BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to wristbands and methods for their use. The invention particularly relates to wristbands adapted for removably displaying a plush object, such as a toy, and associated methods of using such a wristband display.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The intent of this section of the specification is to briefly indicate the nature and substance of the invention, as opposed to an exhaustive statement of all subject matter and aspects of the invention. Therefore, while this section identifies subject matter recited in the claims, additional subject matter and aspects relating to the invention are set forth in other sections of the specification, particularly the detailed description, as well as any drawings.
The present invention provides, but is not limited to, wristband displays suitable for use as a novelty adapted to removably and interchangeably support and display plush objects, such as children's toys.
According to a nonlimiting aspect of the invention, a wristband display includes a band having an outer surface, a first end and an oppositely-disposed second end, and a fastener configured to removably couple the first and second ends together to adapt the band to surround a user's wrist and secure the band to the user's wrist. A base is located between the first and second ends of the band, the base having a bore therein, a permanent magnet is disposed in the bore of the base, and a housing encloses the base and the permanent magnet disposed in the bore. A receiver includes a receiver base and a connector mounted to the receiver base. The receiver base is magnetically couplable to the permanent magnet through the housing so as to be removable from the housing, and a plush object is secured to the receiver base.
According to another nonlimiting aspect of the invention, a method of using a wristband display to display a plush toy includes connecting a first end of a band to a second end of the band so that the band surrounds a wrist of a user, providing a receiver having a plush object attached thereto, and connecting the receiver to a base of the band by magnetically coupling a connector of the receiver to a permanent magnet within the base.
Technical aspects of a wristband display and methods as described above preferably include the ability for the wristband display to be used as a versatile child's toy, with any number of plush objects being interchangeable and readily coupled to the band according to a child's desire.
These and other aspects, arrangements, features, and/or technical effects will become apparent upon detailed inspection of the figures and the following description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 schematically represents an exploded perspective view of a wristband display as a nonlimiting embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 schematically represents a plan view of the wristband display of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 schematically represents a side view of the wristband display of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 schematically represents a cross-sectional view of a housing of the wristband display of FIG. 1, wherein the housing includes a top cap and a bottom cap, and the top cap has at least two arcuate protrusions received in at least two arcuate channels defined in the bottom cap.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The intended purpose of the following detailed description of the invention and the phraseology and terminology employed therein is to describe what is shown in the drawings, which include the depiction of and/or relate to one or more nonlimiting embodiments of the invention, and to describe certain but not all aspects of what is depicted in the drawings. The following detailed description also identifies certain but not all alternatives of the embodiment(s) depicted in the drawings. As nonlimiting examples, the invention encompasses additional or alternative embodiments in which one or more features or aspects shown and/or described as part of a particular embodiment could be eliminated, and also encompasses additional or alternative embodiments that combine two or more features or aspects shown and/or described as part of different embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims, and not the detailed description, are intended to particularly point out subject matter regarded to be aspects of the invention, including certain but not necessarily all of the aspects and alternatives described in the detailed description.
The following disclosure describes various aspects of a nonlimiting embodiment of a wristband display 10 and components thereof that are schematically represented in FIGS. 1 through 3. The wristband display 10 is capable of supporting a variety of different plush objects 100 with different structures for a user to wear on their arm.
To facilitate the description provided below of the embodiments represented in the drawings, relative terms, including but not limited to, “proximal,” “distal,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “lateral,” “front,” “rear,” “side,” “forward,” “rearward,” “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “above,” “below,” “right,” “left,” etc., may be used in reference to an orientation of the modular tray system during its use while mounted to a structure. All such relative terms are intended to indicate the construction and relative orientations of components and features of the wristband display and therefore are relative terms that are useful to describe the illustrated embodiments and indicate the construction, installation, and use of the wristband display, and in doing so may help to define the scope of the invention.
FIGS. 1 through 3 schematically represent the wristband 10 as including a band 12 having oppositely-disposed first and second ends 14 and end 16. A fastener 18 is located at the first end 14 of the band 12 and is depicted as including an opening 20 in the band 12 and a stud 22 protruding from a surface 12A of the band 12 at the first end 14. The surface 12A of the band 12 from which the stud 22 projects is referred to herein as the outer surface 12A of the band 12, in that the outer surface 12A faces away from an individual wearing the band 12. A row of openings 24 is located adjacent the second end 16. The openings 24 are through-holes that extend through the band 12. The fastener 18, and more particularly its opening 20 and stud 22, is configured to interact with the second end 16 of the band 12 and the openings 24 so that the fastener 18 is configured to removably couple the first and second ends 14 and 16 together to adapt the band 12 to surround a user's wrist and secure the band 12 to the user's wrist. In particular, the second end 16 is sized and shaped to pass through the opening 20 and the stud 22 is sized and shaped to be inserted into any one of the openings 24 to secure the band 12 around a user's arm.
The wristband display 10 is further schematically represented in FIG. 1 as having a base 26 located between the first and second ends 14 and 16 of the band 12. The band 12 and base 26 may be a unitary component of the wristband display 10, e.g., formed in a single molding operation, or may be separately formed and assembled together. The base 26 has an upper surface 28 facing in the same direction as the outer surface 12A of the band 12, and an oppositely-disposed lower surface 30. As depicted in FIG. 1, the base 26 is cylindrical or disk-shaped and has a bore 32 that is located in the base 26 and extends between the upper and lower surfaces 28 and 30 thereof. The bore 32 is configured to receive and retain a permanent magnet 34. The top of the permanent magnet 34 is preferably flush with the upper surface 28 of the base 26 when fully received in the bore 32. The permanent magnet 34 is configured to magnetically connect to a corresponding connector 64 associated with a receiver 60, as discussed below. The permanent magnet 34 may be, as a nonlimiting example, a neodymium magnet or any other permanent magnet made of suitable material.
FIGS. 1 and 3 represent the wristband display 10 as further including a housing 36 comprising a bottom cap 37 and a top cap 38 that assemble together to enclose the base 26 and magnet 34 within the housing 36. The bottom cap 37 is represented as having two arcuate outer walls 40 and 41 that are oppositely-disposed on the perimeter of the bottom cap 37, and two arcuate inner walls 44 and 45 disposed interiorly of the outer walls 40 and 41 to define arcuate channels 46 between the outer and inner walls 40 and 44 and between the outer and inner walls 41 and 45 The outer walls 40 and 41 are spaced apart from each other along the perimeter of the bottom cap 37 so as to define two slots 47 and 48 that are sized to receive at least a portion of the band 12 when the housing 36 is assembled with the band 12 as shown in FIG. 3. The inner walls 44 and 45 extend from a lower wall 42 of the bottom cap 37 and are configured to flex relative thereto so as to be able to snuggly engage the base 26 when assembled to the band 12. As depicted in FIG. 1, the top cap 38 is generally cylindrical or disk-shaped, having a top wall 52 and two sidewalls 54 that are oppositely-disposed on the perimeter of the top cap 38. Similar to the bottom cap 37, the sidewalls 52 of the top cap 38 are spaced apart from each other along the perimeter of the top cap 38 so as to define two slots 56 (only one of which is visible in FIG. 1) that are sized to receive at least a portion of the band 12 when the housing 36 is assembled with the band 12 as shown in FIG. 3. In combination, the slots 47 and 48 of the bottom cap 37 and the slots 56 of the top cap 38 accommodate the entire cross-section of the band 12 when the housing 36 is assembled with the band 12 as shown in FIG. 3. The top wall 52 and sidewalls 54 of the top cap 38 are configured to define a cavity that accommodates the base 26 and the outer walls 40 and 41 of the bottom cap 37, with the sidewalls 54 of the top cap 38 snuggly engaging the outer walls 40 and 41 of the bottom cap 37 when assembled as shown in FIG. 3. As depicted in FIG. 4, which shows a top view of the housing 36 in isolation with the top wall 52 of the top cap 38 omitted for visual purposes, the top cap 38 may also have two or more arcuate protrusions 58 that are concentric with the sidewalls 54 of the top cap 38 and extend into the cavity of the top cap 38 so that, when the top cap 38 is assembled to the bottom cap 37 to form the housing 36 as shown, the arcuate protrusions 58 are received in the arcuate channels 46 of the bottom cap 37, preferably with an interference fit therebetween to removably secure the bottom and top caps 37 and 38 together. Additionally or alternatively, the bottom and top caps 37 and 38 may be ultrasonically welded together.
The aforementioned receiver 60 is represented in FIGS. 1 through 3 as having a disk-shaped receiver base 62 that defines an upper surface 66 to which its connector 64 is mounted. As shown in the drawings, the upper surface 66 of the receiver 60 is disposed on the same side of the band 12 as the outer surface 12A of the band 12. The connector 64 is formed of a material that enables the connector 64 to magnetically couple with the magnet 34 within the base 26 in order to securely retain the receiver 60 to the housing 36. The magnetic coupling between the magnet 34 and connector 64 may be enhanced by providing the connector 64 as a magnet, such as a neodymium magnet as described for the magnet 34, though it is foreseeable that other suitable magnet materials could be used. The magnet 34 (and, if applicable, the connector 64) must be sufficiently strong and/or the top wall 52 of the top cap 37 must be sufficiently thin to enable the desired magnetic coupling. The connector 64 may be bonded to the receiver base 62, or the feature indicated as the connector 64 in the drawings can instead be a protrusion that projects from the upper surface 66 of the receiver base 62 and defines a cavity that contains the connector 64, which can optionally allow the connector 64 to be accessible from a lower surface of the receiver base 62 that is planar, is disposed opposite the protrusion/connector 64, and contacts the housing 36.
FIGS. 1 through 3 represent a plush object 100 adapted to be mounted to the wristband display 10. The plush object 100 can be permanently attached (e.g., bonded) to the upper surface 66 of the receiver 60. As used herein, the term “permanently attached” means that the receiver 60 and/or the plush object 100 would necessarily be destroyed or at least damaged to remove the plush object 100 from the receiver 60. The magnetic coupling between the receiver 60 and the housing 36 (via the magnet 34 and connector 64) enables the plush object 100 to be removed by magnetically decoupling the connector 64 from the magnet 34, and then magnetically recoupled with the magnet 34 or entirely replaced with a second plush object 100 that differs in appearance from the one removed. In this manner, the wristband display 10 can be used as a versatile child's toy, with any number of plush objects 100 being interchangeable and readily coupled to the band 12 according to a child's desire.
As previously noted above, though the foregoing detailed description describes certain aspects of one or more particular embodiments of the invention, alternatives could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the wristband display 10 and its components could be formed of a wide variety of materials and/or could differ in appearance from the embodiment described herein and shown in the drawings. Furthermore, functions of certain components of the wristband display 10 could be performed by components of different construction but capable of a similar (though not necessarily equivalent) function. As such, and again as was previously noted, it should be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to any particular embodiment described herein or illustrated in the drawings.
Patent Application
20250049180
