Abstract:
A jewelry piece in which the precious stone is replaced with an apparatus comprising a screen, wherein the apparatus is capable of receiving from a smart phone and displaying on the screen an image a user selects from a plurality of choices, in order to make the jewelry piece appear as having a particular precious stone.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a divisional and claims the benefit of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 13/679,813, filed Nov. 16, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference, to the extent that it is not conflicting with the present application. 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0005]    The invention relates generally to jewelry and more particularly to a method and system for custom-changing the appearance of the “precious stone” element of a jewelry piece. 
         [0006]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0007]    Typically, one person&#39;s wardrobe, especially that of a woman, includes a variety of clothing articles of different styles and colors to be worn as appropriate for the season, time of day, event attended, and so on. Wearing a particular clothing article, such as a dress having a certain color, typically requires matching jewelry pieces. Thus, many jewelry pieces are needed if a matching style is always desired. 
         [0008]    Purchasing various pieces of jewelry having precious stone elements to match for example the various colors in one&#39;s wardrobe can be very expensive, even if such stone elements are artificial. This is because, currently, the jewelries available on the market are rigid in design and cannot adapt to the customers&#39; various needs. Namely, the available jewelries do not give the flexibility to the customer to custom-change the look of their jewelries to match the outfit, its color, or the style of their preference. 
         [0009]    Thus, there is a need for a new kind of jewelry that addresses the problems described above. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key aspects or essential aspects of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, this Summary is not intended for use as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
         [0011]    In one exemplary embodiment, the precious stone element of a jewelry piece is replaced with a flexible screen and the jewelry piece is adapted to be capable of receiving from a smart phone and displaying on the flexible screen an image a user selects in order to make the jewelry piece appear as having a particular precious stone. Thus, an advantage is that the user can customize the appearance of the jewelry piece as needed in order to match a certain style or color of an outfit. Another advantage is that the user can save a significant amount of money by only purchasing a few of such customizable jewelry pieces and still preserving the ability to match a potentially unlimited number of styles and colors, by simply changing the image or pattern displayed by the flexible screen. 
         [0012]    In another exemplary embodiment, the assembly that includes the flexible screen and the supporting components and circuitries can easily and quickly be moved from one jewelry piece to another. Thus, another advantage is that a number of such assemblies, which is less than the total number of user&#39;s jewelry pieces, need to be purchased by the user, thus, further saving money to the user. 
         [0013]    In another exemplary embodiment, images and patterns may be easily and conveniently transferred from one jewelry piece to another by simply tapping the two jewelry pieces onto each other. Thus, another advantage is that the user may install a preferred image into a ring for example and then simply tap all the other jewelry pieces the user wants to wear at one time (e.g., bracelet, earrings, etc), in order to make them all match. 
         [0014]    The above embodiments and advantages, as well as other embodiments and advantages, will become apparent from the ensuing description and accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    For exemplification purposes, and not for limitation purposes, embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic view of a system for creating a video adaptable jewelry, according to an embodiment. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic view of a system for using and maintaining a video adaptable jewelry, according to another embodiment. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  illustrates exploded perspective views of the adaptable jewelry  100  from  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  depicts the interchangeability of the dome assembly  440  among various jewelry items, according to another embodiment. 
           [0020]      FIGS. 5   a - b  illustrate a method of transferring data from one adaptable piece of jewelry to another, according to another embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    What follows is a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in which the invention may be practiced. Reference will be made to the attached drawings, and the information included in the drawings is part of this detailed description. The specific preferred embodiments of the invention, which will be described herein, are presented for exemplification purposes, and not for limitation purposes. It should be understood that structural and/or logical modifications could be made by someone of ordinary skills in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims and their equivalents. 
         [0022]    The terms video adaptable jewelry, adaptable jewelry, customizable jewelry, jewelry and their derivatives are used interchangeably within this specification. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic view of a system for creating a video adaptable jewelry, according to an embodiment. As shown, a piece of jewelry  100 , such as a ring, may be adapted to receive an image  102  from a smart phone  106 . The image  102  may be a still image or a video. The adaptable jewelry  100  may typically have a metal (e.g., gold, silver, and so on) portion  105  and a dome  101 . In a less expensive embodiment, the dome  101  may be a transparent lens, which may be solid or hollow, while the image  102  is displayed as shown on a flat screen  103  having substantially the same area as the base of the dome  101  and the top surface of metal portion  105 . Thus, for example, the image  102  may be a blue layer displayed on the entire flat screen  103  from where the image  102  reflects onto the transparent lens, thus making the lens appear blue, thus imitating a blue sapphire for example. Hence, the user/wearer of the adaptable ring  100  has now a ring which appears to have a sapphire stone to match other of her accessories or clothing article(s). Should the user want to change the ring to appear as having a green topaz instead of blue sapphire, she will simply replace the blue image  102  with a green image matching the color of a green topaz. Thus, the user has an unlimited number of possibilities to use the same piece of jewelry while appearing to have a different precious stone. 
         [0024]    In a preferred embodiment, instead of using the flat screen  103 , a flexible screen (not shown) may be installed on dome  101  such that the flexible screen takes the shape of the dome. It should be noted that if the flexible screen is installed on the exterior surface of the dome  101 , the dome does not need to be transparent. In an even more preferred embodiment, the flexible screen may completely replace the dome  101 , thus, actually becoming the dome  101 , such that adaptable jewelry  100  may include the metal portion  105  and a flexible screen having the shape of a dome or any other desired shape (e.g., more sophisticated, faceted shapes). The flexible screen may be a OLED (organic light-emitting diode) flexible screen or any other type of flexible screen available and suitable for this kind of small and flexible display application. 
         [0025]    The images  102  and different patterns may be created for example by users or by a third party and they may be typically stored on a server  107  from where they may be downloaded via a two-way internet or cellular network link  109  into a smart phone  106 . The smart phone  106  will be equipped with an application (“app”) specifically configured to perform all the functions described in this disclosure, including, preferably, a software for images or pattern development by the user to download into the jewelry. The adaptable jewelry app may also be stored on server  107  and may be made available for download onto the smart phone  106 . Through the adaptable jewelry app, the images may be downloaded from the server  107  and then, typically using a two-way communication link  108  employing technologies such as Bluetooth, uploaded from the smart phone  106  into the adaptable jewelry  100 . The adaptable jewelry  100  may be configured to receive/download and store the image  102 , as it will be described in more details later herein, and display the image  102  as explained earlier. Thus, again, the appearance of the adaptable jewelry  100  may change at any time based on the image  102  downloaded from the smart phone  106 . 
         [0026]    It should be noted that other technologies now known or future developed may be used to customize a jewelry piece, to obtain the effect described above, without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, once the hologram technology advances in the future, the dome and the display may be replaced with a hologram graphic imitating a precious stone. Furthermore, future technological advances may make it possible for the adaptable jewelry  100  to communicate directly with server  107 , thus eliminating the need of a smart phone  106  to complete the process described herein. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic view of a system for using and maintaining a video adaptable jewelry, according to another embodiment. As explained earlier, images  202 , graphics, colors, patterns and/or information from a smart phone  206  may be uploaded into and displayed by an adaptable jewelry  200  in order to customize its appearance. The functional components described in detail later herein of the adaptable jewelry are typically powered by a battery, which preferably last a few hours depending primarily on the size of the image or video being displayed. A few hours of lasting power supply would typically be sufficient for the user of the adaptable jewelry to attend events such as a reception. Before and/or after use of the adaptable jewelry  200 , its battery may be charged by simply placing the adaptable jewelry  200  in one of the slots  214  of a charger  212 , which in turn may be connected to a standard house or car outlet (not shown). It should be noted that the charger  212  may have several slots  214  to accommodate simultaneously several adaptable pieces of jewelry  200  (e.g., a ring, earrings, a pendant of a necklace, etc) a user may have and want to charge and use. As one of ordinary skills in the art would recognize, the charger  212  may be an induction charger in which power is transferred to the metal portion  205  of the adaptable jewelry  200 , and then to the battery, through the plastic case of the charger  212  and/or its slots  214  using magnetic induction, thus, without the need for metal contact(s). 
         [0028]    In another embodiment, the charger may simply be an inductive charging tray (not shown), or a bowl, or other similarly shaped container or platform, which may be plugged into a standard wall outlet, and on which the user basically may throw her ring, bracelet, etc, for charging purpose. Once the jewelry sits on the tray, through magnetic induction, the battery in that jewelry is charged. This approach may be more convenient for the user, and even a fun thing to do. 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  illustrates exploded perspective views of the adaptable jewelry  100  from  FIG. 1 . As shown, the dome  301  may be associated with a housing member  330  forming together the dome assembly  340 . The dome  301  and the housing member  330  may be associated together using known fastening methods such as snap or thread-based fastening. The housing member  330  may further be associated with the base  305   a  of the metal portion  305  of the adaptable jewelry  300 . Thus, together, the dome assembly  340  and the metal portion  305  form the adaptable jewelry  300  ( 100  in  FIG. 1 ). The dome assembly  340  may also be associated with the base  305   a  of metal portion  305  through known fastening methods such as snap or thread-based fastening. When snap fastening is used, the dome assembly  340  may be easily popped up from the bottom of base  305   a,  when, for example, the dome assembly  340  needs to be replaced with another one, or when the dome assembly is needed for use with another jewelry. 
         [0030]    It should be noted that at the top of the housing member  330 , a flat screen  303  may be placed, as described above as being the case of one, less expensive, embodiment. As explained earlier, the preferred embodiments are using flexible screen on (i.e., on top of or under) the dome  301  or the dome is actually the flexible screen shaped as a dome or in any other desired shape. 
         [0031]    The housing member  330  houses important circuitries and components, which one of ordinary skills in the art would recognize, are necessary to accomplish the customizing functionality of the appearance of dome  301 , and thus, of the entire adaptable jewelry  300 , as described earlier. Such circuitries and components include: miniature electronic circuitry for the screen  303 ; miniature electronic circuitry, including an antenna, to enable the communication link  108  ( FIG. 1 ) between the smart phone  106  ( FIG. 1 ) and the adaptable jewelry  300  ( 100  in  FIG. 1 ), as described earlier when referring to  FIG. 1  (e.g., using Bluetooth technology); memory circuitry to store the image, video or other data transferred to the adaptable jewelry; a microprocessor chip and program(s) needed to perform all adaptable jewelry&#39;s functions as described herein; and, a battery to supply power to all circuitry and components in need of power. 
         [0032]    One of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that different approaches may be adopted in regards to where and how to actually equip the adaptable jewelry with the above listed components and circuitries. An approach or another may be selected based on various factors such as the impact on jewelry&#39;s appearance, reliability and costs. For example, the metal portion  305  ( 105  in  FIG. 1 ) may itself possibly be used as an antenna. Or, as another example, the antenna may be integrated discretely in the dome  301  ( 101  in  FIG. 1 ), such as in a car&#39;s windshield. 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  depicts the interchangeability of the dome assembly  440  among various jewelry items, according to another embodiment. As mentioned earlier, the dome assembly  440  may be removably associated, such as by snap fastening, with the base  305   a  ( FIG. 3 ) of the metal portion  305  ( FIG. 3 ) of the adaptable jewelry  300  ( FIG. 3 ). This advantageous configuration allows a user to use the same dome assembly  440  on various pieces of jewelry, such as a bracelet  451 , a ring  452 , an earring  453 , a pendant  454  of a necklace, a cuff link  455 , and so on. Thus, for example, a user has the option to acquire a set of five different adaptable jewelries, such as the ones depicted in  FIG. 4 , and only two or three dome assemblies  440  to use as needed on the pieces of jewelry the user wants to wear on a certain occasion. As another example, a user may acquire a set of, for example, five pieces of jewelry, each having its own dome assembly  440 , and also a spare dome assembly to be used in the event that one of the five dome assemblies goes dark and/or becomes defective. 
         [0034]      FIGS. 5   a - b  illustrate a method of transferring data from one adaptable piece of jewelry to another, according to another embodiment. As shown, a previously downloaded image  502  (or other data) in an adaptable ring  500  may be transferred to another adaptable ring  500 a, when, for example, the  500   a  ring does not have the respective image (see  FIG. 5   a ) or when synchronization of the two pieces of jewelry is desired. Such transfer may be done by simply tapping (see  FIG. 5   b ) the domes ( 501  and  501   a ), or other portions, of the two rings ( 500 ,  500   b ). 
         [0035]    To accomplish the transfer of data by tapping, known technologies in the art may be adopted, such as the bump technology used for the bumping app on current smart phones. Preferably, the tapping application will be imbedded into the processor of each ring, and configured to work with the adaptable jewelry app referred to earlier when describing  FIG. 1 . Once activated from their respective smart phones, the tapping application will allow the sharing of the image from one ring to the other. Therefore, there will preferably be a sync button on the smart phone adaptable jewelry app supporting the jewelry customization process disclosed herein. Once pressed, typically, the sync button will engage the embedded tapping program on the ring which will be looking for a tapping from another ring that also has the sync feature ON. Once this happens, the data between the two rings are synced. 
         [0036]    The data transfer action between the rings may also be configured to take place from the bumping of two smart phones having the adaptable jewelry app installed. Once the two phones are bumped, the data from one phone is synced to the other and automatically downloaded to the respective rings. It should be noted that preferably no server ( 107  in  FIG. 1 ) is implicated in the tapping for data transfer application. The data is preferably transferred directly between the two rings or, alternatively, between two smart phones and then to the rings. 
         [0037]    It should be noted that the tapping or pumping actions may simply be replaced with a button on the adaptable jewelry app programmed to activate the transfer. However, the tapping or bumping of the two rings to initiate data transfer adds to the “coolness” effect of the jewelry customization process disclosed herein. 
         [0038]    It should also be noted that, besides being “cool,” the transfer by tapping described above may have significant time saving and convenience advantages. For example, the user may install, or the user may have previously installed, a preferred image into a ring, and then, the users only needs to simply and quickly tap all the other jewelry pieces the user wants to wear at one time (e.g., bracelet, earrings, etc), in order to make them all match. 
         [0039]    One of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that the apparatus and the process disclosed herein for custom-imitating the appearance of a precious stones may be employed in other applications, other than those related to jewelry. For example, the apparatus and the process disclosed herein may be used to custom-imitate precious stones one clocks, watches, purses, shoes, furniture and so on. 
         [0040]    One of ordinary skills in the art would also recognize that the adaptable jewelry app referred to earlier when describing  FIG. 1  may incorporate other functionalities that may be useful to the user. For example, the app may be configured to monitor the battery level of the adaptable jewelry and to alert the user when the battery level is low. The alert may include the remaining time before the screen will shut down for lack of power. Thus, the user would be able to take the necessary steps to avoid an embarrassing situation when, for example, the user is at a party. 
         [0041]    It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used in this patent document. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and/or. The phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like. 
         [0042]    As used in this application, “plurality” means two or more. A “set” of items may include one or more of such items. Whether in the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of,” respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims. Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed. These terms are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements. As used in this application, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items. 
         [0043]    Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and procedures disclosed or claimed. Although many of the examples involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. 
         [0044]    For means-plus-function limitations recited in the claims, the means are not intended to be limited to the means disclosed in this application for performing the recited function, but are intended to cover in scope any means, known now or later developed, for performing the recited function. 
         [0045]    Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for the purpose of disclosing the preferred embodiments, someone of ordinary skills in the art will easily detect alternate embodiments and/or equivalent variations, which may be capable of achieving the same results, and which may be substituted for the specific embodiments illustrated and described herein without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of this application is intended to cover alternate embodiments and /or equivalent variations of the specific embodiments illustrated and/or described herein. Hence, the scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims and their equivalents. Furthermore, each and every claim is incorporated as further disclosure into the specification and the claims are embodiment(s) of the invention.