JPH0615522U - Protective package for optical data card - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To present a protective package for a data card that allows the card to be held in a wallet, etc., with minimal handling that may damage the recording material of the card. The packet 10 includes a flat planar base 20 having front, rear and side edges 22, 24, 26 and 28, respectively, and a pair of fixed edge strips 14 and 16 and a rear edge 24. And a cover panel consisting of flaps 18 bonded to the base at side edges 26 and 28. Edge strip 16 is bonded to base 20 at side edge 28 and trailing edge 24. The flap 18 is the rear edge 2
Bonded to base 20 at 4.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

【Technical field】

 This invention relates to a protective container for flat objects, in particular a reusable protective packet adapted for the storage and storage of cards.

[0002]

[Background technology]

 Credit cards, identification cards and the like are often kept in plastic wallets in wallets or wallets. These packages typically include a front rear panel that is sealed together at three edges and one edge remains open, thereby providing a pocket for card insertion, storage, and removal. Form .

Hurley in US Pat. No. 4,322,001 discloses a protective case for collectibles similar to sports cards. Items are housed in a protective case, which includes the base and cover. The base includes a peripheral projection that is adapted to surround the object when the object is placed on the base, and the cover is a downward projection adapted to engage with the projection when the object is placed on the base. Including curved edges. The base cover is preferably constructed of a transparent elastic material so that it is visible when the item is inside the case. The case can be seen without touching it. This is because the surface of the object will be damaged if you touch it.

Berkley in US Pat. No. 4,436,202 discloses a reusable wrap having front and rear panels which, when folded, are joined together to form a pocket between the panels. A pair of side flaps are each attached to each rear panel side edge. Some of these side flaps are also secured to the exterior surface of the front panel, thereby forming a pair of closures between the front panel and the unsecured portion of each flap. , Slidingly receives and holds the card insert there near the front panel.

Optical data cards typically store data on one or more strips of laser recording material attached to a plastic card base. As the data store capacity of these cards increases and the size of each data bit decreases, the sensitivity of the card reading system to dust and scratches on the recording material increases. When the recording material absorbs moisture, it causes deterioration of the recording material and data loss.

The object of the invention is to present a protective wrap for a data card which minimizes the handling which may damage the recording material of the card and allows the card to be held in a wallet or purse or pocket. It is to be.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a protective package for a data card which can read and write data without removing the card from the package.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a protective wrap that prevents the build up of dirt on the recording material.

[0009]

[Disclosure of device]

 The above objective is met by a protective wrap for a data card having an adhesive flap. This adhesive flap covers and closes the card's recording material, thereby protecting the card from damage, and raising the flap to open it so that the card remains protected inside the envelope and allows data to be read. And stick to the card again. Because the flaps are coated with adhesive, they actually remove dust from the card each time the flap is lifted.

The protective wrap includes a base and a cover panel bonded to at least three edges of the base. This creates a pocket between them for the insertion and retention of data cards. The cover panel comprises a pair of fixed edge strips bonded to each side edge of the base and at least one flap bonded to the rear edge of the base. The edge strip defines a slot consisting of an edge strip for holding the card and a base, while the flap may be lifted to expose the data store area of the card when read. The data store area is typically a strip of laser recordable material. The second flap can be bonded to the front end of the base and both flaps can be lifted from the central area between the front and rear edges.

The flap is made of a flexible polymeric material and a water impermeable material. The flap is preferably an adhesive flap that releasably adheres to the data store area. Thanks to the seals that form when the flaps are closed, the card won't get damp or the user accidentally opens the flaps, while the flaps are sticky, which prevents dust and dirt. Causes other impurities to stick to the flap side of the data store area. If a single flap is used, the flap extends beyond the front edge of the base and overlies and adheres to the underside of the base. The flap is preferably at least as wide as the data store area and overlaps the fixed edge strip.

[0012]

[Best mode for carrying out the device]

 Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a protective packet 10 is provided for use with a data card 12. The envelope 10 includes a flat planar base 20 having front, rear and side edges 22, 24, 26 and 28, respectively, and a pair of fixed edge strips 14 and 16 and a rear edge 24 and side edges. A cover panel consisting of flaps 18 bonded to the base at edges 26 and 28. Edge strip 16 is bonded to base 20 at side edge 28 and trailing edge 24. The flap 18 is bonded to the base 20 at the trailing edge 24.

Typically, cover panel elements 14, 16 and 18 are bonded to base 20 by squeezing and heating the elements at the edges until a sealed bond is formed. This method of heat and pressure treatment works best when the flaps 18 and base 20 of the wrapping elements or edge strips 14 and 16 are made of a thermally deformable plastic material. Alternatively, edges 14 and 16 and flap 18 may be attached to the edge of base 20. The cover panel elements 14, 16 and 18 may preferably be separately formed and bonded to the base 20 for ease of construction, while a single integral cover panel is provided at the edges 24, 26, 28 at the base 20. Edge strips 14, 16 and 18 may then be formed by cutting the cover panel along two longitudinal parallel lines 27 and 29. Also, while cover panel elements 14, 16 and 18 have been discussed above as separate pieces from base 20, cover panel elements 14, 16 and 18 are folded along one or both edges 26 and 28 or trailing edge 24. The whole packet 10 may be separated from the base 20 by eye-catching to form a single unitary structure. For the purposes of this application, the phrase "bonded to the base at the edges" includes the meaning of heat pressing, tacking and creasing.

Wrap 10 is preferably made from a flexible plastic sheet material. Polyethylene is an example of a suitable plastic material. A material that is impermeable to water, such as polyvinylidene chloride sold under the trade name "Saran" by Dow, called "Acla r" by Allied Chemical Co. Impermeable hydrophobic materials such as the polytrichlorofluoroethylene (PTC FE), aluminized Mylar and aluminum foil sold under the trade name may be used. Mylar is a registered trademark of Dupont Co., a material for polyethylene terephthalate sheet. At least one side of the package 10 is preferably made of a transparent material so that a visually readable card identification mark such as letters and numbers can be seen without taking out the card 12. A rigid material, such as a rigid polycarbonate material, can be used as any element of the wrap except flap 18, because flap 18 must be flexible.

The base 20 and cover panel elements 14, 16 and 18 form a pocket between them for the insertion of the data card 12. The front edge 22 is open, ie the flap 18 and the edge strips 14 and 16 are not permanently bonded to the base 20. The data card 12 is inserted from the end into the slits 34 and 36 defined by the base 20 and respective edge strips 14 and 16 in the directions indicated by arrows 32 and 33 in FIG. Once inserted in the slits 34 and 36, the card 12 remains firmly there. If desired, the data card 12 can be removed from the packet 10, but it is not necessary to remove the card to read the data on the card 12.

The data card 12 has a data store area thereon, which may consist of a strip of laser recordable material. These cards are typically similar in size to most credit cards. The width dimension of the card 12 is about 54 mm and the length is about 85 mm. These dimensions are not critical but are the preferred dimensions. This is because such a size can be easily inserted into a wallet, and has historically been adopted as a convenient size for an automatic teller machine or the like. The strip is typically about 35 mm wide and extends the length of the card. Alternatively, the strips can have at least 250,000 bits of binary data, although the strips can have other sizes and orientations. Although the number is not critical for the strip, it is relatively thin with a thickness of about 100-500 microns. The strips are provided on the card by any convenient method that can achieve flatness and are covered with a transparent, non-scratch laminating sheet.

The high resolution laser recording material forming the data store area 38 can be any optically reflective recording material as long as the material is formed on a thin substrate. The advantage of reflective materials over conductive materials is that the reader / writer is all on one side of the card and is easy to autofocus. For example, Bi, Te, In, Sn, Cu, Al, Pt, Au, Rh, As, for the high resolution material described in US Pat. No. 4,230,939 issued to De Bont et al. It teaches thin metallic recording layers of reflective metals such as Sb, Ge, Se, Ga, etc. Preferred materials are those with high reflectance and low melting point, especially Cd, Sn, Tl, In, Bi and amalgam.

A suspension of reflective metal particles in an organic colloid is a low melting temperature laser recording medium. Silver is one such metal. Preferred recording media are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,314,260, 4,298,684, 4,278,758, 4,278,756, 4,269,917 and 4, respectively. , 284,716, 4,312,938, 4,363,870, 4,396,701, 4,383,024, and 4,304,848. And all are assigned to the assignee of this invention.

The selected laser recording material should also be compatible with the laser used to write on it. Some materials are more sensitive than others at certain wavelengths. Since infrared rays are not easily affected by scratches and stains on the protective layer or the laminate sheet, it is preferable that infrared rays have high sensitivity. The recording material chosen should have a favorable signal-to-noise ratio in the read / write system in which it is used and have high contrast data bits. The majority of highly reflective laser recording materials are used in optical data disc applications.

The material should not lose data when exposed to temperatures of about 122 ° F. (50 ° C.) for extended periods of time. The material should be capable of recording at a rate of at least thousands of bits per second. This precludes the use of materials that generally require long heating times or rely on slow chemical reactions in the presence of heat. This is because these materials can only record a few bits per second.

Data is recorded by forming spots in the field surrounding the reflective layer itself, thereby altering the reflectivity within the data spots. The recommended spot size is approximately 5 microns, round or oval. However, spots of other dimensions are also created. Preferably, the spot size should not exceed 50 microns. The data is read by detecting the optical reflection contrast between the reflected field and the recorded spot around the unrecorded area. A spot reflectance of less than half the ambient field reflectance will result in a contrast ratio of at least 2 to 1, which is sufficient contrast for reading. Higher contrast is preferable. It is preferable that the reflectance of the spot in the reflective field is less than 20% and the reflectance of the strip field is approximately 50%, so that the contrast ratio is greater than 2: 1. Alternatively, the data may be recorded by increasing the strip reflectivity. The recording laser, for example, can melt a field of dull microscopic spikes on the strip, creating a flat, bright spot. This method is described in SPIE Volume 329, Optical Disk Technology (1982), p. 202. If the spot reflectivity is greater than twice the ambient field reflectivity, the contrast ratio will be at least 2: 1 and this alone is sufficient for reading contrast.

The flap 18 may be lifted in the direction indicated by arrow 40 to expose the data store area 38. The flap 18 is preferably at least as wide as the area 38. The flap 18 may overlap the fixed edge strips 14 and 16. The flap 18 is preferably longer than the base 20 and extends beyond the front edge 22. The extended flap 18 is folded so that the bent portion 42 covers the front edge 22 and overlaps the lower side 46 of the base 20. This allows the card 12 to be more fully sealed and protected.

The flaps 18 are preferably adhesive flaps that can be releasably adhered to the data store area 38. The adhesive 48 should be sufficiently weakly adhesive that it coats the underside of the flap 18 and makes it easy to remove and lift the flap 18 from the area 38. The adhesive 48 should allow for repeated removal and re-adhesion of the flap 18. Adhesive 48 is typically of the type used to adhere magnetic materials to substrates, although other well known adhesives may be used. A similar or somewhat strong adhesive 50 causes the overlapping flap 18 to adhere to the underside 46 of the base 20. Adhesive 48 allows flap 18 to be rewound, bent back, or otherwise lifted by a card reader. Permanent bending or slight curvature of the flap 18 does not have a significant effect on flap usability because the adhesive 48 holds the flap flat against the card 12. Dust particles on the data store area 38 stick to the flaps 18 rather than to the area 38, so that dust is removed each time the flap 18 is lifted, thereby preventing dust buildup.

Referring to FIG. 3, the wrap 52 includes a base 54, a pair of edge strips 56 and 58, and a pair of flaps 60 and 62. Edge strips 56 and 58 are bonded to base 54 at side edges 68 and 70, respectively, at front and rear edges 64 and 66. The flap 60 is bonded to the base 54 at the rear edge 66. The additional flap 62 is bonded to the base 54 at the front edge 64. The bond of the cover panel elements, edge strips 56 and 58, flaps 60 and 62, is closed and sealed by the front edge 64 being bonded to edge strips 56 and 58 and the additional flap 62 to the base 54. Except that it is done in the same manner as discussed above with respect to FIGS. Suitable materials for packet 52 are the same as those discussed above for packet 10.

Edge strips 56 and 58, between the base 54 and the edge strips, define slots 72 for insertion and retention of data cards, not shown, in the figure. The data card is the same data card discussed above, with a data store area on it. The data card is inserted into the packet 52 from the side edges, first with one side of the slot 72 aligned and then with the other side.

The flaps 60 and 62 are liftable from the central portion 78 of the packet 52 in the directions indicated by arrows 74 and 76 to expose the data store area of the card within the packet 52. The width of the flaps 60 and 62 is preferably at least equal to the width of the data store area of the card and may overlap the edge strips 56,58. The flaps 60 and 62 are sticky flaps which are preferably coated with an adhesive thereon so that the flaps 60 and 62 can stick to the card so that they can be removed. The adhesive keeps the flaps 60 and 62 flat against the card, so that the flaps being rolled or curled back by the card reader do not significantly affect their usability. The adhesive also prevents the flaps from opening accidentally. The dust on the surface of the card adheres to the adhesive flap, preventing the accumulation of dust.

The dimensions of the packages 10 and 52 depend on the size of the data card they hold. For a card that fits in a wallet of about 54 mm x 85 mm, the package size is typically about 66 mm x 96 mm. For cards of these and other sizes, the size of the package should be such that the package is slightly larger than the card, the card can be easily inserted, and the card does not grow large enough to become extremely loose.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a perspective exploded view of the device of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective plan view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Protective Wrap 18 Flap 20 Base 14 and 16 Edge Strip 12 Data Card 38 Data Store Area 52 Protective Wrap 60 and 62 Flap 54 Base 56 and 58 Edge Strip

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical display location B65D 85/00 G06K 19/00 19/06 G11B 7/24 571 Y 7215-5D 23/02 B 7201-5D ( 72) Creator Richard Haddock Vernal Way, Redwood City, California, United States, 703

Claims (8)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A base having front, rear, and side edges, and a pair of fixed edge strips bonded to the base at the rear edge and respective side edges. Each of the edge strips defines a slot for insertion and retention of a data card between the edge strip and the base, the data card having a strip of laser recordable material thereon, Also included is a flap that is bondable to the base at the rear edge and that can be lifted to expose the strip of the card inserted into the slot, the card being readable while still in the packet. A protective packet for use with a data card. 2. The packet of claim 1, wherein the flap comprises a flexible polymeric material. 3. The packet of claim 1, wherein the flap comprises a material that is impervious to water penetration. 4. The packet of claim 1, wherein the flap is an adhesive flap for releasably adhering to the strip of laser recordable material. 5. The flap is at least as wide as the strip made of laser recordable material.
The package described in. 6. The packet of claim 1, wherein the flap overlaps the fixed edge strip. 7. The packet of claim 1, wherein the flap extends beyond the front edge and the flap overlaps the front edge and the underside of the base. 8. A packet according to claim 7, wherein said flap is a tacky flap, said flap being adhered to said strip of laser recording material and said underside of said base so that said flap is removable.