Health Information Card

Abstract

A card adapted to be carried on the person, as in the carrier's wallet, having a printed paper sheet which is folded into two card sections about a length of microfilm positioned therebetween, said microfilm occupying a display position relative to a display window in said card sections and held by said card sections against slippage from this position during the sealing of a protective plastic jacket about said paper and microfilm assembly.

Description

The present invention relates generally to improvements for a wallet-size health information card, the improvements, more particularly, relating to the makeup of the card which facilitates combining the printed data thereon with a chip or length of microfilm which has an extensive capacity for data presentation.

To serve effectively as an emergency health card, such as during an emergency situation when the card bearer is unable to talk or communicate, the health information or data on the card must be sufficiently extensive to cover and provide guidance to the attending physician for all contingencies. It is therefore advisable to supplement the data that is displayed by being printed on the card with data previously applied to a chip or length of microfilm. The assembly of the microfilm with the card must not be permitted, however, to render the cost of producing the card prohibitive; yet, there is a tendency for this to occur because the microfilm chip or length is comparatively small and is thus difficult to position or handle.

Broadly, it is an object to provide an economically produced combination printed and microfilm health information card overcoming the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art. Specifically, it is an object to provide a card having foldable sections containing the printed data and which sections, in the folding thereof, contribute to facilitated handling of the microfilm chip.

A card demonstrating objects and advantages of the present invention includes a printed paper body formed of two sections folded together so as to hold a length of microfilm therebetween in a display position relative to a display window, said engagement of said microfilm also minimizing any movement or slippage of the microfilm during the application of a protective plastic jacket or cover about the card.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiment in accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a health information card demonstrating product attributes of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but of the rear face of the card;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the individual components of the card;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the microfilm in strip form incident to the conversion thereof into discrete lenghts suitable for use in the card hereof;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of the paper body of the card illustrating structural features of the display window thereof; and

FIG. 6 illustrates the components of the card as shown in FIG. 3, but in assembled condition, and prior to heat sealing of the outer plastic jacket or cover.

Reference is now made to the drawing wherein a health information card demonstrating objects and advantages of the present invention is generally designated 10, the front face 12 of the card being illustrated in FIG. 1 and the rear face 14 thereof being illustrated in FIG. 2. As is perhaps best understood from FIG. 3, the printed front and rear surfaces 12, 14 are actually two overlapping sections of a rectangular paper body 16. That is, the card body 16 had only one surface thereof printed with the information that it is desired to display on the front 12 and the back 14 of the card, as illustrated in FIG. 5, and the body then is folded centrally along a fold line 18 into said overlapping card sections 12 and 14.

Not only does the body 16 contain essential information printed thereon, but it also serves as a holder for a discrete length of microfilm which has reproduced in a central location thereon, by photographic process, a concentrated arrangement of health information or data 22 having border areas 24 thereabout. Initially the microfilm chips or lengths 20 are in strip form, as illustrated in FIG. 4, being produced in said strip form by any number of commercially available devices. Good results have been obtained using a device manufactured by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Corp. for the specific purpose of producing microfilm strips. Such device is used in a conventional way except that, instead of reproducing the data areas 22 in adjacent position along the film strip 26, the same are only reproduced at alternate theoretical positions, thus leaving the spaces 28 therebetween. The foregoing facilitates converting the film strip 26 into discrete microfilm lengths 20 by transversely severing the same at spaced locations 30.

To mount the microfilm length 20 for display in the paper body 16, said body, as best illustrated in FIG. 5, is provided with a large, rectangular cut-out or opening 32 which is oriented transversely of the fold line 18 so that each half of the cut-out 32 extends in opposite directions from the fold line 18 into each of the card sections 12 and 14. Thus, the cut-out 32 effectively serves as a display window and, more important, the peripheral portions 34 in each of the front and rear card sections 12, 14, which bound each opening 32, are also in an advantageous position to engage the film strip marginal portions 24 interposed between these peripheral or operative portions 34. As a consequence, the film strip 20 is readily positioned between the card sections 12 and 14 with the data display 22 thereon centered and clearly visible within the confines of the display window 32 while the paper body areas 34 are in engaged contact with the microfilm border areas 24 so that relative movement or slipping therebetween is minimized.

Following placement or assembly of the film strip length 20 in its operative position within the combination film strip holder and card body 16, the assembly is placed within an oversized transparent cover or jacket 36 having a transparent front panel 38 connected along one edge 40 to a transparent rear panel 42. Due to the jacket 36 being oversized relative to the paper body 16, marginal confronting portions 44 of the plastic jacket 36 are presented on all four sides and extend beyond the edges of the paper body 16. In a manner which is well understood, the marginal plastic areas 44 are heat sealed to each other to form a protective enclosure about the health information card 10.

The information 22 which is photographically reproduced on the microfilm 20 may, of course, vary considerably, but in a preferred embodiment of the card 10 includes: personal information and data; the names and addresses of doctors, clinics and hospitals visited for examination, treatment, consultation or operation; and a yes or no indication of treatment for specified ailments or conditions, such as cancer or tumor, heart disease, heart murmur, rheumatic fever, chest pain, pressure in the chest, high blood pressure, etc.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure, and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A health information card adapted to be carried on the person comprising a rectangular paper body having printing on one surface thereof and folded along a central fold line into two overlapping card sections displaying said printed surface, an aligning pair of display windows located in one corner of said card sections consisting in each of a removed rectangular area having the bottom side thereof coincident with and located along said central fold line and a side thereof adjacent two aligning sides of said card sections, a microfilm having data in a central location and two side border areas on opposite sides thereof, said microfilm having an operative display position in said display window in which a bottom edge of each of said two side border areas have each been moved into abutment directly with said fold line on opposite sides of said display window and a side edge of one said side border area is aligned with said aligning sides of said card sections such that said centrally located data of said microfilm is coincident with said removed area serving as said display windows and said microfilm additionally is constrained by said abutment against inadvertent movement from said display position, and an oversized protective plastic cover having a connected transparent front and back defining a card-receiving compartment therebetween disposed in protecting relation about said folded paper body and having its overlapping marginal areas heat sealed to each other.