Collectable display device with evacuation means

The present invention is directed to a device for visibly displaying collectable items. It includes: a main support base; a collectable item mount located in said base; a cover adapted to fit over the mount and adapted for connection to the base, the cover being at least partially transparent; a connecting mechanism for attaching the cover to the base; a seal located at an interface between the cover and the base when the cover is connected to the base; at least one evacuation port located on one of the cover and the base; and a one-way valve located in the evacuation port which is adapted to permit removal of air from the device and to prevent air from re-entering the device, when the cover is connected to the base. The device may be made to rest on a surface or may, surface mounted, either horizontally or vertically. In one preferred embodiment, the cover connects to the base via threading as the connecting mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention is directed to devices which are used to display 
collectable items such as autographed baseballs, gems, coins, medals, and 
other collectable items. It is particularly directed to the purpose of 
preserving such items by including as a critical feature, the ability for 
a user to evacuate the display device itself. The devices of the present 
invention may be portable or may be permanently mounted. They may be 
smaller in size, e.g. to accommodate a diamond or a small coin, or may be 
larger in size, e.g., to accommodate collectables such as museum objects, 
rare bones or any other conceivable collectable item. 
2. Information Disclosure Statement 
Housings and display cases for collectable items have been in existence for 
hundreds years. Clearly, the museums of Rome, Greece and Egypt have used 
wood and glass display cases for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. 
Today, there exist very sophisticated and expensive, permanent encasements 
which are used by most museums and these include complex electronic 
sensors, lasers and/or protective gases, as well as other means for 
preserving the collectable items contained therein. 
Notwithstanding the above, it is believed that there does not exist any 
collectable item display device utilizing the portability, simplicity, and 
evacuation capabilities of the present invention devices which would 
render the present invention devices obvious or unpatentable. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to a device for visibly displaying 
collectable items. It includes: a main support base; a collectable item 
mount located in said base; a cover adapted to fit over the mount and 
adapted for connection to the base, the cover being at least partially 
transparent; a connecting mechanism for attaching the cover to the base; a 
seal located at an interface between the cover and the base when the cover 
is connected to the base; at least one evacuation port located on one of 
the cover and the base; and a one-way valve located in the evacuation port 
which is adapted to permit removal of air from the device and to prevent 
air from re-entering the device, when the cover is connected to the base. 
The device may be made to rest on a surface or may, surface mounted, 
either horizontally or vertically. In one preferred embodiment, the cover 
connects to the base via threading as the connecting mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
As mentioned above, the present invention involves a display device for 
collectable items. Most significantly, the present invention is directed 
to such display devices which are easy to use and portable and which 
include the ability for a user to place his or her own collectable item 
within the device, seal the device, and readily evacuate the device to 
remove air therefrom, so as to prevent oxidation and deterioration of the 
collectable item. Thus, the present invention device may be used to store 
any type of collectable item desired from very small items, such as gems 
and small coins, to very large items, such as meteors, fossils, rare 
artifacts and the like. 
The present invention device includes a main support base and this may be 
made of metal, plastic, wood, stone, cast materials such as ceramic or 
even concrete or any other solid material. The support base may be flat or 
have legs or paws for resting on a horizontal surface, may be adapted to 
be attached to a vertical surface or may otherwise be formed within the 
scope of the invention. That is, the base could even have a semi-circular 
shape and still act as a base in a present invention embodiment. It could 
even take on other shapes so that it would be adapted to nest into some 
type of irregular nesting member, e.g. a tripod support. 
The present invention device also includes a collectable item mount located 
on the base. This may be a portable mount or may be screwed, glued, 
welded, or otherwise affixed to the base, or it may be integrally formed 
when the base itself is formed. The critical aspect of the mount is that 
it holds a collectable item. 
The present invention device also includes a cover. This cover may be glass 
or plastic or a combination of any of the materials made out of the base 
with some sort of a glass or plastic window included therein. Thus, the 
cover of the present invention device is at least partially transparent, 
although it may be fully transparent. While the drawings discussed below 
show domed embodiments of the cover, this cover could be box like, 
rectangular, hexangular or any other shape desired. One important feature 
in some preferred embodiments of the present invention is the use of an 
ultraviolet light inhibitor for the transparent portion of the cover. This 
inhibitor may be blended into the plastic resin or may be a separate film 
or coating. 
The cover is adapted to attached to the base and that adaptation must be of 
a complimentary type. That is, in some fashion, the cover and the base 
must fit into one another such as where either the cover or the base has a 
protruding male insertable aspect and the other of the two has the 
receiving, female aspect. Typical connecting mechanisms can include snap 
downs such as are used in suitcases, threading, snap fits, or any other 
mechanism including screw downs. In the area located between the cover and 
the base must be a seal. This seal may be a separate element and may be 
formed of materials of construction other than those of the base and 
cover, such as a rubber ring seal, or, in those cases where the 
compatibility of the base and the cover are such that when they are force 
fitted together they inherently form a seal between them, then the 
receiving or connecting portions of the base cover themselves create and 
become the sealing means. In general, however, the base may be made of 
wood or plastic or other material and the dome will be made of glass or 
plastic and a rubber seal would be appropriate. Alternative types of seal 
means would be types of glues, flexible plastic materials and the like. 
The ability to seal a space between glass or glass and other material, 
such as wood and plastic is well known and the artisan could develop other 
mechanisms without exceeding the scope of the present invention. 
Another feature of the present invention involves the evacuation aspect. 
Thus, either the cover or the base includes an evacuation port and a one 
way valve. The valve may be a flat valve, a seat valve, a bulb valve or 
any other type of valve. In fact, any valve available which operates to 
allow evacuation and prevents re-entry of air could be used. The valve may 
be fitted into the evacuation port and would typically have some mechanism 
for attachment to the evacuation means. This can include adaptations to a 
vacuum cleaner, or, more simply, adaptations to a bulb type evacuation 
mechanism such as described in conjunction with the drawings below. 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a front cut view of a present 
invention device 1, which includes a base 3, and a cover 5. Base 3 and 
cover 5 include attachment means, i.e. threads, such as threads 9 and 10. 
At the base of threads 9 and 10 is a seal means to permit depressurization 
(evacuation) of the device when the base 3 and cover 5 are connected. 
Here, the seal means is a circular rubber gasket 25, which is comprised 
when cover 5, at its bottom 7, is fully threaded downwardly onto base 3 at 
threads 10. 
Base 3 also includes mount 19 and this mount 19 includes evacuation holes 
such as hole 21. Base 3 has an evacuation port 15 which is raised above 
the lowest portion via circular leg 13. Port 15 has permanently inserted 
therein a one-way flap valve 17, which permits removal of air therefrom 
and prevents return of air therein, when cover 5 and base 3 are sealably 
connected and device 1 is evacuated through valve 17 and port 15. 
A user would place a collectable on mount 19, screw transparent cover 5 
onto wood base 3 tightly, and evacuate to remove air and decrease or 
inhibit corrosion, oxidation or tarnishing of the collectable. 
FIG. 2 shows a front cut view of alternative embodiment present invention 
device 31, with cover 33 and base 35. Snap fit components (such as 
component 37) are included, along with a seal 39. Base 35 has a spread, 
hollow bottom 41, with anchor screw holes 43 and 45. Mount 55 surrounds 
evacuation port 47 and holds an autographed baseball 57. Evacuation port 
47 has a one way valve 49 and has temporarily attached thereto a bulb 51 
with attachment stem 53. The bulb 51 is simply squeezed and released 
repeatedly to achieve useful, partial evacuation. Other evacuation means 
could be used, e.g. a hose and pump, a vacuum cleaner adapter, or any 
other known evacuation means. 
FIG. 3 shows a cut view of device 1 of FIG. 1, but in its closed, sealed 
state, and with an auxiliary mount and collectable contained therein. 
Thus, all parts identical to those shown in FIG. 1 are identically 
numbered and need not be repeated. Mount 19 has been designed as a sleeve 
to receive a plurality of upper members, such as upper member 71, which is 
specifically designed to slide into (lower member) mount 19 and to hold a 
golf ball at semi-spherical top 73, such as golf ball 75. 
FIG. 4 shows another alternative embodiment present invention device 101, 
in a side, cut view, having a base 103, snap fit components 104 and 106, 
cover 105, seal 108 and mount 113. Base 103 has a back 107 adapted for 
vertical mounting. One-way valve 117 is located in evacuation port 119 and 
is operated as described above. There is also an upper member 115 which 
slides into vertical, hollow mount 113 and this is interchangeable with 
other slide-in upper member mounts (not shown, but e.g. one alternative is 
shown as mount 71 in FIG. 3). 
FIG. 5 shows a full front view of device 101 shown in FIG. 4, with 
identical parts identically numbered. Screws 109 and 111 are used to mount 
device 101 vertically, e.g. on a wall. Upper member 115 may be used to 
mount a baseball or other object, a medal or large commemorative coin or 
even a rock and crystals such as item 121 shown. 
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention 
are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore understood 
that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be 
practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.