EP2220957A1

EP2220957A1 - Supporting earring along root of ear

Info

Publication number: EP2220957A1
Application number: EP10152352A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tosiki Namiki
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-02-23
Filing date: 2010-02-02
Publication date: 2010-08-25
Also published as: US20100212356A1; CN101810386A; JP2010193942A

Abstract

An earring (10) that can be easily put on an ear (50) without coming off during a use thereof and causes no pains in the earlobe of the ear is provided. Moreover, the earring can give a gorgeous decorative feeling. The earring includes a supporting portion (20) formed in a shape of a letter C to be put along a root of a human ear (50) and a decorative body (30) provided at an end (21) of the supporting portion (20), wherein one end (21) of the supporting portion (20) is caught by an upper end of the ear (50), and a central part (23) of the supporting portion (20) abuts against a reverse side of the root of the ear. The decorative body is exchangeable.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an earring to be used in the state of being put on an ear, and more particularly to an earring capable of being easily put on without any coming-off during a use thereof and without causing a user to feel any pains in an earlobe to enable the user to obtain a gorgeous decorative feeling.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many used earrings are classified into pierced earrings, each put on an ear of a user through a pierced earlobe or the like of the user, and clip earrings, each put on an ear of a user by nipping an earlobe of the user. Each of the pierced earrings requires the user thereof to pierce an earlobe or the like of the user and to accustom herself to putting the pierce earring. Moreover, there are not a few cases of causing an inflammation at a pierced part, and of causing the user thereof to feel a pain. Moreover, there are also not a few cases in which the user thereof takes time to put or remove it.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 11-046823 discloses an example of the pierced earring.
The used clip earrings are classified into screw earrings, each nipping an earlobe of a user by being screwed, and spring earrings, each nipping an earlobe of a user by the force of a spring. If the nipping force of any of the clip earrings is too weak, then the clip earring has the possibility of coming off during a use thereof, and there are not a few cases of being lost. If the nipping force is too strong, then a pain is resulted in an earlobe of the user. Moreover, there are not a few cases of taking time at the time of putting or removing the clip earring. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2001-61519 discloses an example of the clip earring.
Furthermore, since the gravity of the conventional pierced earrings or clip earrings directly works on an earlobe of a user, each of the conventional earrings is frequently made to be relatively small in size and light in weight lest the earring should be a large load on the earlobe, and consequently it is difficult to form the earring to have a large shape in order to enable a user to obtain a gorgeous decorative feeling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to provide an earring to be used in the state of being put on an ear and to be capable of being easily put on without coming-off during a use thereof and without causing a user to feel a pain in an earlobe of the user. Moreover, the present invention relates to an earring capable of giving a user a gorgeous decorative feeling.
An aspect of the present invention is an earring including: a supporting portion formed in a shape of a letter C to be put along a root of a human ear; and a decorative body provided at an end of the supporting portion, wherein either end of the supporting portion is caught by an upper end of the root of the ear, and a central part of the supporting portion abuts against a reverse side of the root of the ear.
Moreover, another aspect of the present invention is the earring of the first aspect wherein the supporting portion is formed so that another end thereof may be situated on an obverse side of a lower end of the root of the ear.
Moreover, another aspect of the present invention is the earring of the first aspect wherein the decorative body is attached to the supporting portion in a state of being exchangeable.
Moreover, another aspect of the present invention is the earring of the first aspect wherein the supporting portion is made of a precious metal.
Moreover, the other aspect of the present invention is the earring of the first aspect wherein the supporting portion is made of a synthetic resin.
Since the earring of the present invention is put on an ear of a user with an end of the earring caught by the upper end of the root of the ear, the earring can be easily put on, and the earring does not come out during a use thereof. Moreover, since it is unnecessary to pierce an earlobe of a user and the gravity of the earring is loaded on the upper end of the root of the ear, no inflammations are caused in the earlobe or the like, and the user does not feel any pains. Furthermore, the earring of the present invention is not limited in its weight to lighter, but the earring can give a user a gorgeous decorative feeling by using many precious metals and jewels.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the earring of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the main body portion of the earring shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views showing two decorative bodies of the earring shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the state at the time of a use of the earring shown in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the earring of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIG. 1, an earring 10 of the present invention is composed of a supporting portion 20, which is shaped in a letter C to be put along the root of a human ear, and decorative bodies 30 and 40 provided on both the ends 21 and 22 of the supporting portion 20. Then, the earring 10 is formed so that one curved end 21 of the supporting portion 20 may be caught by the upper end of the root of the ear and the central part 23 of the supporting portion 20 may abut against the reverse side of the root of the ear.
The one end 21 is formed so as to be curved to make a part thereof appear on the obverse side of the ear. Thereby the decorative body 30 can be attached to the end 21. The other end 22 can be also formed to the shape in which the other end 22 becomes invisible from time to time from the lower end of the root of the ear. However, it is preferable that also the other end 22 is formed so as to be curved to make a part thereof appear on the obverse side similarly to the end 21. Thereby the earring 10 is securely put along the circumference of the root of the ear.
As shown in FIG. 2, the sectional shape and the like of the supporting portion 20 are not especially limited as long as the shape and the like enable the supporting portion 20 to be put along the root of an ear. Although FIG. 2 shows the case in which the cross section of the supporting portion 20 is a shape that is almost a circle or an ellipse, the supporting portion 20 can be formed to be hollow for weight saving or by deforming plate-like materials into various shapes. That is important is that the parts abutting against human skin is formed to be smooth.
The supporting portion 20 can be made of a metal. Moreover, the supporting portion 20 can have a relatively large shape to enable a user to obtain a gorgeous decorative feeling. Then, the use of a precious metal, such as gold and platinum, enables the user to obtain a high class look.
The supporting portion 20 can be made of a synthetic resin. Moreover, it is also possible to use a colored synthetic resin. Furthermore, it is possible to color the surface of the supporting portion 20 with many colors and to draw a pattern on the surface. Then, it is possible to form earrings with widely ranging designs for youngsters chiefly.
The decorative bodies 30 and 40 can be also attached to the supporting portion 20 by being fixed thereto. However, it is preferable that the decorative bodies 30 and 40 are exchangeably attached to the supporting portion 20. Then, it is preferable to prepare a plurality of decorative bodies to enable a user to suitably select the decorative bodies according to the atmosphere at the time of a use.
In order to simply attach the decorative bodies 30 and 40 to the supporting portion 20 in an exchangeable state, for example, it is preferable to form apertures 26 and 27 on both the ends 21 and 22 of the supporting portion 20. It is also possible to form threaded holes or to use connecting metal fittings in place of the apertures 26 and 27.
As a method of attaching the decorative bodies 30 and 40 to the apertures 26 and 27, connectors, such as pulling eyes, are used on the sides of the decorative bodies 30 and 40. FIGS. 3A and 3B show the decorative body 30 equipped with a pulling eye 31 and the decorative body 40 equipped with a pulling eye 41, respectively. As the connectors, articles on the market, such as a hook with a spring and a hook with a screw, can be used besides the pulling eyes 31 and 41.
FIG. 4 shows an external appearance of an actual human ear 50 with the earring 10 of the present invention put thereon. It can be understood that a wide variation of decorative bodies can be realized by exchanging the decorative bodies 30 and 40, and that the earring 10 can be accepted by people over a wide age group of from young people to old people.
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The earring 11 is provided with decorative bodies 60 fixed on both the ends 21 and 22 of the supporting portion 20, respectively. In the case where the decorative bodies 60 cannot be exchanged like the present embodiment, it is preferable to design the earring 11 to have an orthodox style using relatively smaller decorative bodies 60 not to make a user get tired of the earring 11.
Since the earrings 10 and 11 of the present invention are severally put on an ear with their one ends 21 caught by the upper end of the root of the ear, the earrings 10 and 11 can be easily put on. Then, there are no apprehensions of the coming-off of the earrings 10 and 11 during the use of them as long as they fit the shape of the ear. Moreover, there is no necessity of piercing an earlobe, and the gravity of the earrings 10 and 11 is imposed on the upper end of the root of the ear. Consequently, there are no chances of causing any inflammations in the earlobe or the like and of making a user thereof not to feel any pains.
Moreover, the earring of the present invention can be made to be one of the fashions for youngsters owing to its wide variations. Moreover, since the earring of the present invention enables a user to obtain a gorgeous decorative feeling by the use of many precious metals and jewels, the earring can be made to be one of high-class fashions.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-039038, filed February 23, 2009 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein its entirety.

Claims

An earring comprising:
a supporting portion formed in a shape of a letter C to be put along a root of a human ear; and

a decorative body provided at an end of the supporting portion, wherein

either end of the supporting portion is caught by an upper end of the root of the ear, and

a central part of the supporting portion abuts against a reverse side of the root of the ear.
The earring according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion is formed so that another end thereof may be situated on an obverse side of a lower end of the root of the ear.
The earring according to claim 1, wherein the decorative body is attached to the supporting portion in a state of being exchangeable.
The earring according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion is made of a precious metal.
The earring according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion is made of a synthetic resin.