MAGNETIC ASSEMBLY AND DISPLAY
Stacking magnets affixed to various decorative designs, such as ribbons, bows, flowers, to name a few, are provided that create interchangeable, multilayer, stackable adornments that may be worn by a person, on either her body or hair, or affixed to clothing, shoes or other accessory item. In one example, the product may include interchangeable bows comprised of multiple layers. A base magnet for attaching the stackable layers is provided that may be affixed to hats and headbands, hair clips, rubber bands, bracelets, necklaces, shoes, belts or other accessories.
This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/549,167, filed on Oct. 19, 2011, titled MAGNETIC ASSEMBLY AND DISPLAY, which application is incorporated in its entirety by reference in this application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to a method and system for stacking interchangeable adornments to be worn by users on their body, person or clothing as an accessory item.
2. Related Art
Women and children, especially young girls, enjoy wearing accessories and adornments in their hair and on their clothing, including, but not limited to, bows and ribbons. These types of products can be expensive, and generally come in select colors, shapes and designs and are made to be worn for particular purposes. Not all adornments will match all clothing. Thus, girls and women often purchase a wide variety of accessories or adornments to be able to be coordinated. A need continues to exist for decorative accessories that can be utilized and worn in variously locations, on various body parts and on various types of clothing. A need further continues to exist for adornments to be interchangeable with respect to color, pattern and size to allow the adornments to be worn with different clothing, on different occasions, or to different events, all while allowing the adornments to color coordinate and match with other accessories worn by the user.
SUMMARYThe present invention relates to the use of unique stacking magnets affixed to various decorative designs, such as ribbons, bows, flowers, to name a few, to create an interchangeable, multilayer, stackable adornment that may be worn by a person, on either her body or hair, or affixed to clothing, shoes or other accessory item. In one example, the product may include interchangeable bows comprised of multiple layers. The bows may be sold separately or as part of a set. A base magnet for attaching the stackable layers is provided that may be affixed to hats and headbands, hair clips, rubber bands, bracelets, necklaces, shoes, belts or other accessories. In one example, a unique system is provided that allow users to removeably affix the stackable adornments to flip flops or shoes.
Other devices, apparatus, systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
The invention may be better understood by referring to the following figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
The layered magnetic system 100 may be utilized in a wide variety of applications to create various interchangeable adornments to be worn on a person's body, clothing and/or footwear, to name a few examples. As illustrated in
To produce an individual magnetic unit 108, a grommet machine (not shown) may be utilized to compress the two pieces of the grommet 120 together. Once compressed, the magnet 125 may be positioned in the center hole of the grommet 125. The grommet machine may be utilized again to further press the grommet 125 to further maintain the magnet 125 in the hole of the grommet 120. The magnet 125 may also be glued with an adhesive, such as metal epoxy, to the adornment. The same adhesive may also be used to secure the magnetic unit 108 to an adornment, clip or other element used in the invention. As illustrated in
To construct the bow, ribbons are first cut to a specific length depending on the width of the ribbon, which also determines the size of the resulting product and creates a layered effect when stacked. Ribbons can be flat, curly or twisted to create different looks. The ribbon can then be placed in a stack of 3 or more individual ribbons of the same size. To hold the ribbons in place, a brad may be placed thru the center of the stack of ribbons. A template may be used to make the ribbons look like a star and then glued to the center to hold them in place. The “star” may then be folded such that each end of the ribbons is placed onto the brad, the brad is opened to hold them in place and then closed with a clear sticker, tape or other adhesive placed on top to additionally hold the ribbons in place, as illustrated in
Once this process is completed. if the magnetic unit 108 is being placed in the center of the bow 102, a grommet machine may be used, with, for example, a ⅜″ hole punch die to punch out the brad and make a ⅜″ circle. The grommet machine may then be used to place a ⅜″ grommet 120 in the hole effectively holding the bow together. Once this process is completed a magnet 125 is placed in the grommet and smashed in further with an arbor press. In this application, the magnetic unit 108 is formed in conjunction with the formation of the stacked bow 102.
Each magnet unit 108 (stand alone or secured in a product) may be secured with a small amount of epoxy resin, or other adhesive, on the back side to ensure the magnet 125 does not come loose or fall out. Once the epoxy resin is in place, at least one side of the unit can be marked with, for example, a logo sticker for purposes of identifying the magnetic poles and/or for branding or creating additional ornamental product features.
Alternatively, magnet units 108 may be positioned on each side of the adornment to enable the adornments to be stacked. When two magnetic units 108 are used, the magnets 125 are positioned in a manner that attracts one to the other and that will allow the finished adornment to have one pole at the top of the bow and another magnetic pole position at the bottom of the bow to attract other magnets in a stacked assembly 105.
In this implementation, the cording between the magnet units 108 allow the magnet units 108 to be stacked while being wrapped around an element such as the strap of the flip flop shoe 115. As illustrated in
Many other uses of the magnetic units are also possible. Including the attachment of adornments to clothing, hats, socks, bracelets, necklaces, animal collars and clothing.
By using the magnetic unit 108 within each component, individuals can choose an accessory, multiple layers and optional adornments to create and build various stacked bow assemblies. This allows for an endless number of combinations to create bow assemblies to accessorize for various events, occasions and color coordinate.
The foregoing description of implementations has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the claimed inventions to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above description or may be acquired from practicing the invention. The claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A magnet assembly is provided that includes a grommet having a magnet permanently affixed to the center of the grommet, the grommet and magnet assembly being affixed to a device to be worn by a person or to be affixed to a persons' clothing, shoes or other accessory.
2. A decorative item is provided that has a grommet affixed to the center of the item, the grommet having a magnet permanently affixed at its center.
3. A adornment system is provided comprising:
- a. magnet assembly that includes a grommet having a magnet permanently affixed to the center of the grommet, the grommet and magnet assembly being affixed to a device to be worn by a person or to be affixed to a persons' clothing, shoes or other accessory; and
- b. a decorative item is provided that has a grommet affixed to the center of the item, the grommet having a magnet permanently affixed at its center, whereby the decorative item may be secured to the magnet assembly.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 19, 2012
Publication Date: May 2, 2013
Applicant: Dizzi Ribbons, LLC (Mission, KS)
Inventor: Dizzi Ribbons, LLC (Mission, KS)
Application Number: 13/656,526
International Classification: A44C 25/00 (20060101);