Credit card holder with improved card ejector / dispenser

A holder for cards comprising:

• a housing having a first and second opposite, mutually spaced first and second main walls and configured to tightly fit around a stack of at least three, mutually registered, cards of equal dimension and a receiving space of which is designed such that the cards parallel to the first main wall must be slid into and out this receiving space;
• internally of the housing a friction element which engages a thin edge of each individual card within the housing and provides a friction force to it, which friction element has sufficient dimension to simultaneously engage the thin edges of all cards of the stack, both when the cards are completely within the housing and when the cards partly project from the housing such that gravity force alone is unable to move the cards in and out of the housing;
• a card opening at the housing to insert and remove cards in and out of the housing;
• opposite the card opening within the housing a card eject feature having an actuator button projecting from the holder and configured such that the complete cards stack can be partly slid from the housing through the opening by actuating the button,
• which card eject feature has an eject arm with two opposite sides, an under side and an upper side and which with its mounting location is movably mounted to the housing and designed, by actuating the button, to move within the housing from a retracted position to an eject position and during said eject movement to engage the complete cards stack and to urge this complete cards stack to partly slide from the housing through the opening during which eject movement the shape of the cards stack, since the eject arm along its length is provided with a stepped relief profile on its upper side comprising a separate thin side edge for engaging each of the cards of the stack, changes from a straight shape with all cards mutually registered, into a staggered shape with all cards partly projecting from the housing through the opening, each card projecting further compared to the adjacent card above it in the stack such that each card is visible and wherein the friction element maintains the staggered shape of the partly from the housing projecting stack by engaging it;
• wherein the eject arm with its under side is slidingly supported by the second main wall of the housing and with its upper side is slidingly supported by the first main wall;
• wherein the eject arm has an intermediate area along its length and in this intermediate area its under side has a gap with this second main wall, while at both longitudinal ends of this intermediate area the eject arm at its under side has first bearing surfaces slidingly engaged with the second main wall to slide across it during movement of the eject arm from the retracted to the eject position, such that, due to the presence of the gap, the eject arm in the intermediate area is able to deflect towards the second main wall of the housing, at least partially closing the gap, while at both longitudinal ends of this intermediate area the eject arm is unable to deflect towards the second main wall when the intermediate area is deflecting toward the second main wall and the first bearing surfaces are bearing against the second main wall.

A holder for cards, comprising a housing having a first and second opposite, mutually spaced first and second main walls which determine a maximum stack thickness, which housing internally has a friction element which engages a thin edge of each individual card within the housing and provides a friction force to it, which friction element has sufficient dimension to simultaneously engage the thin edges of all cards of the stack, both when the cards are completely within the housing and when the cards partly project from the housing such that gravity force alone is unable to move the cards in and out the housing;

• and which housing tightly fits around a stack of at least three cards and has at least one card opening for locating and removing cards, while opposite the card opening within the housing a card eject feature having an eject arm having two opposite sides, an under side and an upper side, is provided such that the cards through the card opening can be partly slid from the housing by the eject arm, which card eject feature is designed to move, by manual actuation, the eject arm within the housing between a first and a second position, which eject arm has at its upper side, in other words its side facing the first main wall, a stepped relief profile which engages the card stack during ejection and during said movement from the first to the second position the eject arm engages the cards and forces the cards to partly exit the housing wherein the holder has a feature to avoid jamming due to imperfect cards or imperfect flatness of the main walls of the card holder of the eject arm of the card eject feature while engaging the cards stack and forcing them to exit the housing, which feature comprises a gap that is present between the second main wall and the facing under side of the eject arm, allowing the eject arm to deflect into said gap and towards the second main wall to avoid jamming of the eject arm, which deflection is allowed at an intermediate area along the length of the eject arm, such that on both longitudinal ends of this area such deflection is absent, by providing that said gap is present at said intermediate area while said gap is absent at both longitudinal ends of this area of the eject arm, such that the eject arm is allowed, at the intermediate area, to deflect towards and away from the main walls of the housing.