GB2161700A

GB2161700A - Information/display keycase

Info

Publication number: GB2161700A
Application number: GB08418374A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Angel Prado
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-07-19
Filing date: 1984-07-19
Publication date: 1986-01-22
Also published as: GB8418374D0

Abstract

A keycase has a body which is adapted to allow the insertion via an opening 4 of interchangeable advertising or information displays into a display area 3 having a transparent window which protects the displayed material, and enables it to be viewed from outside the keycase body. The keycase may be a folded rectangle or square of material, a hollow bell-shaped pouch, or a box shape. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Informationldisplay keycase Keycases are well known and comprise of a main body constructed in the shape of a folded square or rectangle, hollow bell shaped pouch or in the shape of a box. Made of either leather, plastic, various forms of metal, complete with a number of spring hooks, split rings or other devices for the purpose of holding key within the keycases. Their main purpose is to provide a convenient way of carrying and selecting a number of keys.

It is possible to apply printed information (of a limited type) directly to the surface of such keycases using various techniques, but the nature of such externally printed information is temporary. This is caused by the normal wear and tear of everyday use having an adverse effect on such external surface printing to the extent of it eventually becoming illegible.

According to the present invention there is provided an information/display keycase comprising of a keycasewhose main body is constructed in the shape of a folded rectangle or square, hollow bell shaped pouch or in the shape of a box. Made of either leather, various fabrics, plastics or metal, complete with a number of spring hooks, split rings or other devices for the purpose of holding keys within the case.The main body of the keycase being adapted to allow the insertion of various printed matter, for information/display purposes which will be clearly visible from the external surface of the keycase at all times, whether opened or closed, whilst being protected by a transparent medium from damage caused by normal wear and tear; rendering the information/ display permanent in nature; a method for releasably securing the inserted information/display printed matter in the case as well as arresting all movement of the inserted information/display printed matter that may render any part of it unreadable.

The specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of examples with references to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a front view of a keycase folded and closed with press studs.

Figure 2 shows the rear view of the folded keycase with a transparent display area (window).

Figure 3 shows the interior of the unfolded keycase with spring hooks mounted on a tongue of material.

Figure 4 illustrates how the tongue of material complete with spring hooks can be raised to allow access to the opening for the insertion of information/display material into the display area (window).

Figure 5 shows in perspective the folded type keycase with tongue and spring hooks raised to allow the insertion of information/display material in to the display area via the opening which is located beneath the raised tongue.

Figure 6 shows the box shape keycase with a display area (window) located in one of its surface areas when it is closed.

Figure 7 shows the gap created by the shape of the inner edge of the top of the box that allows one or more keys to remain outside of the keycase for use whilst the keys are enclosed within the keycase.

Figure 8 shows the interior of the hinged keycase when open revealing the key holding device mounted on a tongue of material.

Figure 9 illustrates how the tongue material complete with key holders can be raised to allow access to the display area via the opening which is located under the raised tongue.

Figure 10 shows in perspective the external view of a fully opened box type keycase in which one surface has a transparent display area.

Figure 11 shows the hollow bell shape pouch keycase with the key raise or lower thong fixed in the keys enclosed position by a press stud.

Figure 12 shows the opposite side of the bell keycase in which is located a transparent display area (window) also showing the key holder withdrawn from the keycase.

Figure 13 illustrates the interior of a hollow bell where the case has been cut open to clearly show the position of the access opening for inserting display material into the display area (window).

Figure 14 shows in perspective the hollow bell shaped keycases with the transparent display area (window) in clear view. Some hidden detail is included to illustrate the shape of the case and the raise and lower function of the thong to which is attached the key holding device, which is shown fixed in raised 'keys in' position.

Referring to drawing 1/3, the information/display keycase consists of a main body in the form of a folded rectangle of material 1, a tongue of material 2 to which is attached the keyholding device 6, a transparent display area (window) 3; which incorporates a releasable means of securing and arresting any movement of the inserted printed information/display material, by for instance the addition of a layer of material firmly affixed to the rear of the display area (window) in order to create a kind of envelope or compartment effect (not shown); and an opening 4 in the main body of the keycase to allow the insertion and removal of information/display material into and from the display area 3.

In order to place the printed information/display material into the display area the keycase is first opened by releasing the closing mechanism in this example press studs 5 as in Figure 3. The tongue of material 2 complete with the key holding device 6 with or without keys attached, are raised in the direction of arrow 7 until easy access to the opening 4 is obtained. With the tongue fully upright as is shown in Figure 5 it is a simple matter to insert the printed information/display material into the display area 3 which is shown in hidden detail.The construction of the display area eliminates any lateral movement of the information/display material that might render any part of the display obscured by parts of the keycase that are not transparent, and when the tongue 2 is in its normal position as shown in Figure 3, the inserted information/display material is protected from accidental removal from the display area. A means of releasably securing the tongue 2 in its normal position by for instance a press stud, velcro (R.T.M.) strip, catch or similar means (not shown) can also be incorporated in to the keycase. With the information/display material in place the keycase can now be used for its normal function. The information/display material can be removed, renewed or changed as often as is desired by simply repeating the above procedure.

Referring to drawing 2/3, the principle of the invention of the information/display keycase can be seen as applied to a keycase constructed in the form of a box 8. The display area 3 can be located to one of two sides as shown in Figure 6 or to both sides if desired. The drawing 2/3 shows the display area 3 located beneath the tongue 2 as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. A method for releasably closing the keycase box 8 by for example a spring hinge, catch or similar means (not shown) is used to secure the keys within the case.

In orderto place the printed information/display material in to the transparent display area 3 the means of closing the keycase are released and the keycase opened fully as shown in Figure 8 the tongue of material 2 complete with key holding device 6 is lifted in the direction of arrow 7 to allow access via the opening 4 to the display area 3. The tongue 2 and key holders 6 can be raised in to the required position as shown in Figure 9with or without key attached. In this position the printed information/display material and be easily inserted in to the transparent display area 3 via the opening 4 in the main body of the keycase.The construction of the transparent display area 3 eliminates any lateral movement of the inserted information/display material to avoid any part of the display becoming obscured by non transparent parts of the case, this is achieved by using a similar method as that described for drawing 1/3, and when tongue 2 and keyholder 6 are in their normal position as shown in Figure 8 the inserted information/display material is protected from accidental removal from the display area 3. A means of releasably securing the tongue 2 in its normal position by for example a press stud, veicro strip, catch or similar device (not shown) can be employed. The keycase can now be used for its normal function of carrying keys with its display area 3 fully externally visible whether the case is open or closed.The information/display material can be removed, renewed or changed as often as is required by repeating the above procedure.

Referring to drawing 3/3, the principle of the invention of the information/display keycase can be seen as applied to the hollow bell shape keycase.

This is a keycase where the keys are drawn into the bell shaped pouch 10 by means of a thong 11 of material which has attached to one end a keyholder 12 such as a split ring or similar device and to the other a releasable means of securing the thong to the side of the case in the key 'in' position 14. Thus when the thong is secured to the side of the case by, in this case, a press stud 13 the keys attached to the holder 12 will be enclosed fully by the bell shaped pouch 10, for clarity no keycase shown in any of the figures. On the opposite side of the bell shaped pouch 10 from the press stud fixing 13 is a transparent display area 3.

In order to insert the information/display material in to the transparent display area (window) 3 the means of releasably securing the thong 11 in its fixed keys 'in' position 14 are released, and the keyholder and attached keys are withdrawn from the mouth of the bell is by moving the thong 11 in the direction of arrow 16 as shown in Figure 11. With the keyholder 12 fully withdrawn from the bell shaped pouch as shown in Figure 12, access is gained to the opening 4 on the inside of the case through which the printed display matter is inserted in direction of arrow 17 into the display area 3. A means of releasably securing the opening 4 by for example a press stud, velcro (R.T.M.) strip, catch or similar device (not shown) is used to prevent the accidental removal of the inserted information/ display material.The construction of the display area (window) 3 is carried out in a similar way to the two previous examples in order to prevent any lateral movement of the inserted information/ display material, thus preventing any part of the display from being obscured by the non-transparent parts of the keycase. Figure 13 shows the internal view of the keycase, note this view could not be achieved in practise without cutting the keycase along two of its 3 sealed edges. This view in Figure 13 is purely included for clarity as can be seen in this figure the opening 4 through which the information display matter is inserted into the display area 3 can be easily observed, with arrow 17 indicating the direction of insertion, also shown is the keyholder 12 in the keys 'in' position. When the display matter is inserted into the keycase the keyholder is once again drawn into the bell shaped pouch by the thong 11 and fixed in the keys in position 14. The keycase can now be used as normal with the displayed material externally visible at all times whether the keys are in or out of the keycase. The information/display material can be removed, renewed or changed as often as required by simply repeating the previous procedure.

Claims

1. An information/display keycase comprising of a main body in the form of a folded rectangle or square, hollow bell shape pouch or a box shape, made of either leather, various fabrics, plastics or metal; complete with keyholding devices for example spring hooks, split rings, or similar, the body being adapted to aliow the insertion and removal of printed information/display material that is fully externally visible, a means of releasably securing the inserted information/display material which also arrests any movement of the inserted information/display material that may render any part of it obscured by the non display areas of the keycase during normal use.

2. An information/display keycase as in claim one where the display area is not an integral part of the main body of the keycase but an addition to its surface.

3. An information/display keycase as in claim one and two where the inserted information matter is secured in a non releasable fashion.

4. An information/display keycase as in claim one, two and three where there is at least one display area.

5. An information/display keycase as in claim one, two, three and four where the information/display is applied directly to the transparent medium used in the construction of the display area.

6. An information/display keycase as substantially described herein with reference to Figures 1-5 of the accompanying drawings.

7. An information/display keycase as described in any preceding claim where the main body consists of a rectangle or square of material with at least one fold.

8. An information/display keycase as in claim 7 where the releasable means of effecting the closure of the keycases main body is effected by at least one, press stud, velcro (R.T.M.) strip, catch, zip, or similar device.

9. An information/display keycase as substantially described herein with reference to the Figures 510 in the accompanying drawings.

10. An information/display keycase as in any preceding claim where the main body is constructed of at least one box shape.

11. An information/display keycase where the means of releasably effecting closure of the main body of the keycase is effectively at least one spring hinge, catch, zip, or similar device.

12. An information/display keycase as substantially described herein with reference to Figures 1e14 in the accompanying drawings.

13. An information/display keycase as in claim one, two, three, four and twelve the thong to which the key holder is attached being fixed to the main body with at least one, press stud, velcro (R.T.M.) strip, catch or similar device.

14. An information/display keycase as in claim one, two, three, four and twelve where the keyholders are retained on a simple length of chain and key dropped in to the keys in position, and removed from the key case by releasing a releasably method of securing the mouth of the case.