Business card dispensing holder

A holder for supporting a plurality of business cards relative to a vehicle. The inventive device includes a base plate having a mounting assembly for coupling to a vehicle. A dispensing assembly projects from the base plate and supports a plurality of stacked business cards for individual reception by a person.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to article dispensing structures and more 
particularly pertains to a business card dispensing holder for supporting 
a plurality of business cards relative to a vehicle. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The use of article dispensing structures is known in the prior art. More 
specifically, article dispensing structures heretofore devised and 
utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious 
structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs 
encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the 
fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. 
Known prior art article dispensing structures include U.S. Pat. Nos. 
4,887,739; 5,275,285; U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 324,883; 328,542; 343,638; and 
299,288. 
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and 
requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a business card 
dispensing holder for supporting a plurality of business cards relative to 
a vehicle which includes a base plate having a mounting assembly for 
coupling to a vehicle, and a dispensing assembly projecting from the base 
plate and supporting a plurality of stacked business cards for individual 
reception by a person. 
In these respects, the business card dispensing holder according to the 
present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and 
designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily 
developed for the purpose of supporting a plurality of business cards 
relative to a vehicle. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the disadvantages inherent in the known types of article 
dispensing structures now present in the prior art, the present invention 
provides a new business card dispensing holder construction wherein the 
same can be utilized for supporting a plurality of business cards relative 
to a vehicle for reception by a person. 
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a holder for 
supporting a plurality of business cards relative to a vehicle. The 
inventive device includes a base plate having a mounting assembly for 
coupling to a vehicle. A dispensing assembly projects from the base plate 
and supports a plurality of stacked business cards for individual 
reception by a person. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that 
follows may be better understood, and in order that the present 
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional 
features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which 
will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the 
scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar 
with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a 
cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of 
the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention 
of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to 
be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new business 
card dispensing holder which may be easily and efficiently manufactured 
and marketed. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new business 
card dispensing holder which is of a durable and reliable construction. 
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new 
business card dispensing holder which is susceptible of a low cost of 
manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly 
is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby 
making such business card dispensing holders economically available to the 
buying public. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new business 
card dispensing holder for supporting a plurality of business cards 
relative to a vehicle. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new business 
card dispensing holder which includes a base plate having a mounting 
assembly for coupling to a vehicle, and a dispensing assembly projecting 
from the base plate and supporting a plurality of stacked business cards 
for individual reception by a person. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1-7 thereof, 
a new business card dispensing holder embodying the principles and 
concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the 
reference numeral 10 will be described. 
More specifically, it will be noted that the business card dispensing 
holder 10 comprises a substantially rectangular base plate 12 and a 
mounting means 14 for securing the base plate 12 relative to a vehicle 16 
as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. A dispensing means 18 is 
secured to a front of the base plate 12 for supporting and permitting 
selective manual dispensing of business cards therefrom. By this 
structure, an individual may obtain a business card from an unattended 
vehicle as desired. 
As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 5, it can be shown that the mounting 
means 14 of the present invention 10 preferably comprises a depending lip 
20 formed along an upper edge of the base plate 12. The depending lip 20 
is shaped so as to project into a substantially spaced and parallel 
orientation relative to an interior surface of the base plate 12 such that 
a window of the vehicle 16 can be positioned therebetween as shown in FIG. 
1 of the drawings. Preferably, a protective backing 22 is coextensively 
positioned along the interior surface of the base plate 12 and extends 
along an interior surface of the depending lip 20 as well, as best 
illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings. By this structure, the base 
plate 12 can be suspended from an upper edge of a window of a vehicle 16 
as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. 
Alternatively, and as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the mounting means 
15 may simply comprise a plurality of fasteners 24 which are directed 
through unlabelled apertures in the base plate 12. The fasteners 24 are 
operable to be engaged to a portion of a vehicle 16, such as the truck 
illustrated in FIG. 2, and may comprise threaded fasteners such as screws 
or bolts, or alternatively may comprise rivets. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base plate 12 is preferably large enough 
such that indicia 26 can be printed thereon in the form of an 
advertisement or the like. The dispensing means 18 is thus preferably 
mounted proximal to a lower edge of the base plate 12 such that the 
indicia or advertisement 26 is readily viewable along a central upper 
portion of the base plate 12. 
Referring now to FIGS. 5 through 7 wherein the dispensing means 18 of the 
present invention 10 is illustrated in detail, it can be shown that the 
dispensing means 18 comprises a substantially rectangular perimeter frame 
28 secured to a front face of the base plate 12. A pocket member 30, as 
shown in FIG. 7, is mounted to the base plate 12 and positioned within the 
perimeter frame 28. A door 32, preferably constructed of a substantially 
transparent material, is pivotally mounted to a vertical lateral edge of 
the perimeter frame 28 by a hinge 34 extending therebetween. A vertical 
sealing strip 36 extends along a portion of the perimeter frame 28 
proximal to the hinge 34 and cooperates with upper and lower horizontal 
sealing strips 38 and 40 extending along upper and lower horizontal 
portions of the perimeter frame 28 to enclose a hollow interior 42 of the 
dispensing means 18 within which the pocket member 30 resides. To maintain 
the door 32 in a normally closed configuration, cooperative sections of 
hook and loop material 44 are interposed between a lateral edge of the 
door and a lateral portion of the perimeter frame 28. A knob 46 is secured 
to the door and projects exteriorly thereof to facilitate manual 
manipulation or pivoting of the door during placement or retrieval of 
business cards from the pocket member 30. By this structure, a plurality 
of stacked business cards can be positioned into the hollow interior 42 of 
the dispensing means 18 so as to reside within the pocket member 30, with 
the door 32 being selectively closed to secure the business cards within 
the dispensing means 18. An individual desiring to remove one or more of 
the business cards from the pocket member 30 can thus simply open the door 
32 and subsequently grasp and remove a single business card from the 
pocket member 30 as desired. 
In use, the business card dispensing holder 10 according to the present 
invention can be easily secured to an exterior surface of a vehicle 16 as 
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. Thus, an individual desiring 
information about an associated business can read such information from 
the ad 26 printed on the base plate 12, and obtain a business card 
relating to the associating business from the dispensing means 18 as 
described above. 
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the 
present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. 
Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and 
operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to 
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of 
operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to 
one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those 
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are 
intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and 
described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may 
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.