Patent Publication Number: US-2022225741-A1

Title: Necklace Assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/139,700 filed Jan. 20, 2021, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to an article intended to be worn around the neck of a person which includes a storage container for holding an item. More specifically, the present invention is a necklace assembly for holding a tube of lip balm which can be worn about the neck. The present invention is specifically designed for Chapsticks. However, the present invention is not limited to this option, and it may further be adapted for different purposes. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Lip balm or lip salve is a wax-like substance applied topically to the lips to moisturize and relieve chapped or dry lips, angular cheilitis, stomatitis, or cold sores. The primary purpose of lip balm is to provide an occlusive layer on the lip surface to seal moisture in lips and protect them from external exposure. 
     Lip balm can be applied where a finger is used to apply it to the lips, or in a lipstick-style tube from which it can be applied directly (e.g., Chapstick, etc.). People usually put Chapsticks in their handbags, purses, etc., and may find it difficult to locate the Chapsticks if there is a need to use lip balm. Moreover, they frequently misplace their Chapsticks which forces them to purchase additional ones. The present invention aims to solve some of these problems by disclosing a necklace assembly that incorporates a storage container. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention discloses a necklace assembly that comprises a necklace and a storage container. The storage container comprises an upper member and a lower member. The upper member is detachably attached to the lower member. The upper member comprises a first interior space. The lower member comprises a second interior space. The first interior space and the second interior space together form a storage space. The storage space is a cylindrical storage space. The necklace forms a loop around a wearer&#39;s neck. The storage container is connected to the necklace. 
     One or more of the following features may be included. The necklace may comprise a first necklace portion, a second necklace portion, and a coupling mechanism. The first necklace portion may comprise a proximate end and a distal end. The second necklace portion may comprise a proximate end and a distal end. The proximate end of the first necklace portion may be connected to the storage container. The proximate end of the second necklace portion may be connected to the storage container. The coupling mechanism may be configured to detachably couple the distal end of the first necklace portion with the distal end of the second necklace portion. The coupling mechanism may comprise a hook connector and a loop connector. The hook connector may be connected to the distal end of the first necklace portion. The loop portion may be connected to the distal end of the second necklace portion. The upper member may be greater than the lower member in length. The upper member may comprise a bottom opening, and the lower member may comprise a top opening. The upper member may comprise an internal thread adjacent to the bottom opening. The lower member may comprise an external thread adjacent to the top opening. The internal thread may engage the external thread to attach the upper member to the lower member. The lower member may comprise a plurality of circumferential grooves. The necklace may travel through the upper member. The necklace, the upper member, and the lower member may be made of gold. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. They are meant to be exemplary illustrations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the dimensions of the components of the present invention, independently and in relation to each other can be different. It should be noted that the drawings are schematic and not necessarily drawn to scale. Some drawings are enlarged or reduced to improve drawing legibility. 
         FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  depicts a front view of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a perspective view of a storage container of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  depicts a front view of the storage container of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  depicts a cross-sectional view of the storage container of the present invention, taken along the line A-A in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an upper member of the storage container of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a lower member of the storage container of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION 
     As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above- disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure. 
     Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure and is made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection is to be defined by the issued claim(s) rather than the description set forth herein. 
     Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. When not explicitly defined herein, to the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail. 
     Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.” 
     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 many embodiments of the disclosure 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 disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subject matter disclosed under the header. 
     Other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the following figures and description. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below. 
     Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read together with the specification and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up”, “down” and the like, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, “radially”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly,” “outwardly” and “radially” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate. As used herein, the term “proximate” refers to positions that are situated close/near in relationship to a structure. As used in the following description, the term “distal” refers to positions that are situated away from positions. 
     The present disclosure includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in the context of necklace assembly, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to use only in this context. The present invention is a necklace assembly that is specifically designed to receive and hold a Chapstick. The present invention comprises a necklace  10  and a storage container  20 . It is an aim of the present invention to provide an assembly that can conveniently store a Chapstick. It is another aim of the present invention to provide a Chapstick-holding apparatus with improved aesthetic and functional properties. It is yet another aim of the present invention to allow easy access to the Chapstick stored inside the storage container  20  of the necklace assembly. 
     Referring now to the figures of the present disclosure.  FIG. 1  is perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. The present invention comprises a necklace  10  and a storage container  20 . The necklace  10  forms a loop that may be placed around a wearer&#39;s neck. The necklace  10  is sized and configured to fit over the head and around the neck of the wearer. It should be noted that the necklace  10  can be of any shape, size, material, features, type or kind, orientation, location, quantity, components, and arrangements of components that would allow the present invention to fulfill the objectives and intents of the present invention. For instance, the necklace  10  may be a cord, a chain, strands, multiple chains, leather, wire, or any other suitable configuration. The necklace  10  may include a plurality of decorative elements such as in the form of beads. However, decorative elements are not required, and any type of necklace  10  made of any type of material suitable for wearing around one&#39;s neck and connecting the storage container  20  of the present invention thereto may be used. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the necklace  10  is a single piece unit connected to the storage container  20 . However, in another embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the necklace  10  comprises a first necklace portion  110 , a second necklace portion  120 , and a coupling mechanism  130 . The first necklace portion  110  comprises a proximate end  112  connected to the storage container  20  and a free distal end  114 . Similarly, the second necklace portion  120  comprises a proximate end  122  connected to the storage container  20  and a free distal end  124 . The coupling mechanism  130  is configured to detachably couple the distal end  114  of the first necklace portion  110  with the distal end  124  of the second necklace portion  120 . The coupling mechanism  130  may be any suitable mechanism. For example, the coupling mechanism  130  can be simple friction, a latching mechanism, a magnetic connection, or any other connection desired. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the coupling mechanism  130  comprises a hook connecter  132  connected to the distal end  114  of the first necklace portion  110  and a loop connector  134  connected to the distal end  124  of the second necklace portion  120 . 
     In reference to  FIGS. 1-7 , the storage container  20  is configured to be connected to the necklace  10  and hold a Chapstick. In a typical embodiment, the storage container  20  comprises an upper member  210  and a lower member  220 . Preferably, the upper member  210  and the lower member  220  both have a cylindrical shape, so as to together form a tubular body. The upper member  210  comprises a first interior space  212 , while the lower member  220  comprises a second interior space  222 . The first interior space  212  and the second interior space  222  together form a storage space  230  sized and arranged to releasably receive a single Chapstick. It should be noted that each of the upper member  210  and the lower member  220  can be of any shape, size, material, features, type or kind, orientation, location, quantity, components, and arrangements of components that would allow the present invention to fulfill the objectives and intents of the present invention. 
     In reference to  FIGS. 1-6 , the upper member  210  is designed to detachably attach to the lower member  220 . In the illustrated embodiment, the upper member  210  is a cylindric-shaped body comprising a bottom opening  214  to receive the top portion of the Chapstick. In reference to  FIGS. 1-5 and 7 , The lower member  220  is configured to receive the majority of the Chapstick. Typically, the lower member  220  is greater than the upper member  210  in length. The lower member  220  may also be a cylindric-shaped body and comprise a top opening  224  through which the Chapstick can be inserted into the lower member. In a preferred embodiment, the upper member  210  comprises an attachment mechanism that allows the upper member  210  to detachably attach to the lower member  220 . For example, the upper member  210  may comprise an internal thread  216  for threadingly mating with an external thread  226  of the lower member  220 . Specifically, the internal thread  216  may be arranged around an interior circumference of the upper member  210 , adjacent to the bottom opening  214 ; while the external thread  226  may be positioned around an outer circumference of the lower member  220 , adjacent to the top opening  224 . In this way, the internal thread  216  engages the external thread  226  so as to attach the upper member  210  to the lower member  220 . Although in the illustrated embodiment threads are used to attach the upper member  210  to the lower member  220 , other mechanisms are also contemplated, such as a snap-fit mechanism, a friction-fit mechanism, or any other suitable attachment mechanism configured to detachably attach the upper member  210  to the lower member  220 . 
     In a preferred embodiment, the necklace  10  may travel through the upper member  210 , so as to connect the storage container  20  to the necklace  10 . In one embodiment, the lower member  220  may comprise a plurality of circumferential grooves  228 . In other embodiment, the storage container  20  can be attached to the necklace  10  using any other suitable methods. In one embodiment, various indicia, logos, or graphic images may be applied to the outer surface of the upper member  210  or the lower member  220  of the present invention or for promotional or advertising purposes. The present invention may be made of plastic material, preferably but not limited to thermoplastic material, or be made of metals (such as aluminum, stainless steel, 24k or 18k gold, 24k or 18k rose gold, etc.) or any other suitable materials or using any suitable combination thereof. It should be understood that the components of the present invention may or may not be made of the same material. Further, it is envisioned that the sizes of the components forming the present invention such as the necklace  10 , the upper member  210 , and/or the lower member  220  can vary based on design requirements. 
     Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.