The present invention relates to a pocket coin holder.
It is a known practice to accumulate metallic coins in the pockets of clothing or store them in appropriate coin holders or in compartments assigned to them generally provided in wallets; in each case, the coins are collected haphazardly.
It is also known that the cash desks of public and/or commercial concerns are equipped with cash registers that are divided into a plurality of compartments, each of which is designed to contain a specific denomination of bills or coins; in this last case, the coins are collected in a pile.
When a payment is made, buyers are forced to search their pockets, wallets or coin holders in order to try to find, among all the coins, the coins that have the denomination and quantity suitable to reach the amount due.
Likewise, cash desk operators are forced to calculate mentally the number and denomination of coins required to return the change and to draw the individual coins from the respective containment compartments.
Both buyers and cash desk operators waste time in inconvenient counting and searching; moreover, their hands repeatedly make contact with the coins, which are seats of accumulation of dirt and vehicles for the transmission of germs and bacteria, to the full disadvantage of their personal physical health and hygiene.
Coins stored in compartments of known wallets or in known coin holders, moreover, accumulate in bulky piles that make wallets and coin holders particularly bulky and sometimes difficult to close.
Coin holders are known, for example, from
The aim of the present invention is to eliminate the above-noted drawbacks by providing a pocket coin holder that allows to store in an orderly and organized fashion the coins, to facilitate and speed up the counting and finding of the number and denomination of the coins required to reach a preset amount to be paid or to be returned as change, and to limit contacts with the coins, to the full advantage of better protection of the physical health and hygiene health of buyers and cash desk operators.
Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a coin holder that is compact and can also be stored in known types of wallet and coin holder.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin holder that is simple, relatively easy to provide in practice, safe in use, effective in operation, and has a relatively low cost.
This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by the present pocket coin holder, according to the invention, that has the features set forth in claim 1.
Further inventive features of the pocket coin holder of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.
Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of some preferred but not exclusive embodiments of a pocket coin holder, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generally designates a pocket coin holder.
The holder 1 comprises a substantially plate-like element 2, for supporting a plurality of metallic coins 3.
The expression "plate-like" or the equivalent expression "sheet-like" is used to give the element 2 a substantially flat and planar shape and a reduced thickness with respect to its surface extension.
The element 2 has two opposite faces 2A and 2B, on one or both of which there are a plurality of seats 4 for placing respective coins 3 substantially to size; the seats 4 can be formed on the entire surface of the two faces 2A and 2B or on a portion thereof.
The seats 4 are substantially disk-shaped and are sized so that a single coin 3 of a predefined denomination can be arranged uniquely in each seat.
The number and dimensions of the seats 4 are such that the sum of the value of the coins 3 that can be arranged therein is equal to a predefined amount.
The holder 1 further comprises means 5 for temporarily retaining the coins 3.
In the embodiments shown in the figures, the element 2 is constituted by a contoured sheet 6, which is respectively rectangular or rectangular with two opposite arc-like sides, and is of the type that can be folded up along a predefined central folding line 7.
The element 2, after being folded, can be stored in a wallet or coin holder of a known type.
In the embodiments shown in Figures 1 and 2, the seats 4 are formed on half of the surface of the face 2A; in the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the seats 4 are formed on the entire surface of the face 2A. In the example shown in Figure 4 the seats 4 are formed on half of the surface of the face 2A and of the face 2B; in this last case, the sheet 6 has two wings 6a and 6b that can be folded up.
The seats 4 can be constituted for example by trays 8 for containing the coins 3 (Figures 1-3 and 5-7), and each seat can be conveniently crossed in a substantially central position by a through hole 9 that is suitable to facilitate extraction of the coin 3 that is respectively arranged therein.
The temporary retention means 5 can comprise for example, for each seat 4, an elastic segment 10 that is stretched over a respective seat 4 and whose opposite ends are anchored in corresponding points that are constituted for example by anchoring holes 11 that are provided so that they pass through the element 2 proximate to the perimetric edge of the respective seat 4.
Each elastic segment 10 is arranged on a plane that is substantially parallel to the element 2 and is stretched so that it is substantially parallel to a chord that subtends an arc of the perimetric edge of the respective seat 4 (which is disk-shaped).
Conveniently, a single continuous elastic tape 12, whose opposite ends 12a and 12b are anchored to opposite ends of the element 2, passes sequentially through the anchoring holes 11, so as to form the respective elastic segment 10 at each seat 4.
As an alternative, the temporary retention means 5 can be of the interlocking type or can be constituted by at least one retention tooth, by a hook or the like, or by one or more elastic press-tabs 13 (Figure 7); in each case, the coins 3 are temporarily retained so that they adhere to the seats 4 and can be easily and repeatedly applied to them in order to be stored in the holder 1 and be removed from them to be used.
The element 2 can be made of paper, cardboard, plastics or the like.
It is possible to form on the face 2A and/or 2B at which the seats 4 are formed, proximate to each one of the seats 4, symbols or signs that identify the denominations of coins 3 that can be arranged therein for immediate visual recognition, or tactile recognition for visually-impaired individuals.
One or both faces 2A and 2B may further comprise a portion that is suitable to support informational and/or explanatory messages.
Alternative embodiments of the holder 1 that are not illustrated are not excluded.
In particular, the element 2 can be of a rigid or stiffened type and the seats 4 can be constituted by contours 14 that are formed in relief or recessed on the face 2A and/or 2B (Figure 4).
The following examples merely illustrate the present invention and must not be understood in a limiting sense for the present invention.
With reference to the currency currently used in Europe, the euro, it is possible to provide on one or both faces 2A and 2B eight seats 4: one for a one-eurocent coin 3, two for a respective two-eurocent coin 3, one for a five-eurocent coin 3, two for a respective ten-eurocent coin 3, one for a twenty-eurocent coin 3, and one for a fifty-eurocent coin 3; in this manner, if the holder 1 is completely filled with the coins 3, the total sum of the values of said coins will be equal to 1 euro.
Like Example 1, with the addition, on one of the two opposite faces 2A and 2B, of two seats 4 for placing a respective one-euro coin 3 and a seat 4 for a two-euro coin 3; in this manner, if the holder 1 is completely filled with the coins 3, the total sum of the values of said coins will be equal to 5 euros.
In practice it has been found that the described invention achieves the intended aim and objects.
It is noted in fact that the holder according to the invention, by being constituted by a flat and planar sheet-like element, substantially corresponds to a bill; therefore, it has limited overall dimensions and particularly if it is sized according to the standard dimensions of commercially available wallets and coin holders it can be stored inside them like a conventional bill, occupying limited volumes.
Moreover, the holder according to the invention allows to hold the coins in an orderly fashion and in such combinations as to make predefined values available, for example one, two, three or five euros, allowing immediate recognition and rapid use by buyers and cash desk operators.
The holder according to the invention allows to simplify and speed up payment operations both for users and for cash desk operators; once filled, even just partially, it can in fact be used as a true exchange bill of predefined value and can be given in its entirety.
For example, cash desk operators might load a plurality of holders according to the invention, thus having them available in order to give change to the public simply and straightforwardly, limiting wait times.
The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.
All the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent ones.
In practice, the materials used, as well as the shapes and the dimensions, may be any according to requirements without thereby abandoning the scope of the protection of the appended claims.
The disclosures in
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.