Abstract:
An accessory clip system includes a display clip having a front member. The front member has a front member outside face and a front member inside face. The front member has a flat area for displaying a graphic. The display clip front member has a pair of sides, namely a left side and a right side. A first prong of the display clip extends from the front member. The first prong of the display clip has a generally flat and horizontal orientation. A second prong of the display clip extending from the front member. The second prong of the display clip has a generally flat and horizontal orientation.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a non-provisional continuation in part of U.S. provisional application 62/029,309 filed Jul. 25, 2014, by inventor David Gurrola of Carson, Calif., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention is in the field of accessory clips, namely decorative clips. 
       DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
       [0003]    A variety of different decorations and ornamentation can be attached to clothing such as by pins, clips and adhesive. Some of the decorations have a lighted feature. 
         [0004]    SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
         [0005]    An accessory clip system includes a display clip having a front member. The front member has a front member outside face and a front member inside face. The front member has a flat area for displaying a graphic. The display clip front member has a pair of sides, namely a left side and a right side. A first prong of the display clip extends from the front member. The first prong of the display clip has a generally flat and horizontal orientation. A second prong of the display clip extends from the front member. The second prong of the display clip has a generally flat and horizontal orientation. 
         [0006]    The accessory clip system may also have some optional features. A battery clip can have a battery housed within the battery clip, and the battery can have a negative terminal and a positive terminal. The negative terminal is connected to a negative terminal conductor and the positive terminal is connected to a positive terminal conductor. An electrical circuit can be connected to the battery clip. An LED of the display clip can be mounted to the front member. The LED is connected to the electrical circuit. 
         [0007]    A first prong of the battery clip extends from the front member. The first prong of the battery clip has a generally flat and horizontal orientation. A second prong of the battery clip extends from the front member. The second prong of the battery clip has a generally fiat and horizontal orientation. The battery clip can also have an LED light on it so that it functions independently without other clips. 
         [0008]    The electrical connector can be a pair of external conductive contacts disposed on the left side or the right side. The left side and the right side are generally flat. The front member outside face is angled downward to allow forward display while the clip is attached to a baseball cap brim that is tilted back, but the front member outside face angle should not be more than a 45° angle unless designed for special situations such as children viewing adults. The accessory clip system further includes a terminating clip. The terminating clip completes the electrical circuit. The accessory clip system can be made so that it does not complete the circuit without the terminating clip. This would be helpful in the case where each clip has a word and the terminating clip can be ending punctuation. The electrical circuit can thus ensure proper punctuation or enforce other rules of grammar such as requiring that a word with a capital letter be the first word of the sentence. 
         [0009]    A first prong of the accessory clip extends from the front member. The first prong of the accessory clip has a generally flat and horizontal orientation. A second prong of the accessory clip extends from the front member. The second prong of the accessory clip has a generally flat and horizontal orientation. The electrical connector is a copper contact that is semi-spherical in shape. Each prong of the clips of the accessory clip system preferably has a specific shape. A lower prong rear bevel face faces upward and terminates at a lower prong rear tip and an upper prong rear bevel face faces upward and terminates at an upper prong rear tip. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the present invention intermediate clip which can be the display clip showing the graphic such as a letter, character, image or word. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the present invention intermediate clip. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the present invention battery clip with an optional LED. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a front cross section diagram of the present invention battery clip. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the present invention intermediate clip with an optional LED. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a front view diagram of the present invention intermediate clip. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a sample circuit diagram of the circuit with the terminating clip and the intermediate clip connecting, but with the battery clip separated by a distance so that the circuit is not energized and the light is turned off. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a front view of how variations of the present invention can be installed on the brim of a baseball cap. 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the present invention installed on the brim of a baseball cap. 
       
    
    
       [0020]    The following call out list of elements can be a useful guide in referencing the element numbers of the drawings.
     11  Upper Prong Top Surface     12  Upper Prong Bottom Surface     13  Lower Prong Top Surface     14  Lower Prong Bottom Surface     15  Lower Prong Rear Bevel Face     16  Upper Prong Rear Bevel Face     17  Upper Prong Rear Tip     18  Lower Prong Rear Tip     19  Upper Prong Gap Protrusion     20  Upper Prong Forward Bend     21  Upper Prong Gap Notch     22  Front Member Inside Face     23  Front Member Lower     24  Front Member Outside Face     25  Front Member Top Edge     26  Front Member Lower Edge     31  Upper Prong     32  Lower Prong     33  Front Member     34  Prong Gap     35  Side Of Clip Body     41  Upper Electrical Connector     42  Lower Electrical Connector     43  Mask Edge     44  Background     45  Image     46  Negative Terminal     47  Positive Terminal     48  Battery     56  Negative Terminal Wire     57  Positive Terminal Wire     71  Terminating Clip     72  Intermediate Clip     73  Battery Clip     88  Led (Light-Emitting Diode)     89  Ultra Clear Reflective Face   
 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0057]    The present invention is a clip that can connect to a brim of a hat, or other article of clothing. The clip can be powered by an integral battery so that it is a battery enabled clip. Alternatively, the clip can be powered by an electrical circuit that receives power from a separate battery enabled clip. The clip can be connected in a sequential series to provide a continuous circuit. The clip can have an electrical connector such as a copper contact disposed on an outside surface of the clip. 
         [0058]    The clip can be made of a resilient material such as wood, metal or plastic. The clip has a main body portion that provides a mechanical function, and the face of the clip can be a laminate such as a screenprinted layer of paint over a metallic foil, or a screenprinted layer of paint covered by a clear UV protective layer that has scratch resistance. A graphic such as a letter or number or picture can be screenprinted on the face of the clip. 
         [0059]    The clip is made of a pair of prongs, namely an upper prong  31  and a lower prong  32 . The clip also has a front member  33  connecting between the upper prong  31  and the lower prong  32 . The pair of prongs are elongated in a horizontal direction such that the pair of prongs can be made from an extrusion of material. The upper prong  31  and the lower prong  32  are both flat planar members. 
         [0060]    The upper prong has an upper prong top surface  11  that is generally flat. The upper prong also has an upper prong bottom surface  12 . The upper prong bottom surface  12  poses a lower prong top surface  13 . The lower prong also has a lower prong bottom surface  14 . 
         [0061]    A prong gap  34  is defined between the upper prong bottom surface  12  and the lower prong top surface  13 . The prong gap is an elongated slot that could be formed from an extrusion, or an injection or cast mold. The prong gap  34  could also be formed by three-dimensional printing techniques. The prong gap  34  has an upper prong gap protrusion  19  which extends inward into the gap at an angle immediately before the upper prong gap notch  21 . The prong gap  34  extends upwardly to an upper prong gap notch which is formed between the front member inside face  22  and the upper prong gap protrusion  19 . The upper prong gap notch  21  can have a triangular profile or other acute angle profile. The gap can have an inside surface that is irregular having a grippy teeth profile for improved securing to an article of clothing such as the brim of a baseball cap. 
         [0062]    The lower prong rear bevel face  15  faces upward and terminates at a lower prong rear tip  18 . Similarly, the upper prong rear bevel face  16  faces upward and also terminates at an upper prong rear tip  17 . 
         [0063]    Opposing the upper prong gap protrusion  19  is an upper prong forward bend  20  formed on an upper prong top surface  11 . The upper prong forward bend  20  extends the upper prong upward to a front member top edge  25  which is near an apex of the clip. 
         [0064]    The front member  33  generally has a front member inside face  22  which opposes a front member outside face  24 . The front member  33  is angled downward to provide a downward display. The front member lower face  23  connects to the lower prong, and the front member top edge  25  connects to the upper prong. The front member lower edge  26  forms a protrusion that may rest on a flat surface such as for display of the clip in a display mode when the clip is not attached to an article. 
         [0065]    The front member outside face  24  provides a surface to mount ornamentation. Ornamentation can be in the form of letters, or other visual graphics. The letters can be illuminated. The accessory clip system can be formed of a plurality of adjacent clips such as a battery clip, terminating clip and display clip that can be arc or section shaped to provide a chain of clips that can be secured in a curved or arc shaped fashion to a curved brim of a hat. A top view of the clips shows that the clips do not necessarily have to have orthogonal sides. 
         [0066]    To illuminate the letters, the clips generally include an upper electrical connector  41  and a lower electrical connector  42 . The upper electrical connector  41  and the lower electrical connector  42  can extend from the clip body side  35 . Preferably, the upper electrical connector  41  and the lower electrical connector  42  extend from the left clip body side and the right clip body side. When more than one clip is placed side-by-side, the clips can electrically connect between each other to provide a modularly constructed circuit. Each clip forms an electrical module. 
         [0067]    The front member outside face  24  can have an image, logo, letter or a phrase. When variety of different clips are joined to each other side-by-side, the front member outside face  24  of each of the clips can form a combined message that can be customized and can be rearranged. 
         [0068]    The image such as a letter can be traced on a mask edge  43  which defines an area between a background  44  and an image  45 . The background  44  can be screenprinted with the image  45  as a more light permeable area, or the background can be a more light permeable area with the image  45  as a screenprinted area. The screenprinted area can be a light permeable area of varying light permeability such as a transparent or translucent plastic surface. The light permeable area can be made of a plastic lens such as an ultra clear reflective face  89  which could be made out of a resin that encapsulates the LED  88 , or a pre-molded plastic lens. 
         [0069]    The image can be eliminated using a battery  48 . The battery  48  can have a positive terminal  47  and a negative terminal  46 . The positive terminal  47  connects to a positive battery terminal wire  57  and the negative terminal  46  connects to a negative battery terminal wire  56 . The negative battery terminal wire  56  can connect to the lower electrical connector  42 . The positive battery terminal wire  57  can connect to the upper electrical connector  41 . The battery terminal wires can extend as conductive wire, which can be manufactured as insulated wire, or as trace on a printed circuit board. 
         [0070]    The electrical connectors, namely the upper electrical connector and the lower electrical connector can be made as contacts that are spring-loaded by helical springs, or spring-loaded as leaf springs. The electrical connector can be a copper contact that is semi-spherical in shape. The copper contact can be spring biased. The contacts can have a plug and socket connection as well. The contacts can electrically connect to each other also by means of adapters. Multiple clips can be aligned for completing an electrical circuit. 
         [0071]    The configuration of the clip can require two or more clips to make a complete circuit by requiring termination of the circuit. For example, if a terminating clip has a connection from the positive terminal to the negative terminal or has a connection from the lower electrical connector to the upper electrical connector, then the terminating clip  71  is required to complete a circuit for a battery clip. One or more intermediate clips  72  can fit between the battery clip  73  and the terminating clip  71 , but the intermediate clip cannot activate by itself. The battery clip  73  and the terminating clip act as bookends for framing a plurality of intermediate clips. The intermediate clips  72  are the display clips that display a graphic such as a letter, number, texture or picture. 
         [0072]    An ultra clear reflective face  89  can be provided by metallic foil or metallic paint. The ultra clear reflective face can also be a clear finish over a screenprinted or inkjet printed surface, A variety of different surface finishing techniques can be used including reverse printing a graphic on a thin sheet of plastic that is adhered to the ultra clear reflective face  89 .