EP1513425B1

EP1513425B1 - A piece of jewellery for fastening in a pierced body part and earring

Info

Publication number: EP1513425B1
Application number: EP03755307A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Karl Blomdahl; Anna-Lena Gustavsson; Malin Carlberg
Original assignee: Blomdahl Medical AB
Current assignee: Blomdahl Medical AB
Priority date: 2002-05-29
Filing date: 2003-05-28
Publication date: 2009-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 2023-05-28
Also published as: EP1513425A1; WO2003099055A1; ATE452553T1; DE60330665D1; AU2003243072A1; SE0201617D0

Abstract

The invention relates to a piece of jewellery for fastening in a pierced body part, comprising a first part (100) with a first geometrical shape, which first part has a first end (110) and a second end (120), where at least the first end (110) has an opening, which piece of jewellery also comprises a second part (200) with a first end (202) and a second end (204), where the second part has, in the direction towards its first end (202), a first portion (210) which is designed so that part of this first portion can be arranged in the opening in the first end (110) of the first part. The first part and the second part are held together to form a connected piece of jewellery by virtue of interaction between the first part and the second part, during which interaction the first part (100) and the second part (200) remain two mutually separate parts where the first portion of the second part can run essentially freely in the opening of the open first end (110) of the first part, and the connected piece of jewellery has a stop arrangement (120, 220) in order to prevent the piece of jewellery coming away from the pierced body part.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a piece of jewellery for fastening in a pierced body part, which piece of jewellery is suitably an earring, and comprises a first part and a second part, where the second part is used in order to fasten the piece of jewellery in the pierced body part.

BACKGROUND ART

The present invention relates to a piece of jewellery for an ear or other pierced body part. In such a piece of jewellery, it is desirable for the locking mechanism to intrude as little as possible on the appearance of the rest of the piece of jewellery; in other words, the locking mechanism is to be as discreet as possible, at the same time as it is to afford as effective a locking action as possible.
Known locking mechanisms for this type of jewellery have one or more of a number of disadvantages: they are difficult to use, in other words difficult to lock, difficult to arrange on the wearer, they have a disadvantageous construction from the aesthetic point of view, they involve a considerable risk of the locking mechanism coming open accidentally, or they are uncomfortable, in other words, the locking mechanism may rub against the rest of the body, in the case of an earring against the skin and/or the ear.
Another disadvantage of known locking mechanisms for this type of jewellery is that they are difficult and labour-intensive to manufacture, which makes them expensive.
US 4,129,998 discloses an earring with a locking mechanism, intended for a pierced ear. The locking mechanism disclosed in this document is relatively complicated to manufacture, at the same time as it appears to be difficult to use. It seems moreover that the locking mechanism could rub against the skin.
Some prior documents have suggested the use of a piece of jewellery such as an ear ring where device consists of two parts, one part being movable in the other part. Examples of such document are FR 2 545 704 and JP 4-295302 . Both documents basically disclose a thread or wire being movably arranged inside a tube, where one end of the thread or wire protrudes from the tube and is inserted through the pierced body part.
Both of the devices in these documents suffer from the same drawback: the inner part, i.e. the wire, may move inside the outer part, thus causing the wire to slip out of the pierced body part, as a result of which the entire piece of jewellery may be lost.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

A need therefore exists for a piece of jewellery for the ears or other pierced body parts which has an effective and discreet locking mechanism, at the same time as the piece of jewellery including the locking mechanism is to be simple and cost-effective to manufacture.
This need is met by the present invention by virtue of the fact that the invention comprises a piece of jewellery for fastening in a pierced body part, comprising a first part with a first main geometrical shape, the first part having a first end and a second end. The two ends face each other at a distance from each other, and at least the first end has an opening. The piece of jewellery also comprises a second part with a first end and a second end and a second main geometrical shape, where the second part has, in the direction towards its first end, a first portion which is designed so that at least part of this first portion can be arranged in the opening in the first end of the first part.
The first part and the second part are held together to form a connected piece of jewellery by virtue of interaction between the first part and the second part, during which interaction the first part and the second part remain two mutually separate parts, and where the first portion of the second part can run essentially freely in the opening of the open first end of the first part.
In addition, the connected piece of jewellery has a stop arrangement in order to prevent the piece of jewellery coming out of the pierced body part, said stop arrangement comprising a stop portion of the second part, said stop portion comprising the second end of the second part, with the shape of the stop portion deviating from the main geometrical shape of the second part.
By virtue of this design, an earring is obtained which, as will be understood more clearly with the aid of the detailed description below, has a discreet and effective locking mechanism, at the same time as the earring according to the invention is simple and cost-effective to manufacture. The ease of manufacture is at least in part due to the fact that the second or inner part can simply be a piece of wire, which is shaped in the same shape as the first or outer part, with one end of the wire piece simply being bent at an angle from the rest of the wire, and the first or outer part can simply be a piece of tubing, shaped in the desired geometrical form,
The holding-together effect in the piece of jewellery is suitably achieved by virtue of the fact that the distance between the two ends of the first part along the first part is greater than the shortest distance between said two ends, and by virtue of the fact that the first portion of the second part can run essentially freely in the opening of the open first end of the first part, said interaction between the first part and the second part being achieved by virtue of the fact that part of the first portion of the second part has, or can assume, essentially the same geometrical shape as the first part. Other ways of achieving the holding-together interaction will also be disclosed below.
In one embodiment the invention comprises an earring with a first part, which first part has a first geometrical shape, and a first end and a second end, which ends face one another with a distance between the two ends, and where at least the first end has an opening. The earring also comprises a second part with a second main geometrical shape, where the second part has a first portion designed in such a way that part of this first portion can be arranged in the first end f the first part, the second part also having a stop arrangement for preventing the ear ring from coming away from an ear, where

the first portion of the second part is designed in such a way that it can run freely in the opening of the open first end of the first part,
the ends of the first part are arranged so that, when movement of the second part takes place, the stop arrangement can come into contact with the second end of the first part,
the stop arrangement comprises a stop portion of the second part, said stop portion comprising the second end of the second part, with the shape of the stop portion deviating from the main geometrical shape of the second part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in greater detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, where

Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of a first part of the piece of jewellery according to the invention;
Fig. 2 shows a section of the first part along the line B-B in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the first part;
Fig. 4 shows a sectional view of a second part of the piece of jewellery according to the invention;
Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the second part from Fig. 3;
Figs 6 and 7 show a sectional view and, respectively, a perspective view of a piece of jewellery according to the invention, consisting of the first part and the second part, and
Figs 8a-8c show diagrammatically how a piece of jewellery according to the invention in the form of an earring is intended to be fastened in an earlobe.

EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Below, the invention will be described throughout with the aid of a specific embodiment, namely an annular ear pendant, what is known as an earring. It should nevertheless be understood that the invention can in principle be applied to a great many different designs of ear pendants or other types of jewellery.
Fig. 1 shows a first part 100 of the invention. This first part 100 comprises a first end 110 and a second end 120, which face one another. Between the ends 110, 120 of the first part, there is a distance A, the function of which will become clear in the following description. As can be seen from the drawing, the first part is preferably designed as part of a ring, where the distance A corresponds to part of the ring which has been removed. One principle of the invention can be seen here: the first part is shaped in a certain geometrical form, e.g. a ring, and the distance A simply corresponds to a part of that form, in this example the ring, which has been removed.
Fig. 2 shows the first part 100 in the section B-B from Fig. 1. Another feature of the first part can be seen from Fig. 2: at least the first end 110 has an opening which extends a predetermined distance into the ring; in other words, the ring is hollow over a predetermined distance in from the first end 110.
Fig. 3 shows the first part 100 in perspective in order to illustrate further what has been described above, in other words the design of the first part 100 as part of a ring, with two ends 110, 120 which face one another, one end 110 of which is open, and where there is a distance between the two ends 110, 120.
Fig. 4 shows a second part 200 of the present invention. As can be seen from the drawing, the second part 200 has a first end 202 and a second end 204, and also a first portion 210 which is designed in a desired geometrical form, suitably in the same form as the first part 100, in other words as part of a ring in the present case, but not necessarily with the same extent - in other words length, or circumference - as the first part. For reasons which will become clear later, however, it is an advantage if, in the case of a ring shape, the parts 100, 210 have circle radii which essentially coincide, which will be understood from the description below. The fact that the circle radii should coincide does not mean, however, that the length of the parts has to coincide; in other words, they can be parts of different size of one and the same geometrical shape, in the example a ring. The same principle according to the invention can be applied to other geometrical shapes; the ring shape is only an example for illustrating the inventive idea.
The design of the first portion 210 of the second part 200 of the invention means that this portion of the second part 200 can be arranged inside the first part 100, for example by being inserted into the first part, after which the portion 210 can run essentially freely inside the first part. The expression "run essentially freely" here means that the portion 210 of the second part is movable inside the first part, although a certain friction can be present.
The fact that the two parts can be taken apart and assembled is not necessary for the invention, but means that the two parts 100, 200 can be manufactured separately and then assembled in a simple way. The fact that the two parts can be manufactured separately also contributes to simplicity in manufacture; for example, the first part 100 can quite simply consist of a tube which is bent into the desired shape, and the second part 200 can consist of a wire which is bent into its desired shape.
As can also be seen from Fig. 4, the second part 200 of the invention comprises a stop arrangement 220 for an ear. The function of the stop arrangement 220 will be described in greater detail below but, as can be seen from Fig. 4, the stop arrangement can, in its simplest form, consist of a portion of the second part 200 which is quite simply bent at an angle which differs from the direction of extent of the second part. As the second part 200 in the example shown is designed as part of a ring, the stop arrangement in this illustrative embodiment is quite simply a "heel" on the second part, the expression "heel" here meaning that the stop arrangement comprises a portion 220 of the second part 200 which is bent at an angle from the rest of the second part 200, so that the stop arrangement or heel 220 deviates from the main geometrical shape of the second part, in this case the annular shape The heel 220 is located at one of the ends of the second part.
Another way of describing the stop arrangement is that the ear ring or piece of jewellery has a stop arrangement 220 in order to prevent the piece of jewellery coming out of the pierced body part, e.g. the ear, with the stop arrangement comprising a stop portion 220 of the second part 200, where the stop portion comprises the second end 204 of the second part, with the shape of the stop portion deviating from the main geometrical shape of the second part.
For the sake of clarity, Fig. 5 shows the second part 200 of the invention in the same perspective view as that in which the first part was shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 shows the invention in the assembled state: by virtue of the fact that the first portion 210 of the second part 200 has been arranged in the first part 100, an earring with a simple and effective locking mechanism has been formed. The first portion 210 runs essentially freely in one end 110 of the first part, and can do so as far into the first part as the opening from the first end extends. In one embodiment, the opening extends through the entire first part 100 and includes both its ends; in other words, the first part is formed quite simply by means of a hollow tube which is given the desired shape.
It should be pointed out here that there is a difference between the stop mechanism described previously in connection with, inter alia, fig 4, and the locking mechanism described in connection with fig 6: the main purpose of the stop mechanism 220 is to prevent the piece of jewellery from coming away from the ear, while the main purpose of the locking mechanism is to limit the mutual movement of the two parts, i.e. the first and the second part.
In order for the desired effect to be achieved in the locking mechanism, the first part 100 can be designed so that, when a closing movement takes place, the locking arrangement 220 of the second part 200 will come into mechanical contact with the second end 120 of the first part 100. In other words, the portion 210 designed as part of a ring runs freely inside the first part and can be moved between two end positions, both of which are shown in Fig. 6. In the first end position, which is shown by broken lines, where the heel is designated by 220', the earring has an opening which is essentially the same size as the distance A between the openings 110, 120 in the first part 100. In the second end position, the earring is closed, with the locking heel 220 in contact with the second end 120 of the first part 100.
Another feature of the invention therefore emerges from the description and Fig. 6: the two ends 110, 120 of the first part can be arranged so that, when movement of the second part 200 takes place, the heel 220 can come into contact with the second opening 120 of the first part 100. In a case where the first part 100 is designed as a ring, the ring should therefore be plane so as to achieve this locking effect.
It should be pointed out that if the second part 200 has a stop arrangement of the type shown, in other words a heel, the piece of jewellery will be retained in the ear even if the heel does not come into contact with the second end 120 of the first part.
The locking mechanism can also consist of a different interaction between the first part and the second part: if its length allows, the second part 200 can be drawn out of the first part and past the second opening 120 of the first part, so that a portion of the second part will come to lie alongside the first part, outside it.
Fig. 7 shows the assembled earring in the same perspective view as that in which the individual parts were shown previously in Figs 3 and 5, with the movable inner part 200 in the closed position.
Lastly, Figs 8a-8c show how an earring according to the invention is intended to be fastened in an ear, preferably in an earlobe.
Fig. 8a shows an earlobe 800 with a hole, a passage 810. The assembled earring is guided towards the passage 810 in the ear 800 with the movable part 210 of the earring in the "open" position; in other words, the locking heel 220 rests against that opening in the first part 100 into which the movable part 210 has been inserted. The earring is held so that the heel 220 can be inserted into the passage 810, which means that the earring is in principle held at right angles to the position the earring will have after fastening.
Then, as shown in Fig. 8b, when the heel 220 has been inserted as far as possible into the passage 810, the earring is turned so that the heel comes out on the other side of the earlobe, and so that the opening in the earring straddles the earlobe. The importance of the distance or the opening A between the two ends 110, 120 of the first part 100 now emerges: without this opening, it would not have been possible for the earring to enclose the earlobe in the desired way.
According to Fig. 8c, the heel is finally guided in the direction towards the second end of the first part, the earring then being locked. The earring according to the invention is now locked in an extremely secure way. Another feature of the invention can also be seen from the drawings, namely that the second end 120 of the first part can also serve as a stop arrangement for the ear, as the ear will meet this end 120 if the stop arrangement 220 of the second part should not be present, or if it should be drawn past the second end of the first part.
By means of the invention, it has therefore been possible to obtain an earring which is simple to manufacture and can be locked in a neat and easy way.
The invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments shown above, but can be varied freely within the scope of the following claims. For example, the second part 200 can have a part which is not intended to go into the opening in the first part, and it is also conceivable for that portion of the second part which is to go into the said opening to be made of a flexible material, for example a spring, which can therefore adapt to any shape of the first part.
It is also possible to envisage the holding-together of the piece of jewellery being performed by the second end 120 of the first part 100 by virtue of the fact that, in one end position, the second part comes into contact with this second end so that the second part cannot slide out of the first part. This is in line with what has been shown above, but, in the example shown above, the design of the second part, with a heel, also contributes to the holding-together, which is therefore not absolutely necessary.
Another way of achieving the holding-together of the piece of jewellery is to make the cross-sectional radius of the second part 200 such in relation to the inner radius of the opening in the first end 110 of the first part that said holding-together interaction is achieved by friction. Other ways of bringing about friction are, for example, to provide the second part, or at least part of it, with a geometrical shape which differs from that of the first part, for example a larger or smaller circle radius, or for a portion of the second part to have a shape which differs in another way.
Also, within the scope of the invention one could envision "the outer part" 200 having, at that end which the heel of the first part will come into contact with, a slit or a groove in the outer part in to which slit or groove the heel or stop arrangement will be received. Suitably, such a slit or groove could then be shaped so as to hold the heel in some way, for example by virtue of the slit or groove having a diameter which is slightly smaller than that of the heel, or by part of the slit or groove having a part which is at an "angle" with the rest of the slit or groove.
In addition, such a slit or groove could also be arranged on a body external to the second part, in effect causing the piece of jewellery or ear ring to have three parts, e.g. a body of plastic which is arranged in one end of the outer part and protrudes from it. Suitably but not necessarily, the size of this third part would exceed the diameter of "the outer part", the tube.
The various alternative ways of achieving holding-together can of course be combined freely in suitable ways.
Finally, one alternative embodiment could be mentioned: the outer part 100 has been described above as a piece of tubular metal which has been given the desired shape. An alternative to this within the scope of the present invention is that the outer part 200 consists of an open piece of metal which has been given the desired shape. Such an alternative part 200 could then consist simply of a piece of straight material, metal or otherwise, which has been bent into, in the example above, an annular or semi-annular shape. Such an outer part would suitably but not necessarily also comprise longitudinal edges which have been bent at an angle with respect to the rest of the outer part 200, in order to contain the inner part 100.

Claims

A piece of jewellery for fastening in a pierced body part, comprising a first part (100) with a first main geometrical shape, which first part has a first end (110) and a second end (120), said two ends facing each other and being at a distance (A) from each other, where at least the first end (110) has an opening, which piece of jewellery also comprises a second part (200) with a first end (202) and a second end (204) and a second main geometrical shape, where the second part has, in the direction towards its first end (202), a first portion (210) which is designed so that at least part of this first portion can be arranged in the opening in the first end (110) of the first part, in which piece of jewellery the first part (100) and the second part (200) are held together to form a connected piece of jewellery by virtue of interaction between the first part and the second part, during which interaction the first part (100) and the second part (200) remain two mutually separate parts, and where the first portion of the second part can run essentially freely in the opening of the open first end (110) of the first part, characterized in that the piece of jewellery has a stop arrangement (220) in order to prevent the piece of jewellery from coming out of the pierced body part, said stop arrangement comprising a stop portion (220) of the second part (200), said stop portion (220) comprising the second end (204) of the second part, with the shape of the stop portion deviating from the main geometrical shape of the second part.
A piece of jewellery according to claim 1, in which the distance between the two ends (110, 120) of the first part along the first part (100) is greater than the shortest distance between the said two ends, said interaction between the first part and the second part being achieved by virtue of the fact that said second geometrical shape is, or can be made to be, essentially the same as the first part geometrical shape(100).
A piece of jewellery according to claim 1, in which the distance between the two ends (110, 120) of the first part along the first part (100) is greater than the shortest distance between said two ends, said interaction between the first part and the second part in part being achieved by virtue of the fact that, in one end position, the stop portion (220) of the second part comes into contact with the second end (120) of the first part.
A piece of jewellery according to claim 1, in which said interaction is achieved by friction between the first part (100) and the first portion (210) of the second part (200).
An earring comprising a first part (100), which first part has a first geometrical shape, and a first end (110) and a second end (120), which ends face one another with a distance (A) between the two ends, and where at least the first end (110) has an opening, which earring also comprises a second part (200) with a second main geometrical shape, where the second part has a first portion (210) which is designed in such a way that part of this first portion can be arranged in the first end (110) of the first part, which second part (200) also has a stop arrangement (220) for preventing the ear ring from coming away from an ear, characterized in that
- the first portion (210) of the second part is designed in such a way that it can run freely in the opening of the open first end (110) of the first part,

- the ends (110, 120) of the first part are arranged so that, when movement of the second part takes place, the stop arrangement (220) can come into contact with the second end (120) of the first part, in order to present the piece of the earing from coming out of the pierced body part

- the stop arrangement comprises a stop portion (220) of the second part (200), said stop portion (220) comprising the second end (204) of the second part, with the shape of the stop portion (220) deviating from the main geometrical shape of the second part.
An earring according to claim 5, in which the first part (100) comprises a hollow tube which has been given the desired design.
An earring according to claim 5 or 6, in which the second part (200) comprises a wire part which has been given the desired design, the stop arrangement (220) of the second part consisting of a portion of the wire part which is bent at an angle which differs from the direction of extent of the wire part (200).