Patent Publication Number: US-2023137994-A1

Title: Dual-purpose greeting card and washcloth

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     The present disclosure claims priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/273,992, filed on Oct. 31, 2021, and U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/285,846, filed on Dec. 3, 2021, both of which are fully incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a dual-purpose greeting card that is suitable for use as a dishcloth for wiping a surface. 
     BACKGROUND 
     During any celebration or occasion, sending and receiving cards has been a way to express our love and gratitude. In a year, thousands of cards are being exchanged leading to the generation of the massive amount of carbon footprint from the paper and other non-biodegradable and non-recyclable materials. One drawback of cards is that they are typically exchanged and enjoyed for a very brief time and then typically thrown away and thus become useless only after a single use, which is undesirable. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a greeting card that can be eco-friendly. 
     SUMMARY 
     To address the foregoing problems, in whole or in part, and/or other problems that may have been observed by persons skilled in the art, the present disclosure provides compositions and methods as described by way of example as set forth below. 
     A dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth is provided, comprising one or more layers of absorbent, washable, reusable, recyclable, and biodegradable fabric material, wherein the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth further comprises:
     a) a first surface defining an inner surface configured to enable a user to write a message thereon; and   b) a second surface arranged opposite to the first surface, wherein the second surface defines an outer surface comprising one or more illustrations.   
 In some embodiments, the fabric material comprises cellulose, cotton, and/or microfibers. In other embodiments, the fabric material is wettable with a liquid, particularly wherein the liquid is water and/or a cleaning agent. In other embodiments, the one or more illustrations are printed, painted, or dyed onto the outer surface.
     In other embodiments, the dual-purpose greeting card comprises a substantially rectangular shape, a pair of lateral sides, a pair of longitudinal sides extending between the lateral sides, and a fold line arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal sides and that divides the lateral sides into two flaps. In other embodiments, when the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth is folded along the fold line, the first surface is divided into two portions that are arranged facing each other. In other embodiments, the fold line is a center line dividing the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth into two equal halves. In other embodiments, the fold line is an offset from the center line dividing the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth into two unequal parts. 
     Additional features of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Having thus described the subject matter of the present invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a perspective view of a greeting card disposed in a folded configuration; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a top view of the greeting card depicting an inner surface of the greeting card; and 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a top view of the greeting card depicting an outer surface of the greeting card. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The subject matter of the present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the subject matter of the present invention are shown. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. The subject matter of the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Indeed, many modifications and other embodiments of the subject matter of the present invention set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which the subject matter of the present invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that the subject matter of the present invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. 
     Dual-Purpose Greeting Card 
     A dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth is provided, comprising one or more layers of absorbent, washable, reusable, recyclable, and biodegradable fabric material, wherein the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth further comprises:
     a) a first surface defining an inner surface configured to enable a user to write a message thereon;   b) a second surface arranged opposite to the first surface, wherein the second surface defines an outer surface comprising one or more illustrations.   
 In some embodiments, the fabric material comprises cellulose, cotton, and/or microfibers. In other embodiments, the fabric material is wettable with a liquid, particularly wherein the liquid is water and/or a cleaning agent. In other embodiments, the one or more illustrations are printed, painted, or dyed onto the outer surface.
     In other embodiments, the dual-purpose greeting card comprises a substantially rectangular shape, a pair of lateral sides, a pair of longitudinal sides extending between the lateral sides, and a fold line arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal sides and that divides the lateral sides into two flaps. In other embodiments, when the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth is folded along the fold line, the first surface is divided into two portions that are arranged facing each other. In other embodiments, the fold line is a center line dividing the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth into two equal halves. In other embodiments, the fold line is an offset from the center line dividing the dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth into two unequal parts. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1  to  3   , a dual-purpose greeting card and dishcloth  100  (hereinafter referred to as card  100 ) is shown, suitable for being used as a greeting card as well as a dishcloth for cleaning or wiping a surface. The card  100  is made of absorbent fabric material, for example, washable cellulosic fabric, and can be reused multiple times and is easy recycled. In an embodiment, the card  100  may include multiple layers of different materials. The fabric material may include a mixture of cellulose, cotton, and microfibers to facilitate an absorption of liquid and/or removal of dirt from the surface. In an embodiment, the card  100  is made of biodegradable material. 
     The card  100  includes a first surface  104  (shown in  FIGS.  1  and  2   ) defining an inner surface  108  of the card  100 , and a second surface  112  (shown in  FIGS.  1  and  3   ) arranged opposite to the first surface  104 . The second surface  112  defines the outer surface  116  of the card  100 . The first surface  104  generally includes a white texture to facilitate the writing of a message by a user, while the second surface  112  includes one or more decorative illustrations  118  to augment the aesthetic look and appeal of the card. In an embodiment, the second surface  112  of the card  100  may be printed, painted, dyed, etc., to provide the illustrations  118  on the card  100 . In some embodiments, the second surface  112  of the card  100  is defined by a first layer made of materials on which illustrations can be provided easily, while the first surface  104  is defined by a second layer made of materials having dirt removal and wiping properties. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2  and  3   , the card  100  includes a substantially rectangular shape having a pair of lateral sides  120 ,  124  and a pair of longitudinal sides  128 ,  132  extending between the lateral sides  120 ,  124 . Also, the card  100  includes a fold line  140   arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal sides  128 ,  132  and that divides the lateral sides  120 ,  124  into two parts. Accordingly, a fold line  140  divides the card  100  into two portions  150 ,  152  that define the two flaps of the card  100  when the card  100  is folded along the fold line  140  (as shown in  FIG.  1   ). The card  100  is folded along the fold line such that the two portions of the first surface  104  are arranged facing each other. In such an arrangement, the second surface  112  of the card  100  defines the outer surfaces of the flaps. In an embodiment, the fold line  140  is a center line dividing the card  100  into two equal halves. In an embodiment, the fold line  140  may be offset from the center line of the card  100 . 
     For using the card  100  as dishcloth, the flaps are straightened, and the surface is wiped. In some scenarios, the card  100  can be wet with a liquid, such as water, cleaning agent, for cleaning the surface. As the card  100  is made of fabric containing cellulose, the card can be washed to remove the dirt and can be reused for cleaning. 
     The application and the advantages of the card  100  is now explained. The card  100  facilitates the purpose of gifting and creates special movements for loved ones. In addition, the card  100  is used for cleaning. Further, the card  100  may be hand washed and dried or may be washed in a washing machine, a dishwasher, or a tumble dry technique to facilitate the cleaning and drying of the card  100 . In addition, the biodegradable nature of the cellulose facilitates the biodegradation of the card  100  and eliminates the chances of any pollution of the landfills while decomposing the card  100 . 
     General Definitions 
     Following long-standing patent law convention, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” refer to “one or more” when used in this application, including the claims. Thus, for example, reference to “a subject” includes a plurality of subjects, unless the context clearly is to the contrary (e.g., a plurality of subjects), and so forth. 
     Throughout this specification and the claims, the terms “comprise,” “comprises,” and “comprising” are used in a non-exclusive sense, except where the context requires otherwise. Likewise, the term “include” and its grammatical variants are intended to be non-limiting, such that recitation of items in a list is not to the exclusion of other like items that can be substituted or added to the listed items. 
     For the purposes of this specification and appended claims, unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, sizes, dimensions, proportions, shapes, formulations, parameters, percentages, quantities, characteristics, and other numerical values used in the specification and claims, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about” even though the term “about” may not expressly appear with the value, amount, or range. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are not and need not be exact, but may be approximate and/or larger or smaller as desired, reflecting tolerances, conversion factors, rounding off, measurement error and the like, and other factors known to those of skill in the art depending on the desired properties sought to be obtained by the subject matter of the present invention. For example, the term “about,” when referring to a value can be meant to encompass variations of, in some embodiments ± 100%, in some embodiments ± 50%, in some embodiments ± 20%, in some embodiments ± 10%, in some embodiments ± 5%, in some embodiments ± 1%, in some embodiments ± 0.5%, and in some embodiments ± 0.1% from the specified amount, as such variations are appropriate to perform the disclosed methods or employ the disclosed compositions. 
     Further, the term “about” when used in connection with one or more numbers or numerical ranges, should be understood to refer to all such numbers, including all numbers in a range and modifies that range by extending the boundaries above and below the numerical values set forth. The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers, e.g., whole integers, including fractions thereof, subsumed within that range (for example, the recitation of 1 to 5 includes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as well as fractions thereof, e.g., 1.5, 2.25, 3.75, 4.1, and the like) and any range within that range. 
     All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of those skilled in the art to which the presently disclosed subject matter pertains. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent application, patent, and other reference was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. It will be understood that, although a number of patent applications, patents, and other references are referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents forms part of the common general knowledge in the art. 
     Although the foregoing subject matter has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that certain changes and modifications can be practiced within the scope of the appended claims.