Abstract:
The present invention includes a rack with a centerpiece configured to hold and display tokens and headgear. In one exemplary embodiment, this invention comprises a display rack with a plurality of grooves and a skull molded centerpiece. The grooves may span the majority of the width of the top surface of the base or may be shorter. Multiple grooves may be aligned to form a single row across the top surface of the base. According to an exemplary embodiment, a front of the base may be at a shorter height than a rear of the base such as to allow a sloped surface that more prominently displays contents of the rack. Furthermore, the rack may include two or more feet that elevate the rack.

Description:
COPENDING APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 61/283,814 filed Dec. 9, 2009, titled “CHUCKLE HEAD” having the same sole inventor as the instant application, which provisional application is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full below. 
     
    
     NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION 
       [0002]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document and its figures contain material subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    The current invention relates to display devices particularly suited for showcasing medals, medallions, coins, and headwear. While display devices for exhibiting objects such as medals and headwear are available, many such devices preclude displaying both simultaneously in a user-configured distribution. 
         [0004]    Over the course of a career of service, military personnel may accumulate a significant collection of badges, medals, hats or berets, and other service-related items. Active military personnel, veterans and many others may collect other similar memorabilia, coins, medallions, badges, and headwear. Many collectors desire to display such items in a single, flexible-use, themed display. Existing displays fail to fully meet this need. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    The aforementioned problems, and other problems, are reduced, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention as described herein below. In one exemplary embodiment, this invention comprises a display rack with a plurality of grooves and a skull mold centerpiece. The grooves may span the majority of the width of the top surface of the base or may be shorter. Multiple grooves may be aligned to form a single row across the top surface of the base. 
         [0006]    In another embodiment, the display device comprises a plurality of grooves spanning the majority of the width of the top surface of the display device and a skull mold centerpiece. 
         [0007]    Veterans, collectors, law enforcement personnel, and others often accumulate collections of small commemorative objects such as coins, badges, or medals. As used herein, “token” means any such commemorative objects or any similarly sized object. The configuration of the grooves allows the user to redistribute the displayed tokens. This feature is particularly useful to accommodate a growing collection, as the user can choose to redistribute the tokens within a grove to make room for another token. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The exemplary embodiments, objects, uses, advantages, and novel features are more clearly understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying figures wherein: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates a front view of the display rack with molded skull centerpiece in accordance with some of the exemplary embodiments. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates a front view of the display rack with molded skull centerpiece with tokens and a beret in place for display in accordance with some of the exemplary embodiments. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates a side view of the Display Rack with Molded Skull Centerpiece having a sloped base in accordance with some of the exemplary embodiments. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates a top view of the display rack with molded skull centerpiece showing one possible groove pattern in accordance with some of the exemplary embodiments. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  illustrates a top view of the display rack with molded skull centerpiece showing an alternate groove pattern in accordance with some of the exemplary embodiments. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  illustrates a side view of the display rack with molded skull centerpiece showing legs attached to the bottom of the base in accordance with some of the exemplary embodiments. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  illustrates a side view of the display rack with molded skull centerpiece with legs of mixed heights attached to the bottom of the base in accordance with some of the exemplary embodiments. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any configuration or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other configurations or designs. Furthermore, use of the words “present invention” is used herein to convey only some of the embodiments of the invention. For example, the word “present invention” would also include alternative embodiments and equivalent systems and components that one of ordinary skill in the art understands. An example is that the materials used for the exemplary embodiments may be made out of man-made materials, natural materials, and combinations thereof. A further example is that the apparatus or components of the apparatus may be manufactured by machine(s), human(s) and combinations thereof. 
         [0017]    Some of the embodiments of the invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. These embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, all statements herein reciting embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future (i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure). 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  shows a front elevated view of an exemplary embodiment of display rack  101 . Display rack  101  includes base  103 , grooves  105 , centerpiece  107 , and inscribable plate  109 . The base  103  has a top surface  111  and a front surface  113 . In this exemplary embodiment, the inscribable plate  109  is attached to the top surface  111  of the base  103 . The grooves  105  may extend for all or part of the width of the top surface  111 . 
         [0019]    The grooves  105  may be of varying lengths relative to one another. The centerpiece  107  is located substantially centered on the base  103  and is attached to the top surface  111 . The grooves  105  have a length, width, and depth. The length of the grooves  105  is the longest dimension. The width of the grooves  105  determines the maximum token thickness the groove can accommodate. The depth of the grooves  105  determines how deeply into which the groove an object may be inserted. As one of ordinary skill appreciates, the depth of the groove may vary. 
         [0020]    The centerpiece  107  is configured to resemble a human skull, but may also be configured to resemble similarly sized spheroid objects sized to accommodate common headgear. For example, advances in rapid prototyping or 3D imaging may provide for an actual replica of the head of the intended user. Furthermore, as used herein, the term “headgear” includes hats, berets, headbands, or other similar pieces of apparel designed to be worn on or about a head. 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  shows a front elevated view of an exemplary embodiment of display rack  201 . Display rack  201  includes base  203 , grooves  205 , centerpiece  207 , inscribable plate  209 , tokens  215 , and headpiece  217 . The base  203  has a top surface  211  and a front surface  213 . The grooves  205  are configured to hold the bottom edge of tokens  215 . The tokens  215 , when held by grooves  205 , may be perpendicular to top surface  211  or may be angled relative to the top surface  211 , depending upon the width of the grooves  205  relative to the thickness of the token  215  and the manner in which token  215  is positioned within the groove  205 . Headpiece  217  may rest on top of centerpiece  207 , which is sized to accommodate common headpieces. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a display rack  301 . Display rack  301  includes base  303 , grooves  305 , centerpiece  307 , and inscribable plate  309 . The base  303  has a top surface  311  and a front surface  313 . Grooves  305  are shown in dashed lines to indicate that they do not run to the edge of the top surface  311  in this embodiment. The base  303  has a rear portion  315 , which is elevated relative to front portion  313 , thereby causing a slope in top surface  311 . A sloped top surface  311  can be advantageous when displaying a large number of tokens (not shown). By raising a rearward token slightly above a frontward token, the rearward token is less obscured by the frontward token. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a display rack  401 . Display rack  401  includes base  403 , grooves  405 , centerpiece  407 , and inscribable plate  409 .  FIG. 4  further illustrates a possible configuration of grooves  405  relative to centerpiece  407 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  shows a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a display rack  501 . Display rack  501  includes base  503 , grooves  505 , centerpiece  507 , and inscribable plate  509 . The base  503  has a top surface  511 .  FIG. 5  further illustrates a possible configuration of grooves  505  relative to centerpiece  507 . The grooves  505  may comprise single, unbroken grooves spanning some, most, or all of the width of top surface  511 . For example, grooves  505  may have a length which spans the majority of the width of top surface  511  such as depicted by groove  505 A. Alternatively, the grooves  505  may be broken by the area occupied by the centerpiece  507  and have a length which spans less than the majority of the width of top surface  511 , as depicted by groove  505 B. 
         [0025]      FIG. 6  shows a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a display rack  601 . Display rack  601  includes base  603 , grooves  605 , centerpiece  607 , and inscribable plate  609 . The base  603  has a top surface  611 , front surface  613 , rear surface  615 , and bottom surface  617 . Attached to the bottom surface  617  are support feet  619 . Support feet  619  may be of equal or unequal length relative to one another, but are shown as equal length in this embodiment. Two or more support feet  619  may be positioned on bottom surface  617 . Pairs of support feet  619  may be located toward the front surface  613  or toward the rear surface  615 . There may be one or more pairs of support feet  619  on bottom surface  617 . Independent of whether support feet  619  are of uniform length, top surface  611  may be sloped if the vertical measurement of rear surface  615  exceeds that of front surface  613 . Thus, base  603  is not necessarily of uniform thickness. 
         [0026]    In this exemplary embodiment, the centerpiece  607  is attached to the top surface  611  by way of pedestal  621 . The pedestal  621  and centerpiece  607  may be of one-piece construction or may be an assembly. The pedestal  621  is attached to the top surface  611 . The centerpiece  607  is attached to pedestal  621 , either by way of being of one-piece construction or by being affixed thereto. 
         [0027]    The inscribable plate  609  is attached to front surface  613 . In this exemplary embodiment, front surface  613  is angled to improve the visibility and readability of the inscribable plate  609  when display rack  601  is below eye-level. 
         [0028]      FIG. 7  shows a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a display rack  701 . Display rack  701  includes base  703 , grooves  705 , centerpiece  707 , and inscribable plate  709 . The base  703  has a top surface  711  and bottom surface  713 . Attached to the bottom surface  713  are support feet  715 . Support feet  715  may be of equal or unequal length relative to one another, but are shown in this embodiment as unequal lengths. Only one of each pair of support feet  715  is shown. The rearward pair of support feet  715  is longer than the frontward pair, causing the top surface  711  of base  703  to be sloped. 
         [0029]    While the present invention has been described with respect to various features, aspects, and embodiments, those skilled and unskilled in the art will recognize the invention is not so limited. Other variations, modifications, and alternative embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.