Holder for credit cards

Box-shaped holder for credit cards or similar products, provided with a front wall (10), two side walls (12, 14) perpendicular to the front wall, a bottom wall (16) which is perpendicular to the side walls but makes an angle of less than 90.degree. with the front wall (10) and an essentially rectangular rear wall (18). The rear wall is able to hinge about a hinge (20) wich runs paralell to the bottom wall in such a way that the top edge of the rear wall moves away from the top edge of the front wall, and vice versa. Furthermore, one section (22) of the rear wall (18) is able to hinge about a hinge (24) located in the rear wall, which hinge runs parallel to the bottom wall in such a way that the edge of the section which faces the bottom wall moves towards the front wall, and vice versa. Furthermore, the holder comprises a spring (26) which pretensions the section (27) of the rear wall in the direction of the hinge movement described above.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a holder for credit cards and/or other cards or 
products which have essentially the same external dimensions with respect 
to one another. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Holders for credit cards or other similar products are known per se in 
diverse forms from the prior art. A number of these known variants are 
shown in FIGS. 1A . . . 1G. 
FIG. 1A shows a slip case having a front wall, a rear wall, two side walls 
and a base, which slip case has been manufactured from a relatively hard 
and inflexible material. Only a few (usually one or two) credit cards fit 
in this slip case. If more credit cards have to be stored, several slip 
cases then have to be used and the total storage volume rapidly increases. 
FIG. 1B shows a sleeve made of a relatively flexible material. The sleeve 
consists of an elongated web of material with a pocket in the vicinity of 
the opposing ends, it being possible to insert a credit card into each of 
said pockets. The sleeve is folded up about a centre line to protect the 
cards. In this case also the drawback is that only a relatively small 
number of cards can be stored in this way, whilst, moreover, because of 
the use of the relatively limp material of the sleeve, little protection 
is provided against the cards bending (too far). 
FIG. 1C shows a holder in book form with each "page" of the book consisting 
of a pocket, frequently made of transparent material, it being possible to 
insert one credit card into each pocket from the side. Because a separate 
pocket is provided for each card, the total thickness of this container 
will be relatively large. Putting away or removing a card can sometimes 
prove somewhat awkward, certainly in warm weather. Moreover, it is fairly 
laborious to remove grains of sand or other harmful dirt which can collect 
in the pockets in the course of time and there can lead to damage to the 
cards. 
FIG. 1D shows a solution in which the individual slip-in pockets have been 
combined into a long strip which can be folded up in zigzag fashion. The 
disadvantages of this solution are the same as the those described with 
reference to FIG. 1C. 
FIG. 1F shows a holder in book form in which the outside is made of hard 
plastic material. The cards are inserted in a harmonica configuration 
which unfolds when the outside walls are unfolded. The hard outside walls 
in themselves offer good protection against bending of the cards. A 
disadvantage of this holder is that the harmonica configuration takes up a 
relatively large amount of space and, moreover, the cost of the holder is 
substantially increased. 
FIG. 1G shows a holder in which the slip-in pockets are located mutually 
offset in a row one above the other. A solution of this type is widely 
used in wallets and the like. In general, holders of this type are 
relatively voluminous, certainly compared with the relatively restricted 
dimensions of the stack of credit cards which have to be stored in the 
holder. In general, wallets are made of plastic materials which contain 
plasticizers. However, these plasticizers, which gradually diffuse from 
the plastic material to the outside, can attack the material of the credit 
cards. The cards become brittle as a result and any information which is 
present on the card can easily be lost. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The aim of the invention is, now, to provide a holder for credit cards or 
other flat products which are essentially of the same shape with respect 
to one another, which holder has small dimensions, is able to hold a 
relatively large number of credit cards but is also suitable for just one 
credit card and is made of a relatively hard material and with which it is 
possible rapidly and easily to select a single credit card from the credit 
cards present. In particular, the aim of the invention is to provide a 
holder which combines optimum ease of use with relatively low production 
costs, so that the holder is, from the commercial standpoint, suitable for 
a market segment in which the numbers to be produced are relatively large. 
These objectives are met by means of a holder for credit cards or similar 
products, comprising a box-shaped construction consisting of 
an essentially rectangular front wall 
two side walls perpendicular to the front wall 
a bottom wall which is perpendicular to the said side walls but makes an 
angle .alpha. of less than 90.degree. with the front wall 
an essentially rectangular rear wall which can hinge about a hinge which 
runs parallel to the bottom wall in such a way that, starting from a 
position in which the rear wall is parallel to the front wall, the top 
edge of the rear wall moves away from the top edge of the front wall, and 
vice versa, wherein 
part of the rear wall is able to hinge about a hinge located in the rear 
wall, which hinge runs parallel to the bottom wall in such a way that, 
starting from a position in which the part is located in the plane of the 
rear wall, the edge of the part which is facing the bottom wall moves 
towards the front wall, and vice versa, 
a spring with which the said hingeable part of the rear wall is 
pretensioned in the direction of the hinge movement described above. 
Preferably, the angle a has a value between 10.degree. and 80.degree., and 
most preferably a value of at least approximately 30.degree.. 
As a result of the sloping bottom wall, the cards are stored somewhat 
offset with respect to one another in the holder. The spring, which 
presses against the hingeable part of the rear wall, ensures that said 
hingeable part of the rear wall presses against the stack of cards, as a 
result of which said stack is permanently under pretension and clamped in 
the holder. This prevents, inter alia, the cards from rattling in the 
holder if the holder is only partially filled. Because the rear wall as a 
whole is able to hinge with respect to the front wall of the holder, cards 
can easily be pulled slightly outwards together with the rear wall, it 
being possible, by virtue of the pretensioning, rapidly and easily to leaf 
through the cards and thus to select the desired card. 
In order to prevent one or more cards on the top from being able to fall 
out, despite the spring tension by which the cards are retained, it is 
preferable that the holder is provided with a top wall which runs parallel 
to the bottom wall and extends between the top edges of front wall and 
rear wall and over only part of the gap between the two side walls. 
So as to retain the possibility of easily leafing through the cards despite 
the presence of a top wall, it is preferable that the top wall takes up 
only part of the available space between the top edges of front wall, rear 
wall and side walls, the residual opening preferably being sufficiently 
large for the user's thumb easily to fit in this gap. In particular, it is 
preferable that the residual opening is adjacent to one of the side walls, 
by which means the ease of use of the holder is promoted. 
It is preferable that the cards present in the holder have as little as 
possible mutual movement over one another, so as to prevent wearing of the 
cards. Holding the cards still is promoted by the fact that the inside of 
the top wall is provided with an uneven surface. Preferably, the holder is 
constructed in such a way that the inside of the top wall is provided with 
a ribbed surface, preferably with ribs parallel to the edges of the front 
and rear walls. The effect obtained by these means is that the cards are 
not able to move up and down in the longitudinal direction when they are 
clamped in the holder. The surface ribs on the top wall prevent this. 
The hinge about which the rear wall is able to hinge can be arranged in 
diverse locations. For example, it is possible to manufacture the bottom 
wall and the rear wall in one piece and to fit a hinge on the transition 
between the bottom wall and the front wall. It is also possible to allow 
only part of the bottom wall to hinge with the rear wall and therefore to 
fit the hinge somewhere in the bottom wall. However, it is preferable that 
the hinge about which the rear wall is able to hinge is located on the 
transition between the front wall and the bottom wall. 
The part of the rear wall which is able to hinge with respect to the 
remaining part can be situated in an arbitrary position in the rear wall. 
For example, a positioning such that said part abuts one of the side edges 
or the bottom edge is conceivable. However, in connection with the 
robustness and stability, it is preferable that, in the position in which 
the part is located in the plane of the rear wall, the said-part of the 
rear wall is surrounded on all sides by the remainder of the rear wall. 
Nevertheless, in some cases it is preferable that, in the position in which 
the part is located in the plane of the rear wall, the part of the rear 
wall adjoins one of the side walls.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
FIG. 2A shows a view of a holder according to the invention in which 
essentially the front wall, one of the side walls and the top wall are 
visible, whilst FIG. 2B shows the holder rotated through 180.degree., 
essentially the rear wall, the bottom wall and the other side wall being 
visible. The same reference numerals are used in both figures and these 
numerals also recur in FIGS. 3 and 4. 
In the figures the front wall is indicated by 10, the side walls are 
indicated by 12 and 14, the bottom wall is indicated by 16 and the rear 
wall is indicated by 18. In the embodiment shown it is assumed that the 
front wall 10 and the side walls 12 and 14 are joined to one another as a 
single whole. Furthermore, the bottom wall 16 and the rear wall 18 are 
joined to one another as a whole. The connection between the front wall 10 
and the bottom wall 16 is formed by a hinge 20 which is located on the 
angled transition between the bottom wall 16 and the front wall 10. As can 
also be seen in FIG. 2B, the rear wall 18 is provided with a section 22 
which is attached via a hinge 24 to the remaining part of the rear wall 
18. The hinged section 22 is pressed inwards by a spring 26. The spring 26 
is essentially U-shaped although the connecting arm makes an angle with 
the two main arms of the U-shape. The spring 26 clamps around the front 
wall 10, the rear wall 18 and the bottom wall 16 and therefore ensures 
that the hingeable section 22 is under pretension. In another embodiment, 
the hinged section 22, in the position in which the hinged section is in 
the plane of the rear wall 18, joins one of the side walls, as shown in 
FIG. 2 by the dotted lines. 
The holder is preferably also provided with a top wall 28, which at least 
is firmly joined to the front wall 10 and which extends over part of the 
space available for the top wall. The portion which is not taken up by the 
top wall offers a possibility for, as will be explained in more detail 
below, "leafing" through the stack of cards which can be stored in the 
holder. 
FIG. 3 shows a cross-section along the line III--III in FIG. 2A. It can be 
seen from FIG. 3 how four cards 30, 32, 34, 36 are stored in the holder 
and are held in place by the movable section 22 of the rear wall 18, which 
section 22 presses under pretension by the spring 26 against the bottom 
card 36 of the stack and thus presses the entire stack against the front 
wall 10. It can also be seen from the figure that the length of the cards 
30, 32, 34 and 36 essentially corresponds to the free space which is 
available between the bottom wall 16 and the top wall 28. Seen in FIG. 3, 
the position where the hinged section 22 of the bottom wall 18 presses 
against the stack of cards is fairly far towards the left. The right-hand 
ends of the cards consequently have a certain freedom of movement and, in 
particular, the right-hand end of the bottom card 36 would be able to 
start to slide down along the top wall 28. In order to prevent this 
sliding movement, the inside of the top wall 28 is provided with a rough 
surface. In particular, ribs are arranged on the inner surface of the top 
wall 28, which ribs run parallel to the cards. By means of said ribs, a 
sliding movement of the cards over the inside of the top wall 28 is 
effectively prevented. This risk does not exist at the bottom wall 16 and 
the inside of the bottom wall 16 can therefore be made smooth. 
FIG. 4 shows a further cross-section through the holder, in this case along 
the line IV--IV in FIG. 2A. This figure also indicates diagrammatically 
the position of the holder during "leafing through" the stock of cards 
which are stored in the holder. As a supplement to this, FIG. 5 shows a 
perspective view of an example of how the holder can be held by the user 
when leafing through. In this context it is pointed out that every user 
will rapidly develop his or her own "style of use" and that FIG. 5 is 
therefore given solely by way of example. 
As can be seen from FIG. 5 and 5A, the holder as a whole is held in one 
hand 40 in such a way that in any event the front wall 10 and the two side 
walls 12 and 14 are clamped between the thumb and fingers of said hand 40. 
The rear wall 18 remains essentially free. The leafing movement is carried 
out using the other hand 42. To this end the thumb 44 is placed on the 
exposed top edges of the stack of cards in the holder in the manner shown 
in FIG. 5. The cards, which are lying at a slope on one another, are then 
pulled a little outward together with the rear wall 18. During this 
operation, the index finger 46 of the hand can press against the movable 
section 22 of the rear wall 18 and/or against the spring 26 and so exert 
an additional pretensioning force on said wall section 22. As a result 
thereof, the cards are under additional tension, which further facilitates 
leafing through. If the thumb 44 is now gradually moved in the direction 
of the rear wall 18, the cards will spring back one by one to the position 
in which they were before the leafing movement. FIG. 4 shows the situation 
where cards 30 and 32 have returned to their original position, whilst 
cards 34 and 36 are still being held by the thumb. At this point, 
lettering on card 34 can easily be read. Should said card 34 prove to be 
the desired card, said card can easily be removed from the holder by 
initially moving the thumb 44 somewhat inwards and holding it firm on the 
surface of the card 34 and then moving the thumb 44 outwards, the card 34 
being taken with it. 
It will be clear that any desired card can be selected and removed from the 
holder in this way. In order to introduce cards into the holder it is 
necessary merely to pull the rear wall 18 together with the card (or 
cards) to be inserted in the holder sufficiently far outwards that there 
is adequate free space between the rear wall 18 and the top wall 28 to 
insert a card (or cards). If only the rear wall 18 is pulled outwards 
without pulling the cards, or at least some of the cards, present in the 
holder with it, the cards present in the holder will then remain pressed 
against the front wall as a consequence of the pressure which is exerted 
by the section 22, so that insertion of a new card is therefore not 
hindered. In order to facilitate insertion even further, it is preferable 
that the inner surface of the rear wall 18, including the inner surface of 
the movable section 22, is smooth or is optionally provided with a smooth 
coating, as a result of which insertion and extraction of cards is 
facilitated. 
However, it is also possible to insert a card in a specific position in the 
stack. To this end it is necessary to pull not only the rear wall 18 but 
also the stack of cards present in the holder outward using the thumb 
and/or the card to be inserted, in a similar way as in the case of the 
situation where the user wants to leaf through the stack of cards. By now 
leafing through the stack it is possible to determine the position where 
the card has to be inserted. As soon as this position is reached, leafing 
through is stopped and the card is pushed inward into the free space which 
is now available. Because the cards in the stack are somewhat offset with 
respect to one another, there is, just as in the case of ordinary leafing 
through, an interplay of forces between said cards, which ensures that the 
front cards remain pressed against the front wall 10 under the influence 
of spring 26 and the hingeable section 22 of the rear wall 18, whilst the 
cards which have to be behind the card to be inserted are pressed against 
the rear wall. 
The holder according to the invention is preferably manufactured by an 
injection moulding process. A preferred embodiment, in which all parts of 
the holder, with the exception of the spring 26, can be produced as a 
single injection-moulded component, is shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The 
injection-moulded component which is shown in FIG. 6A comprises, on the 
left of the figure, the front wall 10, the top wall 28 and parts of the 
two side walls, indicated by 12a and 14a, all of which are rigidly joined 
to one another. On the right, the rear wall 18, the bottom wall 16 and the 
remaining parts of the two side walls, indicated by 12b and 14b, are 
rigidly joined to one another. The hinge, about which the rear wall 18 is 
able to hinge, is in this case located between the front wall 10 and the 
bottom wall 16. The hinge is constructed as a film hinge, that is to say 
as a thin wall section which has sufficient flexibility to be able to 
serve as a hinge. A hinge construction of this type is also used to attach 
the movable section 22 hingeably to the remaining section of the rear wall 
18. The hinge 24 is thus also constructed as a film hinge. 
In FIG. 6B the left hand side of the injection-moulded component has been 
folded over the right-hand side by means of the hinge 20, the wall 
sections 12a and 12b and, respectively, 14a and 14b coming to lie in the 
extension of one another. In order to complete the assembly, the spring 26 
is then slid over the holder in order to be able to perform its function. 
The holder depicted in FIGS. 6A and 6B could also have been manufactured 
from two injection-molded parts, wherein the first injection-molded part 
comprises at least the front wall 10 and the top wall 28, and the second 
injectionmolded part comprises at least the rear wall 18 and the bottom 
wall 16. The relevant edges of the bottom wall and the front wall engage 
with one another to form the first hinge 20, while the hingable part 22 of 
the rear wall is joined to the remainder of the rear wall via a hinge 24. 
As is shown in FIG. 6B, it is preferable to make local cut-outs in the 
FRONT wall 10, in the bottom wall 16 and in the rear wall 18, the 
dimensions of said cut-outs essentially corresponding to the dimensions of 
the arms of the spring 26. The effect achieved by this means is that the 
spring, in the use position, is essentially located within the volume 
which is determined by the walls of the holder, so that the spring does 
not form a protruding part and the holder as a whole has as smooth as 
possible an outer surface. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide the 
two free ends of the arms of the spring 26 with fixing means by means of 
which the spring is held in place in the operational position. In FIGS. 3 
and 4 the ends of the arms of the spring are, as an example, provided with 
curled edges, indicated in FIG. 6B by 48a and 48b, which engage in 
corresponding cut-outs in the front wall 10 and, respectively, in the 
movable wall section 22. By this means the spring is secured in its 
position and detachment of the spring is prevented. It is also possible to 
make a hole in each of the arms of the spring, in which holes a 
protuberance on the front wall 10 and, respectively, rear wall 18 engages, 
so that the spring is secured. Other fixing means are possible and are 
assumed to be known per se to a person skilled in the art. 
As is also shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the wall section 12a is provided with 
a protruding ridge 50a and the wall section 12b is provided with a 
protruding ridge 50b. In the assembled state, which is shown in FIG. 6B, 
said ridges 50a and 50b ensure that the movement of the rear wall 18 about 
the hinge 20 is limited. The rear wall 18 can be pulled out of the holder 
until the two ridges impinge on one another. Similar ridges with a similar 
function are arranged on the wall sections 14a and 14b, which ridges are 
designated as 52a and 52b in FIG. 6A. 
In the above the use of film hinges is indicated for the hinges 20 and 24. 
However, it will be clear to a person skilled in the art that other hinge 
constructions can also be used without going beyond the scope of the 
invention. However, the use of a film hinge construction in general leads 
to a relatively inexpensive manufacturing process. 
In the above, reference has been made by way of example to the use of the 
holder for storing cards, in particular credit cards. However, it will be 
clear that the holder can also be used for other products, such as smart 
cards, diskettes, business cards and the like. In principle the holder can 
be used for flat products of essentially the same dimensions. 
It has been indicated above that the construction of the holder can be made 
relatively inexpensive, in particular if use is made of injection-moulded 
components. However, the invention is not restricted to this. It will be 
clear that other techniques, sometimes involving higher production costs, 
can be used, for example in order to produce "more luxurious" embodiments 
of the holder. 
No information has been given above with regard to the dimensions and the 
positioning of the hingeable wall section 22 of the rear wall 18. In 
general there are also no special requirements in this regard. In 
connection with the use of cards on which a magnetizable strip is 
arranged, it can, however, be preferable to select the position and 
dimensions of the movable section 22 in such a way that said section does 
not come into contact with the magnetizable strips in order to prevent 
damage to said strips. In connection with cards in which or on which 
electronic chips are arranged, it can likewise be preferable to select the 
position and dimensions of the section 22 as advantageously as possible.