Credit card carriers and methods of manufacture
First Claim
1. Improved credit card carriers comprising:
- (a) a web of sheet material having a pair of substantially parallel side edges, a top edge and a bottom edge;
(b) a plurality of foldable panels defined by fold lines disposed medially of, and substantially parallel to, said top and said bottom edges;
(c) a plurality of means for receivingly engaging credit cards disposed in at least one of said panels;
(d) said panels being adapted to wedge trap said cards when folded with said cards disposed between said panels.
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Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
Single-sheet, multi-panel carriers for receiving and retaining credit cards during credit card issue and mailing procedures. Cards may be inserted in the carriers manually or by machine. Plural carrier forms are preferably provided in a continuous fan-folded web, and individual carriers are separable therefrom at perforations between subsequent and/or adjacent carriers. The carriers have special slits or slots for retaining one to four cards singly, or double that in a piggy-back manner, in vertical or horizontal configurations. Carriers also have a plurality of panels which assist in retaining the cards by wedge trapping during manual or machine issue processing (inserting, collating, verification and stuffing) and mailing operations. Carriers also carry verification and/or identification information thereon relating to the account, e.g., name, number of cards, account(s) number(s), credit limit, address, debit usage criteria, and the like, in one or more forms which may be read visually, electro-optically, mechanically, optically, electromechanically, magnetically and/or electronically. Carriers are specially adapted for production by sheet-fed glued, or roll-to-fold, high-speed web printing procedures. Imprinting of verification and/or identification indicia may be done by any impact or non-impact procedures, e.g., by drum, line, or computer-controlled, non-impact, spray-type printers.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. Improved credit card carriers comprising:
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(a) a web of sheet material having a pair of substantially parallel side edges, a top edge and a bottom edge; (b) a plurality of foldable panels defined by fold lines disposed medially of, and substantially parallel to, said top and said bottom edges; (c) a plurality of means for receivingly engaging credit cards disposed in at least one of said panels; (d) said panels being adapted to wedge trap said cards when folded with said cards disposed between said panels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. Improved credit card carriers comprising,
(a) at least one layer of sheet material, (b) means for retaining a credit card in engagement with said sheet, (c) information means, selected from mechanical, electromechanical, optical, electronically, electrically, magnetically and electro-optically readable means disposed on said sheet, and (d) said information means may be selected from one or more of: -
(i) cardholder identifying information; (ii) issuer information; and (iii) machine instruction information. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. Method of producing carriers adapted for automated verification and insertion of credit cards therein comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a sheet of material; (b) forming an area in said sheet defining an individual carrier form adapted to receive at least one of said credit cards, (c) placing information on individual ones of said carrier forms unique to individual cardholder accounts, (d) said placed information being disposed on said carrier forms so that said information is readable by mechanical reading means to provide information for said automated verification and insertion of credit cards in said carriers. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65)
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Specification