Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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INDEX GRIP PLASTIC CARD
Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to plastic cards used
for facilitating financial transactions. These cards,
which will be called financial cards herein, include
credit cards, debit cards, automatic teller machine (ATM)
cards, and other cards used to provide information about
an account to a merchant or another for purposes of a
financial transaction.
Numerous plastic cards have been used as financial
cards. Such cards often have embossed account numbers
and names on them as well as magnetic strips to hold
additional account information, often including
validation information. Alternately, account names and
numbers could be in an optically readable form such as a
bar code or simply stored in the magnetic strip or
another storage medium. The embossed account numbers and
names are often used to put impressions on transaction
papers (such as credit card receipts)having multiple
copies and carbon paper. The validation information is
codes and/or algorithms to make counterfeiting of a card
more difficult. Instead of magnetic strips on the cards
or in addition to one or more magnetic strips on each
card, other storage media have been used to hold account
and/or validation information.
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Such financial cards have facilitated a wide range
of transactions including credit purchases, debit
purchases, and ATM transactions. However, the cards have
been subject to a number of disadvantages. In
particular, many people have numerous cards in their
wallets and have difficulty separating them. The cards
tend to stick together. Additionally, the cards touching
each other across their full surfaces may damage the
information stored in some storage media. For example, a
magnetic strip on one card may erase or alter information
on an immediately adjacent card. Foreign matter, such as
gasoline from the hand of a person who has just used the
card to purchase gas, may get on one card and spread to
an adjoinining card, possibly damaging an adjoining card.
Objects and Summary of the Invention
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present
invention to provide a new and improved financial card.
A more specific object of the present invention is
to provide a financial card that is easy to separate from
adjacent financial cards.
A further object of the present invention is to
provide a financial card that is less likely to loose
information than present cards.
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Yet another object of the present invention is to
provide a financial card that is less likely to be
contaminated by foreign matter on an adjoining card.
The above and other features of the present
invention which will be more readily understood when the
following detailed description is considered in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings are realized
by a financial card including: a generally planar
substrate having a first surface, a second surface
parallel to the first surface, and edges; legible
information, readable by human eyesight, on the card and
related to an account associated with the financial card;
machine readable information related to the account
associated with the financial card; and a grip engagable
by a human finger placed on the first surface, the grip
extending parallel to the first surface and having at
least some portions offset from the first surface in a
direction normal to the first surface. The substrate
is made of plastic. The edges include four edges and the
four edges are first and second width edges and first and
second length edges and the grip extends parallel to one
of the four edges.
A number of alternate grip arrangements may be used.
In a first embodiment, the grip is a valley in the first
surface. In another embodiment, the grip is a slit
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extending between the first surface and the second
surface. In another embodiment, the grip is a high
friction surface portion on the first surface.
In another embodiment, the grip is a ridge
projecting up from the first surface. More preferably in
that embodiment, the ridge is integral with the substrate
and is embossed therefrom. Alternately, in that
embodiment, the ridge is separate from the substrate and
attached thereto.
The grip includes a portion parallel to one of the
four edges and a portion parallel to another of the four
edges.
The invention may alternately be described as a
financial card including: a generally planar substrate
having a first surface, a second surface parallel to the
first surface, and edges, wherein the substrate is made
of plastic; legible information, readable by human
eyesight, on the card and related to an account
associated with the financial card; machine readable
information related to the account associated with the
financial card; and a grip engagable by a human finger
placed on the first surface, the grip extending along the
first surface and adjacent to one of the four edges, the
grip having at least some portions offset from the first
surface in a direction normal to the first surface. The
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legible information is an account name and/or an account
number and the machine legible information is on a
magnetic strip on the substrate. The grip extends
parallel to at least one of the edges of the four edges.
The grip has portions extending parallel to at least two
of the edges of the four edges. If desired, the grip has
portions extending parallel to each of the four edges.
The grip is a ridge integral with the substrate and
extending out from the first surface and wherein the
legible information is characters embossed in the
substrate and extending out from the first surface.
Alternately, the grip is a valley in the first surface.
Other alternate grip arrangements include a slit
extending between the first surface and the second
surface and a high friction surface portion on the first
surface.
The invention may alternately be described as a
method of making a financial card including the steps of:
making a generally planar substrate of a card, the
substrate having a first surface, a second surface
parallel to the first surface, and edges; placing legible
information, readable by human eyesight, on the card and
related to an account associated with the financial card;
placing machine readable information related to the
account associated with the financial card; and locating
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a grip engagable by a human finger on the first surface,
the grip extending parallel to the first surface and
having at least some portions offset from the first
surface in a direction normal to the first surface. The
placing of at least some of legible information is
accomplished by stamping indentations into the card and
the grip is created in the card by the same stamping step
that applies at least some of legible information.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The above and other features of the present
invention will be more readily understood when the
following detailed description is considered in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like
characters represent like parts throughout the several
views and in which:
FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment card:
FIG. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment card;
FIG. 3 is a front view of a second embodiment card;
FIG. 4 is a side view of the second embodiment card;
FIG. 5 is a front view of a third embodiment card;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the third embodiment card;
FIG. 7 is a side view of a fourth embodiment card;
FIG. 8 is a front view of a fifth embodiment card;
FIG. 9 is a side view of the fifth embodiment card;
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FIG. 10 is a front view of a sixth embodiment card;
FIG. 11 is a side view of the sixth embodiment card;
FIG. 12 is a side view of the seventh embodiment
card;
FIG. 13 is a simplified diagrammatic side view of a
stamping process used for making the card; and
FIG. 14 is a simplified diagrammatic side view of a
mold used in a molding process for making the card.
Detailed Description
A first embodiment financial card 10 is shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2. The card includes legible information
(i.e., readable by the human eye) such as account name 11
and account number 12 (both of which may be embossed in
known fashion) and machine readable information about the
account such as information stored in a magnetic strip
13. The legible information and machine readable
information may be realized using any of the techniques
discussed above in the background section. The card 10
is generally planar with opposite first and second
rectangular (or generally rectangular, meaning with
rounded corners) surfaces and four edges, two being
parallel lengths and two being parallel widths.
A grip 14 includes a ridge 14A parallel and adjacent
to a length edge 16A. As used herein, a grip or grip
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portion is adjacent to an edge if it is separated from
the edge by a separation distance(i.e., smallest distance
between the two)less than or equal to nine times its
separation distance from an opposite edge. Thus, in FIG.
1, ridge 14A is separated from the edge 16A by a distance
no greater than nine times the distance from ridge 14A to
edge 16C. In similar fashion, a ridge portion 14B,
perpendicular to ridge portion 14A, is also part of grip
14 and is adjacent edge 16B.
The ridges 14A and 14B making up grip 14 allow one
to readily separate the card 10 from other cards in an
owner's wallet. Additionally, the slight offset between
adjacent cards caused by the ridges 14A and 14B reduces
the chances that impurities, such as dirt, on one card
are transferred to a portion of an adjacent card. The
embossed letters and numbers of 11 and 12 may help
prevent such transfer, but may catch impurities
themselves. In contrast, the ridges 14A and 14B, which
preferably project further out from the planar surface
than the letters and numbers, help to shield the letters
and numbers from getting impurities from another card.
A second embodiment card 20 according to the present
invention is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The components of
this card have numbers in the 20s with the same last
digit as the corresponding component, if any, of the
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first embodiment. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the
discussion of the second and later embodiments will
concentrate on differences from the first embodiment. It
will be understood that these additional embodiments are
constructed and operable in the same fashion as the first
embodiment except where expressly noted otherwise.
Card 20 has account name 21, account number 22,
magnetic strip 23, and grip 24. Card 20 differs from
card 10 in that grip 24 has ridge portions 24A and 24B
adjacent to edges, but on a surface of card 20 opposite
to the surface where name and number information 21 and
22 project out.
A third embodiment card 30 according to the present
invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The components of
this card have numbers in the 30s with the same last
digit as the corresponding component, if any, of the
first embodiment. Card 30 has account name 31, account
number 32, magnetic strip 33, and grip 34. Card 30
differs from card 10 in that grip 34 has ridge portions
34A, 34B, 34C, and 34D, each adjacent and parallel to a
corresponding edge of the card. The name and number
characters are not visible in FIG. 6.
A fourth embodiment card 30 according to the present
invention is shown in FIG. 7. The components of this
card have numbers in the 40s with the same last digit as
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the corresponding component, if any, of the first
embodiment. Card 40 has account name 41, account number
42, magnetic strip 43, and grip 44. Card 40 differs from
card 10 in that grip 44 is a valley or indentation
extending parallel to an adjacent edge. A person can use
a fingernail to pull the card 40 out from a group of
cards by placing the finger on the desired card such that
the fingernail catches the valley 44. The valley 44
could have different portions parallel and adjacent to
different edges or, alternately, could have a single
portion running adjacent to one edge only. (Likewise,
the other embodiments could have a grip with a single
portion running adjacent to one edge only or with two to
four portions each running adjacent to a corresponding
edge.)
A fifth embodiment card 50 according to the present
invention is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The components of
this card have numbers in the 50s with the same last
digit as the corresponding component, if any, of the
first embodiment. For ease of illustration, card 50 and
the below discussed embodiments, do not show the account
name, account number, and magnetic strip, but it will be
understood that such components would be included in each
of these embodiments. Card 50 differs from card 10 in
that grip 54 includes a series of slits 54A and 54B
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extending completely through the card. The slits, like
the grips in the other embodiments, include some portions
offset from the surface (i.e., the surface where a finger
is placed to engage the grip) in a direction normal to
the surface.
A sixth embodiment card 60 according to the present
invention is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. This card uses a
grip 64 having high friction materials in strips 64A and
64B extending parallel to adjacent edges. As the high
friction materials such as, sandpaper strips must have
bumps and valleys therein sufficiently large to provide
gripping, they thus incldde some portions offset from the
surface (i.e., the surface where a finger is placed to
engage the grip) in a direction normal to the surface.
A seventh embodiment card 70 according to the
present invention is shown in FIGS. 12. This card uses a
grip 74 extending parallel to an adjacent edge. The grip
74 is a strip of rubber or plastic adhered to the rest of
the card 70.
FIG. 13 shows a way in which a card 80 having name
81 and numbers 82 is made using a die stamp having parts
87 and 88 which stamp the name 81 and numbers 82 in the
card 80 in known fashion. Additionally, they stamp a
ridge 84A and valley 84B in the card at the same time
that the name and number information is die stamped into
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the card. The ridge 84A and/or valley 84B may be used as
a grip like ridge 14 or valley 44.
An alternate way of making a card is shown in FIG.
14. This uses a mold having a top mold piece 92 and
bottom mold piece 94 in order to mold a card having a
ridge corresponding to mold valley 95 and/or a card
valley corresponding to mold ridge 96. Plastic, such as
liquid plastic, is supplied into the mold and the valley
95 creates a ridge (not shown) in the card (not shown)
and the ridge 95 creates a valley (not shown) in the card
(not shown). The mold may also make the name and number
characters on the card by use of portions 97 and 98. The
valley and/or ridges in the cards so made may serve as
the grips in numerous of the embodiments discussed above.
Although specific constructions have been presented
herein, it is to be understood that these are for
illustrative purposes only. Various modifications and
adaptations will be apparent to those of skill in the
art. In view of possible modifications, it will be
appreciated that the scope of the present invention
should be determined by reference to the claims appended
hereto.
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