Abstract:
A combination greeting card carrier and scanable card is provided which permits the scanable card to be pivoted between an initial position where the scanable card is displayed and has a scanable area thereon extending from the perimeter of the card in a first position and a second position where the scanable card is concealed. A hinge member pivotally connects the scanable card to the greeting card carrier. The greeting card carrier may include a recess in a front panel thereof to permit the scanable card to lay flat in its initial presentation. The greeting card carrier may include indicia conveying a preprinted desired sentiment which corresponds to the goods or services made available to the recipient when using the scanable card.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention concerns a greeting card which also serves as a carrier for a data carrying card having an encoded scanable area such as an activatable calling card. More particularly, it is concerned with such a card and its method of use, whereby an encoded strip on the card extends from the perimeter of the greeting card carrier for vending and reading, retracts to be within the perimeter for mailing and presentation to the recipient, and then extends to display the encoded card when the front panel of the greeting card is pivoted away from the back panel.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Greeting cards have long been used to convey congratulations or warm sentiment to recipients. A benefit of having preprinted greeting cards is that professional artwork and corresponding textual expression is provided to the purchaser, who may then add personal notes and/or sign the card. On many occasions, the sender of the card may include cash or a check as a present to the recipient. Some cards have been designed with special pockets to hold currency intended as a gift.  
           [0005]    While greeting cards are very popular, they are a somewhat detached form of communication. The greeting card provides a means of conveying sentiment and a message, but is not interactive. Often, the sender of a card, such as a parent or grandparent, would like to convey a gift but also be the recipient of a telephone call from the child or grandchild, for example.  
           [0006]    More recently, telephone calling cards have been manufactured and sold at retail. These telephone calling cards and the systems for their use are described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,275 and 5,918,909, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The telephone calling cards are typically displayed at retail attached to a cardboard panel which acts as a carrier. A portion of the telephone calling card carrying a magnetically encoded strip extends from the margin of the cardboard carrier. At the retail checkout stand, the telephone calling card is activated after the purchaser pays the required retail amount by “swiping” the encoded strip through an electronic reader. This activates the account for the card from a remote computer for a metered amount of telephone usage corresponding to the personal identification number or PIN particular to and identified on the card. This credits the account so that upon purchase, telephone usage is “prepaid”. The user then dials in the PIN in the process of using the card, with the usage being deducted from the computer-held account until exhausted. When the available number of minutes of usage have been exhausted, any calls in progress are automatically terminated, and no further calls can be initiated from that card unless additional minutes are purchased for that PIN. In the case of sample cards or other prepaid cards, an account may be created without the necessity of scanning the card upon purchase. While these encoded areas are typically magnetically encoded strips, the encoded areas may also be provided as optically scannable blocks may also be employed to carry the account information from which purchases of goods or services may be deducted.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a means of giving a gift account card which is convertible for other goods and services and may be purchased in combination with a greeting card.  
           [0008]    It is another object of the present invention to use a greeting card as a carrier for a card having a data encoded area whereby the encoded area card may be coupled to the greeting card to provide a single product for purchase and extend externally to the perimeter of the greeting card for activation, be retracted into a hidden position within the perimeter of the greeting card for mailing to the recipient, and then revealed when the greeting card is opened.  
           [0009]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a readily manufacturable and saleable combination greeting card and encoded area card which has lay-flat characteristics during shipping to the distributor or retailer, and avoiding excess packaging and waste.  
           [0010]    It is a further object to provide a greeting card which allows the sender to convey a prepaid telephone calling card, thereby facilitating and encouraging return interactive contact by the recipient to the sender.  
           [0011]    These and other objects have been largely met by the greeting card carrier for data scannable card of the present invention. By “scannable card”, it is understood that as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,909, the card itself is merely read by a scanner, but that an account corresponding to the card is activated after scanning at the point of purchase. The present invention provides a combined product which may be purchased as a unit at retail, thereby avoiding waste normally found in the provision of a separate carrier packaging for the scanable card. It satisfies the desire of the purchaser to convey a sentiment and gift. When the scanable card is a telephone calling card, it provides a potential return benefit to the sender of the greeting card carrier by suggesting, directly or subliminally, that the recipient should use the telephone calling card to contact the sender. The invention thus combines a greeting card and a telephone calling card to be regarded as a “give-me-a-call-card.” One benefit of the present invention is that the encoded card, once activated, may remain connected to the carrier but hidden between front and back panels during mailing and initial presentation to the recipient, whereupon opening of the card in a generally upright position causes the hingably mounted scanable card to extend for full display. In this way, the greeting card carrier of the present invention satisfies the desire for a sequential presentation with initial hiding of the gift which is then revealed only after opening, as well as providing interest by motion during opening.  
           [0012]    The greeting card carrier of the present invention broadly includes a carrier having a front panel and a rear panel connected along a hinge line, a hinge member, and a second card having a scanable data encoded area coupled by the hinge element to the carrier, whereby in a first extended position the scanable card has a portion extending outwardly from the perimeter of the panels of the carrier which bears the scanable area and a second retracted position is inward of the perimeter of the panels and hidden from view. The hinge element may be incorporated in one of the front and rear panels of the carrier, or alternatively provided separately and preferably includes an adhesive to hold the scanable card until removal is desired. The hinge element is preferably provided on the rear panel, so that the scanable card flips forwardly when the carrier is opened. The front panel may include a recessed area in the perimeter so that the activatable card is received in registry therewith in an initial position at the time of purchase to reveal the scanable area for scanning, and then moved into a concealed position by user so that the carrier readily fits within an envelope and the scanable card is concealed by the greeting card until the front panel is opened. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the greeting card carrier and scanable card of the present invention with the scanable card having a portion extending beyond the perimeter of the greeting card carrier for scanning at the time of purchase and account activation, the scanable area being on the back side of the scanable card and shown in dashed lines;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a right side elevational view of the greeting card carrier and scanable card of FIG. 1, showing the front panel of the carrier in an open position after opening along the hinge line and the scanable card pivoted on the hinge member into a position for concealment once the front panel is closed;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a front perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the appearance of the greeting card carrier when the scanable card is in the concealed position; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the greeting card carrier and the scanable card after the front panel is opened and the scanable card returns to the first position. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0017]    Referring now to the drawings, a combination greeting card carrier and scanable card  10  in accordance with the present invention broadly includes a greeting card carrier  12 , a scanable card  14 , and a hinge member  16  which releasably connects the scanable card  14  to the carrier  12  and allows the former to pivot relative to the latter.  
         [0018]    The greeting card carrier  12  typically includes an integral front panel  18  and a rear panel  20 , both preferably of paper, cardboard or plastic. The front panel  18  and rear panel  20  are foldably connected along a hinge line  22 . While an upright hinge line  22  is shown in the drawings, it may be appreciated that a transverse or horizontal hinge line  22  would also be appropriate. The front panel  18  includes a perimeter  24  which may optionally have a recess  26  cut out along the bottom margin  28 . The front panel  18  has a front face  30  on which indicia  32  such as artwork or text to make the carrier  12  appealing to the purchaser and recipient, and a rear face  34  which may also include indicia or remain blank. The rear panel  20  includes a perimeter  36  within which an inside face  38  against which the scanable card  14  is received, and a back face on the other side of the rear panel  20  which may be provided with printer&#39;s identification, pricing, bar-coding and other indicia. The area of the rear panel  20  is preferably greater than the area of the front panel  18  when the front panel  18  includes the recess  26 .  
         [0019]    The hinge member  16  may be formed from a tab cut in the rear panel  20  and provided with adhesive for temporarily holding the scanable card  14 , or by a separate member such as tape  40  provided with adhesive for attachment to both one of the front panel rear face  30  and the inside face  38  of the rear panel  20  and the scanable card  14 .  
         [0020]    The scanable card  14  is a preferably plastic or plastic-laminated having a surrounding edge  42  defining therein an area with a front face  44  and a back face  46 , either or both of which may have indicia  48  imprinted thereon to identify the account holder from which goods or services, such as telephone services, may be redeemed. The edge  42  includes a top edge  50 , a bottom edge  52 , and side edges  54  and  56 . The back face  46  is provided with a scanable area  58 , shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1. The scanable area  58  may be a magnetically encoded and readable strip, a bar code which is optically scanable, or an encoded radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip including a power source for causing the microchip to emit a signal or a transponder which emits a signal when interrogated. In the case of a telephone calling card, for example, a printed identification number corresponding to the scanable card  14  and a telephone number for accessing telephone service is also imprinted on one of the front face  44  and back face  46 .  
         [0021]    The hinge member  16  attaches the scanable card  14  to the greeting card carrier  12  in such a manner that the edge  42  of the scanable card  14  is initially nested within the recess  26  of the front panel  18  in an extended position, with the bottom edge  52  and the scanable area  58  extending beyond the bottom margin  28  and beyond the recess  26 , and also beyond the lower edge of the perimeter  36  of the rear panel  20 , as shown in FIG. 1. In this way, the scanable area  58  may be easily read by a scanner at the place of purchase to activate the account without the necessity of opening the front panel  18  relative to the rear panel  20  or other cumbersome positioning. The scanable card  14  is visibile to the purchaser, who would naturally wish to ensure that the scanable card is included at the time of purchase, and can see the indicia  48  identifying a source or provider of the services. Moreover, this positioning of the scanable card avoids overlap between the front panel  18  and the scanable card  14 , providing improved lay-flat characteristics. Thus, the hinge member  16  preferably connects the scanable card  14  to either the rear face  34  of the front panel  18  or the inside face  38  as illustrated in the drawings.  
         [0022]    After the combination greeting card carrier and scanable card  10  is purchased and activated, the purchaser pivots the scanable card  14  to the concealed position illustrated in FIG. 2 and in dashed lines in FIG. 4, whereby the scanable card  14  is no longer located in the recess  26 , but rather is pivoted up and out of the initial view of the recipient as shown in FIG. 3. This position allows a portion  60  of the rear panel  12  to be seen by the recipient during initial presentation. This portion  60  may be preprinted or receive an inscription of the purchaser which is then visible through the recess  26 . When the recipient unfolds the front panel  18  from the rear panel  20 , the hinge member  16  allows the scanable card  14  to drop from the concealed position as shown in dashed lines to the extended position as shown in solid lines in FIG. 4. When extended, the scanable card  14  is positioned to display the front face  44 , as well as any indicia  62  printed on the rear panel  20 &#39;s card-carrying face  38 . The recipient may then detach the card from the hinge member  16 . Because the scanable card&#39;s account was activated at the time of purchase, the recipient is ready to use the scanable card to purchase goods or services.  
         [0023]    The combination greeting card carrier and scanable card  10  in  10  accordance with the present invention thus facilitates the retail process and handling, the desire of the purchaser to convey a gift and a sentiment on a greeting card in a ready-to-use form, and makes use of the card easily accessible by the recipient. When a bar code corresponding to the product and price is printed on the back face of the rear panel  20 , the price for the combined product is easily accessed for inventory purposes for a single product, and the lay-flat characteristics enhance the shipping and storage capability as opposed to having two separate products. In the case of a telephone calling card, the purchaser/sender may encourage a return call from the recipient. The combination greeting card carrier and scanable card  10  makes an attractive presentation both at the point of purchase and satisfies a desire of the sender to conceal the contents of an envelope during shipping to avoid theft and at the time of initial presentation to provide a surprise to the recipient.  
         [0024]    Although preferred forms of the invention have been described above, it is to be recognized that such disclosure is by way of illustration only, and should not be utilized in a limiting sense in interpreting the scope of the present invention. For example as noted above, the rear panel  20  may be scored or cut and provided with adhesive for attachment of the scanable card  14  to the tab thereby created, the tab forming a hinge member  16  from the cardstock of the greeting card carrier  12  to allow the scanable card  14  to pivot from the extended position of FIG. 1 to the concealed position of FIGS. 2 and 3. In addition, the provision of recess  26 , while beneficial for facilitating marketing of the combination card hereof, such a recess is an optional rather than a necessary feature. Obvious modifications to the exemplary embodiments, as hereinabove set forth, could be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention.  
         [0025]    The inventor hereby states his intent to rely on the Doctrine of Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of his invention as pertains to any apparatus not materially departing from but outside the literal scope of the invention as set out in the following claims.