Patent Application
20170035162
In general, the present invention pertains to functional aspects of jewelry. In particular, the invention relates to functional jewelry configured to contain and gradually volatize fragrance as well as to systems and methods of producing the same.
There a variety of jewelry available nowadays, including high end jewelry, distinctive and fashionable jewelry. Nevertheless functional jewelry configured to receive, contain and gradually volatize fragrance, such as perfume, over a prolonged period of time, is much more seldom.
Typically perfumes are sprayed or otherwise applied to certain parts of the human body, directly contacted with human skin. Those who are allergic to direct contact with perfumes or have sensitive skin, however, can't use perfumes by applying them directly onto their skin, since a substantial amount of propellant included in perfume composition can be of harm to the human skin or cause discomfort to users.
Moreover since perfumes easily volatilize, for some users, applying perfume once a day doesn't meet their needs and requires additional application of the perfume from time to time throughout the day.
It is believed that the current state of the art is represented by the following patent literature: U.S. Pat. No. 2,620,227, U.S. Pat. No. 8,082,754, U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,363, U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,729, U.S. Pat. No. 7,896,256, US 20050034480, US 20130139549 and EP2229835.
There a variety of jewelry available nowadays, including high end jewelry, distinctive and fashionable jewelry. Nevertheless functional jewelry configured to receive, contain and gradually volatize fragrance, such as perfume, over a prolonged period of time, is much more seldom.
Typically perfumes are sprayed or otherwise applied to certain parts of the human body, directly contacted with human skin. Those who are allergic to direct contact with perfumes or have sensitive skin, however, can't use perfumes by applying them directly onto their skin, since a substantial amount of propellant included in perfume composition can be of harm to the human skin or cause discomfort to users.
Moreover since perfumes easily volatilize, for some users, applying perfume once a day doesn't meet their needs and requires additional application of the perfume from time to time throughout the day.
It is believed that the current state of the art is represented by the following patent literature: U.S. Pat. No. 2,620,227, U.S. Pat. No. 8,082,754, U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,363, U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,729, U.S. Pat. No. 7,896,256, US 20050034480, US 20130139549 and EP 2229835.
The present invention will be understood and appreciated more comprehensively from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown merely by way of example in the drawings. The drawings are not necessarily complete and components are not essentially to scale; emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles underlying the present invention.
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with technology- or business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that the effort of such a development might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to
Shell 12 comprises interior cavity 18 used to accommodate at least one absorbent element 22, comprising an absorbing material configured to absorb frequents, such as perfumes, to extend the term of volatilization. Exemplary absorbing material of absorbent element 22 is a silicon gel. It should be acknowledged, however, that any polymeric compound, paper or other organic compounds or any other somewhat porous, membranous or fibrous material, characterized by a relatively large surface area that can efficiently absorb perfumes is equally applicable and contemplated in the context of absorbent element 22.
Functional jewelry 10 comprises sintered metal sheet 25, disposed on top of absorbent element 22 and embedded in top portion of shell 12. Sintered sheet 25 is preferably removable so that absorbent element 22 can be replaced to extend the service life functional jewelry 10. Sintered metal sheet 25 optionally comprises metallic particles of copper or other metal.
In some preferred embodiments, the top portion of vertical sidewall 16 of shell 12 comprises exterior rim 28, defining interior upper groove 30. Exterior rim 28 preferably comprises downwardly tapered inner face 32; whereas sintered metal sheet 25 preferably comprises upwardly tapered outer face 35. Functional jewelry 10 is preferably assembled by shrink fitting sintered metal sheet 25 within interior upper groove 30 defined by exterior rim 28 at the top portion of vertical sidewall 16. Shrink fitting, as referred to herein, includes increasing the temperature of shell 12 to about 150 degrees Celsius, thereby causing shell 12 to expand and assume somewhat lager dimensions, while decreasing the or at least maintaining the temperature of sintered metal sheet 25, for instance by freezing sintered metal sheet 25, so that sintered metal sheet 25 is introducible into interior upper groove 30 defined by exterior rim 28 at the top portion of vertical sidewall 16. Upon returning to a normal temperate, shell 12 shrinks down and effectively locks sintered metal sheet 25. Preferably upon locking sintered metal sheet 25 in place, downwardly tapered inner face 32 of exterior rim 28 surpasses upwardly tapered outer face 35 of sintered metal sheet 25 so that the former is disposed on top of the latter.
It is noted that the method of shrink fitting sintered metal sheet 25 in shell 12 allows affixing sintered metal sheet 25 in shell 12 so that the upper surface of sintered metal sheet 25 does not surpass the upper surface of vertical sidewall 16. In some preferred embodiments, exterior rim 28 is thicker than sintered metal sheet 25 so that the upper surface vertical sidewall 16 surpasses the upper surface of sintered metal sheet 25 by about 100 to 1500 micron.
Since sintered metal sheet 25 comprises metal particles, upper surface sintered metal sheet 25 forms numerous gaps, so that perfumes can spontaneously permeate through these gaps into absorbent element 22 of functional jewelry 10 in a liquid form and then to volatilize slowly and enduringly outside through these gaps in a gaseous form. Perfume, essence, sesame oil or other fragrances can be sprayed directly or otherwise applied onto sintered metal sheet 25, such as by dripping, soaking, filling or smearing.
Other connection techniques in lieu of shrink fitting between sintered metal sheet 25 and shell 12 also can be employed to make it easier to replace absorbent element 22 in interior cavity 18 of functional jewelry 10, such as snapping connection or buckle connection.
It should be acknowledged that embodiments of functional jewelry 10 are not limited to pendants but equally applicable to a key chain, bracelet etc.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described herein above. Rather the scope of the invention is defined by the claims which follow:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1513744.1 | Aug 2015 | GB | national |
