Abstract:
An article made of one-way glass is disclosed. The reflective surface of the one-way glass faces inwardly of the article. The article is free of internal or external ornamentation or opaque elements and is illuminated by external light sources reflected within the article by the reflective surface.

Description:
RELATED PATENTS AND PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of design applications U.S. patent Ser. Nos. 29/348,117 and 29/348,118, filed on Nov. 30, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The invention generally relates to articles made of transparent materials, such as glass, and in particular having a one-way glass reflective surface. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Related art includes U.S. Pat. No. 2,339,385 to Dupler and U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,918 to Barlow. 
         [0006]    Dupler shows a globe lamp having an opening for receiving an internal light source. There are a number of features internal and external to the globe lamp associated with the opening. For example, attached to the opening is an opaque flange  14  that extends to the external surface of the globe. Further, Dupler provides for an opaque tubular mounting sleeve  12  projecting inside the globe having an annular portion  13  and tapered ribs  15  and a flat, non-spherical portion of the globe to allow for mounting the globe on a pedestal. 
         [0007]    Barlow shows a novelty light device having planar panels  12  held together by opaque support ribs  14  to form a cube. Barlow provides for an internal light source and opaque internal elements comprised of miniature bulbs  16 , support wires for the bulbs  18 , and electric wires  20 ; a pedestal base  10  and  32 ; and an electrical connector  40  to allow for rotation of the cube. 
         [0008]    A number of other prior art references disclose articles of a variety of shapes and made from a variety of materials and some including one-way glass reflective surfaces, such as: 
         [0009]    D30,089 to Zuck 
         [0010]    D41,547 to Stratton 
         [0011]    D217,197 to Phillips 
         [0012]    D217,975 to Pruett 
         [0013]    D221,585 to Moore 
         [0014]    D236,651 to Park 
         [0015]    D251,416 to Kovach 
         [0016]    D275,626 to Moore 
         [0017]    D295,715 to Garrett 
         [0018]    D328,503 to Masahara 
         [0019]    D329,301 to Leonard 
         [0020]    D381,135 to Hochlan 
         [0021]    D389,267 to Sutton 
         [0022]    D419,961 to Weatherill 
         [0023]    D449,525 to Sturgess 
         [0024]    D451,684 to Vincent 
         [0025]    D466,804 to Solland 
         [0026]    D472,009 to Eisenberg 
         [0027]    D507,307 to Austin 
         [0028]    D518,587 to Rodriguez 
         [0029]    D539,971 to McDowell 
         [0030]    D543,450 to Watzig 
         [0031]    D551,969 to Aurilio 
         [0032]    D556,361 to Arbel 
         [0033]    D600,547 to Cain 
         [0034]    RE30,103 to Spector 
         [0035]    U.S. Pat. No. 1,106,135 to Dawes 
         [0036]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,271,836 to Francis 
         [0037]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,286,247 to Yearta 
         [0038]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,339,385 to Dupler 
         [0039]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,343 to Whitney 
         [0040]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,474 to Daniel 
         [0041]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,872 to Devine 
         [0042]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,020 to Donato 
         [0043]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,918 to Barlow 
         [0044]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,948 to Allison 
         [0045]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,279 to Whitesel 
         [0046]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,955 to Reiback 
         [0047]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,798 to Herst 
         [0048]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,680 to Griggs 
         [0049]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,380 to Wang 
         [0050]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,929 to Lenhart 
         [0051]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,012 to Fletcher 
         [0052]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,446 to Gold 
         [0053]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,579 to Cherry 
         [0054]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,834 to Christen 
         [0055]    2002/0085392 to Hajianpour 
         [0056]    2004/0094437 to Dailey 
       SUMMARY 
       [0057]    An article made of one-way glass is disclosed. The reflective surface of the one-way glass faces inwardly of the article. The one-way glass article is free of internal or external ornamentation or opaque elements. The one-way glass article is also free of internal lighting and instead is illuminated by external light sources reflected within the article by the reflective surface. 
         [0058]    The one-way glass article is different from the prior art designs. For example, both Dupler and Barlow, which are representative of the art, are lit from an internal lamp or lamps. Internal lighting as well as internal lamps represent significant differences from the one-way glass article, which relies on external light source alone, reflected within the article (because of the one-way glass reflective surface), to illuminate the article. Further, Dupler and Barlow both have opaque elements internal to their objects. In Dupler, the sleeve with its ornamentation (tapered, ribs, annular portion) and the internal lamp are opaque elements internal to the globe. In Barlow, the miniature light bulbs, support wires, electrical wires and electrical connector are all opaque elements internal to the cube. The one-way glass article is free of any internal opaque elements. Moreover, Dupler has an opaque flange attached to the external surface to the globe. 
         [0059]    Barlow has opaque support ribs attached to the external surface of the cube. There are no opaque elements in the one-way glass article and nothing attached externally to the article. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0060]      FIG. 1  is a front view of a spherical embodiment of a one-way glass article. 
           [0061]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a cube embodiment of a one-way glass article. 
           [0062]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the spherical embodiment of the one-way glass article of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0063]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the cube embodiment of the one-way glass article of  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0064]    Referring to the drawings, representative embodiments of the one-way glass article are shown in  FIGS. 1-4 .  FIGS. 1 and 3  depict a spherical embodiment of the one-way glass article generally indicated at  2 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the spherical embodiment of the one-way glass article  2  has a spherical skin  6  and a hollow center  4 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the spherical embodiment of the one-way glass article  2  is circular in cross-section with the hollow center generally indicated at  4 . The skin  6  of the spherical embodiment of the one-way glass article is made of a transparent material such as glass. An inner film  8  on the skin  6  of the one-way glass article is a reflective surface. The reflective side of the reflective surface faces inwardly toward hollow portion  4  of the spherical article  2 . 
         [0065]      FIGS. 2 and 4  depict a cube embodiment of a one-way glass article generally indicated at  20 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the cube embodiment of the one-way glass article  20  has six sides, one of which is designated at  22 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the cube embodiment of the one-way glass article  20  is square in cross section having a hollow center generally indicated at  24 . The skin  26  of the cube embodiment of the one-way glass article  20  is made of transparent material such as glass. An inner film  28  on the skin  26  of the one-way glass article is a reflective surface. The reflective side of the reflective surface faces inwardly toward hollow portion  24  of the spherical article  20 . 
         [0066]    One-way glass as used in this patent refers to a transparent material, such as glass, having a reflective or mirrored surface facing one side. From the opposite side, the material is transparent. The transparent material forming the one-way glass article can be tinted various colors. 
         [0067]    In  FIGS. 3 and 4 , one-way glass is shown as a skin  6  and  26  with a reflective surface formed as a film coating  8  and  28  on the interior of the article with the reflective surface facing inwardly. The article can also be made from (1) a one-way glass reflective material that is an integral piece of material and does not require a film coating on the skin, (2) one-way glass that uses a surface coating on the exterior of the article with the reflective surface facing inwardly and a transparent skin on the inside of the article, (3) a skin and a coating having a differential index of reflection to create one-way glass, or (4) equivalent structures as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. 
         [0068]    While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what are conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be afforded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalents apparatus and articles. For example, while spherical and cube embodiments are depicted, the one-way glass article can be formed in various shapes. Also, the one-way glass article can be formed as a continuous piece of one-way glass material that has a hollow center or from pieces of one-way glass attached together to form an article with a hollow center.