WO1988001419A1

WO1988001419A1 - Greeting card

Info

Publication number: WO1988001419A1
Application number: PCT/US1987/001896
Authority: WO
Inventors: B. Sue Kennedy
Original assignee: Kennedy B Sue
Priority date: 1986-08-11
Filing date: 1987-08-03
Publication date: 1988-02-25

Abstract

A greeting card (10) has a decal (21) that may be removed from the card (10) and mounted to another object so as to form a collection. The card (10) may also bear a permanent replica of the image on the decal (21) for cross reference.

Description

GREETING CARD

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to greeting cards such as those used to celebrate and recognize personal, religious and national holidays and events.

^{' '} BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In- the past greeting cards have usually been constructed simply of a folded, imprintable medium such as paper. During times of celebration or the occurence of personal events, people often send such cards to others who, after having initially read them, will often assemble them into a collection for display. Since the cards are flat it would be easy to arrange them into stacks. This, however, would render only the card on top of each stack visible. Standing the cards on their edges is thus the most common way of collecting and displaying them. This however requires some degree of manual dexterity and constitutes a tentative and fragile form of display. 88/014U

In addition, since the cards come in a variety of shapes and sizes, a problem occurs as to how the cards should be best arranged. A common practice is to form collections with the taller cards located at the rear so that all of the cards may be scanned. However, if the newly arrived cards are taller than those in the existing collection, the collection must be moved forward to accommodate them. Conversely, for shorter additional cards the collection must often be moved 0 further back to make room for the new ones. Thus the card collections must often be rearranged to accommodate new cards as they arrive from time to time. Another problem associated with greeting cards placed on a flat surface is that they can be easily τ_5 tipped over by children, pets or even by light breezes. When the cards are grouped together, one .falling card may cause neighboring cards also to fall thereby creating a domino effect resulting in many cards falling and having to be set back in their upright _Q positions.

It therefore is seen that a need exists for a greeting card that may be easily collected and displayed substantially free of the just described problems. A primary object of the invention thus is to ₅ provide a greeting card that overcomes many of the just described problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one form of the invention a greeting card 0 comprises at least one leaf and a transparent carrier sheet bound to the leaf for movement between a position overlying the leaf and a position substantially spaced from the leaf. A decal is removably mounted to the side of the carrier sheet located proximal to the leaf 5 with the carrier sheet located in the overlying position. The decal may be manually removed from the card and mounted to another transparent object for display along with other card decals so as to provide a stable and secure collection. In another form of the invention a greeting card comprises a sheet folded along a fold to form at least two leafs including a front leaf and a back leaf. A transparent carrier sheet is hinged to the sheet for movement between a position overlying the front leaf and a position substantially separated from the front leaf. A decal is removably mounted to the side of the carrier sheet located proximal to the front leaf.

In yet another form of the invention a greeting card comprises at least one leaf, an opaque carrier sheet bound to the leaf for movement between a position overlaying the leaf and a position substantially, separated from the front leaf, and a decal removably mounted to the side of the carrier sheet located proximal to the front leaf. In still yet another form of the invention, a greeting card comprises a sheet having a message bearing surface on one side and a decal mounting surface on the reverse side. The sheet has a fold from which two leaves of the sheet extend, and a plastic decal mounted to the decal mounting surface overlaying the fold. The plastic decal is cut along the fold to permit the sheet to be folded along the fold with the decal mounted thereto and to form two independent decal parts that may be independently peeled from the sheet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Fig. 1 i.s a perspective view of a greeting card embodying principles of the present invention shown in a substantially closed position. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the greeting card of Fig. 1 shown in an open position.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the card illustrated in

Fig. 1 shown with a decal being removed therefrom. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a greeting card embodying principles of the invention in another form. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the exterior of a greeting card embodying principles of the invention in yet another form. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the other side of the greeting card shown in Fig. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION With reference next to the drawing, there is shown in Figs. 1-3 a greeting card 10 that includes a sheet of printable paper stock 11 that is folded along a fold 15 to form a front leaf 12 and a rear leaf 13. The front leaf has a front side 12A normally located distal to the rear leaf and a back side 12B facing the rear leaf. The rear leaf 13 is seen to have a message printed thereon in a conventional fashion.

Attached to the front leaf 12 is a transparent static cling vinyl carrier sheet 20. Preferably, the static cling carrier is a clear vinyl or clear acetate such as that sold by the Tekra Corporation of New Berlin, Wisconsin. A decal 21, which bears the image of a Christmas wreath and ribbon, is removably secured by static electricity to the side of the carrier 20 that faces the front leaf 12. The carrier 20 is folded over the top edge 12C of the front leaf 12 to form a tab 20A. The tab 20A is bonded to the back side 12B of the front leaf with an adhesive. Alternatively, an edge of the carrier sheet could be secured to a side or to the bottom of the leaf with or without the tab. In use, the greeting card 10 may be mailed in an unshown envelope to a recipient. Upon removal from the envelope the recipient may appreciate the art work provided on the decal and read the message on the rear leaf. The recipient may then remove the decal from the card. This is done by lifting the carrier sheet 20 and peeling the decal 21 off the back of the carrier as shown being done in Fig. 3. The decal can then be placed on another transparent surface such as a window pane for display along with other card decals and thereby form a collection. Later, the decals may be easily removed without damage to the other transparent surface. If desired, they may be remounted on the card carrier sheets for storage and later displayed again as, for example, along with others newly received in later years.

An alternative form of the greeting card is illustrated in Fig. 4. Here, the card is seen to have a rear leaf 31 on which a message is printed. The card also has a front leaf 30 on which is printed the outline of a Christmas tree. A replica of the tree as it appears on the front leaf 30 is printed on a decal

33 which has a tacky back surface. This decal is removably secured upon a specially coated, opaque paper stock backing or carrier 34 such as Chromocoat board.

The carrier 34 is folded at a fold 35 behind the rear leaf to form a tab 34A which is removably bonded to the back side of the back leaf 31 as by crimping or a light coating of adhesive. In use, the decal 33 may be peeled off the front of the carrier 34 with the card remaining in a compacted or fully closed configuration. Once this is done the carrier sheet 34 may also be peeled off and discarded whereupon the remaining σa^'rd with duplicate image may be retained for cross reference so as to identify the sender. As an alternative, the front leaf may be eliminated. As another alternative a transparent carrier and decal may be substituted, of the type shown in Figs. 1-3, so that the decal image is in register with that on the front leaf when the card is in a compact configuration.

Finally, with reference to Figs. 5 and 6 yet another form of the invention is shown wherein a greeting card 50 is of two-ply laminated construction. The card has a paper layer and a plastic, static-cling layer. The paper layer has an exposed surface 51 upon which the message HAPPY THANKSGIVING is printed. The plastic layer has a decal mounting surface 52 that is exposed once decals are removed from it. The card 50 is formed with a crease or fold 54 to define two leaves 55 and 56. A vinyl static-cling type decal indicated generally at 57 is removably mounted to the decal mounting surface 52. This decal has an image of a turkey positioned on leaf 56 and the image of trees positioned on leaf 55. Due here to the differences in scale the images of the turkey and of the trees are visually independent.

The decal 57 is cut all along the fold 54 into two parts, i.e. a part 58 with the turkey image and a part 59 with the trees image. This cut serves enable the two leaves of the card to be folded along fold 54 without the plastic decal acting to unfold or straighten the leaves due to its inherent resiliency. This cut also severs the decal into the two parts 58 and 58 whereby they may be independently removed from the mounting surface 52 as independent decals. Fig. 5 shows each decal part being peeled from that surface.

It thus is seen that the greeting 50 may be folded without spring-back created by the presence of the decal 57. In its folded configuration it presents one image on its obverse, exterior side and another on its reverse, exterior side. The card may be opened to reveal a printed message and any handwritten note or signature. Its recipient may later peel either or both of the decal parts from the card and mount them elsewhere for display.

^• In summary, a new greeting card is provided that overcomes problems long associated with those of the • prior art. It should be noted however that the just described embodiments merely illustrate principles of the invention in two preferred forms. Many modifications, additions and deletions other than those specifically suggested may be made thereto without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A greeting card comprising at least one leaf, a transparent carrier sheet bound to said leaf for movement between a position overlaying said leaf and a position substantially separated from said leaf, and a decal removably mounted to the side of said carrier sheet located proximal to said leaf with said carrier sheet in said overlying position.

2. The greeting card of claim 1 wherein said carrier sheet has a tab portion that is folded over an edge of said leaf bound to a side of said leaf located distal to said carrier sheet.

3. The greeting card of claim 2 comprising another_^leaf underlying a side of said one leaf located distal to said carrier sheet.

4. The greeting card of claim 1 wherein said decal is an electrostatic cling type decal.

5. The greeting card of claim 1 wherein said decal is a tacky cling type decal.-

6. A greeting card comprising a sheet folded along at least one fold to form at least two leafs including a front leaf and a back leaf, a transparent carrier sheet hinged along a hinge to said sheet for movement between a position overlying said front leaf and a position substantially separated from said front leaf, and a decal removably mounted to the side of said carrier sheet located proximal to said front leaf.

7. The greeting card of claim 6 wherein said decal bears a decal image, wherein said front leaf bears a leaf image and wherein said decal image and said leaf image are substantially the same and in substantial register with said carrier sheet located in said overlying position.

8.' The greeting card of claim 7 wherein said hinge is located along said fold.

9. The greeting card of claim 6 wherein said hinge is along an edge of said front leaf that extends angularly from said fold.

10. The greeting card of claim 6 wherein said decal is a static cling type decal.

11. A greeting card comprising at least one leaf, an opaque carrier sheet bound to said leaf for movement between a position overlaying said leaf and a position substantially separated from said leaf, and a decal removably mounted to the side of said carrier sheet located distal to said leaf with said carrier sheet in said overlying position.

12. The greeting card of claim 11 comprising another leaf underlying a side of said one leaf located distal to said carrier sheet.

13. The greeting card of claim 11 wherein said decal is a tacky cling-type decal.

14. The greeting card of claim 11 wherein, said leaf constitutes a second opaque, carrier sheet, and wherein said card comprises a second decal removably mounted to second opaque carrier sheet.

15. A greeting card comprising a sheet having a message bearing surface on one side and a decal mounting surface on the reverse side, said sheet having a fold from which two leaves of said sheet extend, and a plastic decal mounted to said decal mounting surface overlaying said fold, with said plastic decal being cut along said fold to permit said sheet to be folded along said fold with the decal mounted thereto and to form two independent decal parts that may be independently peeled from said sheet.

16. The greeting card of claim 15 wherein said sheet has a paper ply and a plastic ply, said paper ply providing said message bearing surface and said plastic ply providing said decal mounting .surface.