Abstract:
Gift card forms and methods of making and using gift card forms are disclosed. The gift card form permits uniquely messaging each gift card. An appropriate gift card form can be printed at a time after manufacturing to allow a vendor to personalize the gift card. Additionally, order information, such as billing information, can be printed on the gift card form at the same time that the gift card is personalized. The gift card form can be kept as a record with the order information.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/222,455, filed Aug. 2, 2000. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to gift cards and gift card forms and, more particularly, to such a gift card and gift card form and a method of fabricating and using a gift card and a gift card form. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The emergence of the Internet, the popularity of mail order shopping, and e-commerce in general have created a need for personalized gift cards to be included with shipments to identify the senders of gifts to the recipients. Increasingly, people are gift shopping by using e-commerce including purchasing gifts using the Internet and purchasing gifts from catalogs. While this is convenient for the shopper, a problem encountered is that the recipient of a gift shipped directly from a retailer does not know who sent the gift unless there is something in the packaging identifying the gift sender. Current methods of identifying a donor include the use of letters or forms, written notes, written cards, notes on packing slips and loose inserts that are packed with the gift identifying the gift sender. However, these methods may fail to provide adequate identification, fail to bestow the decorativeness generally desired by gift senders, and fail to convey the intentions of the gift sender in sending the gift. The gift recipient may misidentify the gift sender using the current methods, or may fail to understand the reason for the gift. Not infrequently, a loose note or card may be entirely overlooked by the gift recipient. 
     Another prior art approach has been for the gift sender to mail a gift card separately to the gift recipient, notifying the recipient that a gift is coming. Such a separate card will likely not arrive at the same time the gift arrives, and this can be confusing for the recipient. Thus, there is a need for an improved decorative gift card which can accompany a gift sent directly from a retailer. 
     SUMMARY 
     This need is met by a gift card form which includes a face ply and a liner ply that is selectively adhered to the face ply. The face ply includes a gift card defined by a die cut. The face ply has an upper surface and a lower surface. The liner ply is selectively adhered to the lower surface of the face ply and is removably adhered to the lower surface of the gift card. 
     A method of fabricating and using a gift card is disclosed. A gift card form as described above is provided. An upper surface of the face ply is imaged with a second message. The gift card is removed from the gift card form. The gift card is attached to a package. 
     The present invention provides for a gift card and gift card form that permit uniquely messaging each gift card. A gift card form can be printed at a time after manufacturing to allow a vendor to personalize the gift card. Additionally, order information, such as billing information, can be printed on the gift card form when the gift card is personalized. The gift card form can be kept as a record with the order information after the gift card is removed from the form and applied to the package. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1A illustrates a cross section of a gift card form according to one embodiment of the invention, taken along line  1 A— 1 A in FIG. 1B; 
     FIG. 1B illustrates a plan view of the gift card form of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 1C illustrates a plan view of the gift card after removal from the form shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B; 
     FIG. 2A illustrates a cross section of a gift card form according to another embodiment of the invention, taken along line  2 A— 2 A in FIG. 2B; 
     FIG. 2B illustrates a plan view of the gift card form of FIG. 2A; and 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a method of fabricating and using a gift tag according to one embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a gift card form according to one embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 1C is a plan view of the gift card  114  after removal from the form. FIG. 1A is a cross section of the gift card form, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the gift card form. The gift card form  100  is a two ply construction, and comprises a face ply  101  having a die cut  105 , an adhesive  102 , silicon coating  103 , and liner ply  104 . The face ply or upper ply  101  may be comprised of a heavy weight decorative paper or file card stock. However, other printable or imageable materials may be used. In this embodiment, the thickness of the face ply  101  is preferably 7-10 pt; however, it will be appreciated that other embodiments of the invention may have a thickness of a face ply that is not in this range. Optionally, the liner ply  104  ply may also be comprised of a printable material. The liner ply  104  may be made of regular paper, heavy weight paper, card stock, or a polymer film such as polyester, polypropylene or polystyrene, or the like. The liner ply  104  may have substantially the same dimensions as the face ply  101 , and may preferably have a thickness of 2.5-5 mil, which is typical for conventional liners. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention may also utilize a liner having a thickness outside of this range. The face ply  101  has an upper surface  106  and a lower surface  107 . The lower surface  107  is laminated toward the liner ply  104  and the upper surface  106  is positioned facing away from the liner ply  104 . The upper surface  106  and the lower surface  107  of the face ply  101  may be printed or imaged with conventional press inks. Either the upper surface  106  or the lower surface  107  of the face ply  101  may be decorated with a foil material, and transparent inks can be printed over the foil to change its color, if desired. 
     A die cut  105  in face ply  101  defines a gift card  114 . The gift card  114  has an upper portion  111  and a lower portion  112  with a fold line  113  separating the upper portion  111  and the lower portion  112 . A pattern of adhesive  102  is applied between the plies  101  and  104  to hold the face ply  101  and the lower portion  112  of the card to the liner ply  104 . The liner ply  104  includes a spot of silicon release coating  103  on an area of the surface of the liner ply  104  which contacts with the adhesive applied to the lower portion  112  of the card. The adhesive  102  holds the gift card  114  to the liner ply  104  during processing. Further, the adhesive  102  attaches the card to a package after the gift card  114  has been processed and removed from the liner ply  104  and the balance of the face ply  101 . The spot of silicon release coating  103  permits the card to be removed from the lower ply  104  easily when the card is to be applied to a gift package. 
     The gift card  114  can have any shape desired. A variety of designs and shapes of cards may be used with this embodiment. For example, a red heart shape, a green Christmas tree or wreath, a birthday cake or the like may be used for the card. The gift card  114  may be embellished with embossing or with hot foil stamping on any surface. Further, transparent ink may be printed over foil to alter the color of the card. 
     One or more ties  120 , bridging the die cut  105 , hold the upper portion  111  to the balance of the face ply  101 . A score line or lines of perforation defines the fold line  113  which facilitates folding the card accurately. The adhesive  102  is preferably pressure sensitive adhesive and may be permanent adhesive, removable adhesive or repositionable adhesive, depending on the end use or application. Additionally, a slit  117  can be cut into the lower portion  112 . One or more ties  121 , bridging the die cut  105 , hold the lower portion  112  to the balance of the face ply  101 . When the card is folded over, a tab  116  can be inserted into slit  117  to help the card remain flat on a package during wrapping, packaging and shipping operations. The upper surface of the lower portion  112  is, generally, where a sender or donor message  115  is printed during processing. The message  115  can include a greeting, a recipient name, a donor name or the like. The gift card from  100  may be variably imaged by impact or non-impact printers. Exemplary non impact printer types include laser, inkjet, thermal, thermal transfer and ion deposition. The preferred print method is thermal transfer. 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a gift card form constructed according to another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2A is a cross sectional view of the gift card form taken along line  2 A— 2 A in FIG. 2B, a plan view of the gift card form. The gift card form is a two ply construction. The gift card form comprises a face ply  201 , an adhesive  202 , silicon release coating  203 , liner ply  204 , a die cut  205  defining gift card  214  and an order information region  210 . The face ply or upper ply  201  is comprised of a heavy weight, decorative paper or file card stock. In this embodiment, the thickness of the face ply  201  is preferably 7-10 pt; however, it will be appreciated that the face play in other versions of this embodiment of the invention may have a thickness not in this range. The liner ply  204  can also be comprised of a heavy weight paper or card stock. Alternatively, the liner ply  204  may be comprised of any other printable material. The liner ply  204  preferably has a thickness of 2.5-5 mils which is the thickness of typical conventional liners. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention may utilize a liner ply having a thickness outside of this range. The liner ply  204  has an upper surface  208  which is positioned facing towards the face ply  201 . 
     The liner ply  204  may have a width greater than the width of the face ply  201  to allow for printing on the order information region  210 . The order information area  210  is portion of the upper surface  208  of the liner ply  204  that is not covered by the face ply  201 . The order information area  210  can be printed or imaged during order processing, with billing information, donor or sender address and the like. After the gift card form is processed and the gift card  214  removed, the information in region  210  provides a record of the order. 
     The face ply  201  has an upper surface  206  and a preferably decorative, lower surface  207 . The lower surface  207  is laminated toward the liner ply  204  and the upper surface is positioned facing away from the liner ply  204 . The upper surface  206  and the lower surface  207  of the face ply  201  may be printed or imaged with conventional press inks. If the lower surface  207  of the face ply  201  has a foil layer, transparent inks can be printed over the foil to change it to various metallic colors. 
     The face ply  201  includes a gift card  214  having an upper portion  211  and a lower portion  212 . The gift card  214  may be embellished with embossing or with hot foil stamping on its lower surface, as shown in FIG. 1C. A pattern of adhesive  202  may be applied between the plies  201  and  204  to hold the face ply  201  and the lower portion  212  of the card to the liner ply  204 . The liner ply  204  includes a coating of silicon release material  203  on a portion of the surface of the liner ply  204 . The coating of silicon release material contacts the adhesive on the lower portion  212  of the card. The adhesive  202  holds the gift card  214  to the liner ply  204  during processing including printing, and then is used to attach the card to a package after the gift card  214  has been processed and removed from the face ply  201  and liner ply  204 . The coating of silicon release material  203  permits the card to be removed from the lower ply  204 . 
     The gift card  214  can have any overall shape desired, and a variety of designs and shapes of cards may be used with this embodiment. A die cut  205  defines the shape of the card  214  on the face ply  201 . One or more ties  220  hold the upper portion  211  to the rest of the face ply  201 . A score line or perforation line  213  may define a fold line, permitting the card to be folded over easily. The adhesive  202  is preferably pressure sensitive and it may be permanent adhesive, removable adhesive or repositionable adhesive depending on the end use or application. One or more ties  221  hold the lower portion  212  to the rest of the face ply  201 . Additionally, a slit  217  can be cut into the lower portion  212 , and a tab  216  provided in the upper portion  211 . The tab  216  can be inserted in slit  217  when the card is folded over, helping the card remain flat on a package during wrapping, packaging and shipping operations. The upper surface of the lower portion  212  is, generally, where a sender or donor message  215  is printed during processing. The message  215  may include a greeting, recipient name, donor name or the like. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates the method of fabricating and using a gift card form according to one embodiment of the present invention. A liner ply and a face ply are provided at block  301 . The face ply is imaged or embossed with a greeting or name on an upper surface, on a lower surface or on both prior to laminating the face ply and the liner ply at  302 . A spot of silicone release material is applied to an upper surface of the liner ply to permit an adhesive to adhere releasably to at least a portion of the upper surface of the liner ply at  304 . A lower or decorative surface of the face ply is at least partially laminated to the upper surface of the liner ply at  305  such that the card may be subsequently removed. The face ply is die cut to define the gift card at  303 . If desired, the face ply may be die cut according to a desired geometric shape of the card after lamination of the face ply and liner ply at  305 . The die cut area of the face ply comprises the perimeter or boundaries of the card. The spot of silicon permits a lower portion of the card to adhere releasably to the liner ply. A personalized message or greeting can be imaged or printed at  306  on the upper surface of the face ply. The message can be provided by the gift sender when the gift order is taken. The card is then detached at  307 . The card is folded over at  308  and attached to a package at  309 . The package may then be shipped to a recipient, and the recipient can easily identify the gift sender and gift sender intentions by reading the gift card. Since the card is adhesively attached to the gift, the likelihood of it becoming lost, overlooked or separated from the gift is significantly reduced. 
     Having described the present invention in detail and by reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.