PRISM FOR VIEWING THE BACKSIDE OF ONE'S OWN HUMAN BODY, HAIR OR CLOTHING
A four sided prism which provides the full scale front view and the full scale backside of one's own self. In addition, oblique front and rear views of one's own body, clothing or hair are available. Rigid frames allow for fast assembly without hand tools. The prism can be assembled as a fixed frame prism. The prism can be manufactured so as to allow for folding the frame into a thin cabinet for storage against a wall.
This application is a Continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/355,927 filed Jan. 31, 2003, which was the subject of a Provisional Patent Application No. 60/354,607, filed on Feb. 6, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND—FIELD OF INVENTIONThis invention relates to a four sided prism for the viewing of one's own backside, as well as the normal frontal view and including oblique front and back views, and which prism can be constructed as a fixed structure or as a folding structure for saving floor space.
BACKGROUND—DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ARTFor centuries mirrors have been used to reflect the frontal image of the viewer. Sometimes a viewer placed a mirror at their backside and in a position to reflect this oblique view into a mirror being held in front of them. In recent years mirrors have been provided in three connected frames to provide oblique front and side views. In some specialty stores such as wedding gown departments mirrors have been placed on four walls of a small room to provide oblique front and rear views and a full front view. These small rooms with their interior walls covered with mirrors were not constructed as prisms. That is, they do not provide precise alignment of the reflective surfaces. The result is the front, oblique and rear views of the viewer are distorted.
U.S. Pat. No. 226,362 was issued to Short showing four mirrors arranged in a horizontal pattern, with the bottom two mirrors requiring adjustment in order for any person of a height different than the previous viewer to see their backside. The mirrors presented in the patent drawings would require a person of a different height than the previous viewer to adjust the bottom two mirrors to see the top one third of their backside. The viewer would be required to adjust the bottom two mirrors in order to see the middle section of their backside. The viewer would then be required to adjust the bottom two mirrors to see the lower bottom one third of their backside. This patent does not provide any oblique view of the front or backside of the viewer. This patent to Short covers an adjustable mirror array which, at best, requires many difficult adjustments by the viewer, and may require the assistance of two persons to adjust the mirrors for partial scanning of the backside of the viewer. The patent reveals a system which requires installation in a fixed box, or portion of a home. All this at considerable cost of space and time requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 370,623 to Hooker, U.S. Pat. No. 505,127 to Ranger, U.S. Pat. No. 533,167 to Fuller, U.S. Pat. No. 1,969,910 to Simjian, U.S. Pat. No. 2,379,214 to Bolinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,790 to Jorwa, U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,730 to Chabot, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,222 to Kobayashi all present an array of mirrors which offer some type of at least partial view of the backside of the viewer.
All the reflective mirror or prism systems known to this date suffer from a number of disadvantages.
(a) They do not offer a full scale image of the front, the backside, the oblique front and the oblique backside image of the viewer. Our patent provides this.
(b) They offer no manufacturing system that allows total prefabrication so that on-site installation can be completed in a manner of minutes by one or two persons. Our patent provides this.
(c) They offer no indication of being suitable for mass marketing to the several million up-scale homes which qualify in space and financial status for such an appliance. None have reached any status as a mass produced commercial product. Our patent has survived a nation wide market analysis and manufacturing is being prepared to permit sale to homeowners nationwide.
(d) They offer no indication of being suitable for mass marketing to the several hundred thousand clothing stores which will find this appliance of immediate value to their sales activities. Our patent has survived a nationwide market analysis and manufacturing is being prepared to permit sale to clothing and department store operators nationwide.
(e) They indicate no ability to be disassembled as quickly as assembled and moved a short or a great distance for re-assembly in a precision alignment status. Especially by one or two persons with no technical skills in such assembly procedures. Our patent provides this flexibility.
(f) They do not indicate any feature which allows for construction of the prism with hinges so the system can be folded against a wall and covered by a cabinet for appearance and for floor space conversation. Our patent provides this advantage.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGESAccordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the precision prism described in our above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) A prism of such scale that a full sized person can walk into the interior of the prism and review full scale images of their front, their back side, and oblique front and oblique backside views without any adjustments of the prism.
(b) A prism constructed of metal components for the frame, with mounts for the reflective surfaces, and which maintain perfect flat alignment of the reflective surfaces in their respective mounts, and maintain perfect alignment of the relationship of one reflective surface to each and any of the other reflective surfaces.
(c) A prism which is assembled so that in the fixed model the prism can be assembled by one or two persons, in minutes, without use of any hand tools.
(d) A prism which is assembled so that the fixed model the prism can be surrounded by walls of a home or retail store without distorting the alignment of the prism frame.
(e) A prism which is assembled so that in the folding model the prism can be attached to a wall and enclosed with a cabinet by one or two persons, in minutes, with minimum hand tools,
(f) A prism, fixed or folding, which can be disassembled, moved and reassembled easily, and remain in perfect alignment.
Further objects and advantages are to provide an appliance for viewing one's own backside which can be used as simply and conveniently as a flat mirror, which is relative inexpensive to manufacture, which is extremely simple for anyone to assemble, and requires no adjustment at the time of set-up or during use. Still further objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent from consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
SUMMARYIn accordance with the present invention a prism which provides full scale images of the front, the backside, the oblique front and the oblique backside of the viewer. The invention is simple in assembly, does not permit or require adjustments, and is accurate in both front and rear view images.
DRAWINGS Drawing FiguresIn the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.
A plan view of a prism system is generalized by a square formed by four frames (1), each supporting a mirror (2) and connected by short corner angles (3) in the opposite corners where the frames (1) come together, and long corner angles (4) where there is a separation of the frames (1). For the purposes of understanding, the scale of the frames, for this disclosure, are assumed to be four feet wide and, as shown in
When the viewer (17) moves to the centerline (54) of the first mirror (13) and stands close to it, looking to the left along line (44), there is provided an oblique view of the rear right shoulder of the viewer. The sight of the viewer (17) is reflected off the first mirror (13) along line (45) to the fourth mirror (16). The sight of the viewer is then reflected along line (46) to the third mirror (15). From the third mirror (15) the line of sight of the viewer (17) is reflected along line (47) to the second mirror (14). From the second mirror (14) the line of sight of the viewer is reflected to the right rear shoulder of the viewer.
When the viewer (17) looks to the right along line (49), there is provided an oblique view of the left rear shoulder of the viewer. The sight of the viewer (17) is reflected off the first mirror (13) along line (50) to the second mirror (14). The sight of the viewer is then reflected along line (51) to the third mirror (15). From the third mirror (15) the line of sight of the viewer (17) is reflected along line (52) to the fourth mirror (16). From the fourth mirror (16) the line of sight of the viewer is reflected to the left rear shoulder of the viewer.
When the viewer (17) moves alone the centerline (18) of the second mirror (14) the viewer (17) looks alone line (56) to the second mirror (14). The reflection of the line of sight is directed alone line (56) from the second mirror (14) toward the first mirror (13). The line of sight is reflected from the first mirror (13) along line (57) to the left front oblique view of the shoulder.
When the viewer (17) moves along the centerline (18) of the second mirror (14) and looks directly into the first mirror (13) along line (58) the line of sight will be reflected along line (59) into the second mirror (14). The line of sight will be reflected along line (60) to the right front shoulder.
To expand the prism system to allow for viewing the backside of one's own clothing when wearing a long bridal gown (61) is simple, as one knowledgeable in the art of optical physics will quickly see. The prism started as a theoretical square, even when the frames (1) did not reach to the corners. The prism remains a theoretical square, even when the floor space for the expanded prism becomes a long rectangle. The prism is divided along the original reference line (6) running from one unconnected corner (12) to the other. The original reference line (5) running from the corner of first mirror (13) and the second mirror (14) to the corner of the third mirror (15) and the fourth mirror (16) is extended to the desired length. What is important is that the 45 degree angle of the mirrors is maintained in relation to the reference line (5). Extending lines from the two sets of mirrors until they cross establishes new theoretical corners (62). From these new theoretical corners (62) is established a new reference line (63) to replace the reference line (6). To keep the two sets of the mirrors in proper relationship the original long angle (4) used to connect the two sets of mirrors has been cut at a 45 degree angle at the corner (64) of the frames (1, 2, 3, 4). A long straight piece of metal tubing (70) of the same type as the original long angle (4) is welded between the two shortened pieces of the long angle (4). The viewer (17) looks along line (65) to the first mirror (13). The line of sight is reflected from the first mirror (13) to the second mirror (14) along line (66). The line of sight is reflected from the second mirror (14) to the third mirror (15) along line (67). The line of sight is reflected from the third mirror (15) to the fourth mirror (16) along line (68). The line of sight is reflected a final time from the fourth mirror (16) to the backside of the viewer (17) along line (69), giving a full length view of the long bridal gown (61).
An elevation view reveals of the wall frame (20) for mounting the folding prism system on the wall of a home or business. For the purposes of scale comparison to
Advantages
From the description above, a number of advantages of our prism for viewing one's own backside become evident.
(a) The view of the backside of one's own self is seen as directly from the backside, and not from oblique or distorted view.
(b) The views of one's frontal image and backside images are full scale.
(c) The use of the prism does not require any adjustments.
(d) The prism can be housed within a small room without attachment to or structural support from the building.
(e) The prism can be built so as to be capable of folding into a flat configuration, allowing for the enclosure of a decorative cabinet to cover the folded prism, all in a narrow floor space.
(f) The fixed prism can be assembled by one or two persons in minutes without use of hand tools.
(g) The folding prism can be attached to the wall of a building by one or two persons in minutes, requiring only hand tools for bolting the wall mount to the wall of the building, and a wrench to bolt the second mirror to the wall frame.
(h) Both prisms can be disassembled as easily as assembled, and when reassembled they are precisely arranged for proper presentation of the respective views.
Operation
Conclusion, Ramification, and Scope
There is prior art which reveals interest in the solution of how to view the backside of one's own body, hair, or clothing. The patent to Short demonstrates a fundamental application for partial viewing, or even if full viewing, of one's backside, with the provision that the bottom two mirrors be adjusted every time a person of a different height than the last viewer uses the system. In some retail clothing stores there are small rooms used for examination of clothing, especially wedding gowns. The walls are covered with mirrors. None of these rooms were discovered to be constructed in the form of a theoretical square. The results in every case of over one hundred such examination rooms available was that there was no full scale backside presentation of the viewer. Without except, these mirror covered rooms presented oblique of distorted front and backside views of the viewer. Other technical devices offered interesting inventions, but none offered the ability of the invention revealed in this patent application.
The invention disclosed herein is unusual in that in a field of prior art, although somewhat limited, this invention is not preceded by any prior art for a full sized prism, capable of being entered into by a full grown human being, rendering a full scale front view of the viewer, or a full scale view of the backside of the viewer, or oblique views of the front or the backside of the viewer. Even with adjustments allowed by their disclosures, they did not provide the results if this invention.
The scope of this invention is for a device which has no prior art in the field of devices for viewing the full scale front side and the full scale backside of one's own body, without adjustments or assistance of others.
Prior Art
There is no prior art that reveals an invention which provides a full scale in line view of the front and a full scale in line view of the backside of the viewer without adjustments or assistance of another person.
Novelty
The simplicity of this invention results in initial assembly, precision of mirror surfaces for proper presentation of views and absolutely no problems in immediately understanding the use of the invention for the intended purposes.
Un-obviousness
The viewer sees in the prism system, when locked into it's precision alignment, a clear in line view of the front and an undistorted in line view of the backside of the viewer. The laws of physics which make this viewing of one's own backside may, or may not, be obvious to the housewife. What is totally unobvious to the inventors and manufacturers of the commercial world is the multi-million unit sales market for this prism for viewing one's own backside. If the sales price is assumed to be $2,500 for each prism and the market place is two million units, the gross sales is approximately Five Billion Dollars, before leveling off to serve the annual market of approximately 250,000 new homes in the up-scale markets each year. If the engineers, sales executives, inventors and manufacturers had seen the market value they would have satisfied the market a long time ago. This alone is proof the small rooms, with mirrors in misalignment, never satisfied the viewer.
Commercial Success
This invention has undergone a thorough market analysis and has fully met the requirements of the revealed markets. The simplicity of the invention, the method of distribution, the perfection of the invention and the results of the invention indicate there is an immediate potential market of 2,500,000 homes, many requiring several prism systems in the one home. The market survey reveals there is an ongoing market of approximately 250,000 homes being constructed each year in the United States. The market survey reveals there are approximately 80,000 businesses with a potential of 800,000 prism sales, especially in the field of clothing sales. The market survey reveals there is a potential of several thousand upscale hotel and spa rooms that justify the use of this invention. Production facilities have been analyzed for this vast market and are in initial development.
Need Not Met by Present Appliances
None of the inventions revealed in the cited patents, or the small rooms lined in a haphazard manner with mirrors for such applications have any capacity to meet any portion of the market revealed in the analysis for this invention.
Claims
1. A prism of mirrors for use in observing oneself, the prism comprising: means for observing an undistorted font view, oblique view and rear view of oneself
- simultaneously without adjustment of the prisms; and a support for said means.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 25, 2006
Publication Date: Mar 8, 2007
Inventors: JOHN GAJDEL (Des Moines, IA), JESSE WOLF (Tulsa, OK)
Application Number: 11/552,558
International Classification: G02B 27/24 (20060101);