Patent Abstract:
A gift card holder including a carrier panel for holding a removably attached gift card and a flap attached forward of the carrier panel to cover and obscure the gift card when the holder is presented for sale. The flap may include decorative elements or information and may include additional flaps or pages to form a greeting card or booklet.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of the prior filed, provisional application Ser. No. 61/228,248, filed Jul. 24, 2009. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to gift cards and more particularly to a device for holding and displaying gift cards while providing indicia and/or audio recordings selected or provided by the purchaser to personalize the gift. 
     Transaction cards, stored value cards, or gift cards as they are commonly called based upon their intended use, have become popular gifts. Gift cards typically comprise a stored value card whereby a certain cash equivalent value is encoded upon a magnet strip applied to the surface of the card. This stored value may be determined by the vendor prior to packaging and display for sale or, more commonly, is selected at the point of sale by the purchaser and loaded by the cashier using a magnet card reader/writer. While popular, gift cards are typically provided with a generic and impersonal design, typically identifying only the associated merchant for which the card may be used to purchase merchandise, and therefore are not personalized in view of the intended recipient. 
     Gift cards are often presented for sale on display racks in stores. The cards are typically attached to a carrier panel via removable adhesive or plastic wrap and the carrier panel is hung upon a display stand peg. Alternatively, gift cards may be sold in a packet. A given area of a store will only support a certain number and size of display stands, given store traffic and other considerations, which makes allocation of display space an important marketing decision that may require selecting only certain high selling cards for display. Display of other items in the same store area will typically reduce the substantially finite space available for displaying gift cards. 
     In addition to the above considerations, gift cards must fit within a set allocated space in pre-existing displays. A gift card carrier panel or packet must not exceed 5.25″ tall and 4″ wide. These dimensions are an industry standard and are typically non-negotiable. In addition, for gift cards that use barcodes the carrier panel must have a 0.75″ tall×3.125″ wide die cut window to provide access to the C128 barcode on the gift card when affixed to the carrier. In order to properly hang each gift card, carrier panels or associated hang tags must also include a J-hook hole (sombrero cut) with the exact dimensions of 1.875″ wide by 0.5″ high and be placed 0.1875″ from the top of the carrier panel or hang tag. Presently, the above requirements pertain to approximately 95% of all gift cards that are sold at retail. 
     What is needed, therefore, particularly among competing gift card purveyors, is a means for distinguishing a gift card line from other lines while not requiring additional display space or displacing gift cards from display. Additionally, gift cards are by their nature a relatively generic gift in that they are selected primarily according to monetary value or denomination and, perhaps, associated vendor. What is further needed is a means to not only distinguish a line of gift cards from among other lines but to personalize the gift of the card to the recipient. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The purpose of this invention is to provide a gift card holder that bears indicia for indicating the name of the sender and recipient of the gift card, decorations of various styles or themes, a slot for inserting a gift card into the holder, and means for providing a removable, associated gift card that may be readily accessed by a store cashier for activation. The gift card may be attached to holder carrier panel using removable adhesive so that the card may be removed at the point of purchase for loading with a stored value or activation. Alternatively, the carrier panel may be provided with a horizontal crease or with sufficient flexibility so that it may be bent away from the gift card to expose the gift card magnetic strip for swiping through a magnetic card reader. As a further alternative, a horizontal score may be cut along carrier panel at 1.25″ above the lower margin of the attached gift card so that the carrier panel be bent away from the card at the score to provide access to the card magnetic strip. In the case of a gift card encoded using a bar code, the carrier panel may include a window formed in the carrier panel so that the bar code may be accessed and scanned through the back of the carrier panel. Prior to giving the gift card to the gift recipient, the card is installed within a pocket provided in the holder by the gift giver so that the personalized holder is what is first viewed by the gift recipient versus simply a generic gift card. 
     The gift card holder is specifically designed to enhance the value of a gift card while not taking additional display space, by adhering to industry dimensional standards for gift cards and associated packaging (carrier panels or packets). 
     The gift card holder typically includes a carrier panel for holding a removably attached gift card via temporary or removable adhesive or other means and a flap attached forward of the carrier panel to cover and obscure the gift card when the holder is presented for sale. The flap may include decorative elements or information and may include additional flaps or pages to form a greeting card or booklet. 
     One embodiment of a gift card holder may include a relatively planar carrier panel that includes a means such as removable adhesive for holding a gift card to a forward surface of the carrier panel. A presentation portion typically comprising one or more flaps is attached to the carrier panel and is folded over a portion of the forward surface of the panel to obscure the gift card from view when the gift card is attached to the forward portion. 
     Another embodiment of a gift card holder may include a relatively planar carrier panel having a forward surface, a presentation portion attached to the carrier panel and folded over a portion of the forward surface, and a gift card removably attached to the forward surface so that the presentation portion overlies the gift card. The gift card includes a bar code on its rearward surface and a window in the carrier panel is in alignment with bar code so that the bar code may be viewed through the window. 
     Another embodiment of a gift card holder may include a relatively planar carrier panel having a forward surface, a presentation portion attached to the carrier panel and folded over a portion of the forward surface, and a gift card removably attached to the forward surface so that the presentation portion overlies the gift card. The gift card includes a magnetic strip on its rearward surface. A crease formed in the carrier panel overlies the rearward surface along a line above the magnetic strip so that the portion of the panel below the crease may be bent away from the rearward surface to reveal the bar code. 
     Other advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example an embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front, elevational view of a gift card holder. 
         FIG. 2  is a view of the holder of  FIG. 1  showing the two flaps of the presentation portion of the holder lifted away from the carrier panel to reveal the gift card removably mounted thereon. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear, elevational view of the holder illustrating the bar code imprinted on the back of a gift card showing through an aperture formed in the carrier panel. 
         FIG. 4  is an elevational view of the holder showing the front flap of the presentation portion of the holder opened to reveal the slot formed in the inner wall of the front flap for receiving a gift card into a pocket enclosed therein. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating removal of a gift card from the carrier panel of a holder and repositioning of the card within the holder pocket. 
         FIG. 6  is an image of a display rack of the prior art arrayed with gift card packs. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 through 5 , there is shown a gift card holder  100  comprising a generally rectangular carrier panel portion  105  and a presentation portion  110  comprising hinged or otherwise articulated front and rear flaps  115  and  120 , respectively. The upper portion of the carrier panel  105  may be referred to as a hang tag portion  125  and includes a means for hanging the holder  100  upon a display stand peg such as a typical J-hook peg (not shown). The means for hanging may comprise a sombrero cut aperture  130  in the hang tag portion  125  of the carrier panel  105 . In order to comply with present industry standards, the aperture  130  is preferably cut or otherwise formed to the exact dimensions of 1.875″ wide by 0.5″ high with the upper margin of the aperture placed 0.1875″ from the top edge of the carrier. It should be appreciated the other means for hanging the holder  100  may be employed to meet changing standards or to fit non-standard displays.  FIG. 1  is a front, elevational view of a gift card holder  100  in the orientation in which it would be hung and displayed upon a display stand. 
       FIG. 2  is a view of the holder  100  of  FIG. 1  showing the front flap  115  slightly lifted away from the rear flap  120  and the presentation portion  110  of the holder  100  lifted partially away from the carrier panel  105  to reveal a gift card  135  removably mounted thereon. As shown, the gift card  135  is typically removably attached to the front surface  140  of the carrier panel  105 . 
       FIG. 3  is a rear, elevational view of the holder  100 . As shown, the carrier panel  105  is provided with a window  150  through which a portion of the gift card  135  bearing a bar code  145  may be viewed and scanned without removal of the gift card  135  from the carrier panel  105 . The gift card  135  is primarily shown via phantom lines in  FIG. 3 , with only the portion immediately proximate the bar code  145  visible through the window  150 . To comply with present industry standards, gift cards that use barcodes  145  have a 0.75″ tall×3.125″ wide die cut window  150  in the carrier panel  105  to provide access to the C128 barcode  145 . 
       FIG. 4  is an elevational view of the holder  100  showing the front flap  115  of the presentation portion  110  of the holder  100  opened to reveal a slot  155  formed in the inner wall  160  of the front flap  115  for receiving the  135  gift card into a pocket enclosed therein. The pocket is for receiving and holding a gift card  135  after activation/loading of the gift card  135  and prior to presentation of the gift card  135  and holder  100  by the gift giver to the gift recipient. 
     Indicia on the inside surfaces of the holder  100  may be provided to indicate the identity of the gift giver and recipient, i.e. “to/from” indicia  165 . Any of the viewable surfaces of the presentation portion  110  or carrier panel  105  may include any desired text, graphic designs or further indicia such as indicia  170  including lines for the gift giver to write upon to indicate gift card monetary value and to provide a message to the recipient. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating removal (see arrow A) of a gift card  135  from the carrier panel  105  and repositioning (see arrow B) the card  135  within the slot  155  and holder pocket prior to presenting the holder  100  and installed gift card  135  to the gift recipient. 
     As an alternative to bar code encoding, the gift card  135  may include a magnetic strip for storing a selected stored value and other information. In one embodiment, at the point of sale the card  135  is detached from the carrier panel  105  and the magnetic strip is loaded with a selected stored value by passing the card  135  through a magnetic strip reader equipped with appropriate software and hardware for completing the transaction. In a preferred embodiment, a horizontal crease or score is placed along the carrier panel at approximately 1.25″ from the bottom of the gift card  135  so that the carrier panel may be bent away from the card  135  at the crease or score to expose the magnetic strip for scanning/swiping without the need to remove the card  135  from the carrier panel  105 . 
     Gift cards  135  are often presented for sale on display racks in stores. A typical display rack  200  arrayed with gift card packs  205  in the prior art is shown in  FIG. 6 . Gift cards  135  are typically simply attached to a carrier panel or packet and hung upon J-hooks. A gift card  135  and its carrier must fit within a set allocated space on the display rack  200 . More specifically, a gift card  135  carrier must not exceed 5.25″ tall and 4″ wide. These dimensions are an industry standard and are typically non-negotiable. 
     The gift card holder  100  of the present invention is specifically designed to enhance the value of a gift card  135  by adding a presentation portion  110 , while not taking any additional viewable display space on the display rack  200 . This is achieved by providing a holder  100  that provides the added value of a presentation portion  110 , while still providing accessibility to the gift card  135  at the point of sale via the carrier panel  105 , with the entire holder  100  assembly remaining within the standardized size constraints already in effect upon gift cards  135  and carrier panels in the prior art. 
     Further alternative embodiments include a gift card holder  100  in which the presentation portion  110  may be torn from the hang tag portion  125  along a line of perforations therebetween, and a gift card holder  100  including audio record and playback functionality as disclosed in patent application Ser. No. 61/183,891, hereby incorporated by reference. 
     The holder  100  components may comprise cardboard, heavy paper, plastic, foam board or any sufficiently resilient material.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1