MODULAR WALLET

Abstract

 Modular wallet (100) comprising a "U"-shaped card holder frame (101) with two bars (102) each and a third bar (103) which connects them, said frame (101); said wallet (100) characterized in that it comprises at least a plate module (110) with a perimeter rail (111) adapted to slide and fit into a groove (104) present on the bars (102) and (103) of said frame (101 ); said frame (101) adapted to allow the coupling, by means of perimeter rail (111) and groove (104) of two plate modules (110), of a single plate module (110), of one or more additional frames.

Description

Field of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to the field of wallets and card holders. Even more specifically, the present invention is aimed at providing a modular wallet adaptable to the needs of users, arranging various modules which can be integrated to implement new functions or change the aesthetic appearance thereof.

Prior art

[0002] The wallet and card holder is an element which meets multiple needs today. Certainly its traditional functions of carrying money and documents or credit cards remain unchanged, but in step with the most recent technological developments, modern wallets meet needs such as those of shielding RFID and NFC signals. Often, a user also needs to customize and match their wallet to their clothes. To meet all these needs, modular portfolios have become widespread and there are many patents which have described products of this type.

[0003] One example is the object of patent application US2023108789A1 of TRAN, C. CARROL and B. TRAN. The invention describes a wallet which includes a body with one or more perimeter openings which allow one or more objects to be attached. A second body is coupled to the first and includes a compartment. The second body includes sliding rails on each side to allow one or more cards to be housed in the compartment.

[0004] Another example is the object of patent application US11457704B2 of C. HOFFMAN. The invention describes a minimal-looking wallet which includes a frame with magnetic material included. Two bands are attached to the frame and a safety mechanism is attached to the second band. The safety mechanism includes a magnet which couples to the magnetic material of the frame.

[0005] The inventions reported so far, by way of non-exhaustive example, are representative of the inventive-technological framework available to date.

[0006] Although the inventions reported and those present on the market are descriptive of modular wallets, none solve the technical problem of ensuring an expansion of the wallet space with another money holder and/or card holder module. Furthermore, the existing inventions envisage the use of various wallets with bodies on which it is possible to attach interchangeable modular elements which give a different appearance to the product. However, none of these inventions provides interchangeable modular elements which have a closure adapted to connect directly to the body of the wallet, thus providing greater security regarding both the accidental opening of the wallet and the accidental disconnection between the two "interchangeable module" and "wallet body" elements.

[0007] The object of the present invention is to provide a modular wallet capable of overcoming the aforesaid technical problems by providing a unique product capable of satisfying user demands both in terms of functionality and in terms of aesthetics.

[0008] The advantages offered by the present invention will be clearer in light of the detailed descriptions which follow.

Description of the invention

[0009] According to the present invention, a modular wallet is created comprising a "U"-shaped card holder frame with two bars each with a free end and a third which connects them. The wallet comprises at least a plate module with a perimeter rail which, sliding in a groove on the bars of the frame, allows the frame and plate module to be coupled. Two plate modules can be attached to one frame. The perimeter rail comprises protrusions which are located at the free ends of the groove once the plate module has been coupled to the frame by sliding the perimeter rail into the groove. Free ends is intended as the ends of the "U" shape which are not connected to the third bar of the frame. The protrusions preferably have an arc shape which, during the sliding in the groove, spaces the two bars of the frame apart from each other and then brings them closer together, producing a click and a sound given by the mechanical impact between the bottom of the perimeter rail and the groove present on the third bar of the frame. The frame has a first bar which is inclined with respect to the axis of the second bar by an angle comprised between 0.5° and 5° with the free end in the direction of said second bar. The wallet according to the present invention therefore allows a to couple a plate module to the frame on which, according to various embodiments, various devices/products can be arranged, such as banknote holders, coin holders, housings for Apple AirTags^™, closing hooks connected to batteries, fingerprint readers and/or a combination of these.

[0010] The advantages offered by the present invention are evident in the light of the description presented thus far and will be even clearer thanks to the attached figures and the related detailed description.

Description of the figures

[0011] The invention will be described hereinafter in at least a preferred embodiment by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the appended figures, in which:

• FIGURE 1 shows an axonometric view of a wallet 100 according to the present invention;
• FIGURE 2 shows a top orthogonal view with inclination of a wallet 100 according to the present invention;
• FIGURE 3 shows a frame 101 of the wallet 100 according to the present invention;
• FIGURE 4 shows a plate module 110 of the wallet 100 according to the present invention and a detail of a perimeter rail 111;
• FIGURE 5 shows a plate module 110 partially coupled to a frame 101 of the wallet 100 according to the present invention;
• FIGURE 6 shows three phases (FIG. 6 A, B, C) of the sliding of a perimeter rail 111 in a groove 104;
• FIGURE 7 shows an additional frame 120 according to the present invention;
• FIGURE 8 shows a perspective view of a plate module 110 with a rechargeable battery 130, a fingerprint sensor 131, a connection unit 132, a locking mechanism 133 and two hooks 134.

Detailed description of the invention

[0012] The invention describes a modular wallet 100 having a central body which is a frame 101 and modules which are plate modules 110 and/or additional frames 120.

[0013] The frame 101 and the additional frame 120 function as card holders, while the plate modules 110 can implement various devices to carry out different functions such as banknote holder, coin holder, Apple AirTag^™ holder, RFID and NFC shielding and others. In fact in some embodiments, the plate module 110 includes a patch 113 made of leather, fabric or other material which has the function of a banknote holder and which can be hooked, by means of buttons 114 and pins 105, directly to the frame 101. This ensures that the buttons 114 guarantee not only the closure of the banknote-holder patch 113, but also an additional constraint between the frame 101 and the plate module 110 which are already coupled with a system of perimeter rails 111 and grooves 104.

[0014] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the invention, in order to guarantee protection in the event of loss or theft, the plate module 110 comprises a battery 130 which powers a locking mechanism 133 which activates hooks 134 which stop on a bar 103 of the frame 101 and on the free end of the cards contained therein. Thereby the plate module 110 is both constrained to the frame 101 which cannot be removed, and the extraction of cards from the frame 101 is made impossible. The locking mechanism 133 in these embodiments of the invention is operated by means of a fingerprint sensor 131.

[0015] The modular wallet 100 therefore allows maximum customization by a user and comprises a series of functions which can optionally be adopted by users.

[0016] The advantages just described will be even more apparent in light of the descriptions which follow.

[0017] The present invention will now be illustrated by way of a purely non-limiting or binding example, resorting to the figures which illustrate some embodiments with respect to the present inventive concept.

[0018] FIG. 1 shows an axonometric view of a wallet 100 according to the present invention. In FIG. 1 as in the following description, the embodiment of the present invention currently considered the best is illustrated.

[0019] The invention describes a modular wallet 100 comprising a frame 101 (shown in detail in FIG. 3) having the function of a card holder which is "U" shaped with two bars 102 each with a free end and a third bar 103 which connects them. The wallet 100 comprises at least a plate module 110 (shown in FIG. 4) with a perimeter rail 111 adapted to slide and fit into a groove 104 present on the bars 102 and 103 of said frame 101. FIG. 4 further shows an enlarged view of a section of the perimeter rail 111 in which it is possible to observe how it is made so as to have a recess 114 within which a flap of said groove 104 slides.

[0020] FIG. 5 shows a plate module 110 partially coupled to a frame 101 ("coupled" meaning a plate module 110 which is joined to a frame 101 by means of the mechanical constraint guaranteed by the complete insertion of the perimeter rail 111 in said groove 104). In FIG. 5 it can be seen how the coupling occurs by sliding the perimeter rail 111 on an outer flap of the groove 104 which is located on the bars 102 and 103.

[0021] FIG. 6 shows three phases (FIG. 6A, B and C) of the sliding of the perimeter rail 111 in the groove 104, specifically FIG. 6 shows a bar 102 sectioned so as to allow the groove to be seen more clearly. The perimeter rail 111 comprising protrusions 112 adapted to be located at the free ends of the groove 104 once the plate module 110 has been connected to the frame 101, sliding said perimeter rail 111 into said groove 104, "free ends" meaning the ends of the bars 102 of the "U" shape which are not connected to the third bar 103. The protrusions 112 preferably have an arc shape which, during the sliding in the groove 104, spaces the two bars 102 of the frame 101 apart from each other and then brings them together again, producing a click and a sound. Specifically, the protrusions 112, being "arc-shaped", gradually enter the grooves 104 of the bars 102, causing them to move away from each other. FIG. 6A shows the sliding of the perimeter rail 111 in the flap of the groove 104, the arrow indicates the direction in which the plate module 110 is moving, pushed for example with a finger. FIG. 6B shows an instant, during the sliding of the perimeter rail 111 in the groove 104, in which the protrusion 112 deforms the bar 102 causing it to move in the opposite direction to the other bar (as shown by the small arrow pointing upwards in FIG. 6B). FIG. 6C shows how, having passed the point of maximum thickness of the protrusion 112, and continuing to slide inside the grooves, the bars 102 come closer together (Small arrow shown pointing downwards in FIG. 6C), having previously deformed elastically, according to their undeformed shape and, when the protrusions 112 pass the free ends of the bars 102, the "arc-shaped" part suddenly slides the plate module 110 up to the end of the groove 104, ensuring also producing the sound ("click") linked to the small mechanical impact between the bottom of the perimeter rail 111 of the plate module 110 which comes into contact with the groove 104 of the third bar 103. The frame 101 also has a first bar 102 which is inclined, with respect to the axis of the second bar 102, by an angle comprised between 0.5° and 5° with the free end in the direction of said second bar 102. Thereby the distance between the free ends of the bars 102 is less than the distance between the ends of the bars 102 in contact with the third bar 103. The inclination of the second bar 102 accentuates the speed of the sliding movement and the sound produced by the complete insertion of said plate module 110 into said frame 101.

[0022] The plate modules 110 according to the present invention can have various shapes and functions.

[0023] In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plate module 110 comprises a patch 113 of leather, fabric and/or plastic material with a banknote holder function. The patch 113 comprises at least two buttons 114 adapted to hook onto two pins 105 present on a bar 102 of the frame 101. The patch 113 is attached to said plate module 110 through glues, rivets, stitching and/or in another manner. Specifically, FIG. 2 shows said patch 113 open (unlike FIG. 1 in which the patch 113 is shown folded on itself and buttoned to the pins 105 of the frame 101) in which the presence of an insert made of leather, fabric and/or other material which allows the insertion of banknotes can be seen.

[0024] In some embodiments, again, the plate module 110 comprises a coin purse (not shown in the Figures) made of leather, fabric, plastic and/or other material with a zipper closure, with buttons attached to said plate module 110 through glues, rivets, stitching and/or in another manner.

[0025] In some embodiments the plate module 110 comprises a housing for Apple AirTags^™ (not shown in the Figures) and/or other similar geolocation device. Said housing is made of leather, fabric, plastic and/or other material with buttons, Velcro and/or other nature attached to said plate module 110 through glues, rivets, stitching and/or in another manner.

[0026] In some embodiments, the plate module 110 comprises a chip 117 (shown in FIG. 5) for RFID and NFC signal blocking. Said chip 117 is of the passive type and does not require energy supply. Said chip can be contained in a card inserted inside the plate module 110. The technology of said chip 117 is considered known to a person skilled in the art and will therefore not be described in detail.

[0027] To said frame 101, it is possible to add an additional frame 120 shown in FIG. 7, also with the function of card holder and comprising said perimeter rail 111 and said groove 104. The additional frame 120 can then be coupled to the frame 101 by sliding said perimeter rail 111 into said groove 104. On the additional frame 120, said groove 104 being present, said plate module 110 can be inserted. The additional frame 120 can be made with various thicknesses to be able to accommodate a maximum number of cards (which can be inserted within the limits of the thickness of the bars 102 and 103) comprised between three and twenty. The additional frame 120 thus allows users to be able to expand the capacity of cards for their wallet 100.

[0028] FIG. 8 shows a plate module 110 comprising a rechargeable battery 130 adapted to power a fingerprint sensor 131, a connection unit 132 and a locking mechanism 133. FIG. 8 shows the face of said plate module 110 which is opposite the face on which said perimeter rail 111 is located. Said connection unit 132 allows a wireless connection with an external device such as a computer, a smartphone and/or a tablet for registering a user's fingerprints by means of said fingerprint sensor 131. In fact, the user connects, by means of their device, to an APP which provides instructions (such as "place your index finger on the fingerprint sensor") and records the user's biometric data (fingerprints), saving them in a memory which is preferably physical and internal to the plate module 110. Said fingerprint sensor 131 is connected to a locking mechanism 133 (which is by way of non-limiting and non-constraining example an electric motor) which rotates two hooks 134 (according to the dotted arrows shown in FIG. 8) to prevent the plate module 110 and/or a card from slipping out of the frame 101. The two hooks are preferably arranged centrally on the two short sides of the plate module 110 with a distance from the edge preferably comprised between 0.5cm and 2cm. The hooks 134 assume a "locked position" in which they are in contact with said third bar 103 and with the free end of the cards inserted in the frame 101, and an "unlocked position" in which they are facing the direction of the face of the plate module 110 opposite the frame 101. Said locking mechanism 133 brings said hooks 134 into the locked position when said fingerprint sensor 131 detects a fingerprint of a user and brings them into the unlocked position when, being in the locked position, a fingerprint of a user is detected user by the fingerprint sensor 131.

[0029] A plate module 110, two plate modules 110 (each on a different side of the frame 110), an additional frame 120, a plate module 110 and an additional frame 120 can be coupled to the frame 101. On the additional frame 120 it is subsequently possible to couple another additional frame 120 or a plate module 110, always exploiting the coupling provided by the perimeter rail 111 and the groove 104. This allows having potentially infinite combinations of said wallet 100, adding a potentially infinite number of modules, meaning by modules said plate module 110 and said additional frame 120.

[0030] Finally, it is clear that modifications, additions or variations that are obvious to a person skilled in the art can be made to the invention described so far, without thereby departing from the scope of protection provided by the attached claims.

Claims

1. Modular wallet (100) comprising a "U" shaped frame (101) with two bars (102) each with a free end and a third bar (103) which connects them, said frame (101) having the function of cards; said wallet (100) characterized in that it comprises at least a plate module (110) with a perimeter rail (111) able to slide and fit into a groove (104) present on the bars (102) and (103) of said frame (101); said perimeter track (111) comprising protrusions (112) adapted to be located at the free ends of the groove (104) once the plate module (110) has been connected to the frame (101) by sliding said perimeter track (111) in said groove (104); said protrusions (112) having an arc shape which, during sliding in the groove (104), move the two bars (102) of the frame (101) away from each other and then bring them back together, producing a click and a sound; said frame (101) having a first bar (102) inclined, with respect to the axis of the second bar (102) by an angle between 0.5° and 5° with the free end in the direction of said second bar (102); said frame (101) able to allow the coupling of one or two plate modules (110).

2. Wallet (100), according to the preceding claim 1, characterized in that said plate module (110) comprises a patch (113) of leather, fabric and/or plastic material with a banknote holder function; said patch (113) comprising at least two buttons (114) capable of hooking onto two pins (105) present on a bar (102) of the frame (101); said patch (113) being attached to said plate module (110) through glues, rivets, seams and/or in another way.

3. Wallet (100), according to the preceding claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said plate module (110) comprises a purse made of leather, fabric, plastic and/or other material with a zip fastening, with buttons attached to said plate module (110) through adhesives, rivets, seams and/or in any other way.

4. Wallet (100), according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said plate module (110) comprises a housing for Apple AirTag^™ and/or other similar geolocation device; said housing being made of leather, fabric, plastic and/or other material with a closure with buttons, Velcro and/or of other nature attached to said plate module (110) through adhesives, rivets, seams and/or in another way.

5. Wallet (100), according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said plate module (110) comprises an RFID and NFC signal blocking chip (117).

6. Wallet (100), according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises an additional frame (120), with the function of card holder, comprising said perimeter rail (111) and said groove (104); said additional frame (120) able to allow coupling with said plate module (110) through said groove (104); said additional frame (120) able to allow coupling with a second additional frame (120); said additional frame (120) being able to accommodate a maximum number of cards between three and twenty.

7. Wallet (100), according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said plate module (110) comprises a rechargeable battery (130) capable of powering a fingerprint sensor (131) and a connection unit (132); said connection unit (132) adapted to allow a wireless connection with an external device such as a computer, a smartphone and/or a tablet for registering a user's fingerprints via said fingerprint sensor (131); said fingerprint sensor (131) being connected to a blocking mechanism (133) which rotates two hooks (134) to prevent the plate module (110) and/or a card from slipping off the frame (101); said hooks (134) adapted to assume a locked position in which they are in contact with said third bar (103) and with the free end of the cards inserted in the frame (101), and an unlocked position in which they face in the direction of the face of the plate module (110) opposite the frame (101); said locking mechanism (133) suitable for bringing said hooks (134) into the locked position when said fingerprint sensor (131) detects a fingerprint of a user; said locking mechanism (133) adapted to bring said hooks (134) to the unlocked position when, being in the locked position, a user's fingerprint is detected by the fingerprint sensor (131).

Drawing