Patent EP0453688A1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0453688A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Personalized greeting card system
Assignee: Hallmark Cards Inc
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Filing: 1990-12-19
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-12-19
Abstract
Abstract A system for producing a personalized greeting card, and comprising: card type selection means for permitting a customer to obtain a card having desired weight and quality attributes, design selection means for providing one of a plurality of designs on the card, message selection means for providing printed matter on the card, card completion means, and control means for ensuring supply by the card completion means of a completed greeting card having the weight and quality attributes, the selected design and the selected printed matter thereon.
Inventors
- 👤 Thomas Benton Banks
- 👤 Michael Lynn Vandemark
- 👤 Wallace Allen Yeskie
- 👤 David Allen Mullin
- 👤 Michael Ray Schupp
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 12:55
CPC Classifications
G; G07; G07F; G07F17/00; G07F17/26
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
153 words
A system for use by an individual customer to obtain a personalized greeting card of high quality, said system comprising: card type selection means for permitting an individual customer to obtain a completed personalized card of a type having desired weight and quality attributes at least equal to those of conventional printed greeting cards, design selection means for selection by an individual customer and from a plurality of available designs of a design to be provided on said completed personalized card, message selection means for use by said individual customer to select particular printed material to be provided on said completed card, and card completion means, and control means for controlling said card completion means from said card type, design and message selection means for supply by said card completion means of a completed greeting card having said weight and quality attributes and having said selected design and said selected printed material thereon.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
72 words
A system as defined in claim 1, wherein said card type selection means comprises rack means for supporting blank cards thereon for selection by the customer of a card to be carried by the customer to said card completion means and to be processed by said card completion means to supply said completed greeting card having said weight and quality attributes and having said selected design and said selected printed material thereon.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
A system as defined in claim 2, wherein said rack means support a plurality of sample cards having various designs printed thereon to provide the customer with information as to the appearance of a completed greeting card.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
47 words
A system as defined in claim 3, wherein said rack means support a plurality of said blank cards in association with each of said sample cards, each of said blank cards having a design thereon corresponding to that on said sample card with which it is associated.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
A system as defined in claim 4, wherein said card completion means comprises a printer controlled by said control means from said message selection means and operative to print said particular printed material selected by a customer on a blank card carried by a customer to said card completion means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
A system as defined in claim 3, wherein said plurality of sample cards further include printed instructional material to assist the customer in operation of said design selection and message selection means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
50 words
A system as defined in claim 2, wherein said card completion means comprises a printer controlled by said control means from said message selection means and operative to print said particular printed material selected by a customer on a blank card carried by a customer to said card completion means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
56 words
A system as defined in claim 1, wherein said control means include storage means for storage of design and message selection data generated by said customer through operation of said design and message selection means, and said control means including means for subsequent control of said card completion means from stored design and message selection data.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
48 words
A system as defined in claim 8, wherein said card completion means is operable by an operator separate from the customer, and wherein said control means includes means for checking by the operator of stored design and message selection data before effecting operation of said card completion means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
38 words
A system as defined in claim 1, wherein said card selection means comprise rack means for supporting sample cards having various designs printed thereon to provide the customer with information as the appearance of a completed greeting card.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
49 words
A system as defined in claim 10, wherein said sample cards have information text printed thereon to guide the customer as to operation of said message selection means, and wherein no text corresponding to said information text is printed by said card completion means on a completed greeting card.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
A system as defined in claim 11, wherein said sample cards have suggested greeting text printed thereon for optional selection during operation of said message selection means by said individual customer.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
55 words
A system as defined in claim 1, further including a monitor controllable by the customer under control of said control means to present a series of screens to guide the customer in selection of design of a card and messages to be provided thereon so as to provide said design selection and message selection means.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
76 words
A system as defined in claim 13, wherein said card selection means comprise rack means for supporting sample cards having various designs printed thereon to provide the customer with information as the appearance of a completed greeting card, said sample cards having information text printed thereon to guide the customer as to control of operation of said monitor and selection of the design of a sample card and text to be printed on a completed card.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
74 words
A system as defined in claim 14, wherein said sample cards have suggested greeting text printed thereon for optional selection during operation of said message selection means by said individual customers, said suggested greeting text including indications of positions of placement names and other text to be optionally supplied by the customer, and said screens providing reproductions of said suggested greeting text and showing text supplied by the customer at said positions of placement.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system as defined in claim 13, said monitor being operable by said control means to present for verification a visual representation of a design selected by a customer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
53 words
A system as defined in claim 1 for producing greeting cards of a folded type having a front cover, an inside and a back cover, said message selection means being operable by the customer for selection of text to be printed on said front cover and text to be printed on said inside.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
53 words
A system as defined in claim 17, said design selection means being operable by the customer to select a card of a non-folding type, and said message selection means being operable by the customer for selection to text to be printed on at least one side of a card of a non-folded type.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
78 words
A system as defined in claim 18, wherein said control means include storage means for storage of design and message selection data generated by said customer through operation of said design and message selection means, and said control means including means for subsequent control of said card completion means from stored design and message selection data and arranged for printing of either said folding or non-folding type as selected by the customer and stored by said storage means.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
146 words
A method of producing greeting cards using a monitor and an associated customer-operated selection control and a printer which is controllable by a computer in accordance with supplied control data for printing of text, comprising the steps of providing a plurality of blank cards having different designs printed thereon for selection by a customer, assigning a card design control code to each design for use by a customer in selecting the design, presenting a screen on the monitor for entry of a card design control code by the customer for selection of a card design, presenting one or more screens on the monitor for selection of message text by the customer to be printed on a blank card, and supplying card design and control data to the computer in accordance with card design and message text to be printed by the printer on a blank card.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as defined in claim 20, including the step of presenting a screen on the monitor containing a visual representation of a card design corresponding to a control code entered by the customer and containing a request for verification by the customer.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method as defined in claim 20, including the step of storing card design and message data prior to operation of the printer therefrom, and comparing a blank card presented by a customer with stored control data for verification prior to printing of text on the blank card.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
131 words
A method for producing greeting cards under customer control, each card having a design selected from among a plurality of available designs and each card having text thereon which is personalized by a customer, said method comprising the steps of assigning a card design control code for each design, storing data in memory defining a template for each card design control code, each template defining a position and format of text to be printed in matching, correlated relation to the corresponding design, inputting a card design control code from a customer, inputting personalized text from the customer, and printing each card with a design corresponding to the card design control code input from a customer and with text personalized by the customer and in a position and format matching said design.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
184 words
A system for use by an individual customer to obtain a personalized greeting card, said system comprising: design selection means for selection by an individual customer and from a plurality of available designs of a design to be provided on said personalized greeting card, each of said designs being assigned a certain card design control code, message selection means for use by said individual customer to select particular printed material to be provided on said completed card, card completion means, and control means for controlling said card completion means from said design and message selection means, said control means including computer means for storing data in memory defining a template for each design, each template defining a position and format of text of a message to be so printed as to match the corresponding design, and said control means including means for responding to a card design control code from the customer to effect completion of a card by said card completion means and to obtain a card having text personalized by the customer and in a condition and format matching a design thereon.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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