Case for magnetic cards equipped with a manual indicator of the residual credit

Abstract

 Case for magnetic cards, of the telephone or motorway cards kind or other, equipped with an indicator of the residual credit which is manually set by the user on a rotative system having a suitable numbering or on a numbered scale by a linear shift slider.

Description

Prior art

[0001] In recent years the telephone cards had a great diffusion and also in the future, notwithstanding the success of the cellular telephony, such diffusion is destined to increase farther with the substitution of the coin public telephones with the new "ROTOR" model. This telephone set is in fact able to accept any kind of telephone cards, either the pre-paid ones for the national territory or the pre-paid ones for international use.

[0002] In the same way the "VIACARD" cards had a good agreement by the motorists.

[0003] Moreover also the credit cards are spreading for a wider and wider range of services, for example in the drink dispensers and so on.

[0004] Every known kind of cards shows an important problem that is how to know the residual credit and how to identify, between two cards, which one has the greater credit.

[0005] At present cases for magnetic cards exist but their function is limited to the protection of the magnetic band from scratches and/or from demagnetization which may accidentally occur keeping the card in the pocket.

Detailed description of the invention

[0006] The prior art problem is solved by the present invention which refers to a case for magnetic cards, of the telephone or motorway kind or other, equipped with a residual credit indicator, which may be of the rotative kind or of the linear shift slider kind.

[0007] The case according to the present invention allows the user to manually set the card residual credit and to know in every moment such an amount without having to resort to the relative magnetic reading apparatus of the public telephone or of the motorway automatic counter.

[0008] The characteristics and the advantages of said case will be pointed out in the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying Figures.

[0009] As one can see in the Figures 1 and 2, the case according to the present invention has the shape of a flat rectangular box (1).

[0010] The inner space of said box is divided by a diaphragm (2) into two compartments each intended to house a magnetic card.

[0011] The Figures 1 and 2 refer to a single case shown respectively by a surface and by the opposite surface, each of which is equipped with an indicator system, for the respective magnetic card.

[0012] In the Figure 1 the rotative indicator system on the upper surface is shown, and the linear shift slider system is shown in transparence.

[0013] Vice versa in the Figure 2.

[0014] Said rotative indicator system is formed by three rotating, knurled small wheels (3), (4) and (5), carrying along the circumference a numeration from 0 to 9, as it is shown in detail in the Figure 3.

[0015] Said small wheels are enclosed in a case (6) equipped on the upper part with little windows (7), (8) and (9) in order to allow the reading of the interested digit and laterally with a slot from which comes out an arc of the small wheels which allows the manual rotation as it is better pointed out in the Figure 3.

[0016] As an application Example, in the small wheel (3) the credit is set in tens of thousands lire, in the small wheel (4) in thousands lire and in the small wheel (5) in hundreds lire.

[0017] Obviously one will be able to refer the numeration to every kind of currency and counting, in integer and decimal numbers.

[0018] As it is pointed out in the Figure 3, in the case (6) in correspondence of every small wheel a small pawl (10) is applied which engages the knurling of the small wheel and prevents the set digit from being accidentally modified when the case is put into the pocket.

[0019] On the surface opposite to the described one, better pointed out in the Figure 2, the linear shift slider indicator is applied.

[0020] In this case the slider (11) slides along a strip (12) equipped with a graduated scale which represents all the intermediate possible values which the credit of the card may take on.

[0021] The movements of the slider are constrained to said graduated scale by an inner knurling to the sliding movement.

[0022] In this case too the knurling prevents the accidental shifting of the indicator.

[0023] The slider indicator is particularly suitable for high sums as it is required for example for the motorway toll.

[0024] On each of the two surfaces of the case a semi-ellipse (13) is realized in order to help the extraction of the card.

[0025] The case is made of shock-resistant preferably transparent plastic material. Also the elements of the indicator systems are preferably made of plastic material.

[0026] The inner compartments suitable to receive the cards have the thickness about equal to one millimetre and the size suitable to contain the cards.

[0027] The above described case, as already pointed out, allows to contain at the same time two cards and to able to use that one with the most convenient credit, according to the needs.

[0028] However a lot of variations are possible without wandering from the aim of the invention.

[0029] For example in the invention is included the variation considering on both surfaces the rotative indicator or the sliding indicator, as well as the variation considering a single inner compartment for a single card equipped with a rotative indicator or with a slider indicator.

[0030] Moreover the number of the small wheels of the rotative indicator may be different from three.

[0031] Finally on a surface of the case it is possible to apply a pocket which allows the insertion of a little telephone book, of tickets for public transport and so on.

Claims

1. Case for magnetic cards, of the telephone or motorway cards kind or other, having the shape of a flat rectangular box (1), equipped with one or two indicators of the residual credit manually operated which may be of rotative or linear shift slider kind, wherein said indicator of rotative kind includes rotating, knurled small wheels (3), (4) and (5), carrying along their circumference a numeration from 0 to 9 and said indicator of linear shift slider kind includes a slider (11) sliding along a strip (12) equipped with a graduated scale.

2. Case as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that when the indicators are two, one is applied on a surface of the case and the second one is applied on the opposite surface of the case itself.

3. Case as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that when the indicators are two, the inner space of the case is divided by a diaphragm (2) into two compartments each one intended to house a magnetic card.

4. Case as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said small wheels are housed in a case (6) equipped on the upper part with little windows (7), (8) and (9) in order to allow the reading of the interested digit, printed on the small wheels, and laterally with a slot from which comes out an arc of the small wheels which allows the manual rotation.

5. Case as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that in correspondence of every small wheel a small pawl (10) is applied which engages the knurling of the small wheel itself.

6. Case as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the movement of said slider (11) is constrained to said graduated scale by an inner knurling to the sliding movement.

7. Case as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that on each of the two surfaces of the case itself a semi-ellipse (13) is realized in order to help the extraction of the card.

Drawing