WO1996012623A1

WO1996012623A1 - Combination greeting card and removable novelty item

Info

Publication number: WO1996012623A1
Application number: PCT/US1995/000427
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kim Conrad
Original assignee: Kim Conrad
Priority date: 1994-10-19
Filing date: 1995-01-12
Publication date: 1996-05-02
Also published as: AU1678795A

Abstract

A combination greeting card (10) and removable novelty item (16) having a card (13) which may include a greeting (15) directed to the recipient. The card also includes a removable novelty item (16) which may be a piece of jewelry attached to the card but easily removable therefrom.

Description

COMBINATION GREETING CARD AND REMOVABLE NOVELTY ITEM

RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of copending U.S. Application Serial No. 08/089,738, filed July 9 , 1993.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to greeting cards; and, more particularly, to a greeting card having a removable novelty item attached thereto.

Description of the Prior Art

Greeting cards are used extensively to send warm wishes and the like to others. Sometimes such cards accompany a gift to the recipient. In that case, the sender must separately wrap up the gift in order to send it with the card. Further, the sender, if the gift is large, cannot mail the same without going to the post office or use some comparable mailing procedure.

In U.S. Patent No. 5,213,371, there is described a greeting card having a cookie cutter and recipe attached thereto. The cookie cutter is not easily detached from the card, is not a novelty item, cannot be reattached very easily and requires complicated apparatus for detachably attaching the cookie cutter to the card.

There is thus a need for a greeting card having a removable novelty item attached thereto. The foregoing should be able to utilize a conventional greeting card without the need for cutting out holes or openings, or the need for complicated connecting members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a greeting card having a detachable novelty item thereon. It is a further object of this invention to provide a greeting card having a piece of jewelry detachably mounted to the card.

It is still further an object of this invention to provide a greeting card having a piece of jewelry magneti¬ cally mounted to the card.

It is another object of this invention to provide a greeting card having a piece of jewelry or novelty item removably attached to the card which can be easily removed and worn by the recipient without the need for any other mounting mechanism.

These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing a combination greeting card and removable novelty item having a card which may include a greeting directed to the recipient. The card also includes a removable novelty item, such as a piece of precious or semi-precious jewelry, attached to the card but easily removable therefrom. The novelty item may be easily removed from the card and worn by the recipient. The item can be easily attached to the card, and detachable therefrom, without pre-cutting holes in the card or the need for a complicated mounting mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a combination greeting card and novelty item apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of a portion of the front of the greeting card and novelty item apparatus of FIG. l; and FIG. 3 is a view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a combination greeting card and novelty item apparatus 10 in accordance with the teachings of the invention is shown. Apparatus

10 includes a greeting card 11 having a generally planar front portion 12 hinged at hinge 13 to a rear portion 14. Of course, card 11 may be of relatively stiff cardboard or the like and may have a single planar sheet, such as portions 12, 14, or be comprised of folded sheets forming a greeting card as is well known in the greeting card art. Card 11 may, on the front face of portion 12, have suitable indicia 15 which may be a message or greeting directed to the recipient. As will be discussed below, such greeting or message may be related to the novelty item 16 attached to card 11 as will now be discussed. As particularly contemplated in the present invention, a novelty item 16 is detachably mounted to card 11 as, for example, by being removably secured to the front face of front portion 12. Novelty item 16, which is shown as heart-shaped for convenience of illustration, has a first main body portion 17, which may simulate a heart, a first magnet 18 (FIG. 3) securely mounted to the back 19 thereof, and a second magnet 20 disposed on the opposite or back side 21 (see also FIG. 2) of front portion 12.

As seen in FIG. 2, the only part of novelty item 16 visible on back side 21 is second magnet 20. The latter is attached to first magnet 18 so that magnet 18 is disposed on one side of front portion 12 (FIG. 3) and the other magnet 20 is disposed on the other or back side 21 of front portion 12. Magnets 18, 20 may be relatively strong and preferably of a mating configuration, such as cylindrical in shape, to provide for greater and more secure attraction. Although novelty item 16 is shown attached at one location to front portion 12 of card 11, obviously it can be disposed anywhere on front portion 12 and even on rear portion 14.

The latter is made possible by using magnets which can be quickly and easily attached or detached at any desired location without need for pre-formed holes or openings in card 11 or other connecting means. In fact, once novelty item 16 is removed from card 11, it can be worn by the recipient by merely placing part 17 on the outside of one's garment with magnet 20 on the inside, much as is illustrated in FIG. 3 (the garment replacing front portion 12) . Thus, it is desired to choose the strength of magnets 18, 20 so that the novelty item 16 can be so attached to one's shirt or jacket or dress (but not too strong so as to damage the same) .

It can also be seen that the foregoing is accomplished without damaging the card 11. That is, no holes or openings are made in card 11; it can be kept as a keepsake and, if desired, novelty item 16 can be quickly and easily reattached to card 11.

Although a novelty item 16 has been discussed, item 16 can be a precious or semi-precious piece of jewelry or some other keepsake. Although magnetic means can be used for attaching item 16 to card 11 without any pre-formed holes or openings in card 11, any suitable mechanism may be used for quickly and easily attaching item 16 to card 11, removing it therefrom, then reattaching the same.

The indicia 15, as mentioned, can be a writing related to the type of novelty or jewelry item 16 mounted on card 11, such as a love poem or sentimental saying or the like. The piece of jewelry or novelty item would then be related to the thought expressed in the poem or saying, such as a heart.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, variations thereof may occur to an artisan and the scope of the invention is only considered to be limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMSI claim:

1. A combination greeting card and novelty item apparatus comprising: a greeting card having a first generally planar portion with a front face a:d a back face and a second generally planar portion hinged to said first generally planar portion, said greeting; a novelty item which is releasably attached to said greeting card, said novelty item having a main body portion with a front face and a back face, a first magnet securely mounted to said main body portion on the back face thereof and disposed against one of said front or back faces of said first generally planar portion, and a second magnet magnetically attractable to said first magnet disposed against the other of said front or back faces of said first generally planar portion and magneti¬ cally attracted to said first magnet with said first generally planar portion clamped between said first and second magnets, said novelty item being configured such that, after being removed from said greeting card, said novelty item is releasably attachable to an article of clothing so as to be wearable by a recipient of said combination greeting card and novelty item without requiring any added securement mechanism and without requiring a hole or opening in said article of clothing to facilitate attachment of said novelty item to said article of clothing.

2. The apparatus defined in Claim 1 wherein said magnets are cylindrical in configuration.

3. The apparatus defined in Claim 1 wherein said novelty item is a piece of jewelry.

4. The apparatus defined in Claim 1 including printed indicia on one of said front or back faces of said planar portion related to said novelty item.

5. A combination greeting card and novelty item apparatus comprising: a greeting card having a front face and a back face; and a novelty item removably and detachably secured to said greeting card, said novelty item having a main body portion and a separable element which is magnetically attractable to said main body portion, said main body portion being disposed against one of said front or back faces of said greeting card and said separable element being disposed against the other of said front or back faces of said greeting card with said greeting card clamped between said main body portion and said separable element, said novelty item being configured such that, after being removed from said greeting card, said novelty item is releasably attachable to an article of clothing so as to be wearable by a recipient of said combination greeting card and novelty item without requiring any added securement mechanism and without requiring a hole or opening in said article of clothing to facilitate attach¬ ment of said novelty item to said article of clothing, said novelty item being attachable to said article of clothing by clamping said article of clothing between said main body portion of said novelty item and said separable element.

6. The apparatus defined in Claim 4 wherein said novelty item is a piece of jewelry.

7. The apparatus defined in Claim 5 wherein said novelty item is a piece of jewelry.

8. The apparatus defined in Claim 5 including printed indicia on one of said front or back faces related to said novelty item.

9. The apparatus defined in Claim 8 wherein said novelty item is a piece of jewelry.

AMENDED CLAIMS

[received by the International Bureau on 4 July 1995 (04.07.95); original claims 1-9 replaced by new claims 10-24 (4 pages)]

I claim:

10. An apparatus, comprising: a greeting card including a first generally planar member defining a first face and a second face, a second generally planar member, and a hinge operably connecting the first generally planar member to the second generally planar member; a novelty item, defining a separate structural element from the greeting card, and including a main body and a first attachment device associated with the main body, the first attachment device being associated with a portion of the first face of the first generally planar member of the greeting card; and a second attachment device, defining a separate structural element from the greeting card, associated with a portion of the second face of the first generally planar member of the greeting card, the portion of the second face being substantially aligned with the portion of the first face, the first and second attachment devices being magnetically attracted to one another and defining a magnetic attraction therebetween sufficient secure the novelty item and the second attachment device to the first generally planar member of the greeting card.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein at least one of the first and second attachment devices comprises a magnet .

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first and second attachment devices respectively comprise first and second magnets.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein at least one of the first and second magnets defines a substantially cylindrical shape.

14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the magnetic attraction between the first and second attach¬ ment devices is sufficient to secure the novelty item to a garment.

15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the novelty item comprises a piece of jewelry.

16. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, further comprising: printed indicia on the first face of the first generally planar member of the greeting card which is related to the novelty item.

17. An apparatus, comprising: a generally planar, substantially stiff greeting card defining a first face and a second face; a novelty item, defining a separate structural element from the greeting card, and including a main body and a first attachment device associated with the main body, the first attachment device being associated with a portion of the first face of the greeting card; and a second attachment device, defining a separate structural element from the greeting card, associated with a portion of the second face of the greeting card, the portion of the second face being substantially aligned with the portion of the first face, the first and second attachment devices being magnetically attracted to one another and defining a magnetic attraction therebetween sufficient secure the novelty item and the second attach¬ ment device to the greeting card.

18. An apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein at least one of the first and second attachment devices comprises a magnet.

19. An apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the first and second attachment devices respectively comprise first and second magnets.

20. An apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein at least one of the first and second magnets defines a substantially cylindrical shape.

21. An apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the magnetic attraction between the first and second attach¬ ment devices is sufficient to secure the novelty item to a garment .

22. An apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the novelty item comprises a piece of jewelry.

23. An apparatus as claimed in claim 17, further comprising: printed indicia on the first face of the greeting card which is related to the novelty item.

24. An apparatus, comprising: a greeting card including a first generally planar member defining a first face and a second face, a second generally planar member, and a hinge operably connecting the first generally planar member to the second generally planar member; a novelty item, defining a separate structural element from the greeting card, and including a main body and a first magnet associated with the main body, the first magnet being associated with a portion of the first face of the first generally planar member of the greeting card; a second magnet, defining a separate structural element from the greeting card, associated with a portion of the second face of the first generally planar member of the greeting card, the portion of the second face being substantially aligned with the portion of the first face, the first and second magnets being magnetically attracted to one another and defining a magnetic attraction therebe¬ tween sufficient secure the novelty item and the second attachment device to the first generally planar member of the greeting card and to a garment; and printed indicia on the first face of the first generally planar member of the greeting card which is related to the novelty item.