FIG. 5, within which the card may be inserted, the rear section30a,30bfurther comprising an upper portion36a,36bincorporating a wafer thin section of non-conductive metal strip50a,50boverlying an area coinciding with the location of the magnetic strip102of the card100, the rear section30a,30bfurther including a lower portion38a,38bincorporating a low friction fabric material60a,60bcoinciding with the printed bar code102of the card100, with the front section20a,20bhaving a transparent portion through which the card may be identified through the front section20a,20bof the sleeve10a,10b.

In a first embodiment, shown inFIGS. 1-2and5, the sleeve10ais made entirely of a transparent material, with the non-conductive metal strip50aon the rear section30aand the low friction fabric material60aalso on the rear section30a.The front section20a, made of a transparent material, allows for the visual identification of the card100contained within the sleeve10athrough the front section20a.

In a second embodiment,FIGS. 3-5, the entire sleeve10is made of the low friction fabric material60b, with the non-conductive metal strip50bon the upper portion36bof the rear section30b, while the front section20bincludes a transparent window26,FIG. 4, through which the front of the credit card can be seen while the card100is within the cavity40b.

Most preferably, the non-conductive metal50a,50bis a thin sheet of copper, which is a preferred metal for very thin application where non-conductivity is desired. The non-conductive metal strip50a,50bis most preferably applied to the outer surface32a,32bof the rear section30a,30bof the sleeve10a,10bto prevent friction between the credit card100and the non-conductive metal strip50a,50b.

The preferred material for the low friction fabric60a,60bis a product identified by a trade name TYVEK®, a spunbonded olefin product, which is shown to exhibit low friction characteristics which maintains the integrity of printed and embossed ink on the surface of materials which are in contact with the TYVEK®.