GB2275891A

GB2275891A - A greetings card with gift.

Info

Publication number: GB2275891A
Application number: GB9311317A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Terrence Anthony Winsor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-06-02
Filing date: 1993-06-02
Publication date: 1994-09-14
Anticipated expiration: 2013-06-02
Also published as: WO1994027892A1; AU6852194A; GB2275891B; GB9311317D0

Abstract

The greetings card is formed from a single sheet of foldable material, and is adapted to releasably carry a compact disc (9) such that the CD is fully protected when the card is placed into its folded position. The card is folded into three panels (4, 5, 6), slits (11, 13, 14) being cut out of one of the end panel (6) to create flaps (7, 8) to hold the CD against that panel, which end panel is surrounded by the other two panels (4, 5) when the card is folded. <IMAGE>

Description

A GREETINGS CARD The present invention relates to a greetings card, and, in particular, to a greetings card which carries and protects a compact disc or similar record means.

Typically, greetings cards are not adapted to carry any gift. This is probably because many gifts such as jewellery are either too valuable or too fragile to entrust to the post. In fact, before the advent of the present invention the only things to be carried by greetings cards were badges or electronic circuitry which combines with a miniature speaker to play a tune when the card is opened. In the past, an album or a single would have been too large to be combined with a greetings card. However, since the advent of the compact disc there has been an opportunity for combining a compact disc with a greetings card which has not been realised.

According to the present invention there is provided a greetings card comprising a sheet of foldable material, which sheet has at least one fold line thereon, the fold line or lines dividing the sheet into at least two panels; one or more record means; at least one of the panels having means thereon for releasably holding the record means; the arrangement being such that when the card is folded from its open position to its closed position both sides of each record means are covered by the panels.

The invention will now be described further with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a card according to the present invention and in its open position.

Figure 2 is a similar view, but with the compact disc removed.

Figure 3 is a view of the card in its folded position, and Figure 4 shows a rear perspective view of the card.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a greetings card, indicated generally at 1, which is formed from a rectangular sheet of card. This rectangular sheet is divided along its length into two end panels 4, 6 and a central panel 5 by the provision of two parallel fold lines 2, 3 running across its width. The two fold lines 2, 3 are spaced such that the longitudinal dimension A of end panel 4 is substantially equal to the longitudinal dimension B of central panel 5 both of which dimensidns are slightly greater than the longitudinal dimension C of end panel 6. This end panel 6 carries a compact disc 9 of diameter D by means of a pair of flaps 7, 8 as is described below.

As can be seen from Figure 2 the pair of flaps 7, 8 are provided by cutting two slits 10, 11 through the end panel 6. Each slit has two radial portions 13 and 14 which join with the opposite ends of a circumferential portion 11. The circumferential portion of each slit lies along the arc of the circle of a slightly smaller diameter than the diameter of the compact disc D, which circle centres of a point P at the centre of the end panel 6. Each circumferential portion extends over an angle of approximately 700 and begins at a point approximately 450 away from the lowest point of the circle of smaller diameter. The radial portions 13 and 14 are of equal length and extend from either end of each slit radially outwards from the point P such that they lie on a'circle of slightly greater diameter than that of the compact disc 9.Each of these radial portions terminates in a stress reducing hole which has a diameter of approximately 2.5 mm. In addition, the junction between the circumferential portions and the radial portions is curved so as to reduce the possibility of the panel tearing at a position inwardly of that junction.

In order to construct the greetings card, a sheet of card (which is provided with a surface suitable for accepting printing by methods which are well known to those skilled in the art) has a design printed on it and is then varnished. The card is then cut into suitable rectangular shapes. Each rectangular sheet of card is then scored to provide the fold lines 2 and 3 and then cut to provide the slits through the end panel 6. The portion of the end panel 6 lying radially outward of the circumferential slits 11, 12 is then raised slightly to form the two flaps 7, 8 and the compact disc 9 is inserted underneath these. This results in a small portion of the compact disc being visible from the rear of the end panel 6 as is illustrated in Figure 4.The front of the end panel 6 is then be folded towards the front side of the centre panel 5, the end panel 4 then being folded towards the rear of the end panel 6 so as to fully enclose that panel and fully protect that part of the compact disc which is visible. It is in this folded position, illustrated in Figure 3, that the card is intended to be displayed and mailed.

It can be seen that the provision of slits in order to provide flaps to hold the compact disc results in a simple construction for the greetings card that only requires a single sheet of card in its manufacture. Furthermore, the dividing of the sheets of card into three panels uses the minimum material possible to ensure that all parts of the CD are covered when the card is folded. It can also be seen how the smaller longitudinal dimension C of the end panel 6 allows the card to be folded easily.

Finally, the described geometry of the slits results in the outside edges of the two upper stress reducing holes being spaced apart by a distance only very slightly greater than the diameter of the compact disc. Therefore, if the compact disc A is placed such that the line between the two upper stress reducing holes 19 coincides with a diameter of the compact disc 9 which lies partially under the flaps 7, 8, the card material around each hole lies below the compact disc at the upper edge of the hole and above the compact disc at the lower edge of the hole. As a result of the thickness of the compact disc (approximately 1 mm) this introduces tension into the card around the hole which results in a force which holds the compact disc against the end panel 6. This gives the advantage that the compact disc will not fall out of the card when the card is held upside down and yet can be removed if the compact disc is intentionally slid upwards in a plane parallel to the end panel 6.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not restricted in any way to a record means which is adapted to carry a particular type of information. The record means may carry audio data, visual data, instructions/data for a computer (e.g. a computer game), any other form of recorded data or a combination of these. In addition, the record means may be of any size.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A greetings card comprising a sheet of foldable material, which sheet has at least one fold line thereon, the fold line or lines dividing the sheet into at least two panels; one or more record means; at least one of the panels having means thereon for releasably holding the record means; the arrangement being such that when the card is folded from its open position to its closed position both sides of each record means are covered by the panels.

2. A greetings card according to claim 1, wherein: the means for releasably holding the record means on the panel are provided by at least one slit being cut through the panel, the record means being placed so that it lies underneath a first side of the panel on one side of the slit and above said first side of the panel on the other side of the slit.

3. A greetings card according to claim 2, wherein: the sheet has at least two fold lines thereon, the fold lines dividing the sheet into at least three panels; and each slit is cut into a panel of which neither side forms an outer surface of the card when the card is in its closed position; the arrangement being such that the record means is fully protected when the card is in its folded position.

4. A greetings card according to claim 3, wherein: the sheet has two fold lines which are generally parallel, thereby being divided into three panels.

5. A greetings card according to claim 4, wherein: in folding the card from its open position to its closed position each end panel folds towards the same side of the central panel; and the end panel which is folded first is of a smaller dimension than the outer panels so as to facilitate the folding of the card.

6. A greetings card according to claim 2, wherein: said one or more slits are configured so as to create one or more flaps which cover circumferential portions of the record means.

7. A greetings card according to claim 6, wherein the means for releasably holding the record means are provided by two flaps angularly spaced around the circumference of the record means.

8. A greetings card according to claim 7, wherein the slits are configured so as to enable the record means to be removed by sliding it along the plane of the panel on which it is held.

9. A greetings card according to claim 8, wherein: the distance between the ends of the first and second slits is slightly greater than the diameter of the record means, the arrangement being such that the resulting tension in the card material around the end of the slit holds the record means between the flap and the panel thereby preventing accidental release of the record means but allowing intentional removal.

10. A greetings card according to claim 2, wherein: the slits are terminated by round holes through the card so as to reduce stress concentration at the end of the slits and hence the likelihood of the card being torn.

11. A greetings card according to claim 1, wherein the record means is an audio compact disc.

12. A greetings card according to claim 1, wherein the record means stores a video recording.

13. A greetings card according to claim 1, wherein the record means stores photographic images.

14. A greetings card according to claim 1, wherein the record means stores instructions and/or data for a computer.

15. A greetings substantially as hereinbefore described and as shown in the accompanying drawings.