GB2381183A

GB2381183A - Jewellery for pierced navels

Info

Publication number: GB2381183A
Application number: GB0125876A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Lawton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-27
Filing date: 2001-10-27
Publication date: 2003-04-30
Also published as: GB0125876D0

Abstract

An item of jewellery, such as a belly barbell, an eyebrow bar or a nose bridge bar, comprises a bar 2 sized to fit through a body piercing and a head portion (3, Fig 2) movably mounted on one end of the bar. The head portion may be mounted by means of a spring, a ball and socket joint, or as shown a pivoted connection comprising a pin 7 on the bar which extends into the fork of a cradle 6 attached to the head portion. The movable mounting allows the jewellery to change shape as the wearer moves, thus improving comfort. The head may also be releasably attached to the bar to allow heads to be interchanged. As shown, the head is formed in two parts 23, 25 which are fastened together by a screw fitting, a press fit fitting or a keyed connection, allowing the decorative part 25 to be changed. The bar or barbell may be made from silver, steel, titanium or ultraviolet active plastics.

Description

IMPROVED BELLY BARS The present invention relates to articles of body jewellery for wearing through piercings, in particular belly bars, having improved comfort for the wearer and improved ease of manufacturing for the manufacturer.

The articles of body jewellery of interest typically consist of a rigid bar with a head portion at one end and a retaining portion at the other end.

As such, it is a common problem amongst wearers of articles of body jewellery such as belly bars that, as the bar is rigid, it will not change shape as the user moves by, for example, bending over. The head portion will then press into the wearer's abdomen and cause the wearer discomfort, and possibly pain. It is an object of the invention to provide an article of body jewellery which lessens such discomfort.

A further problem of the article of body jewellery of the prior art is that a manufacturer may wish to place many differently designed decorative head portions on their article of jewellery. This requires manufacture of a number of ranges of the article of jewellery to include the desired decorative head portions. To manufacture an article of body jewellery according to the prior art it is necessary to make a soldered joint between the bar and head portion, which is time consuming and requires resetting of machinery between making each design. It is, therefore, a further object of this invention to provide an article of body jewellery that improves the convenience of manufacture by splitting the manufacture into two parts and allows a variety of decorative head portions to be provided.

Accordingly, the invention provides according to a first aspect, a jewellery component having a bar having two ends and sized to fit

through a piercing, and a head portion movably mounted on one end of the bar.

The bar is preferably curved so as to lie in a plane. The head portion is preferably movable in the plane in which the curve lies.

The head portion may be mounted by means of a pivoted connection. The pivoted connection may comprise a pin passing through an end of the bar and then being secured to forks of a cradle attached to the head portion.

Alternatively, the head portion may be mounted on one end of the bar by means of a spring attached between the end of the bar and the head portion. The head portion may be mounted by means of a hinge connecting the head portion to the end of the bar. The head portion may be mounted by means of a ball and socket joint in which there is a ball formed on an end of the bar and a complementary socket attached to the head portion, or vice versa.

The jewellery component preferably further comprises a retaining part releasably attached to the end of the bar to which the head portion is not attached. The retaining part may be attached by means of a screw fitting.

Alternatively, the retaining part may be attached by a push fitting.

The head portion may be provided with a decorative portion releasably mounted thereon. The decorative portion may be attached to the head portion by means of a screw fitting. Alternatively, the decorative portion may be attached by means of a press-fit fitting. In another alternative, the decorative portion may be attached by means of a keyed connection wherein a first one of the decorative portion and the head portion has a male part and the second, remaining, portion has a female part, such that,

in use, the male part is inserted in the female part and rotated so as to secure the first and second parts against each other.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a jewellery component comprising a bar having two ends and sized to pass through a piercing, and a head portion releasably attached to one end of the bar.

The head portion may be directly attached to one end of the bar.

Alternatively, the head portion may be attached to a receiving part attached to one end of the bar. The receiving part may be attached to the bar by means of a soldered joint. Alternatively, the receiving part and the bar may be manufactured as a single unit. The receiving part may be movably attached to the bar as described in relation to the first aspect of the invention.

The head portion may be attached to the end of the bar or to the receiving part by means of a screw fitting. Alternatively, the head portion may be attached by means of a press-fit fitting. In another alternative, the head portion may be attached by means of a keyed connection wherein a first one of the head portion and the portion to which it is to be connected has a male part and the second, remaining, portion has a female part, such that, in use, the male part is inserted in the female part and rotated so as to secure the first and second parts against each other.

The jewellery component preferably further comprises a retaining part releasably attached to the end of the bar that is not connected to the head portion. The retaining part may be attached by means of a screw fitting.

Alternatively, the retaining part may be attached by a push fitting.

According to a third embodiment, there is provided a jewellery component comprising a bar having two ends and sized to pass through a piercing, and a head portion movably mounted on one end of the bar having a decorative portion releasably attached thereto.

The jewellery component may be a component of a belly bar, eyebrow bar, nose bridge bar or any other suitable article of body jewellery.

The jewellery component may be manufactured from silver and silver based materials, steel, titanium or ultra violet active plastic.

A number of embodiments of the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the drawings in which :- Figure 1 shows a belly bar according to the prior art; Figure 2 shows a belly bar according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 shows a belly bar according to a second embodiment of the invention; and Figure 4 shows a belly bar according to a third embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a belly bar according to the prior art. Typically, a belly bar 10 comprises a bar 2 with a first end 9 and a second end 8. Connected to the first end 9 by means of a screw fitting 11 is a retaining ball 1. Connected to the second end 8 by a soldered joint 4 is a decorative head portion 3. In use, the retaining ball 1 is unscrewed from the screw fitting 11, the bar 2 passed through the wearer's piercing such that the

decorative head 3 sits in the wearer's navel, and the retaining ball 1 is reattached to the screw fitting 11.

According to a first embodiment, Figure 2 shows a belly bar 210 according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein parts common with the embodiment of figure 1 have been given like numbers. The belly bar 210 is provided with a bar 2 having a first end 9 and a second end 8. The bar 2 is curved so as to lie in a plane. A retaining ball 1 is attached to the first end 9 by means of a screw connection 11. A pivoted connection 5 connects the second end 8 of the bar 2 to a decorative head portion 3. The pivoted connection comprises a pin 7 that is passed through the second end 8 of bar 2, such that the ends of the pin 7 extend through either side of bar 2. Each end of pin 7 then extends into a fork of a cradle 6 attached to the head portion 3 by means of a soldered joint 14. The entire belly bar 210 is manufactured of silver materials apart from soldered joint 14 and the head portion 3, which may have a decorative design incorporated into it.

This arrangement of head portion 3, pivoted connection 5, bar 2 and retaining ball 1 improve the comfort of the user. As the user moves their body whilst wearing the belly bar 210 the pivoted connection 5 enables the head portion 3 to rotate in the plane in which the curve of the bar 2 lies. This means that the belly bar 210 will conform to the movement of the wearer's body and not press into the region adjacent to the wearer's piercing. It should be further appreciated that all edges on the belly bar 10 should be smooth to avoid abrading the wearer's skin.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, figure 3 shows a belly bar 310 according to the second aspect of the invention wherein parts in common with the embodiments of figures 1 or 2 are given like numbers. The belly bar 310 is provided with a bar 2 having first 9 and

second 8 ends. The bar 2 is curved so as to lie in a plane. A retaining ball 1 is attached to the first end 9 by means of a screw fitting 11. A receiving piece 25 is connected to the second end 8 of the bar 2 by means of a soldered joint 24. A threaded hole 26 is provided in the receiving piece 25. Further provided is a head portion 23. The head portion 23 is provided with a threaded member 27 extending from the body of the head portion 23 with a thread complementary to that of the threaded hole 26. The length of the threaded member 27 should be shorter than the depth of the threaded hole 26.

This arrangement is provided to ease manufacture. By separating the belly bar 310 into two parts, a first part 21 comprising the retaining ball 1, the bar 2 and the receiving part 25 and a second part 22 comprising the removable head portion 23. The manufacture of the belly bar 310 can be performed in two stages, one stage for each part 21,22. Manufacture of the first part 21 for a large number of possible decorative designs of belly bar 310 is identical reducing the amount of tooling required and allowing continuous manufacture of the first part. Second parts 22 may then be manufactured with varying designs but identical threaded members 27 and assembled onto respective first parts 21. This also provides for the possibility of selling the first and second parts separately, so that a wearer might only buy one first part 21 and a number of differently designed second parts 22.

According to a third embodiment, figure 4 shows a belly bar 410 according to a third aspect of the invention wherein parts in common with the embodiments of figures 1, 2 or 3 are given like numbers. This combines the features of the first and second embodiments such that the belly bar 410 comprises a retaining ball 1, a bar 2 connected to the retaining ball 1 by means of a screw fitting 11, a pivoted connection 5 having cradle 6 and pin 7, the cradle 6 connecting bar 2 and receiving

part 25. Cradle 6 is secured to receiving part 25 by means of a soldered joint 34. A threaded hole 26 is provided in the receiving part 25 and a removable head portion 23 provided with a complementary screw threaded extension 27 can be secured to receiving part 25 by the engagement of the complementary screw threads. This combines the advantages engendered to the comfort of the user by having the hinged connection 5 and that engendered to the manufacturing process by having interchangeable heads 23.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A jewellery component having a bar having two ends and sized to fit through a piercing, and a head portion movably mounted on one end of the bar.
2. The component of claim 1 in which the bar is curved so as to lie in a plane.
3. The component of claim 2 in which the head portion is movable in the plane in which the curve lies.
4. The component of any preceding claim in which the head portion is mounted by means of a pivoted connection.
5. The component of claim 4 in which the pivoted connection comprises a pin passing through an end of the bar and then being secured to forks of a cradle attached to the head portion.
6. The component of any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the head portion is mounted on one end of the bar by means of a spring attached between the end of the bar and the head portion.
7. The component of any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the head portion is mounted on the bar by means of a ball and socket joint.
8. The component of any preceding claim in which the component further comprises a retaining part releasably attached to the end of the bar to which the head portion is not attached.

<Desc/Clms Page number 9>
9. The component of any preceding claim in which the head portion is provided with a decorative portion releasably mounted thereon.
10. The component of claim 9 in which the decorative portion is attached by means of a keyed connection.
11. A jewellery component comprising a bar having two ends and sized to pass through a piercing, and a head portion releasably attached to one end of the bar.
12. A component according to claim 11 in which the head portion is directly attached to one end of the bar.
13. The component of claim 11 in which the head portion is attached to a receiving part attached to one end of the bar.
14. The component of claim 13 in which the receiving part attached to the bar by means of a soldered joint.
15. The component of claim 13 in which the receiving part and the bar are manufactured as a single unit.
16. The component of any one of claims 11 to 13 in which the receiving part is movably attached to the bar.
17. The component of any one of claims 11 to 16 in which the head portion is attached to the end of the bar or to the receiving part by means of a screw fitting.
18. The component of any one of claims 11 to 16 in which the head portion is attached to the end of the bar by means of a press-fit fitting.

<Desc/Clms Page number 10>
19. The component of any one of claims 11 to 16 in which the head portion is attached to the end of the bar by means of a keyed connection.
20. The component of any one of claims 11 to 19 in which the jewellery component preferably further comprises a retaining part releasably attached to the end of the bar that is not connected to the head portion.
21. The component of any preceding claim in which the jewellery component is belly bar.
22. The component of any preceding claim in which the jewellery component is manufactured from silver and silver based materials, steel, titanium or ultra violet active plastic.
23. A jewellery component having a bar having two ends and sized to fit through a piercing and a head portion moveably mounted on one end of the bar substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 2 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
24. A jewellery component having a bar having two ends and sized to fit through a piercing and a head portion releasably attached to one end of the bar, substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.