Patent Publication Number: US-8991624-B2

Title: Greeting card highlighter

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/693,504, filed on Aug. 27, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is in the general field of retail merchandise displays, and more specifically, displays for highlighting seasonal consumer products such as greeting card. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Greeting cards for various occasions such as birthday, anniversary, wedding, etc. typically have a general location in which they are displayed among various greeting card display fixtures. Due to the large variety of greeting cards that are offered in each category, many times entire display fixtures are dedicated to cards specific to a particular occasion or event. However, some seasonal greeting cards or special product collections don&#39;t typically have a specific location or home among the categorized greeting cards on a conventional or generic greeting card fixture. The variety of seasonal or special collection greeting cards offered is much smaller in number than those in the general greeting card categories and as such, they don&#39;t have a specific location on such a display where consumers may readily locate them. These greeting cards may become lost or otherwise difficult to locate among the vast number of greeting cards offered on a single greeting card display. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention discloses a greeting card highlighter for organizing greeting cards into particularized groupings and displaying the greeting cards on a larger fixture in a manner which attracts the attention of consumers. The greeting card highlighter may contain two or more greeting card pockets which are operative to hold a plurality of greeting cards. The pockets may be arranged in a back-to-back arrangement, perpendicular to the main greeting card display to which the highlighter is attached, so as to attract the attention of consumers walking up or down a greeting card aisle. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the greeting card highlighter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the left side of the main panel of the greeting card highlighter of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the right side of the main panel of the greeting card highlighter of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a divider clip of the greeting card highlighter of the  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a card pocket die cut of the greeting card highlighter of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a gripper channel of the greeting card highlighter of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of the greeting card highlighter of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS 
     The greeting card highlighter  100  (also referred to herein as “highlighter”) of the present disclosure and related inventions is typically used in combination with a multi-tiered greeting card display having multiple rows containing greeting card pockets for containing and displaying a plurality of greeting cards. The highlighter  100  can be removably attached to one or more pockets of a greeting card display to highlight one or more sets of greeting cards. Seasonal greeting cards, a new line of greeting cards, or particularly trendy or popular line of greeting cards may be displayed on the highlighter to attract the attention of consumers. 
     The highlighter  100  includes a main panel  10  onto which one or more greeting card pockets  12  are attached, one or more divider clips  14  and one or more gripper channels  16 . In a preferred embodiment, the main panel  10 , shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , is a single plastic moulded piece having two card backing panels  11  positioned in a staggered arrangement and an attachment portion  13  for facilitating attachment of the highlighter to a larger tiered greeting card display. Each backing panel  10 A is double-sided so that each of the features described below as with respect to one side of the channel, exists as a mirror image on the opposite side of the backing panel  10 A. In a preferred embodiment, each backing panel  11  is approximately 6.75 inches wide and 9.1 inches tall. The backing panels  11  contain a back panel  11 A and three side edge panels  11 B which are positioned perpendicular to the back panel  11 A. The back panel  11 A serves as the back of a greeting card pocket and the three side edge panels  11 B serve as support for the floor, and two side walls of a greeting card pocket. Each side panel  11 B, in a preferred embodiment, is approximately one-inch wide. The card backing panels  11  also have a horizontal slit or elongate openings  11 C proximate to a bottom edge of each card backing panel  11  and two vertical slits or elongate openings  11 D, each vertical slit  11 D proximate to opposing side edges  11 B of the backing panel  11 , all of which facilitate attachment of a flexible die cut greeting card pocket  12 . Proximate to an inner edge of each backing panel are one or more vertical slits or elongate openings  11 E into which a card divider  14  may be inserted. Two clips or channels  11 F are moulded into each side of each backing panel  11  with an opening to the left and into which reorder cards or other merchandising materials may be inserted and held at the back of each greeting card pocket. In a preferred embodiment, each clip or channel  11 F is approximately 0.4 inches wide. The attachment portion  13  of the main panel  10  is located to adjacent to one backing panel  11 B and below the other backing panel  11 B. The attachment portion  13  contains a clip  13 A arranged perpendicular to the main panel and having a downward facing u-shaped channel which is operative to clip downward onto the front of a larger greeting card tier display. The attachment portion  13  of the main panel  10  additionally contains an elongate vertical slit or channel  13 B extending upward from the bottom of the main panel and a larger channel  11 C further inward of the vertical slit  13 B. The vertical slit  13 B allows a portion of the greeting card highlighter  100  to be inserted into the front wall of a greeting card pocket which is located below the greeting card pocket onto which the downward facing u-shaped channel  13 A is attached while the larger channel  13 C fits over the entire card tier below the greeting card pocket onto which the vertical slit  13 B is inserted. In a preferred embodiment, the entire main panel  10  is approximately 11-inches wide and 17-inches tall. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , a divider clip  14  is an L-shaped attachment having a hook or channel which attaches to one of the vertical slits  11 E or openings located proximate to an inner edge of each backing panel  11 A. The divider clips  14  are used to narrow the side of the card pocket for greeting cards which are oriented in a traditional portrait position so that the group of greeting cards and envelopes placed therein are not scattered about the pocket but instead neatly contained in a front facing stack. For traditional landscape positioned greeting cards, the divider clip  14  can be easily removed to accommodate the larger width of the greeting card. In a preferred embodiment, each divider clip  14  is approximately 0.7 inches wide and 1.125 inches tall. 
     A card pocket die cut  12  is shown in  FIG. 5 . The card pocket die cut  12  is made of a flexible material having three score lines  12 A, one score line  12 A across the bottom of the die cut and one score line  12 A proximate to each side edge of the die cut  12 . Each opposing vertical side edge of the die cut contains a slot or hook  12 B and the bottom edge contains a tab  12 C. When the die cut  12  is folded along each of the three fold lines  12 A, the two slots or hooks  12 B are inserted into and attached to the vertical slits or openings  11 D proximate to each edge of a card backing panel  11 A and the tab  12 C is inserted into the horizontal slit or opening  11 C along the bottom edge of the card backing panel  11 . The card backing panel  11  and the folded and attached die cut  12  combine to form a single greeting card pocket. In a preferred embodiment, the entire card pocket die cut  12  is approximately 8.4-inches wide and 4.4-inches tall. 
     Additionally, the gripper channel  16  shown in  FIG. 6  can be used to attach signage  18  or other advertisements to the main panel  10  of the greeting card highlighter  100  of the present invention. The gripper channel  16  is a small H-shaped piece having ridges contained on the inner surface thereof. Two grippers  16  may be used to hold a single sign  18  at the front of the greeting card highlighter  100 . One gripper  16  may be attached to the top surface of the lower card backing panel  11 A and one gripper  16  may be attached to the outer side surface of the upper card backing panel  11 A, as shown in  FIG. 1 . The gripper channels  16  are optional components as they can be removed from the highlighter  100  if no sign or advertisement panel is desired. 
     While certain shapes, configurations, sizes and dimensions have been given with respect to a preferred embodiment, other shapes, configurations, sizes and dimensions may be used, have been contemplated and are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Other features and aspects of this invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art upon reading and comprehending this disclosure. Such features, aspects, and expected variations and modifications of the reported results and examples are clearly within the scope of the invention where the invention is limited solely by the scope of the following claims.