US3119563A - Novelty device - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 28, 1964 s RUFFMAN 3,119,563

NOVELTY DEVICE Filed Feb. 28, 1961 INVEIYJJOR. famue Z Eu i i/27am United States Patent Ofifice 3,119,563 Patented Jan. 28, 1964 3,119,563 NOVELTY DEVECE Sam H. Rniiman, t'lamhria Heights, N.Y., assignor to Action Enterprises 1nd, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York I Filed Feb. 28, 1951, Ser. No. 92,232 1 Claim. (Cl. 240-6. 3)

The present invention relates generally to novelty devices, and more particularly to such a device having a structural form which is ornamental and is equipped with the elements of an open electric circuit adapted to be closed to energize the element thereof responsive to a current of electricity, such as an electric light bulb, a buzzer, a vibrator, or other electrical unit.

Heretotore, novelties such as illuminated brooches, earrings, ornaments and the like have been made, both of the steady burning and the flashing light type, but in every such known instance the device has been merely an illuminable object of the character which its descriptive name clearly identifies. The present invention, on the other hand, is based upon an entirely different concept, although it necessarily utilizes some elements basically similar to those found in the devices referred to.

In its broader aspects, the concept of the present invention contemplates a device of the character described wherein the closing of the electric circuit involves more than merely the actuation of a switch means. On the contrary, it provides a device having an open electric circuit including a pair of contacts arranged in predetermined separate locations and adapted to be bridged only by a circuit closing device having an electricity conducting element arranged in predetermined manner whereby the element will register with said contacts to engage and bridge them.

More specifically, the invention contemplates the provision in the electric circuit of three or more contacts located in predetermined positions with two of them only selectively connected in the circuit, and a key having three or more contact elements located in predetermined position with two or them only selectively connected for conducting electricity. Thus, the circuit will be closed by that key only whose connected contact elements are located in positions to engage the two particular contacts which are connected in the electric circuit.

The foregoing makes available a large number of permutations in the selection of contacts to be rendered operable. For example, with two contacts in the circuit and one element on the key, it reduces to the simple arrangement of the element on the key being long enough to bridge the contacts and being properly located to do so. However, with {our contacts in positions 1, 2, 3, 4 with, say, the contacts in positions 1 and 4 selected to be connected in the circuit, and with the key having elements located in corresponding 1, 2, 3, 4 positions, a key with the elements in positions 1 and 4 bridged will close the circuit. However, keys with any two elements such as 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4, and 3-4 bridged will not close the circuit. It contacts 2-3 were selected to be in the circuit, then the keys with the following elements bridged would not work: 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-4, 3-4; and so on through other selected combinations of the contacts and elements.

It will now be clear that the invention may find application in a variety of fields. In a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for the detailed description hereinafter, the device is in the form of a romantic heart, using an arrow as the key. As an inexpensive novelty this would be attractive to the adolescent where the boy friend could hold the proper key to light the heart. It is not inconceivable that a more elegant heart would be attractive to young adults, although not necessarily limited to that group.

On the other hand, the invention would find application to many games. For a'treasure hunt, keys could be hidden and the finder of the key which would fit the device and cause a bulb to light, or a buzzer to sound, or whatever the signal of the device might he would be the winner. Or there could be sets of treasures, each requiring a different key, whereby the holders of the keys would have to find the treasure with the device which matched his key. Obviously many other applications of the invention could be pointed out but it is thought that the foregoing will serve as examples sufiicient for the present.

In the accompanying drawings, the invention has been shown merely by way of example and in preferred form and obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein and in its mode of application which will still be comprised Within its spirit. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific .form as embodiment, except insofar as such limitations are set forth in the appended claim.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the device partly broken away to show the structure;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the device partly in section to show the internal structure;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the key partly in section to show the structure;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the key partly in section to show the structure;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in section to show the key inserted in the device;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation of the device with the key inserted; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the electric circuit.

Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred form of the invention shows the novelty device in the shape of a romantic heart. The heart shaped structure in this particular instance also comprises a housing for containing the ole ments which make up the electric circuit; but it should be pointed out at this time that it is within the scope of the invention that a separate housing attachable to the ornamental structure may be provided when necessary to mount the electrical unit. It will be noted in FIGS. 1 and 2 that the heart structure 1%, which is preferably -made of translucent plastic material such as polyethylene,

is formed with a relatively thick body portion 11 provided with two compartments 12 and 13 separated by a wall 14 and the compartments are closed at the back of the body portion 11 by the plate 15 secured to the body portion 11 as by a screw 16 fastened in a threaded recess 17 formed in the wall 14.

The compartment 12 houses an electric light bulb 18 threaded into a fixture 19 winch is preferably mounted on the back plate 15, the tip or base 2t of the bulb 18 bearing against a contact element 21.

The lower compartment 13, which is also shown in FIG. 5, opens through the side wall 22 of the heart struc ture 1t and in the area of the compartment 13 the back plate 15 is provided with a plunality of electricity conducting oontacts 23. For the purpose of description, the contacts 23 have been individually identified by the letters a, b, c and d for reasons which will appear hereinafter. As shown in the drawings, electricity conducting lead wires 23a and 23d are arranged to extend, respectively, from the contact a to the fixture 19 and from the contact d to the contact 21. As thus constituted, an open electric circuit is provided in the heart structure 14 Referring particularly to FIGS. 3 and 4, a key 30 in the general outline of an arrow is provided which is also formed of a plastic material as in the case of the heart structure 10. The key 30 is formed with an elongate compartment 31 located substantially midway of the length of the key and is closed by a plate 32 which may adequately be held in place merely by a press fit. It will be noted that the plate 32 is longer than the compartment 31 and that the key is formed with recesses 33 land 34 to accommodate the opposite ends of the plate 32. The compartment 31 is adapted to house a small electric battery 35 which is contained between electricity conducting contacts 36 and 37 between which it has a press fit to insure the making of a good contact. Electricity conducting elements 38 and 39 extend, respectively, from the contacts 36 and 37 to the region of the head 40 of the key 30 where there are located four electricity conducting contacts designated 0, f, g and 11. As shown, the elements 38 and 39 are connected to the contacts e and h, respectively, and it will be noted that these two contacts occupy positions corresponding to the location of the contacts a and d of the heart structure. Thus, the key 30 is formed so that when the head 50 thereof is inserted into the lower compartment 13 contact 2 will engage contact a and contact It will engage contact at and thus establish a closed circuit between the battery 35 and the light bulb 18 causing the latter to glow and illuminate the heart structure 10.

It is pointed out that the contacts a-d and can be formed of electricity conducting metal embedded in the plastic plate and the key 30 and that the elements 23a, 23d, 38 and 39 can be formed of electricity conducting wire. On the other hand, there are available electricity conducting inks or other preparations which can be printed on the plastic material which adequately serve the purpose of conducting electricity and, at the same time, materially reduce the cost of manufacturing. Further, it is to be noted that the electric bulb 18 can be either of the steady burning type or flickering type and, moreover, it may be one of the types well known in the art other than the type shown which is screwed into the fixture 19.

As already stated, with three or more contacts a-d and eh, the elements 23a, 23d, and 38, 39 may be selectively connected to the contacts ad, e-h 'to offer a large number of permutations as and for the purposes noted heretofore. Also, the heart structure 10 may be formed in other configurations and the key 30 can likewise be modified in a form different than the arrow shape shown in the drawings; and a separate housing for the electric circuit elements may be provided which is attached to the back Wall of a structure having an ornamental facade.

At the expense of repetition, devices energized by electricity such as a buzzer or a vibrator or other unit may '4 be employed instead of an electric light; and the battery 35 need not be located in the key but can be located in the device or separate housing and the key formed with one or more contacts selectively arranged in a predetermined location to bridge a certain two of the contacts ad.

As already stated, the invention has been shown mercly by way of example and in preferred form and obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not limited except insofar as limitations may be specified in the ap ended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A novelty device comprising an ornamented heartshaped housing includmg a front body portion having two compartments for-med therein, and a detachable back portion, an electrically operated bulb mounted in one compartment of said housing, said other compartment having a triangular tapered recess having an open base therein, a plurality of at least theree electrically insulated, spaced, aligned, substantially identical contacts extending into said triangular recess adjacent said open base, a pair of electrical conductors connecting said electrically operated bulb with only two of said plurality of contacts to define on open circuit to said bulb in said housing, a completely detached, separate and distinct self-contained electrical key in simulation of an arrow having a point adapted to closely engage in said triangular recess for closing and energizing said open circuit, said key including a compartmen-t formed therein, a battery carried in said key compartment, a number of contacts identical to the number of contacts in said triangular recess disposed adjacent the point of said key which is adapted to be inserted into the opening of said housing, a pair of conductors connecting said battery to a selected two of said key contacts whereby said open circuit in said housing is closed and energized only when said key is inserted into the opening in said second compartment so that all of the key contacts engage with the contacts in said second compartment, but only when the battery is connected to the two key contacts which engage with the two con-tacts connected in the open circuit to said bulb of said housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,238,696 Hanley Apr. 15, 1941 2,963,573 Ziegenbein Dec. 6, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 574,798 Italy Mar. 26, 1958

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