Abstract:
An article to be worn, such as a badge, displays indicia such as identification and advertising. The article includes a housing, a first indicia member positioned on the first indicia portion of the housing and a second indicia member positioned on the second indicia portion of the housing. The first and second indicia portions are discrete from one another and can receive interchangeable indicia members. The invention further includes a method of identifying a wearer of the article, such as a sales clerk or food service preparer, and advertising a product or service, all with the same badge.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/616,376, filed Dec. 27, 2006, which is a continuation of U.S Patent Application No. 11/001,833, filed Dec. 2, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,828, the entire contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to badges and, more particularly, to badges used like a “wearable billboard” for displaying multiple and interchangeable pieces of information. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    A large number of badges exist in today&#39;s marketplace for displaying identification or other indicia thereon. These typical badges include only a single display area with indicia thereon. Such indicia can include a wearer&#39;s name, an identification number, other words, names, symbols, graphics, illustrations or pictures. Badges are used in a variety of environments, such as service, retail, employment, military, educational, and meeting environments. They are most commonly attached to a wearer&#39;s clothing through a variety of means such as pins or adhesives. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    In some aspects, the invention provides an article for displaying indicia, the article including a housing, a first indicia bearing member positioned on the housing, and a second indicia bearing member positioned on the housing. 
         [0005]    In other aspects, the invention provides a badge including a housing having a first indicia portion and a second indicia portion, the first and second indicia portions being discrete from one another, a first indicia member attached to the first indicia portion of the housing, and a second indicia member attached to the second indicia portion of the housing, the second indicia different than the first indicia. 
         [0006]    In yet other aspects, the invention provides a method of identifying a wearer and advertising goods or services with a badge, the method including providing a badge including a housing having a first indicia portion and a second indicia portion, attaching a first indicia member to the first indicia portion of the housing, and attaching a second indicia member to the second indicia portion of the housing. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a badge. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the badge shown in  FIG. 1 , shown with indicia removed. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is an exploded front perspective view of the badge shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is an exploded front perspective view of the badge shown in  FIG. 1 , shown with a plurality of indicia plates exploded from the badge. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of a badge. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the badge taken along line  7 - 7  in  FIG. 6 , shown with a punch before it engages the badge. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view similar to the cross-sectional view in  FIG. 7 , shown with the punch after it engages the badge. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the punch shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , an article, such as a badge  20 , is illustrated and can be worn by a person in various environments, such as, for example a restaurant, a retail store, or by an on-site cable technician, a bus driver, etc., or any other person in an environment in which it is useful for the wearer to display some indicia on his/her person. The indicia, for example, may identify an individual, or advertise, promote or market a service or product. The indicia may comprise, for example, text, pictures, colors, numbers, symbols, illustrations, etc. 
         [0017]    Badge  20  includes a housing  24  having a first indicia portion  28  and a second indicia portion  32 . The badge  20  can assume a variety of different configurations and can include any number of indicia portions. For example, badge  20  can include three indicia portions. In such an example, one of the indicia portions can be for identification of a person and the other two, for advertising. In the illustrated construction, including only two indicia portions, first indicia portion  28  is used to identify the user of badge  20  and second indicia portion  32  is used for advertising, promoting or marketing purposes to advertise, promote or market a product(s) or service(s). Alternatively, the first indicia portion  28  can be used for advertising, promotional or marketing purposes and the second indicia portion  32  can be used for identification purposes. 
         [0018]    With reference to  FIGS. 1-4 , housing  24  includes a frame  36  extending around and between the first and second indicia portions  28 ,  32  to discretely separate them and define a first receptacle  40  and a second receptacle  44 , corresponding respectively to the first and second indicia portions  28 ,  32  (see  FIG. 3 ). Badge  20  also includes a first plate  48  containing a first indicia  52  thereon and a second plate  56  containing a second indicia  60  thereon (see  FIGS. 1 and 2 ). The first and second plates  48 ,  56  are positionable in the first and second receptacles  40 ,  44 , respectively, and are each surrounded by frame  36 . The frame  36  assists in proper insertion and alignment of the plates  48 ,  56  in the first and second receptacles  40 ,  44  because the plates preferably substantially fill the area, but not necessarily the depth, of the respective receptacles. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIGS. 2-4 , the plates  48 ,  56  can be either removably or permanently attached to housing  24  within the receptacles  40 ,  44  in a variety of manners. In the illustrated construction, double-sided adhesive tape  64  is applied to the rear of the first plate  48 , which is adhesively attached to floor  41  within the first receptacle  40 . In this manner the first plate  48  is removably and adhesively attached to housing  24  and can be removed from the housing  24  to attach another plate to the housing  24  within the first receptacle  40  or for other reasons (discussed in more detail below). Alternatively, the adhesive tape  64  could include the appropriate adhesive properties to permanently attach the first plate  48  to the housing  24 , thereby preventing the first plate  48  from being removed and replaced with another plate. 
         [0020]    Also in the illustrated construction, the second plate  56  is magnetically attached to the second receptacle  44 . A stepped recess  68  is defined in the floor  45  within the second receptacle  44  and includes a first step  72  and a second step  76  concentric with the first step position (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). First step  72  lies below floor  45  and second step  76  lies below first step  72 . Badge  20  further includes a metallic member  80  capable of magnetic attraction connected to the rear of the second plate  56  and a magnet  84  connected to the housing  24  within the second step  76  of the stepped recess  68 . To removably and magnetically attach the second plate  56  to the housing  24 , the metallic member  80  is aligned with and fits within the first step  72  of the stepped recess  68 , where the magnet  84  magnetically attracts the metallic member  80  thereto and magnetically attaches the second plate  56  to the housing  24 . In the illustrated construction, the metallic member  80  and the first step  72  of the stepped recess  68  are complimentarily shaped to assist, in combination with the frame  36 , with obtaining the proper orientation and attachment of the second plate  56  to the housing  24 . The metallic member  80  and the first step  72  of the stepped recess  68  can assume any appropriate shape, either complimentary or uncomplimentary to each other, so long as the member  80  and magnet  84  can magnetically connect and the second plate  56  lies flat against floor  45 . That is, the depths of the first and second steps and the corresponding thicknesses of member  80  and magnet  84  must be such as to permit second plate  56  to lie flush with floor  45 . Also, the magnet  84  and the metallic member  80  can be reversed with one another and connected to the other of the second plate  56  and the second step  76  of the stepped recess  68 . The magnet  84  and metallic member  80  can be of any shape or size as long as a secure magnetic attachment is made therebetween and maintained during normal use of the badge  20 . 
         [0021]    The first and second plates  48 ,  56  can be connected, either permanently or removably, to the housing  24  within the appropriate receptacle  40 ,  44  in a variety of other manners, such as, for example, gluing, hooks and loop fasteners (Velcro), permanently bonding (i.e., melting), integrally forming, suitable combinations of connecting systems, etc. It should further be understood that the first and second plates  48 ,  56  can be similarly attached (i.e., both adhesively attached or both magnetically attached) or differently attached (i.e., as illustrated in the figures and described hereinbefore) to the housing  24 . 
         [0022]    Referring particularly to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , badge  20  includes a pin  88  for attaching badge  20  to clothing of a worker. Pin  88  is formed by bending a wire spring. The pin  88  has a bent profile  92 - 100  in a horizontal plane and an upstanding spring bend  104  and a hook  108  in a vertical plane. Pin  88  also has a bar  112 , pointed on one end  116 , which may be inserted through any suitable fabric in order to attach badge  20  to the clothing of a person. At bend  104 , the wire spring bends back upon itself to form a spring section, which is reminiscent of a corresponding part of a safety pin. From there, the wire spring has a profile in a horizontal plane and the profile preferably begins with a somewhat straight section  92 . The straight section  92  facilitates installation of the pin  88  through a hole  120  defined through the housing  24  in the first receptacle  40 . Next, the wire spring forming the pin  88  has an arcuate stabilizing section  96  in a horizontal plane. The arcuate stabilizing section  96  of the pin  88  is similar in shape to an arcuate stabilizing section  124  of a groove  128  defined in the floor  41  of first receptacle  40  of the housing  24 . It should be understood that the arcuate stabilizing section  96  of the pin  88  and the groove  128  can have a variety of configurations, as long as the configurations are sufficient to stabilize the pin  88  relative to the housing  24 . At the end of the arcuate stabilizing section  96 , the wire spring has a straight section  100 , again to facilitate insertion of hook  108  through a second hole  132  in the housing  24 . The wire spring ends in upstanding hook  108  for receiving and capturing end  116  of bar  112 . Attaching the first plate  48  to the housing  24  within the first receptacle  40  secures the pin  88  to the housing  24 . Removal of the first plate  48  from the housing  24  allows the pin  88  to be removed from the housing  24 . 
         [0023]    When the badge  20  is repeatedly attached and removed from the user&#39;s clothing, sometimes the pin  88  may form an undesirable impression on the face of first plate  48  caused by the pin&#39;s movement relative to the groove  128  in the housing  24 . To avoid this from occurring, the pin  88  may be glued or otherwise secured in place so that it will not move during use of the badge  20 . When the pin  88  is glued in the groove  128 , the pin  88  will not normally be removable. 
         [0024]    While gluing is a suitable means for securing the pin in place, it is a labor-intensive step, which is costly. Referring to  FIGS. 6-9 , another means of securing involves wedging a portion of the plastic material of the housing  24  adjacent the groove  128  over the pin  88  after the pin  88  is placed in groove  128 . Wedging the material over the pin  88  secures or pinches the pin  88  in place and prevents the pin  88  from moving within the groove  128 . The wedging operation is performed with a punch  133  that includes a tip  134  appropriately shaped to force plastic material of the housing  24  over the pin  88  to secure the pin  88  in the groove  128 . The tip  134  can be a variety of shapes as long as the pin  88  is properly wedged within the groove  128 . The punch  133  moves toward the housing  24  and the tip  134  engages a portion of the housing  24  on each side of the pin  88  to force a suitable portion of the material of the housing  24  over the pin  88  to secure or pinch the pin  88  within the groove  128 . After the punch  133  travels sufficiently toward the housing  24  to secure the pin  88  within the groove  128 , the punch  133  moves away from the housing  24  in preparation for the next operation. 
         [0025]    Badge  20  can be attached to the wearer&#39;s clothing in other ways. For example, badge  20  could be attached by a snap, a clip, a jump ring, hook and loop fasteners, magnetically, a military fastener using a nail and a clutch, a pendant, or the like. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , an aperture  136  is defined in the first step  72  of the stepped recess  68 . The aperture  136  allows an object (not shown), such as, for example a pen, a pencil, or any other appropriately sized tool, to insert therethrough and engage and push the metallic member  80 , together with the second plate  56  away from the magnet  84 . In this way the second plate  56  can be easily removed from the housing  24 . In the illustrated construction, the aperture  136  is defined in the first step  72  of the stepped recess  68 ; however, the aperture  136  can be located elsewhere on the housing  24  so long as a suitable object can be inserted therethrough to engage the second plate  56  and push it away from the housing  24 . A similar aperture can be provided in the first indicia portion  28  of the housing  24  to facilitate removal of plate  48  from the first indicia portion  28  of the housing  24  in those instances where the plate  48  is removably attached to the housing  24 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , badge  20  can receive a plurality of identification plates  140  and a plurality of advertising plates  144 , which are removably attached and thereby selectively interchangeable by the user. 
         [0028]    For example, person A having his or her name on the identification plate  140 A can attach identification plate  140 A to the first indicia portion  28  and can attach advertising plate  144 D to the second indicia portion  32 . The following day, person A can remove advertising plate  144 D from the housing  24  and attach advertising plate  144 E to the housing  24 . Indicia D and E may be different forms of advertising for the same product or advertising for different products. In this example, badge  20  is used to identify the same person and the advertising plates  144  are interchangeable to change the advertising performed by badge  20 . 
         [0029]    In another example, several people can use the badge  20  to advertise the same product. In such an example, identification plate  140 A can be attached to the housing  24  for person A and advertising plate  144 F can be attached to the housing  24 . If person B needs to use the badge  20 , person B removes identification plate  140 A from the housing  24  and attaches identification plate  140 B to the first indicia portion  28 . Advertising plate  144 F remains attached to the housing  24  and, therefore, person B is advertising the same product as person A using the same badge  20 . Any member of suitable combinations can be achieved among several people according to the desires and needs of the employers of these people. 
         [0030]    In yet another example, multiple workers can use badge  20  to advertise a plurality of advertisements. This example is a combination of the two previously explained examples in that the identification plates  140  are interchanged between two workers and the advertising plates  144  are interchanged to advertise various advertisements. 
         [0031]    Although particular constructions of the present invention have been shown and described, other alternative constructions will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are within the intended scope of the present invention.