Greeting card construction and methods of making and using same

Details Greeting card construction and methods of making and using same Greeting card construction and methods of making and using same

1999-09-01

2001-09-25

Fridie, Jr., Willmon (Department: 3722)

Printed matter

Miscellaneous

C283S061000, C283S056000, C040S124110

Reexamination Certificate

active

06293592

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to printable greeting card constructions, methods of forming printed cards, and methods of making printable card constructions.
Greeting cards printed using today's desktop printers and personal computers are popular products for conveying information and self-expression. Presently, to create a half-fold card requires printing the desired indicia for the outer panels in one pass through the printer and then reloading and printing the interior panels in a second pass therethrough. Unfortunately, this multi-step procedure is tedious and can lead to spoilage of sheets if the sheets are loaded in the improper orientation for the second pass. Although quarter-fold cards with their second fold do not suffer from this problem, the resulting card is only half as large. Thus, the quarter-fold cards are clearly smaller than common, preprinted greeting cards, and are undesirable for most uses.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Directed to remedying problems of the prior art greeting card constructions and printing methods, disclosed herein is a conventional size, half-fold greeting card construction which has the desired indicia printed on both the outer and interior card panels in a single pass through a printer or copier. The sheet construction includes a first panel, a second panel and fold line between the two panels. The first panel is printable with a normal-orientation indicia on the first face of the sheet construction. And the second panel is printable with a reverse-printed indicia on the first face of the sheet construction; the reverse-printed indicia because of the backlit construction of the second panel is visible on the opposite second face of the sheet construction. In other words, the normal-orientation and reverse-printed indicia are thus printed on the same face of the sheet construction in a single pass through a printer or copier. The printed sheet construction is then folded on the fold line so that the reverse-printed indicia is on the front of the card in a normal orientation and the normal-orientation indicia is on the inside surface with the folded card open.
A preferred sheet construction uses a transparent film base sheet, whose bottom surface defines the second face of the sheet construction. A backlit coating is applied to the entire top surface of the base sheet. When ink (such as from an ink jet printer) is applied to the top of the coating on a second portion or panel of the sheet construction, the ink (due to the special properties of the coating) migrates through the coating to the interface with the base sheet, that is, to the top of the base sheet. Since the base sheet comprises a transparent film, the ink is visible through the film on the bottom surface thereof. In other words, when the ink is applied as reverse-printed indicia on the top of the coating, it is visible as normal orientation indicia on the bottom of the film, i.e., the second face of the sheet construction. An opaque, direct-imaging material, such as a sheet of paper, is applied with adhesive to a top surface of the coating to define the first panel. The first and second panels are separated by a fold line, such as a scored line on the coating.
An alternative sheet construction does not extend the backlit coating across the entire top surface of the base sheet. Rather, the backlit coating (or reverse-printable, backlit formulation) is extrusion-coated or coextruded in side-by-side stripes (or panels) with an opaque, imageable film on a transparent continuous base film. A space between the stripes forms the fold line of the sheet construction between the panels.
For certain card uses or embodiments it may be desirable to cover up the reverse-printed side of the first face of the second panel for the final folded card construction. Accordingly, provided herein is a further construction that includes a pocket over the first face of the second panel and an opaque panel positionable in the pocket after the printing operation.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4006048 (1977-02-01), Cannady, Jr. et al.
patent: 4873135 (1989-10-01), Wittnebel et al.
patent: 4940690 (1990-07-01), Skees
patent: 5273796 (1993-12-01), Elbing et al.
patent: 5536545 (1996-07-01), Condon et al.
patent: 5829790 (1998-11-01), Phillips

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