HK1026498A - Visting card with cd rom - Google Patents

Description

Name card with CD-ROM

The present invention relates to a business card according to the preamble of the independent claim.

Business cards have been published for a long time and are very common. Business cards are paper and other carriers on which names, company names, and other visual information are printed. Because the format is rather small, only a small amount of information can be printed on it. This amount of information is sufficient when presented directly to a talking partner. If a person is contacted to a given person and their respective company, the person may have more information available to activate or supplement the memory, and then most people will be happy when looking at the business card at a later time.

The aim of the invention is to provide a name card which is printed with information in a conventional manner and which can be supplemented with the exchange of a large amount of information.

This object is solved by the invention specified in the claims.

An additional advantage of the invention is that information can be provided on the business card, for example complete company information, such as company system, catalogue, order form and for example automatic internet access on the so-called company homepage.

A further advantage of the present invention is that business cards according to the invention can be manufactured in different formats.

The invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of a business card in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a business card placed in a CD-ROM drive;

figure 3 is a cross-section of a business card according to the invention.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The basic idea of the invention is to combine business cards with a CD-ROM. On the one hand, business cards mostly consist of paper, cardboard (halbkarton) or plastic. It has a specific format and can be used worldwide like a credit card. On the other hand, different companies have issued CDs with music or catalogs and company information. Typically, these cannot be placed on the surface of the business card because they are too large and round. The same is true for micro-CDs.

New business cards may combine two aspects. It relates to a CD which corresponds in format to a business card and can therefore be placed on a standard CD drive and read out. The business card of the present invention is thus a business card CD.

It is known that a typical CD drive has a central drive shaft and a circular drive centering device in which the CD is placed. The drive centering device centers the inserted CD and drives the CD in the drive through the drive shaft. During operation, the CD is located therein and driven by the shaft and the central support on a small air cushion in the drive centering device. Thus, standard CDs and micro-CDs can be used in the same drive, the centering device being adapted to two different sizes of diameter in a two-stage manner. It is known that the drive and the centering are mechanically separated from each other, so that the CD is not loaded in the region of its drive opening and is therefore not damaged.

For advertising purposes, certain CDs are currently manufactured in a specific shape other than a circular disc. They generally have a shape in which the edge always corresponds to the standard circumference of the CD in many places. Such as a CD placed in a drive, the drive spindle grabs the center hole of the CD depending on its several points located on the inner circumference of the center edge range in the drive centering device. These CDs are called "shaped CDs". Its shape is derived from a generally circular CD cut.

But a CD having the size and shape of a business card is too small to be placed in the drive centering device. There is no way to make it conform to the standard or mini-CD format. It is important to fix the CD center to a general CD drive. This problem is now solved in that the business card is designed as a CD-ROM in business card format and suitable means are provided for centering in the CD drive.

A business card in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in bottom view in fig. 1. The format of the business card is the same as that of a general business card. Such business cards are manufactured using the same materials and in the same manner as ordinary CDs. An operating opening 11 is centrally located, which is surrounded by a placement area 15. Connected to this is a data area 14 in which data can be written and which can be read in the CD drive. Within one range, a certain number of here preferably four centering cams 13 are arranged. The centering cam 13 is arranged as follows: if the business card is placed in the CD drive, the centering cam 13 rests on a centering shoulder 23 (see FIG. 2) to keep the business card centered. Instead of a number of individual pins or cams 13, centering means in the CD drive can alternatively arrange centering projections 13a symmetrically on both sides with respect to the handling hole 11. Fig. 2 shows these protrusions on one side only. These projections form a segment of a circle, wherein the radius is selected such that the outer edge of the centering projection 13a on the centering shoulder 23 has a minimum clearance.

In fig. 2, a business card 1 according to the present invention is placed in a drive tray 20 of a CD drive 2. This is illustrated in the section a-a' according to fig. 1. It can clearly be seen that the drive tray 20 has a first centering shoulder 22 for a normal CD and a second centering shoulder 23 for a micro-CD. Since the operating pin 21 and the operating bracket 21 'of the driver and the operating hole 11 of the business card are not located in the a-a' section, they are indicated by dotted lines. The business card 1 and its downwardly projecting centering means 13, 13a are now located on the centering shoulder 23 of the drive for the micro-CD. This ensures a reliable centering of the business card in the drive. While it is naturally located on the operating bracket 21' with the operating pin 21 protruding through the operating hole 11. As the card rotates, a small air cushion is formed between the card and the tray about the centering shoulder 23. The business card is thus clearly and neatly centered when placed in the drive, and no mechanical load is placed on it during operation.

The shape is now formed not by cutting the shape from one complete CD but by a stamping process. Thus, in a single operation procedure, the shape of the CD and the means for centering the business card CD can be formed. The stamping process must therefore be carried out slowly in order to obtain a clean circumferential cut-out, in which case the centering cams can be formed without breaking. The centering cam 13 is then formed slowly downwards in the punching tool by a small punch, and the material is plastically deformed. The smallest depression 13' is naturally created in the compressible upper surface 12. This process enables the manufacture of business cards as business card CDs in one manufacturing process, and therefore has a good cost performance ratio, and is perfect. Naturally, it is also possible to apply the centering cam 13 to the lower surface 12 in a separate process step.

On the upper surface, names, addresses and further instructions may be printed on the business card as is usual today. On the other side, the data side, is a normal CD to which data can be written that can be read by a computer. Such as a company profile, company directory, and the like, including multimedia. But it is also possible to store a complete computer program on it. Such as an automatic access to a computer or a company home page.

The technique of manufacturing the business cards 1 and the layout of the centering cams 13 are now feasible, and the business cards can be designed in approximately any shape, in any profile, because in the drive they are centered by the centering cams 13, not by the profile. Such a business card 1 may have the appearance of a company logo, for example.

Claims (8)

1. A business card made of plastic having a printed upper surface with directly readable information, characterized in that electronically processed data which can be reproduced visually or acoustically by means of a CD drive are provided on the lower surface of the business card, wherein the business card has means for centering adjustment in a CD drive.

2. Business card according to claim 1, characterised in that the means for centring adjustment in the CD drive comprise a number of centring projections (13) projecting downwards on the lower surface (12), wherein the centring projections (13) are arranged in such a way that the state of the business card placed in the CD drive (2) is at least adjacent to a centring shoulder for micro-CDs.

3. Business card according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for centering adjustment in the CD drive comprise a number of centering projections (13a) projecting downwards on the lower surface (12), wherein the centering projections (13a) are arranged in such a way that, in the state of the business card inserted in the CD drive (2), they are at least adjacent to the centering shoulder (23) for the micro-CD.

4. A business card according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the centering cam (13) or the centering projection (13a) is formed by plastic molding.

5. A business card according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a centering cam (13) or a centering projection (13a) is stuck on the lower surface (12).

6. A business card according to any one of claims 1 to 5 having a contour of arbitrary shape in the circumference.

7. The business card of claim 6 wherein the shapes are formed from a CD by a stamping process.

8. A business card according to claim 7 wherein the centering cam (13) or centering protrusion (13a) and the shape are formed in the same stamping process.