Novelty Sticker Dispensing Jewelry System

Abstract

A piece of toy jewelry made from novelty jewelry elements that either interconnect or are joined by a jewelry mount. Each novelty jewelry element has a central spindle. A roll of material is wound on each central spindle. The roll of material is selectively dispensed from the piece of toy jewelry. The central spindle in each novelty jewelry element has a first end and an opposite second end. The ends of the spindle can interconnect either directly or through the use of a mount. The roll of material on the spindles present the appearance of elongated beads when formed into toy jewelry. The roll of material can then be selectively unwound as desired, therein dispensing stickers, paper, tape and/or candy.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

In general, the present invention relates to toy jewelry systems where secondary items are contained within elements of the toy jewelry. The present invention also relates to novelty items that contain spooled material and selectively dispense that spooled material.

2. Prior Art Description

Products such as stamps, tape, adhesive labels, candy, and stickers are often sold in rolled spools. The consumer unwinds the spool to remove the amount of product needed. The prior art is replete with various dispensing devices that work with spooled products in order to dispense lengths of the spooled product in a controlled manner. For example, there are many tape dispensers and stamp dispensers that are used in homes and offices every day. Spools of tape and stamps are rather large. As such, the dispensers for such products are even larger. Accordingly, most dispensers for rolled material are primarily designed to be functional. Little or no concern is typically given to hiding the dispenser within a secondary product.

One of the few instances when a dispenser is designed to be part of another product is when the dispenser is designed into a novelty item, such as a toy. When a dispenser is integrated into a toy, the dispenser typically is intended to dispense a novelty item, such as stickers or ribbon candy. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,765 to Lehmann, a toy sticker dispenser in integrated into the handle of a doll's brush. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,469 to Unalp, a sticker dispenser is integrated into the body of a doll.

In U.S. Pat. No. 1,118,707 to Wakefield, a toy fish is disclosed that can be tied to a string. The fish has a door in its body that can be used to access an internal spool of material. More specifically, the spool of material is a scroll containing a secret message. With the door closed, the roll of material is hidden and inaccessible. Accordingly, the prior art design is impractical for dispensing items, such as stickers, that may be attached to a roll of material.

The present invention presents an improvement in the art, where a dispenser of spooled material is made small and ornamental so as to have play value as toy jewelry. The dispensers can be designed to interconnect so that custom toy jewelry of different types and designs can be made, wherein the interconnected toy jewelry also dispenses material. The details of the improved product is described and claimed below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a piece of toy jewelry made from one or more novelty jewelry elements. The novelty jewelry elements can be independent or interconnected. Each novelty jewelry element has a central spindle. A roll of material is wound on each central spindle. The roll of material is selectively dispensed from the piece of toy jewelry. The roll of material is selected from a group consisting of stickers, paper messages, colored tape, and ribbon candy, with stickers being preferred.

The central spindle in each novelty jewelry element has a first end and an opposite second end. The ends of the spindle can interconnect either directly or through the use of a mount, such as a post mount or tether mount. The roll of material on the spindles present the appearance of elongated beads when formed into toy jewelry. The roll of material can then be selectively unwound as desired, therein dispensing stickers, paper, tape and/or candy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description of exemplary embodiments thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a first exemplary embodiment of a novelty jewelry element that can be used to create toy jewelry;

FIG. 2 shows the first exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 with a sticker being drawn from the novelty jewelry element;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the first exemplary embodiment FIG. 1 viewed along section line 3-3;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the first exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 viewed along section line 4-4;

FIG. 5 shows the first exemplary embodiment of the novelty jewelry element being mounted to a bracelet mount;

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the first exemplary embodiment of the novelty jewelry element joined to another novelty jewelry element on a tether;

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a second exemplary embodiment of novelty jewelry elements joined by a link;

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of a third exemplary embodiment of novelty jewelry elements that directly interconnect; and

FIG. 9 shows toy jewelry made from multiple novelty jewelry elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the present invention novelty jewelry system and method can be embodied in many ways, only a few exemplary embodiments are illustrated. The embodiments show various types of toy jewelry and the structure of the components used to create such toy jewelry. The embodiments are selected in order to set forth some of the best modes contemplated for the invention. The illustrated embodiments, however, are merely exemplary and should not be considered limitations when interpreting the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to FIG. 1 in conjunction with FIG. 2 FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, an exemplary embodiment of a novelty jewelry element 10 is shown. The novelty jewelry element 10 can be interlinked with other elements either directly or on a mount to create a wide variety of necklaces, bracelets, and other such jewelry, as is later shown. Each novelty jewelry element 10 has a central spindle 12 around which a roll of material 14 is wound. The spindle 12 has a first end 16 and an opposite second end 18 that extend beyond the length of the roll of material 14.

The roll of material 14 is wound around the central spindle 12. The roll of material 14 can be a variety of products, such as ribbon candy, strips of gum, colored tape, or a short roll of paper that contains images, words, a message, or a fortune. However, in the preferred embodiment, the roll of material 14 is comprised of a roll of one or more stickers 20. Each sticker 20 contains a substate 22 that is wound around the central spindle 12. Adhesive 24 is applied to one side of the substrate 22. Graphics 26 in the form of artwork and/or words are printed on the opposite side of the substrate 22. The graphics 26 and color scheme of the stickers 20 are preferably reflective, faceted, glittered, and/or brightly colored. In this manner, when the stickers 20 are wound on the central spindle 12 into the roll of material 14, the roll of material 14 presents the visual impression of a traditional jewelry bead or bauble.

The stickers 20 can be independent, wherein they slightly overlap one another. This enables the stickers 20 to be easily pulled away from the roll of material 14. However, in the illustrated embodiment, the stickers 20 are all part of a common roll of material 14, wherein the stickers 20 are printed between perforations 21 in the substrate 22. In this manner, each sticker 20 can be torn away from the roll of material 14 along a perforation 21.

Each novelty jewelry element 10 has its own central spindle 12. Although the central spindle 12 can be solid, in the shown embodiment, the central spindle 12 is tubular and defines an open conduit 28. This enables a mounting element, such as a flexible tether or mounting post, to pass through the central spindle 12 and the overall novelty jewelry element 10 during the creation of necklaces, bracelets, and other such pieces of jewelry. When mounted on a tether or mounting post, the novelty jewelry element 10 is free to spin, therein making it easier to remove stickers 20 from the roll of material 14. When the stickers 20 are rolled onto the central spindle 12, each sticker 20 has a free end 32 that can be pulled away from the roll of material 14. In this manner, individual stickers 20 can be dispensed out of the roll of material 14 by pulling on the free end 32 and the outermost sticker 20 on the roll of material 14 and tearing the next perforation 21. The size and number of the stickers 20 on the roll of material 14 is dependent upon the desired size for the novelty jewelry element 10.

Referring to FIG. 5, a first piece of toy jewelry 40 is shown. The piece of toy jewelry 40 has a mount 41 that holds a plurality of novelty jewelry elements 10 of the type previously shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. In FIG. 5, the mount 41 used for the piece of toy jewelry 40 is a bracelet. The bracelet mount 41 has a band 42 that extends between a first end 44 and an opposite second end 46. The two ends 44, 46 of the band 42 can be selectively clasped together in any manner traditional for a wrist band. A large centralized opening 48 is formed in the band 42 of the bracelet mount 41. The large centralized opening 48 is bound between a first band segment 50 and a parallel second band segment 52. The distance between the first band segment 50 and the second band segment 52 is slightly larger than the length of the central spindle 12 in any one of the novelty jewelry elements 10.

Post elements 54 extend from the first band segment 50 and/or the second band segment 52 into the centralized opening 48. The post elements 54 are flexible. The post elements 54 pass into the open conduit 28 of the central spindle 12 and connect the novelty jewelry elements 10 to the band 12. In the shown embodiment, it can be seen that the post elements 54 can be configured as either two opposing short posts 56 or one long post 58. In either configuration, the post elements 54 enter the central spindle 12 and enable the central spindle 12 and the roll of material 14 to spin freely on the band 42. In this manner, a sticker 20 can be selectively removed from any one of the novelty jewelry elements 10 on the band 42, simply by pulling the free end 32 of a sticker 20. Once engaged, the roll of material 14 will rotate freely, therein enabling the sticker 20 to be pulled away from the novelty jewelry element 10 with no significant resistance other than the resistance provided by the adhesive 24 and the perforations 21. In FIG. 5, the band 42 is used to hold multiple novelty jewelry elements 10 side-by-side with the spindles 12 in parallel. Such a mounting technique is merely an example. The novelty jewelry elements 10 can also be mounted end-to-end to form a string of novelty jewelry. Referring to FIG. 6, two novelty jewelry elements 10 of the type shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 are shown. The two novelty jewelry elements 10 are mounted end-to-end by stringing a tether 60 through the conduit 28 of the central spindle 12. The tether 60 can be a string, a ribbon, a chain, or other such mount. This mounting technique also enables prior art jewelry beads (not shown) to be strung into the assembly.

Referring to FIG. 7, an alternate embodiment of a novelty jewelry element 70 is shown. In this embodiment, a roll of material 72, such as stickers, is wound upon a solid central spindle 74. The solid central spindle 74 has two exposed ends 76, 78. The exposed ends 76, 78 are terminated with connectors 80, such as hooks or loops, so that two jewelry elements 70 can be interconnected using a knot of string or a link of chain 82.

Referring to FIG. 8, another alternate embodiment of a novelty jewelry element 90 is shown. In this embodiment, a roll of material 92 is wound on a solid central spindle 94. The solid central spindle 94 is longer than the roll of material 92 is wide. As such, the solid central spindle 94 extends beyond the roll of material 92. Accordingly, the solid central spindle 94 has two exposed ends 96, 98. The exposed ends 96, 98 can be terminated with a male ball connector 100 and a female socket connector 102. In this manner, the male ball connector 100 on one jewelry element 90 can be interconnected with the female socket connector 102 of another jewelry element 90 while still maintaining a large range of movement between the two jewelry elements 90.

Referring to FIG. 9 in conjunction with the first embodiment of FIG. 1 through FIG. 4, it can be seen that novelty jewelry elements 10 can be linked together and can also be linked to standard decorative beads 104 to create complex pieces of jewelry 106. Once the complex pieces of jewelry 106 is formed, it can be worn. The individual wearing the complex pieces of jewelry 106 can selectively pull stickers 20 from the novelty jewelry elements 10. The stickers 20 can be placed on objects, used as decorations, or shared with friends. Jewelry elements 10 of different sizes can be linked together into a piece of jewelry 106. The jewelry elements 10 of different sizes may contain stickers 20 or other rolls of material 14 of different sizes. For example, small jewelry elements may dispense stickers while larger jewelry elements may dispense rolled candy.

It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention that are illustrated and described are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art can make many variations to those embodiments. For example, many different configurations of novelty jewelry can be assembled using the described jewelry elements. All such embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A piece of toy jewelry, comprising:

a jewelry mount;

at least one novelty jewelry element attached to said jewelry mount, therein forming said piece of toy jewelry, wherein said novelty jewelry element has a central spindle that can spin freely on said jewelry mount and a roll of material that is wound onto said spindle, wherein said roll of material can be selectively unwound from said spindle.

2. The toy jewelry according to claim 1, wherein said roll of material has an adhesive backing and a free end that enables said roll of material to be grasped and selectively unwound from said central spindle.

3. The toy jewelry according to claim 2, wherein said roll of material is perforated.

4. The toy jewelry according to claim 1, wherein said roll of material is a roll of adhesive stickers having graphics thereon, wherein at least some of said graphics are visible on said roll of material when said roll of material is fully wound on said spindle.

5. The toy jewelry according to claim 1, wherein said spindle is tubular and defines a central conduit, wherein said jewelry mount extends into said central conduit.

6. The toy jewelry according to claim 5, wherein said jewelry mount is a tether that is threaded trough said central conduit of said spindle.

7. The toy jewelry according to claim 5, wherein said jewelry mount is at least one post that extends from a bracelet.

8. The toy jewelry according to claim 7, wherein said bracelet has a band that defines a centralized opening, wherein said at least one post extends from said band into said centralized opening.

9. A piece of toy jewelry, comprising:

a plurality of novelty jewelry elements interconnected to form said piece of toy jewelry, wherein each of said plurality of novelty jewelry elements has a central spindle and a roll of material wound onto said spindle, wherein both said spindle and said roll of material can rotate freely together on said piece of toy jewelry.

10. The toy jewelry according to claim 9, wherein each said central spindle has a first end and an opposite second end that terminate with connectors that are not covered by said roll of material.

11. The toy jewelry according to claim 10, wherein said connectors include a male connector and a female connector.

12. The toy jewelry according to claim 9, wherein each said roll of material has an adhesive backing and a free end that enables said roll of material to be grasped and selectively unwound from said central spindle.

13. The toy jewelry according to claim 12, wherein said roll of material is periodically perforated.

14. The toy jewelry according to claim 9, wherein each said roll of material is a roll of adhesive stickers having graphics thereon, wherein at least some of said graphics are visible on said roll of material when said roll of material is fully wound on said central spindle.

15. The toy jewelry according to claim 9, wherein said spindle is tubular and defines a central conduit.

16. The toy jewelry according to claim 9, further including a mount that receives said plurality of novelty jewelry elements, wherein said mount interconnects said plurality of novelty jewelry elements.

17. The toy jewelry according to claim 15, wherein said mount is a tether that is threaded through each said central spindle.

18. The toy jewelry according to claim 15, wherein said jewelry mount is at least one post that extends from a bracelet.

19. A method of storing a variety of stickers ready for dispensing, comprising:

providing a plurality of novelty jewelry elements that are flexibly interconnected into a piece of toy jewelry, wherein at least one of said novelty jewelry elements has spindles and stickers wound into rolls on said spindles, wherein each said stickers has an adhesive backing and a free and that enables said stickers to be grasped and selectively unwound from said spindles.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein both said spindle and said roll of material can rotate freely together on said piece of jewelry.