Card product

Abstract

A card product (10) includes: a tray (11) having a recess (112); one card package (12) including one or more cards (21) and a pillow package (22) accommodating the one or more cards (21); and a packaging material (13) that, in a state in which the one card package (12) is accommodated in the recess (112) of the tray (11), covers, from above, the card package (12) accommodated in the recess (112) of the tray (11) to maintain the state in which the card package (12) is accommodated in the recess (112) of the tray (11). The recess (112) of the tray (11) has such a depth that the card package (12) does not protrude beyond a side wall (111) of the recess (112) in a state in which the one card package (12) accommodated in the recess (112) of the tray (11) is accommodated in the packaging material (13), and has such a lateral width that the card package (12) does not move in the lateral direction in the state in which the card package (12) is accommodated in the recess (112) of the tray (11).

Description

Card Products

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to card products packaged for sale. Prior art

[0002] Trading cards (hereinafter simply referred to as "cards") are sold in a package (hereinafter also referred to as a "card package") in which the contents are hidden by a bag called a "pillow". Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of a card package. In the example card package 100 of Figure 5, five cards 101 are packed 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") may search for a card package to purchase before purchasing, hoping to purchase a card with a higher value after knowing the contents of the cards sold in the package, especially their value.

[0004] In a search operation, a purchaser infers the value of the cards inside without opening the pillow case. The purchaser particularly attempts to identify a card package containing a high-value card by searching. FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional search operation. In a search operation that has become a problem recently, as shown in FIG. 6, a purchaser pushes a card 101 from the edge of the pillow case 102, shifts the card 101 inside the pillow case 102, and then shines a light L from the side to view the contents of the edge of the card 101 inside, thereby inferring the value of the card 101. The reason for shifting the card is to infer 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 backing 103, and a tray-shaped blister 104 made of plastic deformed to fit the shape of the card package 100 is placed over the card package 100. A flange 104a for bonding to the paper backing is formed around the periphery of the deformed portion of the blister 104 that fits the card package. This flange 104a is bonded to the backing 103 with adhesive 105, preventing 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. overview

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

[0009] The card product of the present disclosure includes a tray having a recess, a card package consisting of one or more cards and a pillow that accommodates the one or more cards, and a packaging material that covers the card package accommodated in the recess of the tray from above when the card package is accommodated in the recess of the tray, and the recess of the tray is configured such that when the card package is accommodated in the recess of the tray and is accommodated in the packaging material, the card package is covered by the recess. 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 disposable 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 cannot be seen.

[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.

[0021] Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a card product according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a card product according to an embodiment. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a card product according to a modified embodiment. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a card product according to a modified embodiment. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional card package. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional search behavior. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a card package packaged using a conventional blister method. Fig. 8 is an exploded view showing an example of a card package packaged using a conventional blister method. Embodiment

[0022] However, the embodiments described below are merely examples, and the present disclosure 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. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the card product according to an embodiment. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the 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 the tray 11. The tray 11, the card package 12, and the packaging material 13 are all rectangular, and therefore the 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 them, folding it so that a bonded portion 223 is positioned in the center of the rear 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 forms 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 refers to 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 cards 21 may feature players belonging to the league, and if the theme is a card game, the cards 21 may feature 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 each of the plurality of types. The value of each card 21 may be indicated by a notation on the card 21 indicating its value (e.g., a special pattern, a number indicating its rarity, or a number indicating its 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). In such cases, the card 21 may be subject to the search behavior described in FIG. 6 .

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

[0028] The tray 11 is made of plastic and has side walls 111 formed on the 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 prevents it from climbing 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] The packaging material 13 is made of a transparent material. The 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 the bonded portion 133 is located in the center of the back surface 132, and then thermocompressing an upper bonded portion 134 and a lower bonded portion 135 to form a bag shape. The surface without the bonded portion 133 is the 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 the recess 112 of the tray 11, and sealing the card package 12 stored in the tray 111 in the 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 the packaging material 13 covers the card package 12 from the front surface 221 side thereof to hold the card package 12 down, preventing the card package 12 from shifting from the tray 11 and the edge portions of the card package 12 from climbing over the side walls 111 of the tray 11, and maintaining the state in which the card package 12 is housed within the recess 112 of the tray 11. With this configuration, the purchaser cannot shift the cards 121 within the card package 12 of the card product 10, thereby preventing searching.

[0032] In this way, in card product 10, the 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] (Modifications) 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 packages 12 inside the packaging material 13 cannot be seen from outside the packaging material 13.

[0035] Furthermore, in addition to printing the 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 performed 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] In addition, 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 housed 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 be provided with a cover for keeping the card package 12 contained 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 bonded 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 the card package 12 placed in the toilet 11 is then 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 transparent bottom surface of the tray 11 and the transparent front surface 131 of the 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, a hanging hole 136 may also be provided in the upper bonding portion 134 of the packaging material 13.

[0042] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 card product 11 tray 12 card package 13 packaging material 21 card 22 pillow 111 side wall 112 recess 131 front surface 132 rear surface 133 bonding portion 134 upper bonding portion 135 lower bonding portion 136 hole 221 front surface 222 rear surface 223 bonding portion 224 upper bonding portion 225 lower bonding portion 226 hole

Claims

1. A card product comprising: a tray having a recess; a card package consisting of one or more cards and a pillow that houses the one or more cards; and a packaging material that covers the card package housed in the recess of the tray from above when the card package is housed in the recess of the tray, thereby maintaining the card package housed in the recess of the tray; the recess of the tray has a depth that prevents the card package from climbing up onto the side wall of the recess when the card package is housed in the recess of the tray and housed in the packaging material, and a width that prevents the card package from moving laterally when the card package is housed in the recess of the tray; the pillow and / or the packaging material bear a design of the theme of the card package; the packaging material houses 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. The card product of claim 1, wherein the packaging material bears the same markings as the pillowcase.

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

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

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

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

8. 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. The card product of claim 1, wherein the pyro accommodates the one or more cards so that the contents of the accommodated card or cards are not visible.

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

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