Foldable data card assembly and method
First Claim
1. A foldable data card assembly comprising:
- a data card;
a base assembly comprising a foldable piece of cardboard or plastic or rigid material;
the base assembly further comprising a left portion, a middle portion, and a right portion;
a first fold line dividing the left portion of the base assembly from the middle portion of the base assembly;
a second fold line separating the middle portion of the base assembly from the right portion of the base assembly; and
an aperture located in the left portion or the middle portion.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A foldable data card assembly and method are disclosed. The foldable data card assembly comprises a base assembly with a left portion, a middle portion, and a right potion. The left portion or the middle portion contains an aperture. A data card is enclosed within the base assembly such that the aperture is aligned with a special number on the data card. A security barrier is placed adjacent to the personal account number on the data card, but the security barrier is not placed between the aperture and the special number on the card. During manufacture, the special number is read from the card through the aperture, and the special number used to generate activation information which is printed on the package. The activation information is read at the point of sale, and used to activate the account associated with the activation information.
156 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A foldable data card assembly comprising:
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a data card;
a base assembly comprising a foldable piece of cardboard or plastic or rigid material;
the base assembly further comprising a left portion, a middle portion, and a right portion;
a first fold line dividing the left portion of the base assembly from the middle portion of the base assembly;
a second fold line separating the middle portion of the base assembly from the right portion of the base assembly; and
an aperture located in the left portion or the middle portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of manufacturing a foldable data card assembly comprising:
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manufacturing or purchasing a data card comprising an indicia of a personal account number (PANT);
creating a special number associated with the PAN, but not equivalent to the PAN;
printing the special number on the data card;
wrapping or folding the data card inside of a package that has an aperture adapted to view the special number through the aperture;
generating activation information associated with the special number; and
printing the activation information on the package. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A foldable data card assembly comprising:
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a data card comprising an indicia of a personal account number;
a base assembly comprising a foldable piece of cardboard or plastic or rigid material;
the base assembly further comprising a left portion, a middle portion, and a right portion;
a first fold line separating the left portion of the base assembly from the middle portion of the base assembly;
a second fold line separating the middle portion of the base assembly from the right portion of the base assembly;
an aperture or window located in the left portion or the middle portion;
a special number associated with the personal account number and printed on the data card; and
a security barrier placed adjacent to the personal account number of the data card, wherein the data card is disposed within and coupled to the base assembly and wherein a portion of the data card is viewable through the aperture.
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20. A foldable data card assembly comprising:
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a base assembly comprising a foldable piece of cardboard or plastic or rigid material;
the base assembly further comprising a left portion, a middle portion, and a right portion;
a first fold line separating the left portion from the middle portion;
a second fold line separating the middle portion from the right portion;
an aperture or window disposed in the left portion or middle portion;
the first fold line and the second fold line being substantially parallel;
the left portion being approximately equal in size to the middle portion;
the right portion being smaller than the middle portion;
the left portion and the middle portion each containing a hole symmetrically positioned relative to the first fold line separating the left and right portions, so that the hole in the left portion is aligned with the hole in the right portion upon folding completely along the first fold line, the holes being adapted for hanging the folded data card assembly on a hook;
a vertical long notch located in the bottom of the base assembly, aligned with the first fold line and adapted so that the bottom of the left portion will fold flush against the bottom of the middle portion after folding along the first fold line, and further adapted so that the bottom portion of the folded base assembly can pass smoothly and evenly through a magnetic strip reader;
the vertical long notch being approximately one to three times the width of the magnetic strip;
the left portion comprising two approximately horizontal lines of weakness defining a tear away portion that exposes the interior of the folded base assembly;
two horizontal small notches being positioned where the approximately horizontal lines of weakness reach the left edge of the left portion, adapted to assist initiating tearing away the tear away portion;
the approximately horizontal lines of weakness comprising perforations or scoring or grooves;
a personal account number (PAN) protruding from a front face of the data card;
a special number associated with the PAN printed on the front face or the back face of the data card;
a data card being positioned within the foldable base assembly so that the special number on the card is visible through the aperture of the base assembly;
indicia of activation information associated with the special number being printed on the base assembly, the indicia of activation information comprising at least one of the set consisting of;
a magnetic strip, a bar code, a smartchip, and a RFID; and
a security barrier disposed on the base assembly and positioned adjacent to the raised PAN of the data card.
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21. A data card assembly comprising:
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multiple data cards;
a base assembly comprising a piece of cardboard or plastic or rigid material;
one or more apertures in the base assembly. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of manufacturing a data card assembly comprising:
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manufacturing or purchasing multiple data cards, each data card comprising an indicia of a personal account number (PAN);
creating a special number associated with the multiple PANs of the multiple data cards; and
wherein the special number may comprise a number, or a set of letters, or any unique identification code; and
wherein the special number is contained on at least one card in an optically readable form, or in a magnetically readable form, or in an electrically readable form;
wrapping or folding the data card inside of a package that has a single aperture adapted to view a single special number through the aperture;
generating activation information for all of the cards in the package associated with the single special; and
printing an indicia of the activation information on the package, wherein the indicia of activation information comprising at least one of the set consisting of;
a magnetic strip, a bar code, a smartchip, and a RFID. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A method of manufacturing a data card assembly comprising:
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manufacturing or purchasing multiple data cards, each data card comprising an indicia of a personal account number (PAN);
creating multiple special numbers respectively associated with the multiple PANs of the multiple data cards;
wherein each special number comprises a number, or a set of letters, or any unique identification code;
wherein each special number is contained on at least one card in an optically readable form, or in a magnetically readable form, or in an electrically readable form;
wrapping or folding the multiple data cards inside of a package that has one or more apertures adapted to view multiple special numbers;
generating activation information for all of the cards in the package associated with the multiple special numbers; and
printing an indicia of the activation information on the package, wherein the indicia of activation information comprising at least one of the set consisting of;
a magnetic strip, a bar code, a smartchip, and a RFID. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A data card assembly, comprising:
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at least two data cards, wherein each data card comprises a unique personal account number (PAN) printed on the data card and a unique special number associated with the PAN and printed on the data card;
a base assembly, comprising a piece of cardboard or plastic or rigid material and a number of apertures equal to the number of data cards; and
a single indicia of activation information printed on the base assembly, wherein the indicia of activation information is associated with each PAN of each data card and is operative to activate each data card. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification