Card product

The tray-based packaging system for trading cards addresses environmental unfriendliness and cost issues of blister packaging by enabling recyclable disposal and preventing card inspection, while maintaining card security.

JP2026005219APending Publication Date: 2026-01-15ANGEL GRP CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2025105224
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2024-06-26
Filing Date
2025-06-23
Publication Date
2026-01-15

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional blister packaging for trading cards is environmentally unfriendly due to adhesive residue issues and high costs, and it prevents recyclability.

Method used

A tray-based packaging system with a recess for the card package, a pillow to hold the cards, and a separate packaging material that covers the tray, allowing for recyclable disposal of all components without adhesion, and preventing card shifting and light shining during inspection.

Benefits of technology

Prevents unauthorized inspection of card values while ensuring recyclability and reducing environmental impact by allowing separate disposal of tray, pillow, and packaging material.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

To provide a card product capable of preventing a search action and recovering a member left after taking out a card as resource refuse.SOLUTION: The card product 10 includes a tray 11 having a recess 112, one card package 12 including one or a plurality of cards 21 and a pillow 22 that houses the one or the plurality of cards 21, and a packaging material 13 that covers the card package 12 housed in the recess 112 of the tray 11 from above in a state where the one card package 12 is housed in the recess 112 of the tray 11 to maintain a state where the card package 12 is housed in the recess 112 of the tray 11. The recessed part 112 of the tray 11 has such a depth that the card package 12 does not run on the side wall 111 of the recessed part 112 while one card package 12 is stored in the recessed part 112 of the tray 11 and stored in the packaging material 13, and has such a lateral width that the card package 12 does not move in the lateral direction while the card package 12 is stored in the recessed part 112 of the tray 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to card products packaged for sale.

[0002] Trading cards (hereinafter simply referred to as "cards") are sold in a package (hereinafter also referred to as a "card package") that is wrapped in a bag called a "pillow" so that the contents cannot be seen. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a card package. In the example card package 100 of FIG. 5, five cards 101 are wrapped in a pillow bag 102.

[0003] Each card has a different level of rarity or "strength" when used in a game, and buyers believe that the rarer or stronger the card, the more valuable it is. A person who intends to purchase a card (hereinafter referred to as "Purchaser") wants to know the contents of the cards sold in the package, especially their value, and will search for the card package to purchase before making a purchase, hoping to purchase a card with a higher value.

[0004] In a search, a purchaser guesses the value of the cards inside without opening the pillow case. A purchaser particularly tries to identify a card package containing a high-value card by searching. FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional search. In a search that has become a problem recently, as shown in FIG. 6, a purchaser pushes a card 101 inside the pillow case 102 from the edge, shifts the card 101 inside the pillow case 102, and then shines a light L from the side while the card 101 is in this state to see the contents of the edge of the card 101 inside, thereby guessing the value of the card 101. The reason for shifting the cards is to guess the value of not only the top card but also the cards below it.

[0005] Furthermore, even without shining the light L on the pillow 102, by rubbing the cards 101 against each other inside the pillow 102, the friction and unevenness of the cards 101 can be felt with the fingers, and the contents or value of the cards 101 can be inferred.

[0006] To prevent such searching behavior, a blister system can be used. Fig. 7 shows an example of a card package packaged using the conventional blister system. In the blister system, a card package 100 is placed on a paper mount 103, and then a tray-shaped blister 104 made of plastic deformed to fit the shape of the card package 100 is placed over it. A flange 104a for adhering to the paper mount is formed around the periphery of the portion of the blister 104 that is deformed to fit the card package, and this flange 104a and mount 103 are adhered with adhesive 105 to prevent the purchaser from directly touching the pillow 102 of the card package 100.

[0007] Such a blister system can prevent searching by shifting the card 101 in the pillow 102 and shining light from the side. Summary of the Invention Problem to be solved

[0008] However, as shown in Fig. 8, the blister system has a problem in that when plastic blister 104 is peeled off from backing 103, adhesive 105 causes the paper material of backing 103 to adhere to the adhesive portion of plastic blister 104, or even if the paper material does not adhere to blister 104, adhesive 105 adheres to blister 104 and backing 103, making it impossible to collect blisters 104 and backing 103 as recyclable waste, which is unfriendly to the environment. Another problem with the blister system is that it is relatively expensive. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The card product of the present invention comprises a tray having a recess, a card package consisting of one or more cards and a pillow for accommodating the one or more cards, and a packaging material that covers the card package accommodated in the recess of the tray from above while the card package is accommodated in the recess of the tray, and the recess of the tray is configured such that the card package is kept in the recess when the card package is accommodated in the recess of the tray and is accommodated in the packaging material. the tray has a depth that does not ride up over the side walls of the tray and a width that prevents the card package from moving laterally when housed in the recess of the tray, the theme of the card package is written on the pillow and / or the packaging material, the packaging material houses the tray and the card package and is sealed by thermocompression, the tray, pillow, and packaging material are made of a single material, and the tray, pillow, and packaging material are configured to be discardable as separate components after the one or more cards are removed.

[0010] With this configuration, the packaging material keeps the card package housed in the recess of the tray, and while the card package is housed in the recess of the tray, a purchaser cannot shift the card in the pillow and shine light on it from the side, preventing searching. Also, since the tray, the pillow of the package, and the packaging material are not glued together and can be completely separated, they can be disposed of as recyclable waste.

[0011] In the above card product, the packaging material may be transparent.

[0012] In the above card product, the packaging material may have the same markings as the pillowcase.

[0013] In the card product, the packaging material may have a bag-like shape.

[0014] In the above card product, the pillow case may house one or more cards and be sealed by thermocompression.

[0015] In the above card product, the card may be a trading card.

[0016] In the card product described above, the one or more cards may be assigned any one of a plurality of values.

[0017] In the above card product, the one or more cards may be cards randomly selected from a plurality of types of cards.

[0018] In the above card product, the pillow may store one or more cards so that the contents of the stored one or more cards are not visible.

[0019] In the card product described above, the packaging material may contain the one or more cards so that the contents of the one or more cards contained therein are not visible.

[0020] In the above card product, the tray may be inscribed with the theme of the card package. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a card product according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a card product according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a card product according to a modified embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a plan view of a card product according to a modified embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional card package. [Figure 6]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional search operation. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a card package packed by a conventional blister method. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is an exploded view showing an example of a card package packed by a conventional blister method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] However, the embodiments described below are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Furthermore, elements of multiple embodiments can be combined in any manner.

[0023] Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a card product according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the card product according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, card product 10 comprises a tray 11 having a recess, a card package 12, and a packaging material 13 that houses the tray 11 and the card package with one card package 12 housed in the recess of tray 11. Tray 11, card package 12, and packaging material 13 are all rectangular, and therefore card product 10 is also rectangular.

[0024] The card package 12 comprises a plurality of cards 21 (five in this embodiment) and a pillow 22 for housing the cards 21. The pillow 22 is formed into a cylindrical shape by bonding two opposing sides of a rectangular film material together and thermocompressing it, folding it so that a bonded portion 223 is positioned in the center of the back surface 222, and then forming a bag shape by thermocompressing an upper bonded portion 224 and a lower bonded portion 225. The surface without the bonded portion 223 is the front surface 221. The upper bonded portion 224 has a hole 226 for hanging the card package 12.

[0025] The theme of the card package 12 is printed on the front 221. A theme is a type of card product, and cards 21 according to this theme are enclosed inside the pillow 22. A theme may be, for example, a specific sports league or a specific card game. If the theme is a sports league, the content of the cards 21 may be players belonging to the league, and if the theme is a card game, the content of the cards 21 may be characters or weapons that appear in the game.

[0026] The cards 21 are trading cards. Trading cards may be used in games or may not be used in games. A plurality of cards 21 are randomly selected from a plurality of types (e.g., several hundred types) and stored in the card holder 22. A plurality of values ​​are set for the plurality of types. The value of each card 21 may be indicated by a notation on the card 21 that indicates its value (e.g., a special pattern, a number indicating rarity, or a number indicating strength), or the card may not have a notation indicating its value and the purchaser may determine the value of the card 21 based on its rarity in the market or its strength in the game. The notation indicating the value of the card 21 may appear on the edge of the card 21 (e.g., a frame-shaped pattern indicating high value may be applied to the edge of the card 21), and in such cases, the card 21 may be subject to the search behavior described in FIG. 6 in particular.

[0027] A purchaser wants to purchase card package 21 containing high-value cards 21, but the purchaser cannot see the contents of cards 21, including their value, when cards 21 are contained in pillow 22, and must rely on luck when purchasing card package 12. Note that although the number of cards 21 contained in card package 12 is notified to the purchaser, card product 10 may contain only one card 21.

[0028] The tray 11 is made of plastic, and has side walls 111 formed on edge portions corresponding to the four sides of a rectangle, giving it a tray shape with a recess 112 surrounded by the four side walls 111. The recess 112 has a depth corresponding to the thickness of the card package 12 or a depth greater than the thickness of the card package 12. Therefore, when the card package 12 is housed in the recess 112 of the tray 11, the card package 12 has a depth that does not climb over the side walls 111 of the recess 112. Furthermore, the recess 112 of the tray 11 has a width that prevents the card package 12 from moving laterally when housed in the recess 112 of the tray 11. A theme may also be printed on the tray 11.

[0029] Packaging material 13 is made of a transparent material. Packaging material 13 is formed into a cylindrical shape by bonding two opposing sides of a rectangular film material together and thermocompressing them, folding it so that bonded portion 133 is located in the center of rear surface 132, and then heat-compressing upper bonded portion 134 and lower bonded portion 135 to form a bag shape. The surface without bonded portion 133 is called front surface 131.

[0030] The card product 10 is manufactured by enclosing five cards 21 in a pillow 22 to produce a card package 12, storing this card package 12 in a recess 112 of a tray 11, and sealing the card package 12 stored in the tray 111 in a packaging material 13. At this time, the card package 12 is stored in the tray 111 so that the front surface 221 of the card package 12 faces up relative to the tray 11 with the recess 112 open upward, and the card package 12 stored in the tray 11 is sealed in the packaging material 13 so that the same side as the front surface 221 of the card package 12 faces the front surface 131 of the packaging material 13.

[0031] In this state, the front surface of packaging material 13 covers and presses down card package 12 from the front surface 221 side of card package 12, preventing card package 12 from shifting from tray 11 and the edge portions of card package 12 from climbing over side walls 111 of tray 11, and maintaining card package 12 housed within recess 112 of tray 11. With this configuration, purchasers cannot shift cards 121 inside card package 12 of card product 10, preventing searching behavior.

[0032] In this way, in card product 10, pillow 22, tray 11, and packaging material 13 are constructed without being glued together. Therefore, after opening card product 10 and removing card 21, pillow 22, tray 11, and packaging material 13 become separate members, and no part of one remains on the other due to adhesive. Furthermore, because pillow 22, tray 11, and packaging material 13 are each constructed from a single material, they can each be collected as recyclable waste.

[0033] After purchasing the card product 10, the purchaser opens the packaging material 13, and further takes out the card package 12 from the tray 11, and opens the pillow 22 to take out the card 21, and the pillow 22, tray 11 and packaging material 13 can be collected as recyclable waste.

[0034] (Variation) In the above embodiment, the theme of the card product 10 is printed on the front surface 221 of the pillow 22, and the packaging material 13 is made of a transparent film, so that the theme written on the pillow of the card product 10 can be seen even when the card product 10 is packaged in the packaging material 13. However, instead of this, the theme of the card product 10 may be printed on the front surface 131 of the packaging material 13. In this case, the theme may be printed on either the inner surface or the outer surface of the packaging material 13. Furthermore, the packaging material 13 may be made opaque so that the card package 12 inside the packaging material 13 cannot be seen from the outside of the packaging material 13.

[0035] Furthermore, in addition to printing a theme on the packaging material 13, the theme may also be printed on the pillow 22 as in the above embodiment. In this case, the printed content of the packaging material 13 and the printed content of the pillow 22 may be the same or different. Alternatively, if the printing is done on the front surface 131 and the back surface 132 of the packaging material 13 to obscure the card package 12 inside, the pillow 22 may be transparent.

[0036] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, five cards 21 are housed in the card package 12, but the number of cards 21 contained in the card package 12 may be more or less than five, or even just one. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the packaging material 13 houses one card package 12, but the packaging material 13 may house multiple card packages 12. In this case, the depth of the recess 112 of the tray 11 is made deeper so that the multiple card packages 12 can be completely housed therein, i.e., the depth is greater than the total thickness of the multiple card packages 12.

[0037] In the above embodiment, the packaging material 13 has a bag shape made of a film material, but instead, the packaging material 13 may be a box made of paper. In particular, when multiple card packages 12 are stored in the packaging material 13 as described above, the packaging material 13 may be a box.

[0038] In the above embodiment, the recess 112 of the tray 11 is open upward, but the tray 11 may also be provided with a cover for keeping the card package 12 housed in the recess 112 in the recess 112. This cover may be formed integrally with the tray 11.

[0039] In the above embodiment, the recess 112 of the tray 11 is opened upward to accommodate the card package 12 with the front surface 221 of the ball 22 facing upward, and the front surface 22 of the ball 22 and the front surface 131 of the packaging material 13 are on the same side, so that the theme printed on the front surface 221 of the ball 22 does not overlap with the print on the ball 22 at the bonding portion 133 of the packaging material 13. Alternatively, the tray 11 may be turned upside down, as shown in FIG.

[0040] In this case, the card package 12 is placed in the tray 11 so that the front surface 221 of the pillow 22 is in contact with the bottom surface of the recess 112 of the tray 11, and then the card package 12 placed in the toilet 11 is placed in the packaging material 13 so that the front surface 221 of the pillow 22 and the front surface 131 of the packaging material 13 are on the same side. In this way, the theme printed on the front surface 221 of the pillow 22 can be seen from the outside through the bottom surface of the transparent tray 11 and the front surface 131 of the transparent packaging material 13.

[0041] In the above embodiment, the pillow 22 is provided with the hanging hole 226. In addition to this, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper bonding portion 134 of the packaging material 13 may also be provided with a hanging hole 136. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 10 Card Products 11 Tray 12 card package 13 Packaging materials 21 Cards 22 Piro 111 Side wall 112 recess 131 Front 132 Rear 133 Bonded part 134 Upper joint part 135 Lower joint 136 holes 221 Front 222 Rear 223 Bonded part 224 Upper joint 225 Lower joint 226 holes

Claims

1. A card product comprising: a tray having a recess; a card package consisting of one or more cards and a pillow case for accommodating the one or more cards; a packaging material that covers the card package accommodated in the recess of the tray from above while the card package is accommodated in the recess of the tray, thereby maintaining the card package accommodated in the recess of the tray; Equipped with the recess of the tray has a depth such that the card package does not climb up onto a side wall of the recess when the card package is accommodated in the recess of the tray and contained in the packaging material, and a width such that the card package does not move laterally when the card package is accommodated in the recess of the tray; The pillowcase and / or the wrapping material bear a theme of the card package, the packaging material accommodates the tray and the card package and is sealed by thermocompression; The tray, the pillow, and the packaging material are made of a single material; The card product, wherein the tray, the pillow, and the packaging material are disposable as separate components after the one or more cards are removed.

2. The card product of claim 1 , wherein the packaging material is transparent.

3. 2. The card product according to claim 1, wherein the packaging material has the same markings as the pillowcase.

4. The card product according to claim 1 , wherein the packaging material has a bag-like shape.

5. 2. The card product according to claim 1, wherein the pillow case accommodates the one or more cards and is sealed by thermocompression.

6. The card product of claim 1 , wherein the card is a trading card.

7. The card product of claim 6 , wherein the one or more cards are assigned any of a plurality of values.

8. 7. The card product according to claim 6, wherein the one or more cards are cards randomly selected from a plurality of types of cards.

9. 10. The card product of claim 1, wherein the pillow accommodates one or more cards such that the contents of the accommodated card or cards are not visible.

10. 10. The card product of claim 1, wherein the packaging contains the one or more cards such that the contents of the contained card or cards are not visible.

11. 10. The card product of claim 1, wherein the tray bears a theme of the card package.

Citation Information

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