Mood-indicating jewelry with changeable display

A piece of jewelry for indicating mood and usable as a pendant or the like in the form of a miniature traffic light having three apertures of substantially the same size spaced in vertical alignment with one another and having a cylindrical inner surface. A carrier having a mating cylindrical surface is fitted inside of the housing. The carrier includes three vertically stacked sections colored red, amber and green which are relatively movable with respect to the housing and indexably arranged for selective individual viewing through the respective top, middle and bottom apertures. For moving the carrier it has an operator which extends through the housing for convenient fingertip manipulation to a color condition which depends upon the mood of the wearer. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the selected color is brought into register with the corresponding aperture by peripheral shifting, whereas in an alternate embodiment the desired color is brought into a condition of register by axial shifting. The alternate embodiment moreover has provision for simultaneous display of the same color on at least three sides of the device. Another embodiment may use transparent colored sections with a source of electric light, a battery and a switch.

The Campbell U.S. Pat. No. 2,427,257 which issued Sept. 9, 1947 shows a 
brooch to be worn by a woman having as its centerpiece a representation of 
a traffic light with a movable index which is manually settable by the 
wearer to a selected color as an indicator of mood. 
While the Campbell design has been known for the past thirty years or more, 
jewelry employing a traffic light motif has not been popular on the 
commercial market. It is believed that this is due to the fact that the 
traffic light as disclosed by Campbell is of a non-realistic rather 
rudimentary design. For example in the first embodiment all three of the 
lenses show color simultaneously and a shiftable arrow pivoted to a 
supporting mount is resorted to for color selection. In a second 
embodiment the selected color is displayed by the shifting of masks in 
front of the unwanted colors. The use of either arrows or masks is readily 
recognized as a makeshift and tends to destroy the traffic light illusion. 
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a piece 
of jewelry in the form of a traffic light which is more realistic in its 
appearance and in which a single selected color shows through the 
corresponding aperture without necessity for resorting to use of an 
external index or mask. 
It is a related object to provide a piece of jewelry in the form of a 
traffic light which, while realistic, is of extremely simple construction 
consisting of an outer apertured housing having a carrier of cylindrical 
shape movably mounted therein, the carrier consisting of sections colored 
red, amber and green which are registrable with the corresponding 
aperture, the carrier having an operator which extends through the housing 
for convenient fingertip manipulation to achieve color selection. 
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a piece of 
jewelry is realistic and which appears to have lenses which are 
selectively illuminated from the inside of the device but which is of 
simple inexpensive construction, constructed of a minimum number of pieces 
and avoiding the cost and complication of internal lighting. 
It is an object, in one of the aspects of the invention, to provide a piece 
of jewelry having more than one set of lenses or apertures and in which 
the selected color shows up simultaneously in the corresponding lens of 
each set. 
It is a general object of the invention to provide a piece of jewelry in 
the form of a stop light which is highly versatile and, unlike that of the 
prior art, can be employed as a simple pendant, charm or earring in a wide 
range of size down to the most miniature and formed of either plastic or 
precious metal, with the latter being particularly appropriate for the 
smaller sizes.

While the invention has been described in connection with certain preferred 
embodiments, it will be understood that there is no intention to be 
limited thereto and that I intend, on the contrary, to cover the various 
alternative and equivalent constructions included within the spirit and 
scope of the appended claims. 
Turning to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown at 20 a piece of jewelry 20 in the 
form of a generally rectangular housing in the shape of a traffic light. 
While the piece of jewelry may be worn in a number of different ways, I 
have illustrated its use as a pendant having an eyelet 21 at the top 
through which is threaded a light chain or a necklace 22. The housing has 
a front wall 23, side walls 24, 25 and a back wall 26. Formed in the front 
wall 23 are a set of three vertically spaced apertures, which may be 
thought of as "lenses" 31, 32 33. Each aperture has a cowl or shade 35 to 
provide a touch of realism. On the sides 24, 25 of the device "dummy" 
lenses are used as indicated at 36, which dummy lenses may be painted 
black. 
In accordance with the present invention the housing 20 has a cylindrical 
inner surface 37 defining an inner vertical chamber 38 (see FIG. 3) with 
which the apertures 31-33 communicate. Telescoped within the chamber is a 
carrier in the form of a rotor 40 having an outer cylindrical surface 41, 
an upper end 42 and a lower end 43. Secured to the lower end of the rotor 
is a knob 44 which projects below the lower end of the housing. At the top 
of the rotor is a threaded bushing 45 which projects through a clearance 
opening 46 at the upper end of the housing. For the purpose of holding the 
rotor 40 captive within the housing, while permitting it to rotate, the 
threaded bushing may be threadedly engaged by the lower end of the eyelet 
21. 
The rotor comprises three vertically stacked sections or areas 51, 52, 53 
which are colored red, amber and green, respectively, and which, in the 
present embodiment, are peripherally offset from one another and 
horizontally aligned with the apertures 31, 32, 33 so that when the rotor 
is rotated, or indexed, the colored sections are individually viewable 
through the respective top, middle and bottom apertures of the housing. In 
short, by rotating the knob 44 the stop light can be caused to show red, 
amber or green in accordance with the mood of the wearer. The 
complimentary areas indicated at 54, 55 in FIG. 5 are preferably blackened 
for a "lights out" condition which contributes to the realism. 
The type of red, amber (or yellow) and green pigment employed is a matter 
of choice, but it is preferred to use reflectorized, as well as pigmented, 
material for these surfaces in order to pick up a maximum amount of 
ambient light and to show up brightly as though illuminated from inside of 
the device. It is, however, one of the features of the device that it is 
entirely passive, not requiring electrical circuitry, batteries or lamps 
to achieve a condition of realism. 
The device, as disclosed, may be manufactured very economically. The 
housing 20 may be formed in two parts by a plastic molding operation, with 
a parting line 56 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The carrier or rotor 40 may be made in 
one piece, with the knob 44 and bushing 45 either integral or in the form 
of metal attachments or inserts screwed, pressed or cemented in place. The 
pigmented areas 51, 52, 53 may be applied by an automated silk screening 
process in which the rotor is simply "rolled over" the silk screen. 
However, if desired, the colors may be applied to a printed adhesive 
label, appearing as shown in FIG. 5, which is pressure-adhesively applied 
to the surface of the rotor. 
Assembly is simply a matter of inserting the rotor into the housing and 
screwing the eyelet into the housing to make it fast. Preferably the 
eyelet bottoms in the rotor, rather than bottoming on the top surface of 
the housing, and the fit between rotor and housing is such as to develop 
only the amount of friction which is sufficient to hold the rotor in its 
set position. Or other axial retaining means may be used. 
The embodiment described above is equipped with only a single set of 
apertures, or "lenses", showing color. However, the invention is not 
limited thereto and if desired the colored sections of the carrier may be 
peripherally extended and made axially shiftable so as to enable more than 
a single one of apertures to be used and to show color. Indeed, where the 
device is of small dimension with no "natural" orientation the carrier may 
consist of axially slidable sections showing the selected color on all 
four sides of the device as set forth in the embodiment illustrated in 
FIGS. 7-11. In these figures similar reference numerals have been employed 
to indicate similar parts with addition of subscript a. 
In carrying out the second embodiment of the invention a generally 
rectangular housing 20a is provided having an eyelet 21a at the top and 
having four sides 23-26. The housing has sets of apertures or lenses 31a, 
32a, 33a having shades or cowls 35a, the apertures all surrounding and 
communicating with a central cylindrical chamber 38a. The carrier, 
collectively indicated at 40a, comprises three sections 51a, 52a, 53a 
(FIG. 9), colored red, amber (yellow) and green, respectively, in the form 
of outwardly sprung bands or rings made of light resilient material. These 
bands are snugly slidably received in the inner cylindrical chamber 38a so 
as to permit indexing for selective individual viewing through the 
respective apertures. For convenient fingertip manipulation of the 
sections to the desired color condition, the ring-shaped sections include 
integral radially extending tabs 61, 62, 63 which extend through a 
vertical slot 60 (see FIGS. 8 and 10) formed in one corner of the housing. 
The colored sections may be held captive within the central chamber by a 
bottom cap 70 (FIG. 11a) which may be cemented in position. 
Typical adjustment to the "green" condition is illustrated in FIG. 11a. 
Here it will be noted that the lowermost ring 53a has been shifted 
downwardly into alignment with the lowermost aperture 33a to show the 
color green. The other two rings 51a, 52a are shifted to occupy positions 
out of alignment with the apertures 31a, 32a so the latter apertures show 
up "black", the interior of the housing being unlighted. The sections may 
be easily shifted by engaging the appropriate tabs with the edge of a 
finger nail or other sharp object. 
The "yellow" condition is illustrated in FIG. 11b. Here the "amber" ring 
52a is shown aligned with the central aperture 32a, so that the latter 
aperture displays amber coloration in all four of the sides of the device. 
The remaining sections, or rings, 51a, 53a are moved to their 
out-of-register positions so that the top and bottom apertures are 
"black", that is, without color. 
Where it is desired to select the "red" condition, the upper ring 51a is 
moved into register with the upper aperture 31a and the other two rings 
are moved into non-aligned positions so that red becomes the distinctive 
color on all four sides of the device. 
While the second embodiment is capable of providing color on all four 
sides, it will be apparent that the structure does not require this 
feature, and on any side not requiring the showing of color "dummy" 
apertures may be employed as in the embodiment earlier described. 
In the two preferred forms of the invention discussed above a generally 
rectangular housing is employed having a cylindrical chamber, with the 
carrier being shiftable, either axially or peripherally within the 
chamber. However, it is not essential to the invention that the chamber 
38, 38a be of cylindrical form and if desired the construction illustrated 
in FIG. 8a may be used in which the chamber, indicated at 38b, is of 
square section, nontheless accommodating, frictionally, a circular carrier 
section or ring 52b. The construction illustrated in FIG. 8a permits the 
housing to be folded from a thin sheet of gold or other precious metal 
which may be preferred as a material of construction where the device is 
made of miniature size suitable for use as a charm or earring. 
Both of the embodiments discussed above are distinguished by a high degree 
of realism combined with a high degree of subtlety. The directive arrow 
and use of exernal sliding masks taught by Campbell are avoided thereby 
giving an attractive life-like appearance. Moreover, the Campbell 
construction is limited, as is practical, to use as a brooch while the 
present construction, not requiring any external appendages, may be used 
in many different ways as jewelry particularly in the free-hanging state 
as a pendant, earrings, charm and the like. Moreover, the present 
construction lends itself more readily to miniaturization than that of 
Campbell. 
The term "respective apertures" used herein is intended to denote that one 
aperture is exclusively reserved for use of a display of given color, and 
while the colors have been employed in the same order as in an actual 
traffic light, the order of the colors may be inverted without departing 
from the invention. Also, while the term "knob" has been used to denote 
the means for rotatively positioning the rotor, it will be apparent that 
the term "knob" is a general term including any manual positioning means; 
for example, the eyelet may be employed to position the rotor or the lower 
end of the rotor may be simply roughened to a sufficient degree to apply 
the necessary torque. The term "circular" as used herein is employed to 
denote shape and does not require that the circle be continuous or 
complete. 
The present device, while simple and unassuming, by a direct and outward 
indication of mood of the wearer is capable of saving endless hours of 
polite sparring and discussion, thereby contributing to energy 
conservation. 
While the device has been described in connection with its use as jewelry, 
it will be understood that there is no intention, in use of that term, to 
limit the use to body wear and the device may, if desired, be sold or used 
with a small pedestal, or stand, for use on a night stand, dresser or the 
like. 
Also while the device of FIGS. 1-6 is passive, depending upon reflection of 
light from the pigmented areas, the invention is not limited thereto and 
the pigmented areas may be translucent, with a source of illumination in 
the form of a simple lamp provided within the central chamber. Such a lamp 
may, for example, be energized by a battery of disc configuration located 
either at the upper or lower end of the rotor 40 and equipped with a 
suitable on-off switch.