REMOVABLE, AFFIXABLE WALLET FOR A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Abstract

A removable, affixable wallet for attachment to a portable electronic device such as a cell phone. The wallet is configured to hold personal items such as credit/debit cards, currency, and other small items in a compact and convenient way. The wallet comprises a base sheet and a top sheet attached to the base sheet with an open side to form an opening and a slot between the two sheets. An adhesive is applied to a back side of the base sheet to affix the wallet to a surface of an electronic device, such as a cell phone. The wallet is lightweight, slender, and does not appreciably change the size and shape of the portable electronic device. The affixable wallet is easy to attach and detach from the electronic device.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional Application No. 61/521,907, filed on Aug. 10, 2011, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e), and any other applicable laws. U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/521,907 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if set forth fully herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the present invention generally relates to the field of accessories for portable electronic devices such as cell phones.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile phones and other personal, handheld electronic devices are common in many parts of the world. In the United States and other developed and emerging parts of the world, people rely on their portable electronic devices for a myriad of tasks including communicating with others, scheduling, and entertainment. But while people increasingly use these electronic devices in their daily life, it does not mean that they no longer carry with them other personal effects or items. People want to and need to carry with them cash, credit cards, and various personal identification documents such as drivers' licenses. The problem of carrying one's personal effects is amplified in situations where people wish to travel light. In general, people do not wish to take hand bags, book bags, brief cases, purses, or traditional wallets to places such as the gym, the pool, or beach. This is even more true of women. Much of women's clothing does not have ample pockets in which to carry personal effects. In such instances, people still bring their cell phones or personal electronic devices but do not want to leave their other personal effects behind. It is now common for people to buy cases or holders for their cell phones. Unfortunately, these cases and holders are designed only to protect the phones or electronic devices; they do not provide any additional storage or room for personal effects.

What is needed is an article which can combine the organizational and storage features of a wallet with a cell phone accessory. What is needed is for this article to be compact and easy to carry. What is also needed is for this accessory to be stylish and easy to affix to a cell phone or other personal electronic device. This accessory also needs to be durable and reliable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This summary is provided to introduce (in a simplified form) a selection of concepts that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The present invention is directed to a new accessory for portable electronic devices such as cell phones. In one embodiment, the device is a slender and affixable wallet that may be attached to any cell phone or other portable electronic device such as a calculator, tablet computer, notebook computer, electronic organizer, etc. This affixable wallet may have one or more pockets or slots that may be used to organize the person's personal effects. The slots may be large enough to hold credit cards or personal identification cards. Furthermore, the wallet may be designed to hold currency including bills and coins.

In one aspect, the affixable wallet may be formed from a first sheet of material, such as a plastic material (e.g. polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), vinyl, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nylon, or other suitable plastic material), leather, cloth, etc., as a base sheet. The base sheet has a front side and a back side. A top sheet is attached to the front side of the base sheet around three edges of the top sheet, leaving an open edge to form the opening of the slot formed between the base sheet and the top sheet. An adhesive pad is attached to the back side of the base sheet. The adhesive pad may have a removable liner affixed to and covering the adhesive pad. In a further aspect, the base sheet and front sheet may have the same, or substantially the same, width, such that the overall width of the wallet is the same as, or less than, the width of the base sheet and front sheet (and additional sheets, if multiple slots are provided, as described below). In this way, the wallet does not extend beyond the width of the cell phone when attached to the cell phone.

In the case of two slots, a third sheet is attached to the assembly on top of the top sheet. The third sheet may be co-extensive to the top sheet, except that the top edge may be shorter to expose the second slot and provide easier access to the second. For additional slots, additional sheets may be similarly attached and configured, with each sheet having a top edge that is shorter than the preceding sheet.

In additional aspects, the affixable wallet is sized so that it has a width that does not extend beyond the width of a cell phone where it is to be attached to the cell phone. The affixable wallet may also be sized so that it has a length that does not extend beyond the length of the cell phone where it is to be attached to the cell phone.

In a further aspect, at least one slot may be configured to hold a standard sized credit card. The standard size of a credit card is 85.60×53.98 mm (3.370×2.125 in) and rounded corners with a radius of 2.88-3.48 mm. Thus, the width of the slot(s) may be configured to securely hold a card having a width of 53.98 mm. The card may extend out of the slot lengthwise such that a user can grasp the card to remove the card from the slot.

In still another aspect, the base sheet and top sheet(s) are made of a very thin material, no thicker than 1/16 inch or no thicker than ⅛″, so that the wallet has a very thin profile.

In yet another aspect, the adhesive on the adhesive pad is removable so that the affixable wallet can be applied and removed multiple times without damaging the surface of the cell phone.

In still another aspect, the slots or pockets of the affixable wallet may have one or more covers which can be opened or closed to cover the opening of the slots or pockets. The covers may have a fastening mechanism, such as a snap, hook and loop fastener (Velcro®), or other fastener.

In another embodiment of the present invention, methods of manufacturing an affixable wallet comprise heat sealing the sheets together to form the wallet. The heat sealing process may also cut the sheets to the final size.

In another embodiment, a method of using an affixable wallet comprises providing an affixable wallet, as described above. The adhesive protective sheet/liner is removed from the adhesive pad. The affixable wallet is then pressed onto a cell phone attaching the adhesive pad to a surface of the cell phone. The affixable wallet may be configured and attached such that the it does not block or inhibit any functional devices of the cell phone, such as a keypad, button, camera, microphone or speaker. The affixable wallet may also be configured and attached to the cell phone such that the wallet does not extend beyond the edges of the surface of the cell phone to which it is attached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred and alternative examples of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following Figure drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements and the description for like elements shall be applicable for all described embodiments wherever relevant:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an affixable wallet according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is front elevational view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a back elevational view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the area 5 as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 front perspective view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 1 with a card inserted into the slot;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cell phone with the affixable wallet of FIG. 1 attached to the back side of the cell phone;

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of an affixable wallet according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is front elevational view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a back elevational view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of the area 12 as shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of the affixable wallet of FIG. 8 with a card inserted into each of the slots;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a cell phone with the affixable wallet of FIG. 8 attached to the back side of the cell phone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-7, an affixable wallet 10 for affixing to a portable electronic device such as a cell phone, according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown. The affixable wallet 10 is thin and typically configured with one or more pockets or slots to hold personal items, such as credit/debit cards, identification cards (such as a driver's license or identification card), currency bills, coins, and the like. illustrates a single pocket embodiment of the present invention not affixed to a cell phone. The wallet 10 is preferably small and lightweight. It is designed to be slender and not bulky even when holding currency, person identification cards, credit cards and the like. The wallet is highly portable and designed to be durable and capable of surviving the normal wear-and-tear associated with being carried by a user daily for many years.

The affixable wallet 10 comprises a base sheet 12 which forms the base of the wallet 10. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5, the base sheet 12 is a thin sheet of material having a rectangular shape with rounded corners. In order to keep the wallet 10 slender, the thickness of the base sheet is preferably 1/16 inch or less, of ⅛ inch or less, or from ⅛ inch to 1/16 inch. The base sheet 12 may be formed from any suitable material, such as a plastic material (e.g. polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), PVC, nylon, or other suitable plastic material), leather, cloth, fabric, materials used to manufacture wallets or purses, or a combination of these or some other material. The material may be textured to provide some decorative look and/or dyed to provide color. An ornamental design or pattern may also be provided, by embossing, stamping, hot stamping, printing, painting, or other suitable method.

A top sheet 14 is attached to the base sheet 12 to form a slot or pocket 16 between the base sheet 12 and the top sheet 14. The terms “slot” and “pocket” are used interchangeably herein, and are not intended to have different meanings, unless otherwise stated. The top sheet 14 may be formed from any of the materials described above for the base sheet 12, and may be the same material as the base sheet 12 or a different material. The top sheet 14 is attached to the base sheet 12 along three edges, namely the bottom edge and the two side edges of the top sheet, and the top edge of the top sheet 14 is not attached to the base sheet 14 thereby forming the opening 18 of the slot 16. The top sheet 14 may have a shorter length than the base sheet 12 so that the slot is easier to access than if the top edge of the top sheet 14 is co-extensive with the base sheet 12. The bottom edge and the two side edges of the top sheet 14 are shown as being coextensive with the respective bottom edge and two side edges of the base sheet 12. Alternatively, any of the bottom edge and/or the two side edges of the top sheet 14 may be shorter than the respective bottom edge and two side edges of the base sheet 12. However, it is preferable that these edges be coextensive because it provides the smallest overall profile for the wallet 10.

Depending on the style of wallet 10, and the type of material from which it is made, the base sheet 12 and/or the top sheet 14 may include decorative stitching or it may include patterns stamped, etched, painted or printed on the wallet. These patterns may include logos, text, or trademarks. They may also include images or characters from other media such as cartoons.

The top sheet 14 may be attached to the base sheet 12 by any suitable method. For example, the top sheet 14 may be attached to the base sheet 12 by stitching, adhesive, heat sealing, or formed by folding a single, integral sheet of material. Some methods are described in more detail below.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 are two separate sheets of material which are attached to each other, as described above. In one embodiment, the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 are formed of sheets of plastic material, such as PVC. In one method of attaching the top sheet 14 to the base sheet 12, a rough cut of the top sheet 14 is placed on a rough cut of the base sheet 12, with the top edge of the top sheet 14 properly located relative to the base sheet 12 (i.e. the top edge of the base sheet 14 is shorter than the top edge of the base sheet 12). The base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 may then be bonded to each other by heat sealing the base sheet 12 to the top sheet 14 using a heat sealer, such as a radio frequency heat sealer, ultrasonic heat sealer, or heat element heat sealer, for example. The heat sealer bonds the top sheet 14 to the base sheet 12 along the attached edges. The heat sealer may also final cut the rough cut base sheet 12 and the rough cut top sheet 14 to the proper size at the same time it heat seals. Alternatively, the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 may be die cut from stock plastic sheet to the proper size prior to being bonded together, or after being bonded together.

Referring now to FIG. 5, this enlarged view shows some detailed features of the wallet 10 that may optionally be provided. The edge 15 of the base sheet 12 above the top edge of the top sheet 14 has a raised edge 17 which is higher than the main surface 19 of the front side of the base sheet 12. The edge 15 has a taper 21 in which the base sheet 12 is thinner at the outside edge and gets thicker up to the raised edge 17. Then, from the raised edge 17, the edge 15 drops down to the main surface 19 at the internal corner 23. These features may be formed during the heat sealing process described above.

Alternatively, regardless of the material used to form the base sheet 12 and the top sheet 14, the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 may be bonded to each other using an adhesive applied along the attached edges of the top sheet 14. Any other suitable bonding method may also be utilized to attach the attached edges of the top sheet 14 to the base sheet 12. Similarly, the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 may be cut to the proper size prior to being bonded together, or after being bonded together.

Alternatively, the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 may be formed of a single, integral sheet of material. The sheet of material may be cut and folded to form the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14. Some edges, or parts of edges, of the top sheet 14 may still need to be bonded to the base sheet 12, wherein such bonding may be accomplished by any suitable method, such as the methods described above. In one example, the top sheet 12 can be a flap that is folded from the base sheet 12 along the bottom edge or one of the side edges, and then the other edges of the top sheet 14 may be bonded to the base sheet 12.

As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an adhesive 20 is attached to the back side of the base sheet 12. The adhesive 20 is used to affix the affixable wallet 10 to the surface 32 of a phone 30 (see FIG. 7). The adhesive 20 may simply be a thin layer of adhesive applied to the back side of the base sheet 12. The adhesive is preferably a pressure sensitive adhesive. A pressure sensitive adhesive is an adhesive which forms a bond when pressure is applied to bond the adhesive with the adherent. No solvent, water, or heat is needed to activate the adhesive. The adhesive 20 may be removable from a surface 32 of a cell phone 30 so that the affixable wallet 10 can be applied and removed multiple times without damaging the surface 32 of the cell phone 30.

The adhesive 20 may cover the entire back side of the base sheet 12, or substantially the entire back side of the base sheet 12, or it may cover all but a small strip 24 along one or more edges of the back side of the base sheet as shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, a removable, protective liner 22 is applied to the adhesive 20 and covers all or substantially all of the adhesive pad, to prevent the adhesive pad from undesirably sticking to an object. The protective liner 22 is peeled off the adhesive 20 to affix the wallet 10 to a phone 30 (see FIG. 7).

In one embodiment, the adhesive 20 is a convenient pre-formed pad which may be cut to the desired size to fit on the back side of the base sheet 12. For instance, the adhesive pad 20 may have a carrier material for the adhesive which is a thin film to which the adhesive is applied. The carrier material may be a ½ mil (0.001 inch) polyester (PET) The is hand-cut to match the size of the wallet. In other embodiments, the adhesive may be machine cut or cast to fit wallets. In an embodiment, the carrier material for the adhesive is ½ millimeter polyester (e.g. PET) film and the adhesive is a premium solvent based acrylic applied to both sides of the carrier material with a thickness of about 3 mil on each side (one side binding the adhesive pad 20 to the wallet 10 and the other side binding to the surface 32 of the cell phone 30). Thus, the total thickness of the adhesive pad is about 6.5 mil. The removable protective liner may be a thin polypropylene (MOPP) film. This choice of materials and adhesives provide good resistance to heat, common chemicals and solvents, and ultraviolet and sun rays. These materials and adhesives also provide excellent plasticizer migration resistance and offer secure bonding under high temperature conditions. In an embodiment of the present invention, the adhesive pad 20 has a thickness of 6.5 millimeters with a peel adhesion of 95 oz/inch (PSTC−3). The service temperature has a range of 4° F.˜248° F. The adhesive pad 20 may be cut to the appropriate size by any suitable method, such as hand cut, die cut, machine cut, or cast, and may also be cut to size before or after being applied to the back side of the base sheet 12.

Turning to FIG. 6, the base sheet 12, top sheet 14 and slot 16 are configured and sized to receive a standard sized credit/debit card 28 or identification card 28. The standard size of a credit card is 85.60×53.98 mm (3.370×2.125 in) and rounded corners 29 with a radius of 2.88-3.48 mm. Therefore, the width of the slot 16 may be configured to securely hold the card 28 having a width of 2.125 inches. Thus, the width of the wallet 10 (which is the width of the base sheet 12) may be about 2.375 inches, which provides some gap space for the card 28 to slide in and out, while still securely retaining the card within the slot 16 so that it does not inadvertently slide out of the slot 16. The card 28 may extend out of the slot lengthwise such that a user can grasp the card to remove the card from the slot 16. Hence, the length of the wallet 10 (which is the length of the base sheet 12) may be about 2.5 inches, or from 2.4 to 2.6 inches, and the length of the top sheet 14 may be about 2 inches, or from 1.9 to 2.1 inches.

The slot 16 may be configured to leave a third to a fifth of the card exposed. This slot design allows the user to identify the top card in the slot without having to remove the card from the slot 16. In other embodiments of the present invention, the slot 16 may be differently sized. The slot 16may or may not take up most of the area of the wallet. In alternative embodiments, the slot 16 may fully cover the card 28 when the card 28 is completely inserted into the slot 16 and leave none of the card 28 exposed. In other embodiments of the present invention, the slot 16 may not have bottom. In other words, only the side edges of the top sheet 14, and top edge and the bottom edge of the top sheet 14 are not attached to the base sheet 12. In this case, the contents of the wallet 10 are secured by a band formed by the top sheet 14 which extends from one side edge of the wallet 10 to the other side edge and snugly holds the cards or other contents in place.

Turning to FIG. 7, the affixable wallet 10 is attached to a back side surface 32 of a cell phone 30, such as the back side of the cell phone 30. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7, the wallet 10 covers about one half to three quarters of the back side 32 of the cell phone 30. The present invention is not so limited. Depending on the size of the cell phone 30 and the configuration and size of the wallet 10, the wallet 10 may cover more or less of the back side 32 of the cell phone 30. Furthermore, while the wallet 10 has been described for affixing to a cell phone, it may be attachable to any suitable portable electronic device, such as a calculator, tablet computer, notebook computer, electronic organizer, etc.

The wallet 10 is easily attached to the cell phone 30. First, the protective liner 22 is removed from the adhesive 20. Then, the wallet 10 is pressed onto the surface of the back side 32 of the cell phone with the adhesive 20 facing the back side 32 which attaches the adhesive pad to the surface 32 of the cell phone 30. The wallet 10 is preferably configured and placed on the surface 32 such that it does not block or inhibit the use of any input devices of the cell phone 30, such as buttons, keypads, microphone, speaker, camera, etc. The wallet 10 is also configured and placed on the surface 32 such that it does not extend beyond the edges of the surface of the cell phone.

If the adhesive 20 is properly chosen to allow the wallet 10 to be removed from the surface 32 without damaging the surface 32, then the wallet may be removed by simply peeling the wallet 10 from the surface 32 such that the adhesive lifts from the surface 32 while remaining adhered to the back side of the base sheet 12. The wallet 10 may then be re-used by applying it to another surface 32, as described above, except that the protective liner 22 does not need to be removed (because it was already removed).

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-7, the slot 16 is left open so that cards, currency, and other items can slide in and out unimpeded. The present invention is not so limited. In another aspect, the slot 16 may include a mechanism which allows it to be opened or closed. The slot 16 may have one or more covers which can be opened or closed to cover the opening of the slots or pockets. The covers may have a fastening mechanism, such as a snap, hook and loop fastener (Velcro®), or other fastener. For example, the cover may utilize flap which can be securely closed over the slot thereby securing the contents therein. In other embodiments, the cover may include a button on the flap which can be securely closed over the slot. In other embodiments, the flaps may not include any fastening mechanism.

In embodiment of FIGS. 1-7, the slot 16 only has an opening on one side, on the top side facing “up” when the cell phone 30 is viewed being held upright by the user. The present invention is by no means so limited. Either of the side edges of the top sheet 14 may be left open while the top and the bottom are attached to base sheet 12 such that they are closed, thereby allowing the user to access the contents of the slot through the open side. Furthermore, the top or bottom of the top sheet 14 may be left open in addition to one of the side edges of the top sheet 14.

Turning now to FIGS. 8-14, a multi-slot affixable wallet 50 is shown according to another embodiment of the present invention. The wallet 50 includes all of the elements of the wallet 10, described above, and all of the description for such elements shall apply equally to wallet 50. However, the multi-slot wallet 50 also includes a third sheet 52 which is attached to the wallet 50 over the top sheet 14. The third sheet 52 may be formed from any of the materials described above for the base sheet 12 and/or top sheet 14, and may be the same material as either or both of the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14, or a different material. The third sheet 52 is attached to the top sheet 14, and/or the base sheet 12 along three edges, namely the bottom edge and the two side edges of the top sheet, and the top edge of the third sheet 14 is not attached to the top sheet 14 thereby forming the second opening 56 of the second slot 54. The third sheet 52 may have a shorter length than the top sheet 14 so that the second 54 slot is easier to access than if the top edge of the third sheet 52 is co-extensive with the top edge of the top sheet 14. The bottom edge and the two side edges of the third sheet 52 are shown as being coextensive with the respective bottom edge and two side edges of the top sheet 14 and the base sheet 12. Alternatively, any of the bottom edge and/or the two side edges of the third sheet 52 may be shorter than the respective bottom edge and two side edges of the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14. In addition, in an alternative embodiment, the three attached edges of the top sheet 14 may not extend to the edge of the base sheet 12, thereby allowing the third sheet 52 to be directly attached to the base sheet 12 instead of the top sheet 14. However, it is preferable that the edges of each of the sheets be coextensive as it simplifies the assembly and manufacture. The third sheet 52 may be attached to the top sheet 14, and/or the base sheet 12, using any of the methods described above for attaching the top sheet 14 to the base sheet 12.

As shown in FIG. 13, the second slot 56 of the wallet 50 may hold a second card 31, while the first slot 16 holds a first card 28. In the embodiment of FIGS. 8-14, the bottom of the slots 16 and 56 are at substantially the same vertical location. In this configuration, the top of the cards (assuming they are the same length) will extend to about the same location. In another aspect, the bottom of the slots 16 and 56 may be staggered such that the top end of the cards are also staggered to make it easier to grasp a single card from the wallet 50.

Although the slots 16 and 56 are shown to hold a single card 28, 31, the present invention is not so limited. The slots 16 and 56 may be configured to be wider so that they may hold multiple cards in each slot. This may be done by using a sheet material that has sufficient elasticity to stretch out to accommodate multiple cards, or the slots themselves can be made with a slightly wider gap between the sheets.

For example, the heat sealing method described above for wallet 10 may be utilized to assemble the wallet 50, as follows. A rough cut of the third sheet 52 is placed on top of the a rough cut of the top sheet 14 which is placed on a rough cut of the base sheet 12. The top edge of the third sheet 52 is properly located relative to the top sheet 14 (i.e. the top edge of the third sheet 52 is shorter than the top edge of the top sheet 14. The top sheet 14 is properly located relative to the base sheet 12 as described above. The third sheet 52, top sheet 14 and base sheet 12 may then be bonded to each other at the same time by heat sealing the along the attached edges of the third sheet 52, the base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 using a heat sealer, such as a radio frequency heat sealer, ultrasonic heat sealer, or heat element heat sealer, for example. The heat sealer bonds the top sheet 14 to the base sheet 12 along the attached edges. The heat sealer may also final cut the rough cut third sheet 52, base sheet 12 and rough cut top sheet 14 to the proper size at the same time it heat seals. Alternatively, the third sheet 42, base sheet 12 and top sheet 14 may be die cut from stock plastic sheet to the proper size prior to being bonded together, or after being bonded together.

Any number of slots, limited mostly by the limited space on the surface 32 of the cell phone 30 and the length of the wallet 50, may be utilized on the wallet 50, by attaching additional sheets, with each sheet slightly shorter than the preceding underlying sheet. For instance, the wallet 50 may have two, three, four, five, six or more slots.

All of the additional features and aspects of the wallet 10 described above may similarly be utilized on the wallet 50 having two or more slots. As some non-limiting examples, the second slot 54 may have the same or similar dimension and features as the slot 16, described above. The method of attaching the wallet 50 to a surface 32 of a cell phone 30, as shown in FIG. 14, is the same as that described above for wallet 10 with reference to FIG. 7. The covers described above may be utilized on any one or more of the slots. Each of the covers may be the same or similar and have the same fastening device for securing its contents as the others on the wallet 50 or the covers may have differing covers and fastening devices for securing the contents from the other slots. Each of the openings for the slots may have the opening on the top, bottom, or either side, thereby allowing the user to access the contents of the slot through the open side. Indeed, the opening for each of the slots may be different than the opening for other slots.

Furthermore, although all the slots of the wallet 50 are shown as being roughly the same width the present invention is by no means so limited. The slots may have varying sizes with some smaller than others. This may be for aesthetic reasons or the slots may be designed in such a way that each pocket is optimized to hold different types of items (one pocket may be designed to hold currency such as folded bills while another may be designed to hold credit cards or a personal identification card like a driver's license, etc.). As described above, some pockets may open in different directions from the others. The pockets may partially overlap one another, as they do in the present embodiment, or they may not. In some embodiments of the present invention, the pockets may fully overlap with one another.

Furthermore, the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-14 and described above provide limited protection to the cell phone 30. The present invention is by no means so limited. The affixable wallets 10 and 50 may be implemented in such as way as to provide protection for the cell phone against scratching, the elements, and normal wear-and-tear or daily use. The affixable wallets 10 and 50 may be made from water proof material thereby providing extra protection for the cell phone 30 and the contents of the wallet 10, 50 itself. The affixable wallet 10, 50 may cover the entire back of the cell phone 30 and therefore provide extra protection against scratching, dropping, and every day wear-and-tear to the phone. The affixable wallet 10, 50 may be affixed to the cell phone 30 by means of straps which partially cover the front of the phone as well as some or all of the sides of the cell phone. In another embodiment of the present invention, the affixable wallet 10, 50 may be integrated into a cell phone case which provides additional protection to the cell phone. These straps or the casing may be made out of a transparent material or any material used to make cell phone accessories. Furthermore, the affixable wallet 10, 50 may be used in conjunction with a cell phone case, thereby allowing the user the convenience of the wallet without taking off the protective covering.

Although particular embodiments have been shown and described, it is to be understood that the above discussion is not intended to limit the scope of these embodiments. While embodiments and variations of the many aspects of the invention have been disclosed and described herein, such disclosure is provided for purposes of explanation and illustration only. Thus, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claims. Accordingly, embodiments are intended to exemplify alternatives, modifications, and equivalents that may fall within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An affixable wallet, comprising:

a base sheet having a front side and a back side, the base sheet having a width and a length configured to fit within the surface area of a cell phone;

a top sheet attached to the front side of the base sheet along three edges of the top sheet, and not attached to the base sheet along a top edge of the base sheet to form an opening of a slot formed between the base sheet and the top sheet, the top sheet having a width that is substantially the same as the width of the base sheet;

an adhesive pad attached to the back side of the base sheet, the adhesive pad having a removable liner affixed to and covering substantially all of the adhesive pad.

2. The affixable wallet of claim 1, wherein a width of the opening of the slot is slightly larger than the width of a standard credit card.

3. The affixable wallet of claim 1, wherein the top sheet is a separate sheet bonded to the base sheet.

4. The affixable wallet of claim 1, wherein the top sheet is a separate sheet bonded to the base sheet along the edges of each of the top sheet and the base sheet.

5. The affixable wallet of claim 4, wherein the bond extends no more than 1 mm from the edges of each of the top sheet and the base sheet.

6. The affixable wallet of claim 5, wherein the bond is a heat seal.

7. The affixable wallet of claim 5, wherein the adhesive pad comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive that is removable from a cell phone cover to which it is attached by peeling it from the cover, and which provides secure bonding over a service temperature from about at least about 4° F. to about 250° F.

8. The affixable wallet of claim 5, wherein the bond is formed by an adhesive applied between the base sheet and the top sheet.

9. The affixable wallet of claim 1, further comprising:

a third sheet attached to a front side of the top sheet, the third sheet having a width substantially the same as the top sheet, and a length that is shorter than the top sheet, the third sheet attached to the top sheet along the three edges of the top sheet that are attached to the base sheet, and the third sheet not attached to the third sheet along a top edge of the base sheet to form a second opening of a second slot formed between the third sheet and the top sheet.

10. The affixable wallet of claim 9, wherein a width of the opening of the slot and second slot are slightly larger than the width of a standard credit card.

11. The affixable wallet of claim 9, wherein the top sheet is a separate sheet bonded to the base sheet, and the third sheet is a separate sheet bonded to the top sheet.

12. The affixable wallet of claim 9, wherein the top sheet is a separate sheet bonded to the base sheet along the edges of each of the top sheet and the base sheet, and the third sheet is a separate sheet bonded to the top sheet along the edges of the top sheet.

13. The affixable wallet of claim 12, wherein the bonds extend no more than 1 mm from the edges of each of the top sheet, the base sheet and the third sheet.

14. The affixable wallet of claim 13, wherein each of the bonds is a heat seal.

15. The affixable wallet of claim 13, wherein the bonds are formed by an adhesive applied between the base sheet and the top sheet, and between the top sheet and the third sheet.

16. A method of using an affixable wallet, comprising:

providing an affixable wallet comprising: a base sheet having a front side and a back side, the base sheet having a width and a length configured to fit within the surface area of a cell phone; a top sheet attached to the front side of the base sheet along three edges of the top sheet, and not attached to the base sheet along a top edge of the base sheet to form an opening of a slot formed between the base sheet and the top sheet, the top sheet having a width that is substantially the same as the width of the base sheet; an adhesive pad attached to the back side of the base sheet, the adhesive pad having a removable liner affixed to and covering substantially all of the adhesive pad;

removing the removable liner from the adhesive pad;

pressing the affixable wallet onto a surface of a cell phone to attach the adhesive pad to the surface of the cell phone.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the affixable wallet does not extend beyond the edges of the surface of the cell phone and does not block any input devices of the cell phone.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the adhesive pad comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive that is removable from a cell phone cover to which it is attached by peeling it from the cover, and which provides secure bonding over a service temperature from at least about 4° F. to about 250° F.