Pop-up rolling greeting card

A pop-up, self-supporting, rolling greeting card includes a pop-up polyhedron with opposing end panels to which are mounted circular panels for supporting the card on its end in a rolling configuration. The polyhedron is collapsible into a generally flattened configuration to facilitate placing the card in an envelope and sending it through the mail or the like.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Many different styles and designs for greeting cards have been developed 
over the years and are used for announcing parties, conveying greetings, 
and for otherwise communicating feelings or emotions. To enhance its 
utility, designs for greeting cards range from the ordinary to the 
sublime. Some of these designs seek to heighten the appeal and 
presentation made by offering some mechanical movement inside the card 
itself. For example, we are all familiar with greeting cards which, when 
opened, have a fold-out into a three-dimensional figure. Additionally, 
cards have been made which can be assembled into various ornamental 
objects. Still other techniques have been used by card makers in the prior 
art to add a bit of interest to the card and enhance the card's ability to 
convey a particular meaning or feeling through a card design which goes 
beyond the simple flat folded configuration of the majority of cards 
presently being sold today. 
While card designers have made attempts at incorporating paper folding, 
cut-out, and assembling techniques to improve the versatility of greeting 
cards, these have all been met with varied response. With a greeting card, 
expense can be a major factor. This limits the card designer as special, 
intricate designs require special treatment and, hence, increased costs 
due to limited production runs. Therefore, cards which have been designed 
to include mechanical features as described above are limited in their 
application and their salability. 
The inventor herein has succeeded in designing and developing an ornamental 
greeting card which incorporates an interesting mechanical "pop-up" 
feature along with a free rolling, self-supporting design, all at reduced 
cost thereby making the card more desirable as being more salable than 
other designs in the prior art. In essence, the pop-up, self-supporting, 
rolling greeting card of the present invention includes a first portion 
which is comprised of a pop-up polyhedron which is, in and of itself, 
presently well known in the prior art and which is readily available in 
large numbers at minimal cost due to its present use in connection with 
different novelty items. A machine for the commercial manufacture of 
pop-up polyhedrons is disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,391. 
A pop-up polyhedron is characterized by a plurality of side flaps which 
are folded and which collapse on themselves to permit a configuration of 
the polyhedron in a flat orientation. One or more rubber bands extend 
between flaps on opposite sides of the polyhedron and provide the "pop-up" 
action by pulling the side flaps together to thereby unfold them and move 
the end panels into a spaced-apart configuration. By fixing a pair of 
circular panels to each of the pop-up polyhedron's end panels, the pop-up 
polyhedron will hold these circular panels substantially parallel and 
fixed in a spaced-apart relationship to provide a self-supporting base for 
the card. Additionally, as the circular panels have a round periphery, the 
card is free-rolling. 
Although the pop-up polyhedron as described herein as the preferred 
embodiment is contemplated by the inventor as providing a low-cost card 
with "action" and which can be rolled after being withdrawn from the 
envelope, other structures can be interposed between the circular panels 
forming the wheels. For example, a folded and die cut box may be 
interposed between the circular panels and folded flat such that when the 
recipient withdrew the card from its envelope, it could be readily 
assembled by unfolding the box and inserting flaps into openings as is 
commonly done with simple cardboard cartons. Still another variation would 
be to provide two-ply paperboard or the like with one ply being scored or 
cut and folded such that when the card is removed from the envelope, the 
remaining ply would have a tendency to separate the circular panels. Other 
structures could also be used between the two circles in order to achieve 
the "pop-up" feature desired or which not necessarily "pops up" but 
instead may be assembled into the functional equivalent of an axle for 
separating the circular panels such that the circular panels become 
self-supporting. 
In use, ornamentation may be placed on one or both of the circular panels 
along with an appropriate greeting, invitation, or the like. The circular 
panels provide a convenient surface to squeeze the polyhedron flat such 
that the card may be inserted in an envelope for mailing, or the like. As 
such, the recipient of the card has little advance indication that the 
envelope contains anything other than a standard greeting card. However, 
when the card is removed from the envelope, the pop-up polyhedron snaps 
the circular panels apart to provide impact to the message being conveyed 
to the recipient. Additionally, the circular panels provide a rolling 
feature for the card which adds to a recipient's enjoyment thereof such 
that the card may be kept as a graphic piece of artwork to provide 
amusement and enjoyment in and of itself. Therefore, the greeting card 
serves not only to convey an appropriate message, invitation or the like, 
but also, is a piece of art in and of itself which provides amusement and 
enjoyment beyond that of a typical greeting card. Additionally, the 
structural nature of the greeting card provides more opportunity for 
creativity by the card designer in conveying the desired message. For 
example, additional surfaces are available for use by the card designer 
and a rolling motion can be incorporated into a card designer's scheme for 
conveying the intended message. 
While the more important features of the invention have been briefly 
described above, a fuller understanding of the invention may be attained 
by referring to the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment 
which follow.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the self-supporting, free-rolling, pop-up 
greeting card 20 of the present invention includes a pair of circular 
panels 22, 24 separated by a pop-up polyhedron 26, polyhedron 26 itself 
being comprised of a plurality of side flaps 28. The circular panels 22, 
24 are held in a spaced apart configuration and are substantially adjacent 
as shown in FIG. 1, while they are separated as shown in FIG. 2 as the 
pop-up polyhedron 26 moves from its substantially flattened configuration 
to its upright configuration. As shown in greater detail in FIG. 3, the 
polyhedron 26 is made from a pair of cutouts 30, 32 with cutouts 30, 32 
being identical in shape. The cutouts 30, 32 each have a flattened end 
panel 34, 36 which serve as the mounting location for circular panels 22, 
24, respectively. The cutouts 30, 32 have a plurality of side flap members 
38 which are glued together along an inside flat surface 40 to form each 
of the side flaps 28. Thus, there is a space formed between side flaps 28 
as the polyhedron 26 is moved into its flattened configuration as best 
shown in FIG. 1. In order to provide a force to "pop-up" the polyhedron 
26, one or more elastic bands or rubber bands 42 are threaded through 
slots 44 and secured in holes 46 formed in inside flaps 40. Thus, rubber 
bands 42 are completely disposed within the inside of polyhedron 26 such 
that they are not readily visible and therefore do not detract from the 
ornamental appearance of the greeting card 20. 
In operation, the greeting card 20 as shown in its flattened configuration 
of FIG. 1 is inserted into an envelope or the like (not shown) and 
addressed to an intended recipient. Upon its receipt, the recipient opens 
the envelope and can view the greeting card 20 in its flattened 
configuration inside the envelope. Thus, upon its receipt and even its 
initial opening, the recipient does not suspect that the greeting card has 
any mechanical feature. Thus, it is with an element of pleasant surprise 
and enjoyment that when the greeting card 20 is removed from its confining 
envelope, the polyhedron "pops up" to separate the two circular panels in 
the recipient's hands. This provides an element of surprise and again 
enhances the recipient's enjoyment in receiving the card. With only the 
slightest bit of imagination, the recipient will then discover that by 
placing the card on any generally flat surface, the card becomes a 
self-supporting, free-wheeling toy which is both functional and yet 
ornamental. Thus, the self-supporting, pop-up, rolling greeting card of 
the present invention not only heightens the recipient's interest in the 
message being conveyed thereby, but is also sufficiently ornamental and 
unique to serve as a memento of the occasion or event being announced long 
after it has transpired. All of this leads to the card's ornamental 
usefulness, its artistic and graphical appearance, and utility both from 
the sender's and the recipient's viewpoint. 
There are various changes and modifications which may be made to the 
invention as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. As discussed 
above, the present invention need not necessarily be limited to a pop-up 
polyhedron for separating the circles which form the wheels of the rolling 
greeting card of the present invention. Alternately, structure which could 
be readily assembled by the recipient could be used, as well as various 
compressed paper structures which would provide a separating force between 
the circular panels after the card has been removed from an envelope. 
These changes or modifications are included in the teaching of the 
disclosure, and it is intended that the invention be limited only by the 
scope of the claims appended hereto.