Abstract:
A method for making a decorative ear cover includes generating a positive mold of a user&#39;s ear, placing the mold on a thermoforming machine, placing a thermoforming film in the thermoforming machine such that the thermoforming film is disposed over the positive mold, activating the thermoforming machine, so as to heat the thermoforming film, provide suction on a bottom side of the thermoforming film, and thermoforming the film to a shape of the positive mold, thereby generating a decorative ear cover, de-activating the thermoforming machine and removing the decorative ear cover from the thermoforming machine, and trimming sides of the decorative ear cover such that only portions of the thermoforming film that reflect the shape of the positive mold remain.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not Applicable. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable. 
       INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC 
       [0003]    Not Applicable. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The invention disclosed broadly relates to the field of jewelry and fashion accessories, and more particularly relates to the field of decorative accessories for the ears. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear. Earrings are worn by both sexes, although more common among women, and have been used by different civilizations in different times. Common locations for piercings, other than the earlobe, include the rook, tragus, and across the helix of the ear. The simple term “ear piercing” usually refers to an earlobe piercing, whereas piercings in the upper part of the external ear are often referred to as “cartilage piercings.” Cartilage piercings are more complex to perform than earlobe piercings and take longer to heal. Ear piercing is one of the oldest known forms of body modification, with artistic and written references from cultures around the world dating back to early history. 
         [0006]    Earring components may be made of any number of materials, including metal, plastic, glass, precious stone, beads, wood, bone, and other materials. Designs range from small loops and studs to large plates and dangling items. The size is ultimately limited by the physical capacity of the earlobe to hold the earring without tearing. This leads to one of the drawbacks of conventional earrings—typically, earrings are sold in standard sizes that may fit a majority of wearers but do not fit a substantial minority of consumers. Further, earrings, earring components and other ear accessories have not developed or progressed in a substantial way in recent history. I.e., the earrings and ear accessories available today are almost identical to those available decades ago. 
         [0007]    Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above, and particularly for a more efficient way of providing a variety of well-fitting ear accessories to consumers. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    Briefly, according to one embodiment, an interchangeable door handle system is disclosed. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of disclosed concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description including the drawings provided. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this Summary intended to be used to limit the claimed subject matter&#39;s scope. 
         [0009]    The method for making a decorative ear cover includes generating a positive mold of a user&#39;s ear, placing the mold on a thermoforming machine, placing a thermoforming film in the thermoforming machine such that the thermoforming film is disposed over the positive mold, activating the thermoforming machine, so as to heat the thermoforming film, provide suction on a bottom side of the thermoforming film, and thermoforming the film to a shape of the positive mold, thereby generating a decorative ear cover, de-activating the thermoforming machine and removing the decorative ear cover from the thermoforming machine, and trimming sides of the decorative ear cover such that only portions of the thermoforming film that reflect the shape of the positive mold remain. 
         [0010]    The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features and also the advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Additionally, the left-most digit of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears. 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of a system for making a custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is an illustration of a vacuum molding system for making a custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is an illustration of the main components used during fabrication of the custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of several views of several embodiment of a custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is an illustration of several views of several embodiments of a custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is an illustration of a custom fit decorative ear cover before placement on a consumer&#39;s ear, in accordance with one embodiment. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is an illustration of a custom fit decorative ear cover after placement on a consumer&#39;s ear, in accordance with one embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While embodiments of the invention may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the proper scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. 
         [0020]    In accordance with the embodiments described herein, a customized decorative ear cover is disclosed that overcomes the problems with the prior art as discussed above, by providing a decorative ear cover that is custom fit to a user&#39;s ear and provides the consumer with a variety of ear covers to choose from. Applicant&#39;s system provides a more efficient way of providing a variety of well-fitting decorative ear covers to consumers. The invention also provides an apparatus and method of making the custom fit decorative ear covers with a minimal number of component parts, thereby reducing the potential for failure or malfunction of the manufacturing process. Also, the minimal number of component parts of the custom fit decorative ear covers allows for quick and inexpensive fabrication of the device, thereby meeting the economic requirements for a decorative ear cover that allows for purchase of multiple ear covers. The ear covers can be constructed of various inexpensive materials, such as acrylic, plastic and rubber, as well as expensive materials such as precious stones and crystal. 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of a system  100  for making a custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment.  FIG. 1  shows the system  100  includes a thermoforming machine  102  (described more fully below) and various materials  120 ,  122  for making negative mold impressions of a user&#39;s ear and positive molds  110  of a user&#39;s ear. System  100  also includes bowls  111 ,  113  and spatula  117  for mixing the materials  120 ,  122 . Lastly, the system  100  includes containers  115  for holding the materials  120 ,  122  and thermoforming films  130 ,  139 . 
         [0022]    In one embodiment, a user creates a viscous, thixotropic impression material by mixing materials  120 ,  122  in a bowl or impression tray  111  using the spatula  117 . Alternatively, the impression material may be created by mixing materials  120 ,  122  in an automated mixer. When complete, the impression tray  111  holding the impression material may then be placed on top of a vibrating machine  121 , which vibrated the impression tray so as to remove any air bubbles in the impression materia. Common materials  120 ,  122  used to create the impression material are sodium alginate, polyether and silicones—both condensation-cured silicones and addition-cured silicones, such as polyvinyl siloxane. Alternatives include plaster of Paris, zinc oxide eugenol and agar. 
         [0023]    A negative mold impression of a user&#39;s ear can be made by placing the impression tray holding the impression material onto the user&#39;s ear such that the ear is enveloped in impression material. The impression material then sets to become an elastic solid, and, when removed from the ear, provides a detailed and stable negative mold impression of the ear. Subsequently, additional materials (such as materials  120 ,  122  or the same impression material) are placed into the negative impression mold so as to create a positive mold  110  of the user&#39;s ear. The positive mold  110  is used to create a custom fit decorative ear cover using the thermoforming machine  102 . 
         [0024]    Thermoforming is a manufacturing process where a plastic sheet  130  or  139  is heated to a pliable forming temperature, formed to a specific shape in a positive mold  110 , and trimmed to create a usable product. The sheet or “film”  130  is heated (in a thermoforming machine  102  or in an oven) to a high-enough temperature that it can be stretched into or onto a positive mold  110  and cooled to a finished shape. In its simplest form, a small tabletop or lab size machine  102  can be used to heat small cut sections of a plastic sheet  130  and stretch it over a positive mold  110  using a vacuum created by a thermoforming machine  102 . This method is often used for sample and prototype parts. In complex and high-volume applications, very large production machines are utilized to heat and form the plastic sheet and trim the formed parts from the sheet in a continuous high-speed process. Thermoforming differs from injection molding, blow molding, rotational molding, and other forms of processing plastics. Thin-gauge thermoforming refers to the usage of thinner films  130  and thick-gauge thermoforming refers to the usage of thicker films  130 . 
         [0025]    In the most common method of high-volume, continuous thermoforming of thin-gauge products, a plastic sheet is fed from a roll or from an extruder into a set of indexing chains that incorporate pins, or spikes, that pierce the sheet and transport it through an oven for heating to forming temperature. The heated sheet then indexes into a form station where a mating positive mold and pressure-box close on the sheet, with vacuum or suction then applied to the underside of the sheet to remove trapped air and to pull the material into or onto the mold along with pressurized air to form the plastic to the detailed shape of the mold. After a short form cycle, a burst of reverse air pressure or reverse suction is actuated from the vacuum side of the mold as the form tooling opens, commonly referred to as air-eject, to break the vacuum and assist the formed parts off of, or out of, the mold. A stripper plate may also be utilized on the mold as it opens for ejection of more detailed parts or those with negative-draft, undercut areas. The sheet containing the formed parts then indexes into a trim station on the same machine, where a die cuts the parts from the remaining sheet web, or indexes into a separate trim press where the formed parts are trimmed. The sheet web remaining after the formed parts are trimmed is typically wound onto a take-up reel or fed into an inline granulator for recycling. 
         [0026]    Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, whereby a sheet  130  of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto or into a single-surface mold  110 , and held against the mold by applying a vacuum between the mold surface and the sheet  130 . Suitable materials for use in vacuum forming are conventionally thermoplastics. The most common and easiest to use thermoplastic is high impact polystyrene sheeting (HIPS), which can form to almost any shape. Vacuum forming is also appropriate for transparent materials such as acrylic. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  is an illustration of a vacuum molding system for making a custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment.  FIG. 2  shows the films  130 , a positive mold  110  and a perforated flat element  202 . The positive mold  110  is placed on top of the flat element  202 , and the film  130  is placed inside of the clamp  210  of the vacuum forming machine  102 . (Whereas  FIG. 1  shows the clamp  210  in a raised position,  FIG. 1  shows the clamp  210  in a lowered position.) Once the positive mold  110  is placed on top of the flat element  202 , and the film  130  is placed inside of the clamp  210 , the heating lamp  215  is activated, which makes the film  130  more pliable and moldable. When the film  130  is adequately heated, the clamp  210  is lowered such that the film  130  is draped over the mold  110  and machine  102  is activated, wherein suction or a vacuum is placed on the underside of the sheet  130  (via the perforations in the flat element  202 ). The suction force draws the film  130  down over the mold  110  and thereby forms the decorative ear cover to reflect the contours and shape of the mold  110 . At this juncture, any of the interim steps described below, may be executed. 
         [0028]    Subsequently, the clamp  210  is raised and the decorative ear cover is removed from the mold  110 . Then, any pieces of the film  130  that do not reflect the contours and shape of the mold  110  are cut, clipped or removed from edges of the decorative ear cover. Lastly, one or more paints, fabrics, glitter, and/or decorative elements may be applied to the exterior of the decorative ear cover. Decorative elements include small rigid objects that maintain their shape during the thermoforming process, such as beads, crystals, stones, precious stones, buttons, cylindrical elements, toroidal elements, washers, bolts, nuts, etc. 
         [0029]    In one embodiment, decorative elements may be applied to the mold  110  before the step of forming the film  130  over the mold  110 . This would result in the decorative ear cover reflecting, or conforming to, the shape of the decorative element. This process is described in greater detail below. 
         [0030]    In another embodiment, an example interim step is executed as follows: one or more paints, fabrics, glitter, and/or decorative elements may be applied to the exterior of the decorative ear cover, and an additional or second film  139  may be applied over the same, using the steps described above. This results in a decorative ear cover that comprises a first or base film  130 , a layer of paints, fabrics, glitter, and/or decorative elements and a second or last film  139  disposed over the paints, fabrics, glitter, or decorative elements, such that the paints, fabrics, glitter, or decorative elements are protectively encased in the two layers of film. In this embodiment, the paints, fabrics, glitter, or decorative elements are sealed between the first film  130  and the second film  139 . This feature protects the paints, fabrics, glitter, or decorative elements from wear and tear and keeps them securely in place. 
         [0031]      FIG. 3  is an illustration of the main components used during fabrication of the custom fit decorative ear cover, in accordance with one embodiment.  FIG. 3  shows the film  130 , a positive mold  110 , decorative elements  302  and a perforated flat element  202 . The decorative elements  302  may be beads, cylindrical elements or any items of any shape that add a decorative element to the decorative ear cover. The positive mold  110  is placed on top of the flat element  202 , the decorative elements  302  are placed on top of the mold  110 , and the film  130  is formed on top of the mold  110 , using the vacuum forming machine  102  as described above. This forms the decorative ear cover to reflect the contours and shape of the mold  110  and decorative elements  302 . In one alternative, at this juncture, one or more paints, fabrics, glitter, or decorative elements are applied to the decorative ear cover. 
         [0032]    Subsequently, in one alternative, an additional film  139  is formed over or on top of the first film  130  of the decorative ear cover, so as to create a decorative ear cover with multiple layers. 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of several embodiments  402 ,  404  of custom fit decorative ear covers, in accordance with one embodiment. The custom fit decorative ear covers  402 ,  404  show that the custom fit decorative ear covers include impressions  412  and  414  resulting from the use of at least four decorative elements  302 .  FIG. 5  is an illustration of several embodiments  502 ,  504  of custom fit decorative ear covers, in accordance with one embodiment. The custom fit decorative ear covers  502 ,  504  show that the custom fit decorative ear covers include impressions  512  and  514  resulting from the use of the decorative elements  302 . Two decorative elements are used in cover  502  and four decorative elements are used in cover  504 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 6  is an illustration of a custom fit decorative ear cover  402  before placement on the ear  612  of a consumer  602 , in accordance with one embodiment.  FIG. 7  is an illustration of a custom fit decorative ear cover  402  after placement on the ear  612  of a consumer  602 , in accordance with one embodiment. As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , a consequence of the use of the custom molding procedure is that the decorative ear cover  402  is shaped to fit exactly the contours and surfaces of the consumer&#39;s ear  612 , and therefore the decorative ear cover  402  is shaped to fit securely over the consumer&#39;s ear  612 , while allowing the decorative ear cover  402  to be easily and quickly removed and re-attached. 
         [0035]    In one embodiment, the use of the system and components described in  FIGS. 1 and 2  can be replaced with the use of a 3D scanner and printer to create the negative mold, the positive mold  110  and/or the decorative ear covers  402 ,  404 ,  502 ,  504 . A 3D scanner is a device that analyzes a real-world object or environment to collect data on its shape and possibly its appearance (i.e. color). The collected data can then be used to construct digital, three dimensional models. Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. 3D printing is considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling. In one embodiment, the 3D scanner is used to scan the user&#39;s ear. Next, the 3D printer is used to generate the negative mold, the positive mold  110  and/or the decorative ear covers  402 ,  404 ,  502 ,  504 . 
         [0036]    While certain embodiments of the invention have been described, other embodiments may exist. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. Although specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, those having ordinary skill in the art will understand that changes can be made to the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is not to be restricted, therefore, to the specific embodiments. Furthermore, it is intended that the appended claims cover any and all such applications, modifications, and embodiments within the scope of the present invention.