Patent Publication Number: US-2009217702-A1

Title: Illuminating jewelry items useful for sending coded messages to other persons

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to the field of jewelry items, and in particular, light emitting jewelry. The present invention sends coded signals to other persons. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Modern society presents many ways for a person to meet other people. They can join a dating service, they can meet in an Internet chat room, or other Internet locations, they can meet at bars or at gatherings intended for people to meet each other, such as speed dating events. While all of these kinds of arrangements offer some benefit, they fail to address the kind of spontaneous situation that can arise when two strangers encounter each other at a restaurant, a park, a ball game, a subway station, or any other of thousands of places where people encounter each other. 
     Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a device or apparatus that would allow one person to send another person a coded, non-verbal message which means that the message sender is interested in meeting other persons, is open for contacts and does not mind to be approached by other people right then and there in order to establish a contact or relationship. One of the advantages of such a system is that the person receiving the message would have no doubt that the person sending the signal is interested in meeting. In the absence of such a signal a person may be left to wonder if there is interest in meeting, as there could be any number of reasons why initiating contact would not be a good idea: a person is married or involved in a relationship, a person is not married but is not interested in any new contacts, a person does not want to be approached by strangers etc. On the other hand, a person can be in the company of another person (who could be just a friend or a relative) and would still like to meet somebody for establishing a relationship. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a device that would allow a person possessing the device to send coded, non-verbal messages to other persons, which indicates a desire and willingness to meet, as well as to send any of a number of other possible coded non-verbal messages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Providing a device that would allow a user to send a coded, non-verbal signal to other persons is an object of the invention. 
     Providing the aforementioned device in jewelry form is a further object of the present invention. 
     Providing a device that would allow a person send a non-verbal message to another person, indicating, among other possible messages, a willingness for social interaction, is a further object of the present invention. 
     The present invention is directed to a device, such as light emitting jewelry, provided with a power source, such as a battery, and a light source maintained behind a display surface, from which light of a preselected color can be perceived by an observer. The emitted color of light, which functions as a coded signal, informs the observer whether the jewelry wearer is interested in interacting socially. Thus, the jewelry product of the present invention can be used by a wearer to signal other persons as to the wearer&#39;s level of interest in meeting, or, just as possibly, signal the other person as to the wearer&#39;s disinterest in meeting. 
     The jewelry of the present invention expresses a non-verbal code to other persons through the use of colored light, which non-verbal code communicates the desire for social interaction. The jewelry item includes a housing for holding the light source such as a light bulb or LED, a colored lens, if necessary, a power source, such as a battery, and electrical connection between the power source and the light source. A switch provided on the jewelry item activates the light source by the wearer of the jewelry item. Alternatively, the jewelry item may contain a plurality of light sources, and/or colored lenses in order to provide the wearer with the flexibility to non-verbally communicate any one of a number of codes messages, depending on the circumstances and present inclinations of the wearer. 
     Thus, when a person in possession of the device (first person) encounters someone who they desire to meet (second person), the first person can power the device (or otherwise have it on at all times), which sends a colored light, coded signal to the second person, notifying the second person, non-verbally, that the first person has an interest in engaging in conversation or other social interaction with the second person. 
     The device therefore functions as an door opener, so to speak, that allows people in possession of the jewelry item to communicate willingness to engaging socially, also allowing the observer of the item to know that the possessor of the item is interested in social interaction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded side view a jewelry item of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which the front facing portion of the external housing of the present invention in which a portion of the upper surface of the external housing is cut away. 
         FIG. 3A  is a front perspective view of the jewelry item of the present invention shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3B  is a rear perspective view of the alternative embodiment of a jewelry item of the present invention shown in  FIGS. 3A and 1 . 
         FIG. 4A  is a front perspective view of another alternative embodiment of a jewelry item of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4B  is a rear perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a jewelry item of the present invention shown in  FIG. 4A . 
         FIG. 5A  is a front perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a jewelry item of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5B  is a rear perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a jewelry item of the present invention shown in  FIG. 5A . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  depicts a jewelry article  10  of the present invention in which conductive discs  20  and  30  are positioned on either side of disc- or coin-shaped battery  25 , with the discs being in electrical contact with battery  25  in an ON position, and with at least one disc  20  or  30  disengaged from the battery  25  in an OFF position. Battery  25  is mounted to one of the discs, which as depicted is the lower disc  30 . Disc  30  is mounted over the battery, supported by a plurality of non-conductive spring like legs  42  and  44  that bias the disc  25  against contact with the battery. That is, the electrical circuit needed to power the light source is only completed when a force on disc  20 , sufficient to overcome the biasing of the legs  42  and  44 , is applied and maintained to engage the disc  30  with the battery  25 . Electrical leads  32  and  33  are connected at first ends to discs  20  and  30 , respectively, from which wires  35  and  36  extend. Wires  35  and  36  are further connected to the socket  38  of a light bulb  40 . Socket  38  is maintained in a stable position by supporting plate  45 , provided with an aperture (not shows) into which the socket  38  fits snugly. The light bulb may be a conventional incandescent bulb or alternatively may be a light emitting diode (LED). Again, when the circuit is completed, the light will power. 
     The aforementioned components are maintained within a rear-housing component  15 , with conductive disc  30  mounted to the rear-housing component. As shown, the rear-housing component  15  is provided with a back wall  16  and sidewalls  17 . The interior portion of the sidewalls  17  may be provided with threads  18  for engaging with an external housing  50  that serves as the front facing exterior of the jewelry item. 
     The rear-facing side of the rear-housing component  15  is provided with a pin  8 , sufficient to pierce the clothing of a wearer. A jewelry lock  6  provided with central aperture  7  is also, provided, for fitting over the pin  8 , which allows the jewelry item  10  to be locked onto the wearer. 
     Alternatively, the rear-facing side of the housing can be provided with another kind of fastener that allows for the jewelry to attach to the wearer. Such fasteners may include safety pin type jewelry fasteners that attach to the housing rear face, or a frictionally engaging or spring biased clip that secures to a pocket, or even to the wearer&#39;s hair. These are examples of some of the kinds of fasteners that could be provided to the jewelry item in order to secure it to the wearer Furthermore, the above-described arrangement could be mounted upon another piece of jewelry, such as a bracelet, necklace, ring, or earring. 
     Further as shown in  FIG. 1 , an external housing  50 , formed entirely of or for a least a portion thereof of light transmissive material  50 , is positioned over the light bulb  40 . The external housing  50  can be a colored plastic that allows light to pass through the material. In one embodiment, the external housing  50  is a light transmissive plastic material. The outer edges of the external housing  50  can be provided with threads  52  on the outer surface of the housing, which allows the external housing to maintained and tightened onto the base by a threading action. Tightening the external housing onto the base can result in downward pressure onto the upper disc  20 , which can complete the electrical circuit, thereby illuminating the light bulb  40 . 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate the embodiment of  FIG. 1  in an assembled state. As evident, the jewelry item depicted in these figures is a badge or brooch.  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B,  5 A, and  5 B illustrate alternatives in other shapes (square and rectangular). The light transmissive material can exhibit a color that is associated with a particular coded message. 
       FIG. 2  shows an alternative embodiment to the jewelry item  10  in which the color of the light transmissive material can be changed as desired by the wearer. The front facing housing  50  can be formed of an opaque material into which an aperture  60  has been formed. The central aperture can allow for the viewing and observation of a colored lens  75  positioned under the front facing housing  50 , which colored lens  75  can be dialed into place in order to allow the wearer to send any one of a number of coded, non-verbal messages expressing, with specificity, the wearer&#39;s desire to engage in social interaction. For example, a color disc  70  (visible here because a portion of the front facing housing  50  is cut away), is provided with a plurality of colored lenses (here shown as blue (B), green (G), red (R), and yellow (Y) is positioned between the bulb  40  and aperture  60 . The color disc, an edge of which extends outward from the external housing  50 , can be turned by the wearer to in order to select a color for display, to convey any one of a number of coded messages indicating the desire for social interaction that is felt by the wearer. 
     Merely by way of example, a display of the color green could mean: “I am interested in meeting people of the opposite sex”; blue could mean that “I am interested in meeting people of the same sex”; red could mean “I am not interested in meeting at this time”; and yellow could mean that “if we meet, its just as friends”. Thus, it is contemplated that the jewelry items of the present invention will be used with a specific, predetermined code, understandable by the wearer and observers alike. Such a code can be widely disseminated through any number of means, such as by Internet website, or through directions and product packaging that are provided at the time of sale or other product distribution, or through other promotional and marketing activities. 
     The jewelry item of the present invention can take any number of forms. It may be in the form of a brooch, pin, bracelet, hair pin, badge, necklace, ring, or earring, to name but a few possibilities. 
     Thus, when the wearer of the jewelry item is in a social setting and wishes to send a coded, non-verbal message to another person in that setting, he or she can turn on the light source (or perpetually have it on), as described above, which may simply display a single color ( FIG. 1  and  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B,  4 A,  4 B,  5 A,  5 B), or which may allow the wearer to select a color for display, which color matches the wearer&#39;s desire for social interaction, and perhaps that person&#39;s specific desire for social interaction. Thus, if the wearer sees someone across the room who they desire to meet, they either display and illuminate the mono-color jewelry item that sends that message (such as green, as described above), or selects that color from among the plurality of colors that could be made selected from the color wheel described above. If the wearer&#39;s object of desire is knowledgeable in the color code that he or she has been sent, then the seeds of social interaction have been planted, thereby eliminating the initial awkward encounter that might otherwise occur. Or if person  1  (observer) has a green light on, person  2  (observer, passerby) can just start up a conversation.