Jewelry identification

Registers – Coded record sensors – Particular sensor structure

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C235S462130, C235S487000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06308891

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for identification of jewelry, and particularly to a piece of jewelry with an identification device disposed therein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A large amount of jewelry is manufactured and sold around the world every year. As is well known, there is unfortunately a large amount of jewelry theft as well. Thus the importance of jewelry identification is clearly understood. By being able to identify a piece of jewelry, it may be possible to return lost or stolen jewelry to the rightful owner. In addition, many large jewelry stores offer repair services at little or no cost to purchasers of jewelry. Unfortunately, unscrupulous persons often try to cheat the store by bringing jewelry for repair which was not purchased at the store and which does not have a repair guarantee. Again, the ability to identify jewelry can prevent such costly cheating.
Apparatus and methods for identification of jewelry are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,102 to Takeuchi, describes a system for identifying jewels including an automatic microscope, automatic image-analyzing apparatus, electric-resistance measuring apparatus, weighing apparatus, spectroscopic-analysis apparatus, and electronic information processing apparatus. The microscope forms an enlarged image of an identification number marked on a jewel to be identified. The image-analyzing apparatus receives the image of the identification number from the microscope and analyzes it. Additional identification information data is measured and processed, including electrical resistance between two reference points on the jewel, specific gravity of the jewel, and spectrum of reflected light from the jewel. The identification mark may be photo-etched on the jewel.
Other US Patents which deal generally with jewel identification include U.S. Pat. No. 1,700,497 to Heitzler, U.S. Pat. No. 1,799,604 to Read, U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,142 to Takubo, U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,120 to Bar-Issac et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,141 to Hanneman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,770 to Lang, U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,506 to Dreschhoff et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,385 to DeVries et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,172 to Ehrenwald et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,786 to Gerrard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,147 to Bowley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,181 to Yifrach et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,935 to Wallner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,125 to Winston et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,312 to Horner et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,405 to Vanier et al.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide novel methods and apparatus for identification of jewelry.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a jewelry piece including a jewelry substrate having a recess formed therein, and an identification device, having detectable identification data formed thereon, disposed in the recess.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the identification data are optically detectable.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the identification data include a bar code.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the identification data include magnetically recorded data suitable for reading by a magnetic reading device.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the identification device includes an integrated circuit with electrical contacts that are connectable to an electronic readout device.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the identification device includes a bead with the identification data formed on an outside surface thereof.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a seal is provided that seals the identification device in the recess.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for jewelry identification including providing an identification device, forming detectable identification data on the identification device, forming a recess in a jewelry piece, and placing the identification device in the recess.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the step of forming identification data includes recording data related to at least one of the following data: dimensions of the jewelry piece, weight of the jewelry piece, material of the jewelry piece, purchase location, purchase date, period of repair guarantee, name of a purchaser, address of a purchaser, name of a manufacturer of the jewelry piece, and address of a manufacturer of the jewelry piece.


REFERENCES:
patent: 1383104 (1921-06-01), Grossman
patent: 1700497 (1929-01-01), Heitzler
patent: 1799604 (1931-04-01), Read
patent: 3740142 (1973-06-01), Takubo
patent: 3947120 (1976-03-01), Bar-Issac et al.
patent: 4012141 (1977-03-01), Hanneman
patent: 4125770 (1978-11-01), Lang
patent: 4200506 (1980-04-01), Dreschhoff et al.
patent: 4316385 (1982-02-01), DeVries et al.
patent: 4354189 (1982-10-01), Lemelson
patent: 4392476 (1983-07-01), Gresser et al.
patent: 4467172 (1984-08-01), Ehrenwald et al.
patent: 4707592 (1987-11-01), Ware
patent: 4749847 (1988-06-01), Despres
patent: 4799786 (1989-01-01), Gerrard
patent: 4900147 (1990-02-01), Bowley et al.
patent: 4931629 (1990-06-01), Frankfurt
patent: 5118181 (1992-06-01), Yifrach et al.
patent: 5124935 (1992-06-01), Wallner et al.
patent: 5379102 (1995-01-01), Takeuchi
patent: 5401561 (1995-03-01), Fisun et al.
patent: 5410125 (1995-04-01), Winston et al.
patent: 5485312 (1996-01-01), Horner et al.
patent: 5677521 (1997-10-01), Garrou
patent: 5828405 (1998-10-01), Vanier et al.
patent: 5932119 (1999-08-01), Kaplan et al.
patent: 6045671 (2000-04-01), Wu et al.
patent: 6211484 (2001-04-01), Kaplan et al.
patent: 1-305495 (1989-12-01), None
patent: 97/09687 (1997-03-01), None

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Jewelry identification does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Jewelry identification, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Jewelry identification will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2617001

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.