Patent Application
20100229596
The present invention relates to jewelry and more particular to an article of jewelry which includes a visible sealed container for storing a material with special significance.
In a number of religions throughout the world, variety of substances such as water or oil may have special significance to an individual. For example, holy water from a baptismal font where a person was baptized or from a shrine such as Lourdes, France hold special significance. Some people like to carry such substances with them as they go about their daily lives.
Another substance that some people desire to keep close to them are ashes of a loved one who has passed away. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,174, a jewelry container is disclosed in which ashes are permanently hermetically sealed in a container which is then inserted into a piece of jewelry. The problem with this container, is that the wearer must rely on the integrity of the jeweler that the ashes are actually contained in the hermetically sealed container. Moreover, the comfort that a person might obtain from viewing the ashes is not available to the wearer of such jewelry as the ashes cannot be seen in the hermetically sealed container.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an article of jewelry which can house substances that traditionally must be carried in sealed containers.
Another object of the present invention to provide an article of jewelry in which a substance with special significance, such as holy water or ashes, can be viewed when stored within the article of jewelry.
The article of jewelry of the present invention includes a hollowed out portion in a body of such article into which a sealed transparent container is inserted. The article of jewelry also has an opening through one of its faces to expose the hollowed out portion. The transparent container is sealed after a substance with special significance is inserted into the container.
Referring now to
In a preferred embodiment, the liquid, ashes or other material that the owner of the article of jewelry desires to store in the container 14 is either inserted by the user or sent away to a jeweler or other person to insert the material into the container 14. A plug of epoxy is placed inside one end of the container 14 to provide a seal before the water, oil, ashes or other material is inserted in the container 14. Once the material is inserted a second epoxy plug is placed on the opposite side of the container 14 thereby securely sealing the container 14. In other embodiments, the container 14 could have a single opening. In such an embodiment where a tubular container is used, the bottom surface can be molded with the side walls.
After the material to be stored is placed in the container 14, the container 14 is then inserted into the hollowed out core 12. One of caps 18 is then inserted into the hollowed out core and is secured to the bottom of the hollowed out core through the use of a removable pin 16. Likewise, on the opposite end of the jewelry a second cap 18 is inserted into the article of jewelry 10 and is also secured with a removable pin 16. In the embodiment shown, since the article of jewelry is a cross a top tube bail 20 is secured to the top cap 18 so that a chain can be placed through the bail 20 to enable the article of jewelry to be worn around a neck.
While these and other features and objects of the present invention have been described with reference to its preferred embodiments, various alterations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. For example, the material inserted in the container 14 could be more solid physical material such as grains of sand, a four-leaf clover, a strand of hair, etc. All such alterations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.
