1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a decoration system for home furnishings and other solid objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people enjoy decorating and customizing their rooms, furniture, and personal items. As a result, there are a large number of different arts and crafts kits that are designed to help people more easily accomplish this goal.
Such kits may include paint, markers, colored paper, fabric, felt, pictures, glitter, stickers, glue, ribbon, magnets, beads, sequins, or jewelry, as well as two- and three-dimensional representations of people, animals, and other objects.
Most kits only allow a user to decorate an object a single time. A user might paint, apply stickers or glitter to, or otherwise modify an object. However, once the user has finished, there are no or very limited means by which the user may remove or undo what the user has done.
Additionally, most decorations are stationary. Once applied, they neither move on their own nor may they be moved by a user.
Furthermore, these kits are generally designed with the intent that a user only make use of the provided items, and such items are usually all of the same theme. As a result, a user has limited options as to how they may decorate a desired object. Moreover, the base object of other decoration systems is typically one item serving one purpose, for example a clock or a message board.
Accordingly, there is a need for a decoration system with a base object or objects offering greater flexibility and utility, and which allows for repeated decoration; that has movable decorations; and that allows a user to employ their own decorations, as well as purchased decorations, thereby giving a user a virtually unlimited number of options as to the theme, style, and method of decorating and using an object.
This invention is directed to a decoration system having a base object to be decorated, one or more receiving rings coupled to the base object, decorative objects, and means for coupling the decorative objects to the receiving rings. The decorative objects are coupled to the receiving rings by means that allow them to be removed and replaced. Furthermore, at least one of the receiving rings is designed to allow the decorative objects to rotate around the periphery of the base object. Also, in addition to purchasing the decorative objects, a user may design their own decorative objects for attachment to the receiving means.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawings, in which:
a is a perspective view of the decoration system of the present invention, showing one possible type of decorative object as applied to a wall clock;
b is a front view of the decoration system of the present invention, showing one possible type of decorative object as applied to a wall clock;
c is a perspective view of the decoration system of the present invention, showing one possible type of decorative object as applied to a mirror;
d is a front view of the decoration system of the present invention, showing one possible type of decorative object as applied to a message board;
e is a perspective view of the decoration system of the present invention, showing one possible type of decorative object as applied to the base object oriented in a horizontal position;
Several embodiments of the decoration system are shown in
The base object 100 shown in
The base object 100 includes a rim 102 that may be customized. In particular, the rim 102 is not only decoratable but also removable, which allows a user to select and attach any desired rim 102 that coordinates with or complements a desired theme.
A first receiving ring 300 is coupled to the rear of the base object 100 (shown most clearly in
A second receiving ring 304 may be coupled to the first receiving ring 300 or to the base object 100 (shown most clearly in
Although this embodiment includes a first receiving ring 300 and a second receiving ring 304, only a first receiving ring 300 is necessary. Additionally, more than two receiving rings may be employed. The purpose of the second receiving ring 304, and any additional receiving rings, is to provide further layers of decorative objects 106, thereby enhancing the overall visual appeal of the base object 100 and decoration system.
Spokes 104 may be placed in the receiving holes 302 located around the periphery of the first receiving ring 300 and the second receiving ring 304 (shown most clearly in
In one embodiment, the spokes 104 may be coupled to the receiving holes 302 by the method shown in
As can be seen most clearly in
Snaps 800, which serve primarily to attach decorative objects 106 to spokes 104, may be coupled to the spokes 104, one possible method of which is most clearly illustrated with reference to
In order to couple a snap 800 to the spoke 104, in the embodiment shown in
As noted previously, the primary purpose of the snaps 800 is to provide a convenient means to couple a decorative object 106 to a spoke 104. In order to accomplish this, an adhesive layer 806 is first coupled to the planar portion 802 of each snap 800. Then, when a user desires to couple a decorative object 106 to a snap 800, they simply remove the protective covering from the adhesive layer 806, thereby exposing an adhesive, and then place the decorative object 106 in contact with the adhesive layer 806. The adhesive layer 806 may be integral with the snap 800 or it may be a separate unit. The adhesive may be any conventional adhesive means known in the art, such as glue or double-sided tape.
In addition to the primary adhesive function of the snaps 800, they also provide a useful alignment function. As most clearly shown in
While snaps 800 have been included in this embodiment in order to facilitate mating and alignment of the decorative objects 106 with the spokes 104, the decoration system of this invention is designed such that a user could also use other means for coupling the decoration objects 106 to the spokes 104. These means may include tape, glue, clamps, or any other conventional means known in the art.
Since the spokes 104 may be removed from the receiving holes 302 after insertion, a user may change any individual decorative object 106, or even the entire theme, whenever the user desires. Furthermore, since the snaps 800 may be removed from the spokes 104, the spokes 104 may be reused with a new snap 800 and decorative object 106.
The decorative objects 106 may take on a variety of forms. In the embodiment shown in
In one embodiment, the decorative objects 106 may be aligned to form a continuous panel around the periphery of the base object 100. Some non-limiting examples of this may include individual photos or illustrations, with or without frames, which are placed on spokes 104 and inserted into receiving holes 302 so that they appear to be joined side-by-side.
The inclusion of multiple receiving rings allows a user to determine the depth at which such display appears in relation to the base object 100 or any other decorative objects 106 employed.
Any number of different themes are also possible. For example, the decorative objects 106 could represent a zookeeper and a variety of animals, wherein the rotation of the decorative objects 106 around the base object 100 simulates the zookeeper attempting to capture the escaped animals. Other themes could include decorative objects 106 in the form of fish swimming around a base object 100, or vehicles traveling around a base object 100. These themes may also utilize the rim 102 and second receiving ring 304. In the first example, the zookeeper and animals may rotate with the first receiving ring 300 while trees, buildings, or other scenery remain stationary on the second receiving ring 304. In the second example, the rim 102 could extend further outward from the base object 100 and include portholes that the fish on the first receiving ring 300 could pass behind.
Additional themes could also of course be directed to sports teams, colleges, television shows, movies, holidays, seasons, and other hobbies or interests.
Although a number of means have been described above by which a user may further modify the rim 102, spokes 104 or decorative objects 106, some additional non-limiting examples include: paint, markers, colored paper, fabric, felt, pictures, glitter, stickers, glue, ribbon, magnets, beads, sequins, or jewelry, as well as two- and three-dimensional representations of people, animals, and other objects. The rim 102, spokes 104 and decorative objects 106 may be configured to receive all or just some of these items.
Rather than placing the base object 100 on a vertical surface, such as a wall, the base object 100 may also be placed on a horizontal surface, such as a table. This embodiment, shown in
In order to switch from the vertical embodiment to the horizontal embodiment, a user would remove any decorative objects 106 currently coupled to the spokes 104. The user would then couple horizontal couplers 2000 to each spoke 104. This may be accomplished by placing the lower coupler portion 2100 into the snap receiving hole 810 of each spoke 104. Next, the user couples additional spokes 104 to each horizontal coupler 2000 by placing the lower spoke portions 808 into the upper coupler portions 2102. As a result, there are now spokes 104 oriented perpendicular to the horizontal surface and ready to receive decorative objects 106.
In addition to facilitating the coupling of the spokes 104, the horizontal couplers 2000 could also provide a rotation feature for any individual decorative object 106. For example, the upper coupler portion 2102 could rotate relative to the lower coupler portion 2100. This would allow decorative objects 106 coupled to the spokes 104 to rotate, independently of or in concert with the rotation of the first receiving ring 300 relative to the base object 100. More specifically, the decorative objects 106 could be rotated manually by the user such as to display their decorative object 106 with a different perspective, or means could be provided to rotate the individual decorative objects 106 automatically in relation to the horizontal couplers 2000, via engagement with some other portion(s) of the decoration system, or via motorization or any other known means.
In the embodiment shown in
In the vertical orientation, for example when the base object 100 is to be hung on the wall, the second receiving ring 304 may provide means to display a stationary background behind the decorative objects 106 coupled to the rotating first receiving ring 300. Alternately, when this same base object 100 is placed in the horizontal orientation as shown in
For example, the decorative objects 106 on the second receiving ring 304 could be mirrors, representing ice, while above the ice, the decorative objects 106 on the first receiving ring 300 are ice skaters.
Embodiments of the present invention could also include light and sound producing means. In such embodiments, any component of the decoration system could be fashioned to include lights or sounds, and the sounds could include music, voice recordings, animal noises, or any other suitable sound. Furthermore, the lights and sounds could be activated by pressing a button, activating a switch, inserting a spoke 104, rotation of one or more receiving rings, or by any other appropriate means. Also, similar to the rotation of the receiving rings, the lights and sounds could be produced continuously or for a selectively determined duration. The switch may control the intensity, volume, duration, and other characteristics of both the illumination and sound producing means.
Additionally, a secondary base object (not shown) may be provided in order to help a user store and display extra spokes 104, and their attached decorative objects 106, when not in use with the base object 100. The secondary base object has receiving holes 302 in order to receive the spokes 104, and could take the form of a three-dimensional sculpture such as a porcupine, a simple geometric shape, or even a strip that could be hung from a bed frame or in a school locker.
As mentioned previously, the base object 100 may also have a functional display element that may be reversible as shown in
In one embodiment, the spokes 104 could include hinges (not shown) or the spokes 104 could be flexible. For example, when the decoration system is in a horizontal configuration, the spokes 104 could pivot vertically upwardly and downwardly when either the spoke 104 or decorative object 106 comes in contact with a biasing object placed beneath it. For example, during rotation of the first receiving ring 300, as the spoke 104 comes in contact with a fixed underlying surface with undulating shape which has been attached to the lower second receiving ring 304, the spoke 104 may pivot or bend thereby to vertically pass over and back down the underlying rippled surface. Therefore, by way of example, if the decorative object in the first receiving ring was in the shape of a snow skier, when the skier comes in contact with the underlying surface in the second receiving ring, the skier will pass up, over, and down this underlying surface as the receiving ring 300 rotates, to simulate a skier going up and down ski slopes.
Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that those skilled in the art will recognize a variety of additional applications and appropriate modifications within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.
Application claims priority to the Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/479,564 filed on Apr. 27, 2011.
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