BACKGROUND

The present inventive disclosure pertains to improved packaging for jewelry items, namely,“wrap-around personal-adornment items” such as necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. Most prior-art packaging for jewelry fail to hold a chain or other jewelry in a desired position inside the packaging when the packaging is handled or transported or on its side or upside down, which in turn causes the contents (for example a necklace) to become tangled and even possibly damaged. Moreover, when the typical prior-art package containing such a jewelry item is opened after transport, the presentation of a jostled and tangled necklace or other wrap-around personal-adornment item is far from what would be desired, especially if the package is to be presented as a gift.

What is needed is an improved packaging approach for wrap-around personal- adornment items such that the contents are better secured in their stored position and better protected from damage, while still providing an aesthetically pleasing presentation for an end user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A package for containing a wrap-around personal-adornment item comprises a base, the base having a bottom side and an internal cavity, the bottom side defining an upward direction away from the bottom side, a tray disposed within said internal cavity of said base, wherein said tray contains a spiraling groove proceeding upward and toward a center of the spiral, the groove adapted to receive a wrap-around personal-adornment item, the groove having a length, a wrap-around personal-adornment item located within the groove, the wrap around personal-adornment item extending substantially the length of the groove, the cover adapted to close over said base, wherein said cover has an interior cavity sized to be able to receive said tray, the cover cavity having a retention means, the cover being closed, whereby the retention means substantially fixes the wrap-around personal-adornment item in its place in the groove.

The foregoing Brief Summary is intended to merely provide a short, general overview of the inventive disclosures described throughout this patent application, and therefore, is not intended to limit the scope of the inventive disclosure contained throughout the balance of this patent application, including the appended claims and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Figure 1A depicts one embodiment of the right-front isometric view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item, with the cover/lid shown open and an example jewelry item contained therein. The packaging features an internal tray and a corresponding mating depression in the cover/lid for receiving the internal tray when the cover/lid is closed.

Figure IB depicts one embodiment of the left-front isometric view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position.

The packaging features an internal tray and a corresponding mating depression in the cover/lid for receiving the internal tray when the cover/lid is closed.

Figure 1C depicts one alternate embodiment of the left-front isometric view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position. The packaging features an internal tray, but only a general cavity in the cover/lid for receiving the internal tray when the cover/lid is closed.

Figure ID depicts one embodiment of the left-rear isometric view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position.

The packaging features an internal tray.

Figure 2 depicts one embodiment of the left-rear isometric view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its closed position.

Figure 3A depicts one embodiment of the right-front cutaway isometric view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item, with the cover/lid shown closed. The packaging features an internal tray and a corresponding mating depression in the cover/lid for receiving the internal tray when the cover/lid is closed.

Figure 3B depicts one embodiment of a stand-alone side view of an internal tray that is used in an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item.

Figure 4 depicts one embodiment of the top view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position. The packaging features an internal tray. Figure 5 depicts one embodiment of the front view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position. In this embodiment, the packaging features an internal tray, but only a general cavity in the cover/lid for receiving the internal tray when the cover/lid is closed.

Figure 6 depicts one embodiment of the left-side view of an improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position. The packaging features a internal tray.

Figure 7A depicts one embodiment of the left-side isometric view of the latch/key member disposed on the external base of improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position.

Figure 7B depicts one embodiment of the left-side isometric view of the

latch/keyhole member (with the key removed) disposed on the external base of improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position.

Figure 7C depicts one embodiment of the left-side isometric view of push-button latch member disposed on the external base of improved package for holding a wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item in its open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventive disclosures described herein pertain to improved packaging for jewelry items, namely,“wrap-around personal-adornment items” such as necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. Specifically, the specialized jewelry packaging described herein adopts an internal schema or tray in the packaging/box tray that holds a jewelry item; such as, for example, a necklace; within a spiraling and inclined groove for the necklace to rest in. In some embodiments, the cover of the packaging/box includes a mating depression for receiving the tray in order to further hold the jewelry item in place during transport.

The terms“wrap-around personal-adornment item” or“wrap-around jewelry item,” as used in this specification, drawings, and the appended claims, are each intended to be a generic reference to any kind of necklace, bracelet, or anklet that a person may wear.

The jewelry-holding base may comprise a spiraling and gradually elevating slot or groove, wherein a wrap-around personal-adornment item such as a necklace, bracelet, or anklet is laid and form-fitted along such a slot or groove. When viewed from the side, the jewelry-holding base (and spiraling groove) rises to a central point. When viewed from the top, the spiraling slot/groove is typically a smooth, rounded curve; however, other shapes of such a curve for the spiraling groove can be used as well. The particular shape is to some extent a matter of ornamental design choice.

We turn now to Figures 1A through 7C.

In an embodiment, the improved jewelry packaging 1 comprises a base 20, a cover/lid 5 (typically with a hinge 5A disposed between the base 20 and cover/lid 5), and a specialized internal tray 15 disposed in the base 20. The specialized internal tray 15 includes a spiraling groove/slot 15A with a rising schema. The slot/groove 15A is adapted to receive a wrap around personal-adornment jewelry item 15B while preventing the tangling/displacement of the wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item 15B during transport. In some variations, the actual length, width, and depth of the slot/groove 15B is varied to form-fitted to better receive the dimensions of a specific wrap-around personal-adornment jewelry item 15B. As may be seen in several of the figures and perhaps most clearly in Figure 1 A, the spiral groove can proceed through more than two turns along its length. The embodiment shown in the figures has the groove proceeding through very nearly three full turns along its length. The alert reader also appreciates that the methods being discussed rely in a fundamental way upon the item that may be placed into the groove, or that may be removed from the groove, being flexible. The flexibility of the item permits it to adopt the shape of the groove when it lies within the groove, and permits it to adopt a different shape when a human user wraps it around oneself for purposes of personal adornment. The alert reader appreciates that the item, when in repose within the groove, is displayed in a particular shape, such as the smooth and rounded ascending spiral of Figure 1 A, and that this display may be emotionally appealing to a human observer. The alert reader realizes that the eye of the observer is naturally drawn to such a spiral with the eye drawn toward the center and toward the high point at the center. Yet another aspect of the jewelry packaging may be appreciated from Figure 1 A, namely that the personal adornment item may have two faces - a first face that is meant to be away from the skin when the adornment item is wrapped around the user, and a second face that is meant to be toward the skin. As such, it will be desirable when the item is being displayed in packaging to be able to control the orientation of the item with respect to visibility of the first face and second face. In particular it is likely to be desirable to control the orientation of the item so that the first face is consistently visible, as shown in Figure 1 A. As will be most readily appreciated from Figure 3 A, the groove can be rectangular in cross section, wider than it is deep. The width and depth of the groove can thus be selected relative to the cross-sectional dimensions of the personal adornment item so as to constrain the personal adornment item so that if it has been laid into the groove with (for example) the first face visible, the personal adornment item will remain so oriented and will not be able to rotate so that the second face is visible instead of the first face.

In many embodiments, the base 20 is typically comprised of standard materials known in the art for constructing jewelry boxes; e.g., rigid materials such as wood, polyurethane, polystyrene, plastic, or foam, and in other variations is covered in velvet cloth, suede, leather, or some other aesthetically pleasing covering. Similarly, in those

embodiments, the cover/lid 5 is typically comprised of standard materials known in the art for constructing jewelry boxes; e.g., rigid materials such as wood, polyurethane, polystyrene, plastic, or foam, and in other variations is covered in velvet cloth, suede, leather, or some other aesthetically pleasing covering, and typically intended to match the base 20. The specialized internal tray 15, including its includes a spiraling groove/slot 15A, is typically comprised of a sturdy substrate made from a material such as such as wood, metal, plastic, polyurethane, or polystyrene, with the sturdy substrate covered by a soft, aesthetically pleasing material such as suede, though many other soft materials (e.g., velvet cloth) can be used.

The cover/lid 5 interior cavity 10 is sized to receive the internal tray 15, 15A when the cover/lid 5 is closed onto the base 20. In some variations, the liner of the internal cavity 10 is a soft material such as suede (though other materials known in the art for jewelry boxes can be used) that can be stretched taut on an elastic edge or spring-loaded apparatus (not shown) behind it in order to allow the liner of the internal cavity 10 to stretch such that it covers the grooves in the internal tray 15, 15A. In this way there is a stretchy material serving much like a drum head, helping to hold the jewelry item in its groove in the tray. In another variation, the cover/lid 5 interior cavity 10 also includes a specialized depression 10A to closely mate with the internal tray 15A when the cover/lid 5 is closed such that the top edges of the entire slot/groove 15A are in direct contact with the mating portion of the specialized depression 10A of the interior cavity 10 of the cover/lid 5, which further ensures the secure placement of a contained wrap-around personal-adornment item. The specialized internal tray 15, including its includes a spiraling groove/slot 15A, is typically comprised of a sturdy substrate made from a material such as such as wood, metal, plastic, polyurethane, or polystyrene, with the sturdy substrate covered by a soft, aesthetically pleasing material such as suede, though many other soft materials (e.g., velvet cloth) can be used.

In some additional variations, the groove/slot 15A of the specialized internal tray 15 is further lined with a resilient material (e.g., foam) that provides a more secure means to hold a contained wrap-around personal-adornment item; that is, the resilient material squeezes/holds onto the contained wrap-around personal-adornment item to prevent its movement.

In even more variations, the improved jewelry packaging 1 further comprises a means to latch 25 the cover/lid 5 onto the base 20, using latching means already well-known in the art. In some applications, the latching means includes a keyed lock 25, 25A (see Figures 7A and 7B), while in some other applications, the latching means uses a push-button type of spring-loaded latch 25.

The present patent application incorporates by reference U.S. Patent Application No. 62/811,032, filed on February 27, 2019 for“Packaging for jewelry,” and U.S. Patent

Application No. 29/690,531, filed on May 8, 2019 for“Packaging for jewelry.” For purposes of claim construction, if there are any unresolvable inconsistencies between the teaching of the present patent application and either U.S. Patent Application No. 62/811,032 or U.S. Patent Application No. 29/690,531, then the teachings of the present patent application shall govern.

The various embodiments and variations thereof described herein, including the descriptions in any appended claims and/or illustrated in the accompanying Figures, are merely exemplary and are not meant to limit the scope of the inventive disclosure. It should be appreciated that numerous variations of the invention have been contemplated as would be obvious to the alert reader with the benefit of this disclosure.

The alert reader will have no difficulty devising myriad obvious variations and improvements to the invention, all of which are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the Description, Claims, and Figures herein.