MINIMALIST WALLET
20210337945 · 2021-11-04
Inventors
Cpc classification
International classification
Abstract
A minimalist wallet having barriers optional functional features is disclosed. The minimalist wallet may have an optional money band, an optional key ring, an optional money clip and an optional coin tray. Magnets may be used to assemble and disassemble the minimalist wallet to add or subtract various features as needed by the user.
Claims
1. A minimalist wallet kit which permits a user to easily change features, the wallet comprising: a first body plate having a width less than 2.5 inches and length less than 3.75 inches, the first body plate defining an interior side and an exterior side, the interior side of the first body plate being sized and configured to push against a first credit card of stacked credit cards, an exterior side of the first body plate having a recess defined by a bottom surface and a wall, a plurality of permanent magnets embedded about a periphery of a bottom surface of the recess; a second body plate having a width less than 2.5 inches and a length less than 3.75 inches, the second body plate defining an interior side and an exterior side, the interior side of the second body plate being sized and configured to push against a second credit card of the stacked credit cards; an elastic member wrapped around the first and second body plates to bias the first and second body plates against the stacked credit cards to hold the stacked credit cards; a first cover plate sized and configured to fit within the recess of the first body plate and removably attached to the first body plate within the recess via the magnets; and a second cover plate sized and configured to fit within the recess of the first body plate and removably attached to the first body plate within the recess via the magnets; wherein the first cover plate is removably attachable to the first body plate, and the second cover plate is removably attachable to the second body plate.
2. The kit of claim 1 wherein the interior sides of the first and second body plates is flat.
3. The kit of claim 1 wherein the first and second cover plates are fabricated from aluminum and permanent magnets are embedded in the first and second cover plates at its periphery and aligned to the permanent magnets in the bottom surface of the first and second body plate.
4. The kit of claim 1 wherein the first and second body plates are fabricated from aluminum.
5. The kit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of magnets embedded in the recess of the first body plate defines engagement surfaces and the engagement surfaces are in the same plane as each other and a plane of the bottom surface.
6. The kit of claim 1 wherein the first cover plate has an indentation, and the kit further comprises a clip, the clip having a first distal end and a second distal end with the clip formed into a loop, the first distal end being biased against the first cover plate when the clip is attached to the first cover plate, the second distal end having a protrusion inserted into the indentation of the first cover plate when the clip is attached to the first cover plate.
7. A method of configuring a minimalist wallet, the method comprising the steps of: providing a minimalist wallet kit which permits a user to easily change designs, the wallet comprising: a first body plate having a width less than 2.5 inches and length less than 3.75 inches, the first body plate defining an interior side and an exterior side, the interior side of the first body plate being sized and configured to push against a first credit card of the stacked credit cards, an exterior side of the first body plate having a recess defined by a bottom surface and a wall, a plurality of permanent magnets embedded about a periphery of a bottom surface of the recess; a second body plate having a width less than 2.5 inches and a length less than 3.75 inches, the second body plate defining an interior side and an exterior side, the interior side of the second body plate being sized and configured to push against a second credit card of the stacked credit cards; an elastic member wrapped around the first and second body plates to bias the first and second body plates against the stacked credit cards to hold the stacked credit cards; a first cover plate sized and configured to fit within the recess of the first body plate and removably attached to the first body plate within the recess via the magnets; and a second cover plate sized and configured to fit within the recess of the first body plate and removably attached to the first body plate within the recess via the magnets; wherein the first cover plate can be removed from the first body plate and the second cover plate inserted into the recess and attached to the first body plate; removing at least one of the first and second cover plates to disassemble the minimalist wallet; reconfiguring the minimalist wallet to include one of a money clip, keyring and money band.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the reconfiguring step comprises the steps of: removing the first cover plate from the first body plate; securing a money clip to the first cover plate; attaching the removed first cover plate to the first body plate.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the reconfiguring step comprises the steps of: removing the first or second cover plate from the respective first or second body plate; securing a money band to the removed first or second cover plate; and attaching the removed first or second cover plate to respective first or second body plate.
10. The method of claim 7 wherein the reconfiguring step comprises the steps of: removing the first and second cover plates from the respective first and second body plates; removing the elastic member from the first and second body plates, the elastic member having no keyring assembly; securing another elastic member having a keyring assembly to the first and second body plates, the keyring assembly being disposed on a side of the first and body plates so that the keyring assembly extends to a side of the first and second body plates; attached the removed first and second cover plates to the respective first and second body plates.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
[0032]
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[0041]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0042] Referring now to the drawings, a minimalist wallet 10 is shown. The minimalist wallet 10 permits a user to reconfigure the minimalist wallet 10 to suit different situations that the user may find him or herself without the use of specialized tools (e.g., screw drivers). By way of example and not limitation, the user may configure the wallet 10 to have an optional keyring assembly 12, an optional money band 14, an optional coin tray 16 (
[0043] Referring now to
[0044] The body plates 26, 28 may have grooves 64, 66. These grooves 64, 66 may be formed on the lateral or exterior sides of the body plates 26, 28. The grooves 64, 66 may have widths 68, 70. The widths 68, 70 of the grooves 64, 66 of the body plates 26, 20 may be equal to the width 26 of the elastic band 40 in its initially stretched position (see
[0045] Moreover, the elastic band 40 may be fabricated from a material having a thickness 72. The thickness 72 of the elastic band 40 when it is wrapped around the body plates 26, 28, as shown in
[0046] Other configurations for accounting for the thickness 72 of the elastic band 40 are also contemplated so that the matching pair of magnets 20 of the body plates 26, 28, and the cover plates 22, 24 are fully engaged to each other (e.g., contact each other). By way of example and not limitation, the cover plates 22, 24 may also have grooves 80, 82. The grooves 80, 82 may also have a depth 84. The depth 84 of the groove 80 of the cover plate 22 plus the depth 74 of the groove 64 of the body plate 26 may be equal to or greater than the thickness 72 of the elastic band 40 when it is wrapped around the body plates 26, 28. Likewise, the depth 84 of the groove 82 of the cover plate 24 plus the depth 74 of the groove 66 of the body plate 28 may be equal to or greater than the thickness 72 of the elastic band 40. In this manner, the magnets 20 of the cover plates 22, 24 may lie flush against the magnets 20 of the body plates 26, 28 to securely hold the cover plates 22, 24 on to the body plates 26, 28. As a further alternative, the body plates 26, 28 may not have grooves 64, 66. The depths 84 of the grooves 80, 82 of the cover plates 22, 24 may be equal to or greater than the thickness 72 of the elastic band 40 when it is wrapped around the body plates 26, 28. Likewise, the depth 84 of the groove 82 of the cover plate 24 may be equal to or greater than the thickness 72 of the elastic band 40. In this manner, no one groove 80, 82 of a pair of body plate 26, 28 and cover plate 22, 24 needs to be sufficiently deep to receive the entire thickness 72 of the elastic band 40.
[0047] The elastic band 40 may be attached to a keyring assembly 12. The elastic band 40 and the keyring assembly 12 may form an elastic band assembly 30. The elastic band 40 may define a length 32 and a width 34. Although the drawings show the elastic band assembly 30 with a keyring assembly 12, it is also contemplated that the elastic band assembly 30 may also have no keyring assembly 12. The user may be provided with two elastic band assemblies 30, namely, one elastic band assembly 30 having the keyring assembly 12 38 and another elastic band assembly 30 without the keyring assembly 12. The keyring assembly 12 may have a strap 36 and a keyring 38. The strap 36 may be a cloth material and have an elasticity that is less than the elasticity of the elastic band portion 40. Preferably, the strap 36 does not stretch but is rigid similar to a rope or nylon or cotton material. The strap 36 may also have a width 42, which is equal to the width 34 of the elastic band 40. A length 44 of the strap 36 may be between ¼ inch to 10 inches and is preferably 2 inches. The keyring 38 may be secured to the strap 36. For example, the strap 36 may be wrapped around the keyring 38, as shown in
[0048] Referring back to
[0049] Referring now to
[0050] The cover plate 22 is removably attachable to the body plate 26 with magnets 20. An outer periphery 104 of the cover plate 22 is closely matched to the inner periphery 106 of the depression 108 formed in the body plate 26. The depression 108 is defined by the raised sidewall 88. A close fit is one where there is about a 0.001 and 0.020 inches of clearance or gap 108 (see
[0051] Referring back to
[0052] Referring now to
[0053] Referring now to
[0054] The widths 122 of the cover plates 22, 24 may be 2 to 2.5 cm. In this case, the width 34 of the money clip may be slightly smaller (e.g., 0.001 to 0.010 inches) than the widths 122 of the cover plates 22, 24.
[0055] Referring now to
[0056] Referring now to the drawings, the minimalist wallet 10 may be reconfigured at any moment without any special tools such as a screwdriver. In this regard, the minimalist wallet 10 is a minimalist wallet in terms of its current desired use by the user.
[0057] For example, if the person would like to carry his or her keys with his or her wallet 10, the user may do so. In particular, the user would remove the cover plates 22, 24 to access the elastic band 40 as shown in
[0058] Moreover, the minimalist wallet numeral 10 may be reconfigured without any special tools to have an optional money clip 18 and/or an optional money band 14. To attach the money clip 18 to the wallet 10, the user may remove one of the cover plates 22, 24 from the body plates 26, 28. The money clip 18 has two protrusions 112 (see
[0059] The money band 14 may also be added or removed to the minimalist wallet numeral 10. In particular, one of the cover plates 22, 24 may be removed from the body plates 26, 28. If the user desires to have a money clip 18 and the money band, the user may add the money clip 18 to one of the cover plates 22, 24 and add the money band 14 to the other cover plate 22, 24. With the cover plate 22, 24 removed from the body plates 26, 28, the money band 14 may be wrapped around the cover plate 22, 24. The cover plate 22, 24 may have a groove which has a depth and width that receives the money band (i.e., elastic band). The cover plate 22, 24 is then reattached to the body plate 26, 28. Because the groove(s) of the cover plate 22, 24 is larger than the band, the magnets 20 of the cover plate 22, 24 can physically contact the magnets of the body plate 26, 28. The magnets of the cover plates 22, 24 are attracted to the magnets 20 of the body plates 26, 28 to attach the cover plate 22, 24 to the body plate 26, 28. In this regard, the magnets 20 allow the user to disassemble the minimalist wallet 10 to reconfigure the minimalist wallet so as to have or not have the features described here and such as the key ring assembly, money clip and money band 14.
[0060] Referring now to
[0061] The minimalist wallet 10 allows the user to add or subtract features without the use of a specialized tool. The user can reconfigure the wallet with his or her hands without any mechanical aid. The minimalist wallet can be reconfigured to provide for minimal features as needed for that day. By way of example and not limitation, if the user needs to have both a money clip and a money band, then the user may add the money clip and the money band to the wallet 10 but not the coin tray 16. If the user needs to have the coin tray but not the money band or money clip, then the user may reconfigure the wallet to have only the coin tray. In other words, the minimalist wallet 10 provides the user with the ability to reconfigure the wallet to have features when needed and to remove features when not needed without any special tools or the use of the magnets which holds everything together.
[0062] Referring now to
[0063] As described herein, magnets may be embedded in both the cover plates and the body plates. The magnets embedded in the cover plates are aligned to the magnets embedded in the body plates. So that the pair of magnets, one in the cover plate and another one in the body plates are aligned to each other, are attracted to each other. The magnets in the cover plate is attracted to the magnets in the body plate to attach the cover plate to the body plate. Instead of using magnets in both the cover plates and the body plates as described herein, it is also contemplated that either the body plates or the cover plates may have magnets embedded therein. If the body plates have magnets, then the cover plates may be fabricated from a ferrous material that is attracted by the magnets in the body plates. Conversely, if the cover plates have magnets, then the body plates may be fabricated from a ferrous material that is attracted by the magnets embedded in the cover plates.
[0064] The material from which the body plates and the cover plates are fabricated from may be aluminum, brass, copper, stainless steel, or combinations thereof.
[0065] The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.