Wallet-purse

Abstract

 The wallet-purse (10; 50) comprises a conventional wallet, and is characterised in that on at least one of the two inner faces of the wallet (11; 51) there is applied, for coins of a determined currency, a container (12) of the type having a plate-like body presenting a storage cavity (24.1-24.4) for each coin value of said currency.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a wallet-purse.

[0002] Purses have long been known and have various shapes and dimensions. Traditional purses are of square or rectangular pocket type, their upper edge being openable and provided with a snap closure mechanism by which, using light pressure exerted by the thumb and forefinger on corresponding projections, the two upper parts of the pocket can be made to diverge to enable the coins contained therein to be extracted or others to be inserted; the purse being snap-closed by exerting an opposite pressure on said projections.

[0003] A type of purse has also long been known which, when viewed in plan, has a profile formed from a rectilinear portion and an arcuate line which connects the ends of said rectilinear portion together in a horseshoe shape. This purse has a rotatable upper part which when superposed on the rest of the purse closes the aperture of a pocket in which coins are placed, this upper part being recessed so that when rotated, it enables the coins emerging from said pocket to be gripped, to enable their withdrawal. A version with two superposed pockets is also known, the aperture in the upper pocket, generally smaller, being closable by a flap.

[0004] The aforedescribed purses were and are still made of various materials and in particular various hides, leather and various types of plastic material. In all cases they can be used to contain only coins.

[0005] The drawback in the daily use of the aforedescribed purses is that the coins are contained altogether in a disordered and random manner, so that when coins have to be withdrawn from the purse, the time needed to find them and form the required value can be exaggeratedly long.

[0006] Another drawback presented by the aforedescribed purses is due to the fact that they represent an extra article to be carried in the pocket or handbag in addition to the classical wallet.

[0007] To overcome this latter drawback, a small pocket dedicated only to containing coins was then inserted into wallets, to obtain a single wallet containing not only banknotes, documents, credit cards and everything else normally carried in wallets, but also coins. The result was that independent purses disappeared from circulation in practice, because they were no longer required by the public. This happened particularly in those countries, such as Italy, where coins of only a few values existed.

[0008] The advent of the Euro meant that a rather large number (eight) of coin values was now available, with the result that the said single small coin pocket provided in wallets proved totally insufficient.

[0009] As a consequence the first Euro coin containers (often of original shape and brightly coloured) have appeared on the market, able to contain a number of coins, of various values, sufficient for normal daily needs. As there are considerably more Euro coin values than some previous currencies, in particular the Italian Lira (no more than 4 values were effectively used), these Euro coin containers have had to be made such that the different values are contained in specific containing cavities, to enable a specific value to be more quickly identified and be withdrawn to form the required sum in coins. These coin containers are substantially formed from a flat body, into one face of which there open cylindrical cavities, the dimensions of which enable a determined maximum number of coins of a determined value to be inserted into each of them. The mouth of these cavities has a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the coin to be inserted into them, so that to insert that coin into the relative cavity, a slight force has to be exerted on the coin, this preventing the coin from accidentally escaping from the cavity. A through hole is provided in the base of each cavity, the hole having a diameter less than the relative coin but sufficient to push the coin out of the relative mouth with a finger when required.

[0010] As certain Euro coin values are easily confused with others, the usefulness of the new coin containers by which the aforesaid problems of traditional purses are solved is evident, by facilitating immediate identification of the coins of a determined value so as the number of coins allowable for a determined value. However this does not solve the problem of having to keep in the pocket or handbag a second article, namely the aforedescribed coin container, which is normally not of negligible dimensions, and can represent an annoying encumbrance.

[0011] Moreover, very often a payment has to be made requiring the use of both banknotes and coins, while possibly the hands are occupied by shopping bags or the like, with a queue of people to the rear awaiting their turn. On such an occasion both the banknotes and the coins must be to hand and these latter must be easily distinguishable in terms of their various values and the number of each available value, to be able to make the payment in the shortest possible time.

[0012] The object of the present invention is therefore to solve these still unsolved latter problems.

[0013] This object is attained by the wallet-purse of the present invention, comprising a conventional wallet, characterised in that on at least one of the two inner faces of the wallet there is applied, for coins of a determined currency, a container of the type having a plate-like body presenting a storage cavity for each coin value of said currency. Conveniently the storage cavities are provided in storage elements forming part of the body of the purse and being movable between two positions, namely a first position in which the relative coins cannot be extracted from said storage cavity, and a second position in which the coins contained therein can be extracted from the cavity. Preferably the storage elements are hinged to the rest of the purse body such as to pass from their first to their second position by simple rotation.

[0014] The invention will be more apparent from the ensuing description of one embodiment thereof given by way of example. In this description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a wallet-purse of the present invention, of the type for women, to be kept in a handbag, and shown open in the figure.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a wallet-purse of the present invention, of the type for men, also shown open;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of just the coin container of one of the wallet-purses of Figures 1 and 2.

[0015] As can be seen from Figure 1, the wallet-purse 10 shown therein is in part (that acting as the wallet) a woman's normal wallet 11, the only difference being that on its right inner face there is applied a coin container 12, of the type provided with a number of storage cavities equal to the number of coin values of the relative currency. In the specific case of the wallet-purse 10 eight storage cavities are provided, the currency concerned in this case being the Euro. The wallet could evidently be of a type different from that (11) of Figure 1, for example of the traditional man's type such as that indicated by 51 in Figure 2, to thus obtain the wallet-purse 50. In this, the coin container is identical to that of the wallet-purse 10, and is hence indicated by the same numeral 12.

[0016] The coin container itself is best seen from Figure 3, from which it can be seen that it comprises a rectangular frame 14 presenting four rectangular through apertures 16.1, 16.2, 16.3 and 16.4 bounded inside by two central crossing crosspieces 18 and 20. Each aperture 16.1-16.4 is intended to contain a relative storage element 22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 22.4 respectively, substantially of fairly flat hollow parallelepiped shape, divided into two by an intermediate wall 26 to form two separate storage cavities 24.1 and 24.2, each being open outwards (the respective apertures being indicated by 28.1 and 28.2) when the storage element (22.2) lies in that previously defined as its second position or rotated position, which enables coins of the corresponding value to be inserted into the relative storage cavity (24.1 and 24.2) or withdrawn from it. As can be seen in Fig. 3, the value of the various coins is shown on the upper face of each storage element 24.1-24.4, in correspondence with the relative storage cavity.

[0017] The storage cavities (24.1, 24.2) have a width in plan such as to enable them to receive the relative coin value, the depth of the cavity being chosen such that the relative coins can be extracted with the fingers, for which purpose there being provided in the upper face of each storage cavity a through aperture 34 which adjoins the relative mouth 28.1-28.4 of the cavities 24.1, 24.2.

[0018] To move an individual storage element 22.1-22.4 into said second position starting from the already stated first position (in the case of Figure 3, that of the storage elements 22.1, 22.3 and 22.4, in which the apertures therein are closed by the frame 14), each of the storage elements 22.1-22.4 is hinged to the frame 14 such that it can effect the relative rotation.

[0019] Rotating the individual storage elements 22.1-22.4 from their first position to their second position is facilitated by the provision for each of them of a projecting tang 30.1-30.4 insertable into a relative notch (in Figure 3 only one is visible, corresponding to the tang 30.2 of the storage element 22.2).

[0020] As is apparent from Figure 3, into each storage cavity (for example the storage cavities 24.1 and 24.2) a determined maximum number of coins of a specific value can be inserted, disposed parallel one on the other.

[0021] When in their second position the storage elements 22.1-22.4 preferably form a maximum angle of 90 degrees to their first position. Conventional means can also be provided to ensure that to move the storage elements from their first position or from their second position a certain resistance is encountered, to prevent them being able to accidentally move from these positions. This constitutes a precaution against the loss of coins due to accidental opening of the relative storage cavities, or against accidental closure of these cavities while withdrawing the coins.

[0022] The coin container 12 can be fixed to one of the inner faces of the wallet in various ways, for example by gluing or stitching, in this latter case providing suitable means (not shown for simplicity) on the frame 14 to enable this fixing stitching to be effected.

[0023] Although the wallet-purses shown in the figures are provided with coin containers 12 designed for the Euro as currency, the teachings of the invention can evidently be used to form similar wallet-purses suitable for other types of currencies.

[0024] It is likewise evident that although the figures show a coin container 12 provided with storage elements each comprising two storage cavities, storage elements can equally be formed provided with a single storage cavity or in the limit more than two storage cavities. In particular, with reference to Figure 3, just two storage elements could be provided each containing four storage cavities (in practice by forming the two storage elements 22.1 and 22.2 in one piece, and the storage elements 22.3 and 22.4 in one piece, eliminating in consequence the crosspiece 20 of the frame 14).

Claims

1. A wallet-purse (10; 50) comprising a conventional wallet (11; 51), characterised in that on at least one of the two inner faces of the wallet (11; 51) there is applied, for coins of a determined currency, a container (12) of the type having a plate-like body presenting a storage cavity (24.1-24.4) for each coin value of said currency.

2. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage cavities (24.1, 24.2) are provided in storage elements (22.1-22.4) forming part of the body of the purse (12) and being movable between two positions, namely a first position in which the relative coins cannot be extracted from said storage cavity (22.1-22.4), and a second position in which the coins contained therein can be extracted from the cavity (22.1-22.4).

3. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the storage elements (22.1-22.4) are hinged to the rest (14) of the body of the purse (12) such as to pass from their first to their second position by simple rotation.

4. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 3, wherein each storage element (22.1-22.4) comprises two storage cavities (24.1-24.4).

5. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the coin container (12) is arranged to receive the eight Euro coin values and comprises a frame (14) presenting four rectangular through apertures (16.1-16.4) each intended to receive a relative storage element (22.1-22.4) with two storage cavities (24.1, 24.2), each storage element (22.1-22.4) having the shape of a hollow flattened parallelepiped.

6. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 5, wherein each storage element (22.1-22.4) comprises a tang (30.1-30.4) projecting from the frame (14) to facilitate rotation of the storage element (22.1-22.4) from its first to its second position.

7. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each storage cavity (24.1, 24.2) has a height suitable to receive, parallel one on another, a maximum number of coins of a determined value, the cavity (24.1, 24.2) having a width enabling coins of the same value to be received, and a depth enabling said coins to be extracted by virtue of the presence of a through aperture (34) which is provided in the outer wall of the storage element (22.1-22.4) and adjoins the mouth (28.1-28.4) of the relative storage cavity (24.1, 24.2).

8. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coin container (12) is fixed to one of the inner walls of the wallet (11; 51) by gluing.

9. A wallet-purse (10; 50) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coin container (12) is fixed to one of the inner walls of the wallet (11; 51) by stitching, on the body of the coin container (12) there being provided means enabling it to be stitched to the wallet (11; 51).

Drawing