Abstract:
An interactive card assembly includes a card and an electronically readable storage device designed for interactive connection to the Internet, the card and the storage device having information with a common theme and the storage device having stored information capable of connecting on the Internet with predetermined homepages having the common theme. A method for presenting Internet addresses and connecting to the homepages represented by the addresses using the elements of the interactive card assembly is described.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to the art of communication, and more particularly to the art of thematic communications and Internet connections having a common theme.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     In the past, it has been known to provide greeting cards having a particular theme. Examples of such themes are birthday greetings, graduation greetings, condolences, congratulations and the like. It has been known to provide such cards having ancillary items inserted into or packaged with the card. Such items as phonograph records, musical compact disks, reply cards, card stock assemblies popularly known as “pop-up,” pencils, medallions and like items have been known to be included with such cards.  
         [0005]     It is an object of the present invention to provide a card in conjunction with a compact computer disk (“CD”) capable of being read by a computer having a display monitor or screen, such as a personal computer, to display information from the CD on the screen, where the information on the CD has a common theme with the indicia on the card. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a CD with the card, where the information on the CD can be used in conjunction with the indicia on the card to present a video presentation which extends the emotional context to the theme of the card. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provides such a CD with the card, where the information on the CD can be used in conjunction with the indicia on the card to present and to construct puzzles and games consistent with the theme of the card. It is yet a further additional object of the present invention to provide such a CD with the card, where the CD has embedded data on the CD which will, upon activation, establish a hyperlink to a World Wide Web Internet (“Internet”) address, the subject matter of which address will be related in some common theme with the theme of the card, such as, for example, addresses of “on-line” sellers of theme related products and services.  
         [0006]     It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of combining the card with the CD and accessing an Internet address the subject matter of which has a common theme with the card&#39;s indicia.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0007]     In brief, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a card having a predetermined theme has a computer readable CD on which information and data relating to the theme of the card is readably stored. The CD also has Internet addresses embedded thereon which, when the CD is inserted into a computer connected to the Internet, a simple click on the embedded address will connect and display on the computer screen the information available at the selected Internet address.  
         [0008]     The card having predetermined thematic indicia on it is sent with a CD having common thematic information embedded thereon, and having interactive Internet addresses of organizations that have common subject matter, to include, e.g., related products and services, with the theme of the card and the information stored on the CD. At the receiving end, the recipient inserts the CD into a computer having Internet connection capability. The information on the CD is displayed on the computer&#39;s screen or monitor. The displayed information may also include predetermined interactive information, theme related entertainment, games, and puzzles. Among the interactive information are the Internet addresses of the organizations that have common subject matter with the theme common to the card and to the CD. By interactively selecting one of the embedded addresses displayed, access can be had by the recipient of the present invention, to other organizations that can provide enormous additional information, products and services related to the subject matter of the common theme. Moreover, the recipient can be interactively connected with such addressed organizations to study, to be informed, to be entertained, to purchase and to feed back information to the addressed organization.  
         [0009]     These and other novel aspects of the present invention, together with other aspects thereof, can be better understood by the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which are designed to be read in conjunction and together with the accompanying drawings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the card and CD assembly of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, having the card slightly opened partially showing the CD;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1  taken from the opposite direction of the view of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1  showing the card assembly in a closed position;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1  showing the card assembly in a closed position as seen from the opposite side in the view of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a perspective schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention when being used in conjunction with computer connected to the Internet; and,  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing the method of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]     A card and disk assembly  10  comprises a card  12  and a disk  16  packaged together, reference being initially to  FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings where reference numerals refer to like reference numerals used herein. The card  12  has a pocket  14  formed by an overlap. The disk  16  is held within the card  12  by inserting the disk  16  into pocket  14 . The pocket  14  has a cut-out  18  to expose a disk center hole  20 , and make the center hole  20  easily accessible to a finger for extracting the disk  16  from the pocket  14 . The pocket  14  has a surface  15  on which indicia may be printed, as shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0017]     The card has a folding line  22  about which the card  12  is divided into two leaves. A planar inside surface  24  of a front leaf  26  is designed to have indicia and text printed thereon. A second or back leaf  30  has an inside surface  28 , as shown. As may be seen better in  FIG. 2  of the drawings, the front leaf  26  has an outside surface  34  on which indicia and text may also be imprinted. The back leaf  30  also has an outside surface  36 . The folding line  22  shows the general orientation of the card  12  when unfolded.  
         [0018]     The front leaf  26  of the card  12  may be rotated about the folding line  22  to close the card  12  into a substantially planar side view, that is, substantially flat, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The card  12  has a front outside surface  34  and a front inside surface  24  on which indicia and text may be printed. Indicia may also be imprinted on the surface of the pocket  14  and other surfaces, such as back leaf inside surface  28  and outside surface  36 , as may be considered appropriate. The indicia, as representatively shown on surfaces  15 ,  24 ,  34  in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , generally is in the form of pictures and text that establish a theme for the card  12 . Such a theme could be a greeting on the birth of a child, a condolence, an announcement, a congratulation for some event or milestone such as a marriage or graduation, an expression of good wishes or good fortune in the event of an illness, or the like.  
         [0019]     The card assembly  10  also comprises a disk  16  which can be removed from the disk pocket  14  by inserting a finger into the disk center hole  20  and sliding the disk  16  out of the pocket  14 . The disk  16  will have embedded in memory thereon certain predetermined information or data that can be read by computers  40 , as will explained in more detail in conjunction with  FIG. 5  below. The information or data stored on the disk  16  will be related in subject matter to the theme established by the indicia on the surfaces  15 ,  24 ,  34  of the card  12 .  
         [0020]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the disk  16  can be removed from the assembly  10  and inserted into the computer  40 , which is conveniently situated on a table  42 . The computer  40  is controlled by either a keyboard  44 , which is connected to the computer  40  by keyboard connector  46 , or is controlled by a “mouse”  54  connected to the computer  40  by mouse connector  56 . A monitor  48  having a display screen  50  is also connected to the computer  40  by display connector  52 . The information and data stored on the disk  16  can be “read” by the computer  40  and displayed in human readable format on the screen or monitor  50 .  
         [0021]     The computer  40  is also connected to the World Wide Web Internet  58  (Internet) through connector interface  60 . The disk  16  also has stored in its memory, certain predetermined Internet addresses that, when the addresses are displayed on display  50 , an operator may use the keyboard  44  or mouse  54  to “click” on a selected one of the displayed Internet addresses and be connected to a home page of the selected Internet address. The Internet addresses which will be included on the disk  16  will be addresses of Web Pages which have as their subject matter information, data, products and services which thematically correlate with the theme established by the indicia and text of the surfaces  15 ,  24 ,  34  of the card  12 .  
         [0022]     In operation, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a card assembly  10  having a card  12  and a disk  16  are sent  62 , referring to the block diagram of  FIG. 6  and progressing in the direction of the arrows  66 ,  70 . The text and other indicia on the card  12  will have a theme which will correlate to the theme of the information stored on the disk  16 . The disk  16  will also have embedded thereon certain Internet addresses which can be used to create or establish a hyperlink to predetermined home pages on the Internet  58 . A recipient of the card assembly  10  then removes the disk  16  from the pocket  14  of the card  12 , and inserts  64  the disk  16  into the computer  40 . The information on the disk  16 , having a common theme with the indicia and text on the surfaces  24 ,  34  of the card  12 , is displayed on the display screen  50  of the monitor  48 .  
         [0023]     Also displayed on the display screen  50  will be one or more predetermined Internet addresses which can provide a hyperlink to corresponding home pages on the Internet  58 . The next step will be a selection of one of these addresses by use of the mouse  54  or the keyboard  44 , to establish a hyperlink to the selected Internet address on the Internet  58  through the connector  60 .  
         [0024]     The foregoing detailed description of my invention and of a preferred embodiment as to products, compositions and processes, is illustrative of specific embodiments only. It is to be understood, however, that additional embodiments may be perceived by those skilled in the art. The embodiments described herein, together with those additional embodiments, are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.