EP0793834A1

EP0793834A1 - Finger ring with information storage unit

Info

Publication number: EP0793834A1
Application number: EP95940118A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Claus Rein
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-11-25
Filing date: 1995-11-21
Publication date: 1997-09-10
Also published as: JPH10509827A; AU4170596A; DE4443253A1; WO1996017319A1; CN1183443C; US6020826A; DE19581379D2; DE4443253C2; BR9509815A; CN1173235A; KR100404615B1; RU2142042C1

Abstract

Disclosed is a finger ring with an information storage unit and at least two electrically conductive, mutually insulated ring elements that serve as contacts (1). The aim of the invention is to provide an arrangement of the contacts (1) enabling the ring contacts (1) to be applied quickly and reliably to mating contacts (17) of a control device without elaborate handling and giving a rugged, simple and versatile construction of both the contacts (1) and the mating contacts (17). The invention accomplishes this with an arrangement in which the contacts (1) have tangential planes (2) slanting toward each other and the contacts (1) can be reached without hindrance only from certain zones (8, 10) or segments (14).

Description

Finger ring with information storage unit

The invention relates to a finger ring according to the preamble of patent claim 1

It is already known to equip finger rings with an electronic information storage unit in order to always have a secure, easy-to-use and permanently under-supervision information storage.To exchange information with a corresponding control device, it is necessary to transmit the information, both for which Non-contact, e.g. optical (DE-OS 35 07 381 (E 05 B 49/00), DE-OS 42 11 386 (G 08 B 25/12)), electromagnetic (DE-OS 35 07 389 (E 05 B 49 / 00), DE-OS 25 57 637 (E05 B47 / 00), DE-AS 25 57 637 (E 05 B 49/00), DE-OS 42 11 386 (G 08 B 25/12)) and magnetic ( DE-OS 35 07 389 (E 05 B 49/00)) possibilities, as well as electrical contacts (DE-OS 35 07 389 (E 05 B 49/00)) have been proposed. Non-contact connections have the advantage of easy handling, have but the disadvantage that the transmitted information can easily be removed by unauthorized persons, for example when using one that Stre Radiation-recording, listening device The direct electrical contact shows a much higher level of security in this regard, but the disadvantage here is the need to bring the contacts on the finger ring to the counter contacts on the control device into the appropriate position and to ensure simultaneous contact of the corresponding contact pairs in the DE-OS 25 57 637 (E 05 B 47/00) and DE-AS 25 57 637 (E05 B 49/00) describes a finger ring which has a recess on its outside in which a component is let in the surface is provided with two contact surfaces made of hard metallic material and in which there is an electronic circuit which contains key information. There is no detailed description of the two contact surfaces, but one can see from FIG. 1 of DE-OS 25 57 637 and DE -AS 25 57 637 that the two contacts with the flat surface of the component just mentioned one plane form or are arranged only slightly differently from this arrangement has the disadvantage that a comparatively complicated construction is required to achieve good contact with the mating contacts. Such is the case with FIGS. 2 and 3 of DE-OS 25 57 637 and DE-AS 25 57 637 described where the counter contacts are raised on a scanning surface, with a shape that corresponds to that of the contact-containing component on the ring, and are spring-loaded for contact formation between the finger ring and The finger ring must be positioned exactly on or in the scanning surface and, if necessary, printed on counter contacts.This process requires a steady hand, favorable external conditions (light conditions, no vibrations) and, if necessary, time, which is of great disadvantage with regard to the user-friendly applicability of such a ring

In general, making contact is complex in terms of handling and therefore not very user-friendly if the finger ring has to be brought into a specific position in order to implement a corresponding contact-counter-contact connection

The object of the invention is to provide a fast and reliable approach to the contacts of the finger ring on a finger ring with information storage unit and electrical contacts for information and / or energy transmission, without aesthetic impairment of its property as a decorative ring Counter contacts of a control device for establishing an information and / or energy connection without great handling effort and on the other hand to enable a robust, simple and versatile design of both the contacts on the finger ring and the counter contacts on the control device

According to the invention, this problem is solved by the features mentioned in claims 1 and 2

A major advantage of the invention is that, based on patent claims 1 and 2, the simple and robust design of the contacts on the finger ring, which are easily accessible from the outside, ensures that the contacts on the ring and the simple, robust and versatile counter contacts on one contact are safe and easy to handle Allow control device, whereby contact is understood to mean the establishment of an electrical connection by mechanical contact between contacts and counter-contacts for the purpose of information and / or energy transmission. Claims 1 and 2 define finger ring constructions in which the contacts are superficial, via spaces free of ring elements from the outside are easily accessible and the finding and setting of the optimal position of the finger ring for secure information and / or energy transmission is determined not only by waving the ringed hand but also both through the symmetry of the arrangement as well, at Pressure of the contacts against correspondingly shaped counter-contact constructions, is energetically supported.

The contacts on the finger ring can be according to claim 1 on opposite sides or face each other according to claim 2 and are arranged in relation to each other so that tangential planes can be placed on them that intersect in a tangential plane intersection straight line, i.e. the tangential planes are at an angle to each other. In the application case, the contact points are to be understood as the locations of the electrical contact to the mating contacts and as points. If the tangential planes are not point-like but on one- or two-dimensional areas of the contact surface, each point within these areas is to be understood separately as the contact point of the corresponding contact. The mutual oblique position of the tangential planes on outer edges or on, with respect to the parallel plane running parallel to the tangential plane intersection straight line through both support points, inclined contact surfaces according to patent claims 1 or 2, has the advantage that a force component generated by pressing the finger ring in a direction perpendicular to the parallel plane, one Safe mechanical and thus electrical contact is given, since both force components in the pressing direction and laterally arise on the contact points of the finger ring and on the contact points of the counter contacts of the control device, provided that the counter contacts are designed so that they absorb these forces can. This arrangement of the finger ring contacts to the mating contacts differs from pure support arrangements, in which, as in DE-AS 2557637, the force acts on the contacts and mating contacts only in the pressing direction, and conceivable plug contact arrangements, such as from normal plug sockets - or plug-socket arrangements is known where the lateral force component brings about the reliable mechanical-electrical contact.

The contact points must be accessible in order to be able to establish contact between contacts and mating contacts. There are natural restrictions on accessibility when the finger ring is worn in the usual way through the fingers of the hand itself. With a closed or half-open fist, which corresponds to a suitable hand position for the purpose of touching the mating contacts, the finger ring is only from the front of the fist particularly accessible. For an intended contact with the counter contacts, it is therefore useful to wear the finger ring so that those areas of the contacts that serve as support points are also located on the front of the fist. At the same time, in the direction of the fist or perpendicular to the third phalanges, An excellent directional arrow defines This excellent directional arrow is at the same time exactly opposite to the direction of the contacts-ring center, i.e. the view of the frontal view of the finger ring.With conventional jewelry, it is advisable to arrange the contacts in the jewelry part of the finger ring, so that the excellent directional arrow also approximately shows the center of his jewelry part and the direct view of the jewelry part shows the frontal view The limit of the practical accessibility of the contacts on the finger ring ends at the level up to which the fist can be moved in the direction of the joint without obstruction and an ideal finger position ahead, this plane lies as a tangential plane on the parallel third phalanx and can touch but not cut the inner surface of the finger ring. At the same time, this plane is perpendicular to the excellent ri Attention arrow, it is therefore a normal plane with respect to this direction arrow and practically represents a level of accessibility for the position of possible support points, since behind it you are already between your fingers, i.e. in an area that is very unfavorable for handling in terms of handling technology in order to make contact with the counter-contacts , the finger ring must be able to be brought up to the counter contacts at least up to the support points.The level that runs parallel to the accessibility level through the support point with the smallest distance to it is therefore of importance as a practical limit level for the contacting action and continues to be used as an action limit If the parallel plane runs perpendicular to the line of sight of the contact ring center, ie parallel to the accessibility limit level, then the parallel plane and the action limit are in an identical position. On the other hand, the parallel plane does not run parallel to the act ion limit, so according to patent claims 1 and 2, only the situation in the areas of the front of the contacts up to the support points, i.e. on the front of the action limit with regard to the contact function, is of importance, since there is no contact behind the action limit anyway To ensure reliable contact between contacts and To achieve counter-contacts, a pressure force perpendicular to the parallel plane is required, i.e. a corresponding force arrow points in the same direction. In terms of handling, contact making is particularly advantageous in terms of handling, in which the excellent directional arrow and the force direction arrow point in the same direction, ie when contact is made with a fist that hits the front If the excellent direction arrow and the force direction arrow do not point in the same direction, the counterforce acts when the Finger ring on the counter contacts not in the direction of the ring center, which creates a lateral moment of force and the finger ring can be easily pushed away from its stable wearing position on the finger.

Completely free, direction-independent accessibility of the contacts in front of the action limit allows contact with the counter-contacts, but alone does not offer any advantages in order to establish a safe electrical connection quickly and easily in terms of handling. These only result from a preference for certain paths and directions. Such is given within the division of the entire space into six subspaces made according to patent claims 1 and 2. The six subspaces result from the intersection of the parallel plane through two normal planes that are perpendicular to it in the support positions and parallel to the tangential plane intersection line. Of particular importance are the inner subspace which is not penetrated by the tangential planes and the two outer subspaces located on the other side of the parallel plane. These three subspaces are referred to as the 1st subspace group, within which two comparable, mutually complementary situations are defined with patent claims 1 and 2. Either those parts of the contacts on which the support points are located are arranged in the inner part space in this first subspace group and the two outer subspaces are free from ring elements up to the support points as defined in claim 1 or, according to claim 2, the inner part of the front of the contacts up to the support points is free of ring elements and the two outer contain the areas of the contacts with the support points. In both cases, the front of the contacts has an access advantage up to the support points via the ring element-free space areas aligned parallel to the tangential plane intersection line, or, viewed from a different perspective, the ring elements act as obstacles in the subspaces likewise aligned parallel to the tangential plane intersection line that are not free of ring element. or potential threshold, which allows an arrangement of counter-contacts, which is at a distance from the support points, preferably via the ring element-free sub-areas, simultaneous access to both contacts and, taking into account finite dimensions of both the finger ring and the counter-contacts, the path to the contact, if necessary shines. If the mating contacts are oriented over a certain length in a manner parallel to the ring element-free spatial areas and arranged in a complementary manner that they can reach the contacts in the support locations from the ring element-free spatial areas, there is one along the surface in which the Counter contacts lie, guided movement of the ring in the direction of this oriented complementary counter contact arrangement over its entire length, the certainty of hitting the same. If the user knows the orientation of the counter contacts and holds the finger ring in such a way that the orientation of the ring element-free spatial areas matches that of the Mating contacts matches, the lateral or unsharp approach of the ring to the mating contacts is more likely to make contact than if the contacts and mating contacts are brought together with pinpoint accuracy. The longer this oriented-complementary area in the mating contacts, the greater the advantage is trained

If a finger ring according to the invention is guided over a surface which has an alignment of the contacts to the mating contacts just shown, and it is taken into account that, according to patent claims 1 and 2, the contact points are located on mutually inclined surface points of the contacts and also over the areas of the ring elements free of the ring element Subgroup can be reached, the finger ring will automatically snap into the desired position in the vicinity of the final contact position, with little pressure and a rough positioning or rough direction that is determined by the posture and movement of the hand, without a precise approach from the start, such as with Plug contacts are required. According to patent claims 1 and 2, directly adjacent to the ring element-free areas of the 1 sub-room group, projecting into the 2 sub-room group, through the outer contour of the contacts and parallel to the normal planes and the parallel plane ne delimited areas of the room can be very small and do not need to be precisely defined, since their primary purpose is to allow a fall in potential energy when they are pressed against the counter contacts. The contacts and counter contacts can then slide into one another in a stable position because under the influence of the pressure force in the vicinity of the final contact position, the finger ring falls from an energetically higher position into a favor of potential energy and, similar to how a ball rolls into a depression, slides in the direction of the energy minimum due to the unstable self-statics of a two-point bearing Contact pressure reliably printed both contacts on the counter contacts Even with three contacts, for which claim 1 or 2 is to be applied for each possible pair of contacts, a reliable contact making and maintaining contact would still be possible due to the inherent statics of a three-point bearing Only from four contacts, at least for rigid contact constructions, problems arise that are either very exact fitting constructions of contacts and mating contacts or flexible contacts or mating contacts require, which requires a considerable additional effort and the robustness is more difficult to implement. According to claim 3, there is the possibility of an arrangement according to claim 1 or 2 to another arrangement according to claim 1 or 2 because the support points are tight This case comes very well in practical use, as this allows extensive contact areas of the finger ring to be used for possible contact with the mating contacts of a control device and means that with a corresponding design of the mating contacts, the finger ring while maintaining the electrical contact connection between the corresponding contacts of the Finger ring and the counter contacts on the counter contacts can be rotated and tilted to a limited extent, which increases the probability even if the finger ring is inexact to the G close contacts to establish a reliable contact

The finger ring according to the invention connects according to patent claims 1 and 2, as well as extended under patent claim 3, for the task of a contact there would advantageously be a helpful function to support the contacts, with a necessary function to implement the contact. The event of the contact, the necessary function, takes place on each contact only at one point of the contact surface, the support point, The remaining surface serves more or less for the helpful function, or according to claim 3 for handling convenience, it is possible that at least part of the helpful function is taken over by ring elements which do not represent contacts themselves but can support the introduction of the finger ring to the point where contact is ultimately made. In many cases, these ring elements can be understood as a spatial or design continuation of the contact form

It is furthermore advantageous according to claim 4 that the contacts have an elongated shape and are arranged side by side along their long side. This results in an additional increase in the probability of making contact if one starts from an inaccurate starting position. This increase in probability increases with increasing length. / The width ratio of the contacts increases and adds to the advantage already achieved by the arrangement of the counter contacts. Even with two punctiform counter contacts, there are advantages with lateral, ie high

REPLACEMENT BLADE (RULE 26) Exercise of the finger ring in both points because there is certainty of contact over the entire length of the contacts

With the design conditions for the finger ring according to the invention, large-area, robust arrangements for the mating contacts, possibly combined with lengthening components made of other materials, are possible, which increases the likelihood, even under unfavorable conditions, such as restricted visibility, situation-related poor accessibility of the mating contacts, etc. To make contact is increased. Since the exchange of data with the use of microelectronic devices, such as non-volatile memory such as ^ROM's, ^EPROM's or ^EEPROM's, in the Informationsspreichereinheit usually only fractions of a second to transmit a large amount of information, that is only a short-term persistence in the energetically stable position, required, there are good conditions for the intended data transmission even in the event of vibrations

In general, for the construction and arrangement of the mating contacts, it is sufficient to meet the requirement that the contacts on the finger ring must be accessible from the space areas and sub-area areas defined by claim 1 or 2, a lowering of the area of the mating contacts, with the contacts facing away from one another Finger ring or a high, with facing contacts on the finger ring, supports the above-described effect of energy-assisted slipping into the final contact situation, but is actually only in some special cases, where the tangential planes on the finger ring can only be placed on outer edges or corners and an oblique Space for the development of a lateral force component is missing, necessary. This means that the variety of design options for the counter-contacts or their integration into existing arrangements with other tasks, such as metallic decorative elements Construction, housing parts, etc., extremely high The same applies to the contacts on the finger rings, where the contact points of the contacts of the finger ring can be both curved and flat surfaces, curved and straight edges and points. The contacts themselves can consist of compact bodies and are robust can be designed, since clearly exact fits to mating contacts and delicate, resilient or similarly sensitive constructions are not required. Arched shapes, e.g. spherical caps, egg-shaped, cylindrical half-shells or hollow shapes, but also angular prism-shaped bodies or polyhedron are suitable. The contacts can be in the jewelry part of the finger ring be arranged, a contact can be the finger ring itself or the contacts can, as stated in claim 5 and especially applicable to wedding rings, form the finger ring itself. To ensure a good electrical contact connection to mating contacts, precious metal alloys, which are usually used for jewelry production, are suitable as the material for the contacts. In addition, it is advantageous both the contacts and the surrounding ring elements made of the hardest, most abrasion-resistant material, eg. As steel, hard metal or non-ferrous metal alloys, because less wear and tear occurs in the application.

Since insulation material in practical constructions can often also have a fastening function for the contacts in addition to the electrical insulation, organic potting compounds and inorganic ceramic or glass compounds are particularly suitable for this. These can also be colored for design-aesthetic purposes. In addition, however, mechanical constructions are also possible where gemstones, minerals, plastic, glass, pearls, conch shells, horns, wood or ceramics can be used as insulation materials.

A local surface coating of the fingering with a sufficiently hard material may be advantageous, both for aesthetic reasons and to improve the wear properties. Materials such as metal oxides, glass, ceramics, cermet, plastic, nitride, carbide, silicide, boride or diamond are suitable. Some of these materials themselves have a metallic color, so that gaps filled with insulating materials can be concealed between metallic ring elements. Whether only the contacts, parts of the contacts, only the insulating area between the contacts or everything can be coated also depends on the electrical properties of the materials. For materials with semiconducting properties, there is the possibility of a complete coating if the distance between the contacts clearly exceeds the coating thickness.

In addition to electrical data transmission, a contactless method is advantageous if a situation allows or requires it. According to claim 7, this possibility can be realized in a simple manner by arranging an optically transparent ring element in addition to the electrical contacts, behind which there is a component for optical information transmission connected to the information storage unit. The triggering of the information transmission can take place on the one hand by making electrical contact when the contacts are placed on the finger ring on the mating contacts or by simultaneously actuating a miniature switch according to claim 8, the electrical contact to the mating contact of importance for the provision of energy remains in possession of the finger ring furthermore according to claim 9 its own energy source, preferably in the form of a button cell, data transmission to the control device can also take place remotely by actuating the microswitch. The contacts can also be used for energy transmission for the purpose of Charging the energy source in the ring can be used instead of an optical information transmission element in an analogous manner according to claim 9, a transmitting / receiving coil can be used, it being noted that the function of the coil is not affected by the shielding effect of metallic ring elements

The invention is particularly suitable for applications and situations in which, on the one hand, secure information transmission is required, such as, for. B in the transmission of code numbers, personal data, confidential data, data that are linked to the provision of services, and on the other hand, where convenient handling should enable fast, secure, and possibly also discreet, data transmission, such as the operation of alarm , Security or locking systems as well as data in connection with money-related values

The invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment

Show in the drawing

Fig. 1 A sketch to explain the basic principle in facing away from each other

Support points on the contacts Fig 2 A sketch to explain the basic principle of facing each other

Contact points on the contacts Fig 3 A sketch to explain the energetically supported contact-counter-contact

Together Fig. 4 A sketch to show the approach of a finger ring to the mating contacts Fig. 5 A finger ring with convex contacts in section. Fig. 6 The finger ring from Fig. 5 in a side view, including a partial sketch of the

Counter contacts Fig 7 The finger ring from Fig 5 in the front view Fig 8 A finger ring with concave contacts in the side view including one

Partial sketch of the counter contacts Fig. 9: A finger ring in side view with angular contacts including one

Partial sketch of the mating contacts Fig. 10: A finger ring in side view with mutually facing support points of the

Tangential planes on convex contacts including a partial sketch of the

Counter contacts Fig. 11: A wedding ring in a side view in section, in which the contacts themselves form the ring Fig. 12: A finger ring in section, in which the ring itself is one of the contacts and the directional force arrow is not directly opposed to the front view Fig. 13: A finger ring on average with the optical and electrical option of

Data transmission and miniature switch Fig. 14: A finger ring in section with the electromagnetic and electrical option of

15, the finger ring from FIG. 14 in the front view FIG. 16: the contacts of the finger ring from FIGS. 14 and 15 with a partial sketch of the data transmission in which the direction of force arrow runs perpendicular to the frontal view

Counter contacts.

In Fig. 1, two contacts 1 with two tangential planes 2 are shown in detail. According to claim 1, the tangential planes 2 touch the contacts 1 in the support points 3 and intersect in the tangential plane intersection straight line 4, which can only be represented as a point in this view. The parallel plane 5 runs parallel to the tangential plane intersection line 4 through the two support points 3. In the two support points 3, the two normal planes 7 are perpendicular to the parallel plane 5. Since they are arranged parallel to the tangential plane intersection line 4, they form the same intersection 6 with the parallel plane 5 as the parallel plane 5 with the tangential planes 2. Through the parallel plane 5 and the normal planes 7, the space is divided into six subspaces 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, two inner 9, 12 and four outer 8, 10, 11, 13, whereby the inner subspace 12, which is not penetrated by any tangential plane 2, and the two outer subspaces 8, 10 located on the other side of the parallel plane 5 form the first subspace group. The inner subspace 12 contains the areas of the contacts 1 on which the support points 3 are located. The two other outer subspaces 8, 10 of the 1st subspace group do not contain any ring elements. In Fig. 2, the occupancy of sub-rooms 8, 10, 12 of the 1st sub-room group is reversed according to claim 2 The areas of the contacts 1 on which the support points are located here are arranged in the outer sub-spaces 8 and 10 and the inner sub-space 12 is free of ring elements. The first case in FIG. 1 means that the support points 3 are located on sides facing away from one another Finger ring, while they are facing each other in Fig. 2 A first preference of the ways to the optimal contact position in the support points 3 is already realized in that for counter contacts only via the ring element-free part spaces (simple hatching) a completely unobstructed access is possible in all other part spaces there are ring elements, so that an arrangement of two counter-contacts experiences a disability through this, which may also mean splinting of the path. In addition, the support points 3 are also via ring element-free space areas 14 (alternating simple and interrupted hatching) of the 2 sub-room group, which are immediately adjacent border the ring-free areas of the 1 sub-room group and are delimited by the contour of the contacts 1 and parallel to the parallel plane 5 and to the normal planes 7. The distance between these boundaries 15 of the ring element-free room areas 14 to the parallel plane 5 or the normal planes 7 can be very small, must but be greater than zero, in order to bring advantages to the counter-contacts in the event of inaccurate introduction to the final contact point

This relationship is illustrated in FIG. 3, where the movement of the contacts 1, which are electrically separated by an insulation material 16, of a finger ring, shown schematically, along the surface of the counter contacts 17 is shown in two stages - on the surface of a counter contact 17 and between the counter contacts 17 vertical pressure, represented by the force direction arrow 18, the finger ring guided in the direction of the mating contact gap 19, the finger ring slips due to the energy gradient that can be realized by the arrangement into the most energetically stable position, which at the same time the stable contact position of the mating contacts 17 and the contacts 1 in the support points 3 This slippage due to an energy gradient only works, however, if the ring element-free room areas 14 exist in the 2 sub-room group. The advantages of bringing contacts 1 and counter contacts 17 together in the direction of the force direction arrow 18 are shown in FIG 4 Robustly constructed, plate-shaped counter-contacts 17 are inserted in the height of a cut-out plastic housing 20 of a control device. When the finger ring is passed over the plastic housing 20 in the direction of the counter-contacts 17, the entire length of the counter-contacts 17 can be used as a potential target for making contacts just rough compliance the direction, as soon as an attempt is made to sweep over the mating contacts 17, the finger ring snaps into the mating contact gap 19, forming the electrical contact between the contacts 1 and the mating contacts 17, since the potential contact points 3 for the tangential planes 2 are tight on the surface of the contacts 1 lie, the finger ring can be rotated or tilted to a limited extent compared to the starting position without the contact between contacts 1 and counter contacts 17 being impaired There are more alternatives in the event of situation and handling-related uncertainties to achieve successful contact

A finger ring with information storage unit 21 is shown in section in FIG. 5, in side view in FIG. 6 from the direction of the tangential plane intersection line 4, and in front view in FIG. 7. The contacts 1 have a convex surface and the support points 3 lie on sides facing away from one another serves both for embedding the information storage unit 21 in a recess of the finger ring and as an insulator and for fastening the contacts 1, which are electrically connected to the information storage unit 21. The information storage unit 21 contains a programmable memory and is used to operate it via the contacts 1 Electricity supplied The information is exchanged in both directions in the same way

In FIG. 6, the division of the space by the parallel plane 5 and the normal planes 7 into the six subspaces 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 is shown for this finger ring. The tangential plane-free, inner subspace 12 contains the areas of the contacts 1 on which there are the support points 3, and the outer sub-spaces 8 and 10 represent completely sub-spaces that are completely free of ring elements after the hand and thus the finger ring have been positioned, contact can be made with the mating contacts 17 via various support points 3 for the purpose of information and / or energy transmission

8, 9 and 10 show different design variants of contacts 1, such as concave and angular contacts 1 or an arrangement in which the two support points 3 face each other Fig. 1 represents a wedding ring, which consists of two ring half-shells 23, which are glued to a sealing compound 22 and between which, embedded in the sealing compound 22, the information storage unit 21 is located. Since this finger ring has no decorative part in which the contacts 1 are arranged, but the two ring half-shells 23 forming the finger ring represent the contacts 1, tangential planes 2 can be created over the entire circumference.

1 - 1 1, the parallel plane 5 was identical to the action limit 34. FIG. 12 shows a construction in which the ring part of the finger ring itself represents a contact 1. The force direction arrow 18 is not, as in FIGS. 1-1 1, the direction of view 31 contacts 1 - ring center 30, i. H. the frontal view, opposite, but is at an angle to the frontal view. If this finger ring were placed on a finger for the purpose of making contact and it is assumed that it fits exactly, the finger itself and the neighboring fingers arranged in parallel would be behind the accessibility limit plane 32, which is perpendicular to the frontal view and touches the inner surface 33 of the finger ring, are located. All parts of the finger ring lying in front of this accessibility level 32 are easily accessible from the front and can be touched. However, accessibility is only required up to support points 3, i.e. H. up to the action limit 34. In the case shown, an area of the outer subspace 10 is behind the action limit 34 and is also free of ring elements. However, this fact is irrelevant since contact line 34 is normally not intended to be used for contact. As shown, this arrangement is suitable for cases in which one counter contact 17 is vertical and the second counter contact 17 can be reached as a step during a movement from the vertical, upper counter contact 17.

The possibility of optical information transmission is shown with the arrangement in FIG. 13. The information storage unit 21, a component for optical information transmission 24, consisting of a light-emitting diode and a photodiode, and a holder 25 for a button cell 26 are in an optically transparent casting compound 22 poured on the potting compound 22 are two contacts 1 for current and possibly for information transmission and as an optically transparent ring element 27 a ruby. Furthermore, a miniature switch 28 is arranged in the solid ring part of the finger ring, which can be used for manually triggering the optical information transmission. The two contacts 1 are used both for energy transmission and for charging the button cell 26 also for information transfer The button cell 26 can be replaced, since the interior of the finger ring is accessible via the screw closure 29. Instead of optically, information can also be transmitted or received electromagnetically with the help of a coil in a contactless manner Information storage unit 21 is connected both to a transmission / reception coil 35 and to contacts 1. The transmission / reception coil 35 is arranged directly behind an electrically non-conductive base 36, on which, directly in front of the transmission / reception coil 35, an electrical -non-conductive jewelry element 37 and below are the contacts 1. The energy for the function of the information storage unit 21 and the information transmission / reception process can also be received from the outside via the transmission / reception coil 35. Both the electrically non-conductive base 36 and the jewelry element 37 need for the wave The range in which 35 electromagnetic waves are received or transmitted with the transmitting / receiving coil 35 should be transparent. Classic non-conductors such as plastic, ceramic but also glass, amber or gemstones are suitable. In contrast to FIGS. 1-13, contacts 1 are shown here the tangential plane intersection line 4 in the direction of the viewing direction 31 of the frontal view and both the parallel plane 5 and the normal planes 7 and all subspaces 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 are cut perpendicularly by the accessibility limit plane 32 and the action limit 34 in FIG. 15 14 the finger ring of FIG. 14 is shown in the front view and in FIG. 16 only the contacts 1 in front of the counter contacts 17 can be seen without the remaining finger ring. Possible positions of support points 3 and the action limit 34 were conceivable until immediately before the electrically non-conductive base 36 behind the Action limit 34 are located in all sub-rooms 8, 10, 12 of the 1 sub-room ruppe ring elements In front of the action limit 34, however, no ring elements are contained in the two outer sub-spaces 8, 10 of the 1 sub-space group and thus the contacts 1 are freely accessible from the front up to the support points 3. In the position shown in FIG. 16, the contacts 1 become horizontal Guided surface of the mating contacts 17, they snap into the mating contact gap 19 and contact is made. A combination of electrical and contactless data transmission working with a coil is suitable for cases in which different control devices are used and the contactless variant is used a possibly excessive energy requirement cannot be used in some control devices List of reference numbers

1 contacts 20 plastic housings

2 tangential planes 21 information storage unit

3 support points 22 potting compound

4 straight line tangential plane 23 ring half-shell

5 parallel plane 24 component for optical Informations¬

6 cutting tangent transmission

7 normal level 25 bracket

8 outer compartment 26 button cell

9 inner part space 27 optically transparent ring element

10 outer compartment 28 miniature switches

11 outer compartment 29 screw cap

12 inner subspace 30 ring center

13 outer subspace 31 direction of contact - ring center

14 ring element-free areas 32 accessibility level

15 boundaries 33 inner surface

16 Insulation material 34 Action limit

17 mating contacts 35 transmitting / receiving coil

18 force direction arrow 36 electrically non-conductive base

19 counter contact gap 37 electrically non-conductive decorative element

ERSAΓZBLÄΓT (RULE 26)

Claims

Claims I. Finger ring with information storage unit and at least two electrically conductive, mutually insulated ring elements, which are electrically connected to the information storage unit, serve as contacts for information transmission and / or energy transmission between the finger ring and a control device, characterized in that two contacts (1) are provided, soften there are support points (3) for making contact with counter-contacts (17) of the control device, the tangential planes (2) in the support points (3) intersecting in a tangential plane intersection line (4) that a parallel plane (5) through the two support points (3) It is defined parallel to the tangential plane intersection line (4) that a normal plane (7) parallel to the tangential plane intersection line (4) and perpendicular to the parallel plane (5) is defined by each support point (3), that six through the parallel plane (5) and the two normal planes (7) Sub-rooms (8, 9, 10, II, 12, 13), between ei inner (9, 12) and four outer (8, 10, 11, 13) are defined, the two inner subspaces (9, 12) lying between the normal planes (7), that two subspace groups, each consisting of two outer Subspaces (8, 10 or 11, 13) on one side of the parallel plane (5) and an inner subspace (12 or 9) on the corresponding other side of the parallel plane (5) are defined such that the inner subspace (9) of the second Subspace group is penetrated by the tangential plane intersection line (4) that the inner subspace (12) of the 1st subspace group has those areas of the contacts (1) on which the tangential planes (2) rest in the support points (3) that the front view of the finger ring in the direction of view (31) contacts (1) ring center (30) is defined that up to the support points (3) the front of the contacts (1) lying areas of the outer subspaces (8 and 10) of the 1st subspace group have no ring element and that also to the ring element-free n areas of the outer subspaces (8 and 10) of the

1st subspace group adjoining, projecting into the 2nd subspace group, through the outer

Contour of the contacts (1) and areas (14) delimited parallel to the normal planes (7) and the parallel plane (5) have no ring element.

2. finger ring with information storage unit and at least two electrically conductive, mutually insulated ring elements, which are electrically connected to the information storage unit, serve as contacts for information transmission and / or energy transmission between the finger ring and a control device, characterized in that two contacts (1) are provided , on which there are support points (3) for making contact with counter contacts (17) of the control device, the tangential planes (2) in the support points (3) intersecting in a tangential plane intersection line (4) such that a parallel plane (5) through the two support points ( 3) parallel to the tangential plane intersection line (4) is defined that a normal plane (7) parallel to the tangential plane intersection line (4) and perpendicular to the parallel plane (5) is defined by each support point (3) that by the parallel plane (5) and the two normal planes (7) six subspaces (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1 3), two inner (9, 12) and four outer (8, 10, 11, 13), are defined, the two inner subspaces (9, 12) lying between the normal planes (7), that two subspace groups consisting of Two outer subspaces (8, 10 or 11, 13) on one side of the parallel plane (5) and an inner subspace (12 or 9) on the other side of the parallel plane (5) are defined such that the inner subspace (9 ) of the 2nd subspace group is traversed by the tangential plane intersection line (4) that the two outer subspaces (8, 10) of the 1st subspace group have those areas of the contacts (1) on which the tangential planes (2) in the support points (3) that the frontal view of the finger ring in the direction of view (31) contacts (l) - ring center (30) is defined, that up to the support points (3) the front of the contacts (1) area of the inner subspace (12) of the 1st subgroup group has no ring element and that also on the rings element-free area of the inner subspace (12) of the 1st subspace group, which projects into the 2nd subspace group and is delimited by the outer contour of the contacts (1) and parallel to the normal planes (7) and the parallel plane (5). have no ring element.

3 finger ring according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that locations for possible support points (3) lie directly next to each other

4. finger ring according to claims loder 2 and 3, characterized in that the contacts (1) have an elongated shape, and the contacts (1) are arranged and aligned with each other along their longer side

5 finger ring according to claims 1 or 2 and 3 to 4, characterized in that the finger ring itself consists of at least two ring elements which are designed as ring half-shells (23) and are electrically insulated from each other with the information storage unit (21) and thus contacts (1 ) represent

6 finger ring according to claims 1 or 2 and 3 to 5, characterized in that the finger ring is locally surface-coated with a sufficiently hard insulation material, such as metal oxides, glass, ceramic, cermet, plastic, nitride, carbide, silicide, boride or diamond

7 finger ring according to claims 1 or 2 and 3 to 6, characterized in that in addition to the two electrical contacts (1) an optically transparent ring element (27) is arranged on the finger ring, behind which there is a component for optical information transmission (24) which is electrically connected to the information storage unit (21)

8. finger ring according to claims 1 or 2 and 3 to 7, characterized in that a miniature switch (28) is arranged on the finger ring

9 finger ring according to claims 1 or 2 and 3 to 8, characterized in that in

Finger ring is an energy source, preferably in the form of a button cell (26), which is electrically connected to at least two of the ring elements acting as electrical contacts (1)

10 finger ring according to claims 1 or 2 and 3 to 9, characterized in that a transmitting / receiving coil (35) for electromagnetic waves is arranged in the finger ring, which is electrically connected to the information storage unit (21)