Abstract:
A personal item storage device is comprised of a first housing having a connector rod whose end is provided with a piston that is capable of reciprocally moving in a piston chamber in a second housing under the action of a coil spring located in said piston chamber.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is based on and claims priority to Applicant&#39;s U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/311,124, entitled “Personal Item Storing Devices,” filed on Mar. 5, 2010. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention generally pertains to personal item storage devices. It is particularly concerned with storing personal items such as cremation ashes, keepsake items, souvenirs, pills, capsules, pods, collectible items, small edible items such as candy, nuts, etc., slips of paper upon which important information is written (e.g., lock combinations, passwords, etc.) and the like. Such personal items item storing devices may, for example, take the form of pendant jewelry pieces that can be suspended from a necklace or bracelet. In other embodiments of this invention, Applicants&#39; personal item storage device will be relatively larger, for example, an urn for storing cremation ashes or relatively large floor resting or desktop resting memento holders. These personal item storing devices may be further characterized by their possession of multiple compartments for securely housing different kinds of personal items. 
         [0004]    2. Discussion of the Background 
         [0005]    By way of a specific first example of a pendant jewelry item, U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,116 discloses a heart-shaped piece of jewelry comprising a front cover having a back surface and a cavity. It also has a back cover having a configuration similar to that of the front cover. The back cover is also provided with a front surface and a cavity with an opening in communication with said front surface. The front cover and the back cover are attached to one another in a closed position during storage of such keepsake objects. The opening of the cavity of the front cover communicates with the opening in the cavity of the back cover. A flange depends rearwardly from the front cover for insertion within said cavity. The flange is configured to contact the back cover so as to seal the cavity in the back cover when the front cover and the back cover are in their closed position. This jewelry item further comprises airtight sealing means to permanently seal said objects within said cavity of the back cover. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,174 also discloses a jewelry type container. It is especially adapted for storage of cremation ashes. It includes a minor container for filling with cremation ashes. It has a minor opening and a minor container cap for temporarily or permanently hermetically sealing cremation ashes within the minor container. The minor container can, however, be inserted into a major opening of a decorative major cylindrical container component of this container. A major container cap is affixed to the major container to retain the minor container within the major container. A support is also secured to the major container. It enables the major container to be suspended, in a pendant manner, about the user&#39;s neck. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,944,921 discloses a burial urn for cremated remains. It utilizes a housing that has an internal chamber which is adapted to connect with a plurality of containers. An exterior side edge of the housing is formed in a polygonal shape and is divided into a series of separate panels having a name plaque mounted on each panel. A single container is associated with a particular name plaque. Each container includes a removable lid to gain access into the container. The housing is closed by a cover which provides access to the containers. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,562,423 teaches a personalizable memory container having a portion that includes a cavity therein, a sealable capsule selectively disposable in the cavity, and mementos selectively presentable on reconfigurable spaces on the container portion. The mementos can conceal the capsule when the capsule is disposed in the cavity and when the mementos are selectively presented on the reconfigurable spaces. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention provides personal item storage devices for storing items or objects such as ashes of cremated loved ones, locks of hair, dried flowers, slips of paper, capsules, pods, collectible items such as toy autos, small statues of comic characters and so forth. The device may be small enough to hang in pendant fashion about a user&#39;s neck (the user may be a human being or an animal such as a dog) or placed in a user&#39;s pocket or purse. Larger embodiments of this invention may take the form of an urn (e.g., for holding cremation ashes), memento holder and the like that might be placed on a floor, mantle, table or desktop. In some embodiments of this invention, the device will have multiple (e.g., 2, 3 or 4) chambers which may be open or individually sealable. 
         [0010]    Applicants&#39; personal item storage devices have a first (e.g., upper) housing and a second (e.g., lower) housing that are held in abutting contact with each other by the force created by the expansive action of a compressed coil spring. A compressive action placed upon this coil spring also allows the first (e.g., upper) housing to be partially separated from the second (e.g., lower) housing and thereby exposing open cavities such as cylinder shaped chambers or cover plate(s) that serve to seal the chamber(s) contained in this personal item storage device. In order to hold the first housing in abutting contact with the second housing—and yet allow the first housing to be partially removed from the second housing in order to gain access to the chamber(s) contained in the device—the underside of the first housing is affixed to a connector rod. This connector rod slidably and rotatably passes through a shaft in the lower housing. The lower end of the connector rod terminates in a piston that is capable of reciprocally moving e.g., up and down, in a piston chamber contained in the lower housing. The coil spring also resides in this piston chamber. The coil spring surrounds a lower portion of the connector rod. In the spring&#39;s more expanded (more decompressed) state, a lower end of the coil spring abuts against the top surface of the piston under the force created by the coil spring&#39;s tendency to expand. Thus, in this expanded (decompressed) state, the upper end of the coil spring will abut against a spring abutting surface in the top of the piston chamber as the lower end of the spring abuts against the top surface of the piston. This expanding spring action serves to hold the upper housing and lower housing in an abutting relationship when said housings are aligned in parallel with each other. 
         [0011]    However, when an upwardly directed pulling force is placed upon the first (e.g., upper) housing and a downwardly directed force is placed upon the second (e.g., lower) housing, the first and second housings are separated from each other. Such upwardly and downwardly directed forces will normally be supplied by the respective thumb and the index finger of the hands of a human being. No hand tools such as screw drivers, keys or pliers are needed to separate the first and second housings. The first and/or second housings may however be provided with “handles” suitable for gripping by human thumb/fingers. Be that as it may, such an upwardly directed force on the first housing will cause the connector rod affixed to the first housing, including the piston located on the lower end of said connector rod, to be pulled upward. This will cause the top end of the coil spring to come into relatively stronger abutting contact with the spring abutment surface in the top end of the piston cylinder. Thus, the spring will be compressed between the spring abutment surface in the top of the piston cylinder and the top of the piston as said piston is pulled upward by an upwardly directed force placed on the first housing by a human hand. Thus, in this manner, the upper housing can be partially separated from the lower housing. 
         [0012]    Eventually, the coil spring will be fully compressed and thereby preventing the piston from being pulled up any further in the piston chamber. In effect, the distance the piston rises in the piston cylinder defines the distance that the first housing can be partially removed from the second housing. Once the first housing is so raised, said first housing can be rotated e.g., rotated about 90 degrees so that the bottom of the first housing is substantially perpendicular to the top of the second housing. In this rotated orientation, the opposing potential energy of the compressed spring is held in check by virtue of the fact that the lower surface of the upper housing will be placed in abutting contact with the upper surface of the lower housing. 
         [0013]    Moreover, when the first (e.g., upper) housing is so rotated (e.g., about 90 degrees), any open chamber(s) or cover plate(s) or caps that seal a given chamber or capsule top in this device will be exposed. Upon being so exposed, such cover plate(s), caps, capsule tops and the like can be removed so that items such as keepsakes (e.g., ashes of a loved one, a lock of hair, a dried flower, etc.), pieces of paper bearing computer passwords, safe combinations, collectible items and the like can be placed in the chamber(s) of this personal item storage device. Thereafter, the chamber(s) may simply house or contain certain appropriate items such as capsules, pods, pieces of candy, collectible items, etc. contained therein or the chamber may be sealed with a respective cover plate, cap and the like in order to more thoroughly seal other personal items (e.g., cremation ashes). Such cover plates may be removed and/or replaced by thumb/finger operations or through the use of hand tools such as a screw driver, pliers, etc. The first (e.g., upper) housing can then be rotated back by about 90 degrees, whereupon the decompression action of the spring in the piston cylinder will pull the first housing back into abutting contact with the second housing in the device&#39;s original closed position. Thus, the abutting contact between the first and second housings may itself seal the chambers in said housings. In order to further ensure maintenance of the original sealed state, the second (e.g., lower) housing may be provided with a seating surface upon which a portion of the underside of the first (upper) housing comes to rest. Thus, the seating surface provides another means by which the chamber(s) can be collectively sealed without employing separate chamber sealing caps. Mechanical means such as nubs, cotter keys and the like also may be provided to prevent horizontal rotation of the upper and lower housings with respect to each other. 
         [0014]    It might also be noted here that the functions of the first, e.g., “upper” housing and the second, e.g., “lower” housing can be reversed. That is to say that the upper housing may contain the piston, spring, piston cylinder, etc. while the lower housing is provided with the connector rod. Similarly, Applicants&#39; device also may be suspended, in pendant fashion, from its “side.” In such case, the terms “left” housing and “right” housing would be more appropriate. Hence, in recognition of the various orientation possibilities for the two housings, Applicants&#39; have on occasion used the more general terms “first” housing and “second” housing rather than “upper” or “lower” (or “left” and “right”). This invention will, however, use as its primary exemplary embodiment, a storage device whose first housing is positioned above its second housing in the manner generally depicted by  FIGS. 1-5 . 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a front view of a personal item storage device made according to the general teachings of this patent disclosure. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the storage device of  FIG. 1  showing the upper housing raised and rotated about 90 degrees with respect to the lower housing. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a cross-section view of the storage device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the personal item storage device of  FIG. 1  wherein the upper housing is raised and rotated about 90 degrees with respect to the lower housing. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a cut-away perspective view of the storage device of  FIG. 1  showing, among other things, its spring being compressed. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is an exploded cross-section view of another embodiment of this invention wherein an upper housing and a lower housing are each shown provided with two cylindrically shaped chambers that are especially adapted for housing capsules, pods and the like. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is an exploded cross-section view of another embodiment of this invention wherein an upper housing and a lower housing are each shown provided with two cylindrically shaped chambers that are especially adapted for housing capsules, pods and the like and further comprising threaded caps for enclosing said capsule, pods, etc. 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  is an exploded cross-section view of another embodiment of this invention wherein an upper housing and a lower housing are each shown provided with two cylindrically shaped chambers that are especially adapted for housing capsules, pods and the like and further comprising a threaded cap and a raised nub. 
           [0023]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the personal item storage device of  FIG. 8  showing the upper housing raised and rotated about 90 degrees with respect to the lower housing and thereby showing the openings of the chambers in the lower housing and a seating surface upon which a portion of the underside of the upper housing will rest when the storage device is in its closed position. 
           [0024]      FIG. 10  is an exploded cross-section view of another embodiment of this invention wherein an upper housing and a lower housing are each shown provided with two cylindrically shaped chambers that are especially adapted for housing capsules, pods and the like and where one such chamber is provided with threading to receive a threaded cap. 
           [0025]      FIG. 11  is an exploded cross-section view of another embodiment of this invention wherein an upper housing and a lower housing are each shown provided with two cylindrically shaped chambers that are especially adapted for housing capsules, pods and the like and wherein a compressing fitting cap is used to close one of the chambers. 
           [0026]      FIG. 12  is a front view of a personal item storage device made according to the general teachings of this patent disclosure wherein the upper housing is provided with a handle and the lower housing is provided with a base. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0027]      FIG. 1  is a front view of an exemplary embodiment of Applicants&#39; personal item storage device  10 . In this embodiment, said device  10  is shown provided with an upper housing  12  and a lower housing  14 . This front view of the device  10  shows it as having a generally circular configuration. Other configurations such as square, rectangular, ellipsoidal, heart-shaped, etc. are also contemplated for the practice of this invention. Be the device&#39;s configuration as it may, the upper housing  12  and lower housing  14  abut together to create a contour line  16  that is, by way of example only, shown having a wave-like contour. Other contour lines (e.g., flat, elliptical, saw toothed, etc.) could be employed as well.  FIG. 1  also indicates that decorations e.g.,  18  and  20  also can adorn the surface of the device  10 . It should be appreciated however that “decorative effects” can be achieved through the use of unadorned simplicity in these personal item storage devices. As seen in  FIG. 9 , “viewing windows” may also be placed in the upper and/or lower housings. 
         [0028]    Next it should be noted that such a personal item storage device  10  may be particularly adapted to serve as a pendant piece of jewelry through use of an attachment device  22  such as a ring so that said piece of jewelry could be suspended from a necklace, bracelet or dog collar, etc. These storage devices could also be suspended from a suitcase handle, briefcase handle and so on. They can be placed in a pocket or purse as well. Larger versions of Applicants&#39; personal item storage devices (e.g., urns, small item storage containers, e.g., having diameters up to about 18 inches, etc.) may be provided with a base and placed on a mantle, table, desk, etc. or hung on a wall or attached to a display holder. And as was previously suggested, placement of such an attachment device  22  at a location near point  22 A would cause the upper housing  12  to be more accurately considered as a “right side” housing and the lower housing considered as a “left side” housing rather than an “upper” and a “lower” housing. 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  shows the upper housing  12  partially removed from the lower housing  14  and rotated about 90 degrees with respect to said lower housing. This can be achieved by virtue of the fact that a connector rod  24  can rotate in a shaft (not seen in  FIG. 2 ) in the lower housing  14 . The general ability to raise and lower the upper housing  12  with respect to the lower housing  14  is depicted by a two-headed arrow  21 . Similarly, the general ability to rotate the upper housing  12  with respect to the lower housing  14  is depicted by two-headed arrow  23 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a cross-section view of the personal item storage device  10  depicted in  FIG. 1 . This view better shows the upper housing  12  and the lower housing  14  associated with each other by means of connector rod  24 . This particular embodiment features such a personal item storage device having four separate and distinct chambers i.e., a first upper housing chamber  26 , a second upper housing chamber  28 , a first lower housing chamber  30  and a second lower housing chamber  32 . The first and second upper housing chambers  26  and  28  are separated by an upper housing wall  34  (see  FIG. 5 ). Similarly, the first and second lower housing chambers  30  and  32  are separated by a lower housing wall  36 . 
         [0031]    The first upper housing chamber  26  is shown provided with a chamber base  38  that has an opening  40  through which a keepsake material (e.g., ashes of a loved one) or small item (e.g., medical pills, slips of paper, etc.) can be inserted into said first upper housing chamber  26 . The second upper housing chamber  28  also has a base  42  that has a similar opening  44  that can be employed for similar purposes. The first lower housing chamber base  46  has a comparable opening  48 . Likewise, the second lower housing chamber base  50  has such an opening  52  as well. 
         [0032]    Next, it should be noted that one side of the first upper housing chamber  26  is provided with a left finger clamp receiver post  54  and a right finger clamp receiver post  56 . A comparable side of the second upper housing chamber  28  also has a left finger clamp receiver post  58  and a right finger clamp receiver post  60 . Similarly, a side of the first lower housing chamber  30  is provided with a left finger clamp receiver post  62  and a right finger clamp receiver post  64 . And, likewise, the second lower housing chamber  32  is also provided with left  66  and a right  68  finger clamp receiver posts. It should also be understood that each chamber may be provided with only one such finger clamp receiver post to receive only one clamping finger. 
         [0033]    It also should be noted that the opening  40  in the first upper housing chamber base  38  is occupied by a cover plate  70 . The underside of said cover plate  70  is shown provided with a left clamping finger  72  and a right clamping finger  74 . These clamping fingers are so sized, adapted and arranged that they can respectively clamp around the left finger clamp receiver post  54  and the right finger clamp receiver post  56  in a compression fit. These clamping fingers are also capable of being released from their respective clamping posts when their respective cover plates are pulled away from the opening they seal. And, as noted above, such a cover plate may be provided with only one clamping finger rather than two. 
         [0034]    The opening  44  in the second upper housing base  42  is also shown having a cover plate i.e., cover plate  76 . The underside of this cover plate  76  is shown provided with a left clamping finger  78  and a right clamping finger  80 . Here again, these clamping fingers  76  and  78  are sized, configured and arranged such that they are capable of clamping around their respective finger clamp receiver posts  58  and  60 . Similarly, the opening  48  in the first lower housing chamber base  46  is occupied by cover plate  82 . Here again, the underside of this cover plate  82  is provided with clamping fingers  84  and  86  that respectively engage with clamping posts  62  and  64 . A comparable arrangement is found in the second lower housing chamber  32 . That is to say that its base  50  has an opening  52  that is occupied by a cover plate  88  having left and right clamping fingers  90  and  92  that respectively engage finger clamp receiver posts  66  and  68  in a compression fit. These two finger clamp systems may likewise be replaced with a single finger clamping finger system. 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  also shows the lower housing  14  provided with a piston cylinder  94 . This piston cylinder  94  contains a coil spring  96  that surrounds a lower portion of the connector rod  24 . In  FIG. 3 , the spring  96  is depicted as being substantially in its uncompressed state. A piston  98  is shown affixed to the lower end of the connector rod  24 . The upper end of the piston cylinder  94  is provided with an abutment surface  100  that abuts strongly against the upper end of the coil spring  96  when said spring is placed in its compressed state as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of Applicants&#39; personal item storage device  10 . It particularly illustrates how the cover plate  82  for the opening  48  in the first lower housing chamber base  46  and the cover plate  88  for the opening  52  in the second lower housing chamber base  50  can be removed (to respectively expose chambers  30  and  32  for insertion of small items such as personal items, keepsake materials or other such objects) when the upper housing  12  is raised and rotated by about 90 degrees.  FIG. 4  also illustrates the contour of a seating surface  15  upon which a downwardly protruding lip (not shown), located on the underside of the upper housing  12 , will rest when the storage device  10  is in its closed position. The upper and lower housings are held in this closed position by a force created by the coil spring&#39;s tendency to expand against the top end of the piston cylinder  94  and the abutment surface  100  located at the top of said piston cylinder  94 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  is a cut-away view of Applicants&#39; personal item storage device  10  when its upper housing  12  is raised above its lower housing  14  (e.g., by opposing forces  102  and  104  supplied by human hands) and rotated about 90 degrees. This view also illustrates how such forces  102  and  104  serve to compress the coil spring  96  between the top of the piston  98  and the spring abutment surface  100  located in the top of the piston cylinder  94 . 
         [0038]      FIG. 6  is an exploded cross-section view of another embodiment  106  of this invention wherein an upper housing  108  and a lower housing  110  are each shown provided with cylindrically shaped chambers that are especially adapted for housing capsules, pods and the like. For example,  FIG. 6  shows the upper housing  108  provided with a left capsule-receiver chamber  112  and a right capsule-receiver chamber  114 . Likewise, the lower housing  110  is shown provided with a left capsule-receiver chamber  116  and a right capsule-receiver chamber  118 . All of these receiver chambers are shown as having generally cylindrical configurations (however, other chamber geometries, e.g., elliptical, square, rectangular might also be employed).  FIG. 6  also suggests that a capsule  120  (also shown exploded and in cross-section) is intended to be placed in a capsule-receiver chamber (e.g., capsule-receiver chamber  118 ) and that such a capsule  120  is, in turn, intended to house a personal item  122  e.g., a slip of paper upon which personal information (e.g., a safe combination) is written. Such a capsule  120  may, for example, be made of a clear plastic material so that the personal item  122  may be viewed while it is in the capsule. 
         [0039]    Since  FIG. 6  depicts Applicants&#39; personal item storage device  106  (having an attachment device  109 ) in a state wherein the upper housing  108  is raised above its lower housing  110 , the coil spring  142  (which encompasses connector rod  143 ) is in a compressed state between the top  144  of piston  146  and a spring abutment surface  148  in the general manner discussed with respect to the personal item storage device depicted in  FIG. 5 . It also should be noted that the capsule  120  shown in  FIG. 6  can be “sealed” in the personal item storage device  106  by simply re-closing said device (e.g., rotating the upper housing about 90 degrees so that the coil spring  142  expands into its expanded state, a Ia the expanded state of coil spring  96  shown in  FIG. 3 ). In other words, no separate and distinct chamber covers are needed to seal the chambers in certain embodiments of this invention. 
         [0040]      FIG. 7  shows the personal item storage device  106  of  FIG. 6  associated with capsule  124  having a threaded cap  126 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 8  shows the personal item storage device  106  of  FIG. 6  associated with a capsule  128  having a threaded cap  130  and further provided with a nub-shaped ring  132  on its outer surface. Such a nub-shaped ring  132  can achieve a compression fit in an indentation  134  that encompasses a portion of a given chamber such as chamber  118  and thereby securing the capsule  128  within said chamber  118 .  FIG. 8  also shows the lower edge  136  of the upper housing  108  further provided with a downwardly protruding lip  138 . This downwardly protruding lip  138  abuts with a seating surface  140  near the upper rim area of the lower housing  110  (in the same general manner as the seating surface  15  in  FIG. 4  receives a protruding surface on the underside of upper housing  12 ).  FIG. 8  also depicts the lower edge  136  of the upper housing  108  further provided with a protruding nub, cotter key or the like  137 . When the upper and lower housings are abutted against each other, the nub, cotter key  137 , etc. will reside in a suitably sized and placed cavity  139  in the lower housing  110  and thereby preventing the upper housing  108  from horizontally rotating with respect to the lower housing  110 .  FIG. 8  also shows the cavity  118  descending at an angle θ of about 45 degrees. Other angular orientations e.g., 90, 60, 30 and 0 (i.e., a vertical orientation) degrees are also possible. 
         [0042]      FIG. 9  is an exploded perspective view showing the upper housing  108  of the storage device  106  raised above the lower housing  110  and rotated about 90 degrees. In this state, the chambers  116  and  118  are ready to receive respective capsules  127  and  128 .  FIG. 9  also depicts the upper housing  108  provided with a window  129  (e.g., made of glass or a clear plastic material) through which a chamber (and its contents) may be viewed. Indeed the entire upper housing (and/or lower housing) may be made of such a clear material. 
         [0043]      FIG. 10  illustrates another embodiment wherein an upper region of one or more of the chambers (e.g., chamber  114 ) can be provided with a threaded surface  150  that is adapted to receive a threaded cap  152 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 11  illustrates yet another embodiment of this invention wherein an upper region of one or more of the chambers (e.g., chamber  114 ) is provided with a protruding portion  154  adapted to receive a compression fitting cap  156 . 
         [0045]      FIG. 12  depicts another embodiment of this invention wherein the personal item storage device  158  is relatively large (e.g., having a diameter up to about 36 inches) compared to pendent versions of this invention. It has an upper housing  160  and a lower housing  162 . It is intended to rest upon a flat surface such as a floor, mantle or desktop surface  164 . This is accomplished by providing the personal item storage device with a base  166 . In view of the relatively large size of this embodiment the upper housing  160  is shown provided with a handle  168  suitable for gripping by a human hand. The upper housing  160  meets in abutting contact with the lower housing  162  along a straight line contact surface  170 . 
         [0046]    Finally, those skilled in this art will appreciate that, while this invention has been described in detail and with reference to certain specific embodiments thereof, various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this patent disclosure.