WO2005120309A1

WO2005120309A1 - A jewellery holder

Info

Publication number: WO2005120309A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000838
Authority: WO
Inventors: Samantha Anne Casey
Original assignee: Samantha Anne Casey
Priority date: 2004-06-11
Filing date: 2005-06-10
Publication date: 2005-12-22
Also published as: AU2004100466B4; AU2004100466A4

Abstract

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a jewellery holder (10, 20, 30) that comprises a support with an integral base (31). The support has several key-hole orifices (11, 21) in which jewellery pieces (14, 15, 16) are placed and retained in the slot portion. The jewellery holder provides the advantage that jewellery can be stored without the need to separate parts of a jewellery piece or having the jewellery pieces entangled with each other in a container.

Description

A JEWELLRY HOLDER

FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a device that holds jewellry. The present invention has particular but not exclusive application for personal use but may be used to display jewellry at retail outlets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Jewellry including rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches and other body piercing jewellry are often placed on the bedside table or dressing table when not in use. These items are often expensive and because of their relatively small size can be easily misplaced. Many people keep their jewellry in a jewellry box or container but mixed in together the jewellry often becomes entangled, particularly with necklaces, causing frustration and delays while dressing. Alternative storage methods involve separating parts of a piece such as an earring and its backing and inserting in them into a cushion or foam support. When parts of a piece of jewellry are separated they can be easily lost because they are small. Current methods of storing jewellry suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, when the jewellry is held in a box or container, they often become entangled with each other and expensive pieces are exposed to possible damage. If left on the dresser and separated from other pieces, they have the risk of being lost between each use.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative device to hold jewellry that overcomes, at least in part, one of more of the abovementioned disadvantages. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect the present invention broadly resides in a jewellry holder including a support having a plurality of openings which are spaced apart from each other, each of said openings has a substantially circular or oval shaped section with one or more slot sections extending from the circular or oval shaped section; wherein in use the support is positioned at an angle to the horizontal axis and jewellry pieces are positioned in the opening and retained in the slot section. The support is made of any suitable material but preferably plastics. The support may be covered by fabric such as velvet. The support may be covered with material that assists in positioning jewellry and substantially preventing movement. The support may have a base portion which maintains the holder portion at a desired angle to the horizontal axis. The base portion is preferably integral with the holder portion so that the jewellry holder is a one-piece device. Alternatively, the support may have a detachable base. The detachable base may have a rack configuration. The detachable base may hold several supports in substantially parallel arrangement. In this arrangement, the support(s) with jewellry pieces can be stored in a space-saving and or secure location. For example, the detachable base may be a rack designed to fit within a wardrobe cabinet, drawer, safe or a display cabinet. Alternatively the support may be mounted on a stand. The support is preferably positioned at an angle less than 90 degrees to the horizontal axis. More preferably, the support is positioned at an angle of approximately 80 degrees to the horizontal axis. The opening includes a substantial oval or circular section which is large enough to allow a piece of jewellry to enter without separating the different parts of the jewellry piece. The slot section or part thereof preferably has a rectangular or an inverted triangular shape. Each slot section is or has a downwardly disposed portion for retaining a jewellry piece. Where there are two or more slot sections extending from the circular open section periphery, the slots may comprise a series of downwardly disposed fingers extending from the substantially circular or oval shaped opening section. In a further alternative, the slot sections may be shaped to have an outwardly extending portion and a diagonally extending portion. In another alternative, a laterally extending slot section includes a downwardly disposed portion. In one preferred embodiment the slot section extends laterally and outwardly and has a substantially perpendicular and downwardly disposed end portion for retaining the jewellry. The support may also include upper and side one or more projections for holding bracelets, necklaces, rings and the like on the upper and or side edges of the holder. The projections are shaped so that a jewellry piece such as a ring is able to go around a projection. In another aspect the invention broadly resides in a jewellry holder including a support having a plurality of openings which are spaced apart from each other, said support is adapted to be positioned at an angle to the horizontal so that long jewellry pieces are suspendable, each of said openings has a first opening portion with a comparatively wider opening for locating a jewellry piece and a second opening portion having one or more slots with a narrower opening for retaining the jewellry piece, said first opening portion has a substantially circular or oval shaped opening; said second opening portion has one or more slots extending downwards from the first opening portion; wherein in use the support is positioned at an angle to the horizontal axis and the jewellry piece is located in the opening of the first opening portion and held in the slot of the second opening portion. Said jewellry holder preferably has a support that has an integral stand portion which maintains the portion with the openings at an angle of substantially 80 degrees to the horizontal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of the jewellry holder; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of another embodiment of the jewellry holder; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a further alternative embodiment of a jewellry holder; and Figure 4 is a photograph of a preferred embodiment of the jewellry holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to Figure 1 , there is a holder 10 for holding jewellry. The holder 10 is made of plastic with a number of key hole orifices 11. Each orifice 1 1 has a substantially circular section 12 and a downwardly disposed slot section 13. The downwardly disposed slot section 13 extends from the periphery of the circular section 12. By way of example, two earrings 14 with ornamental portion 15 and ring portion 16 are shown positioned in the slot section 13 of the orifice 11. The planar holder 10 may be positioned on a stand such as those used to hold a photograph frame or alternately placed in a rack where several holders 10 may be positioned next to each other. With reference to Figure 2, there is shown an alternative embodiment of the holder 20 wherein there is a plurality of key hole orifices 21 and a plurality of three pronged orifices 22. The holder 20 also has a series of projections 23 along its upper side. The holder 20 has a series of different shaped orifices 21 ,22 but all have a substantially circular section which allows the jewellry piece to enter and pass to the retainer portion. Entry of the jewellry piece occurs without the jewellry piece coming apart or separating so that there is no small piece to lose. The three pronged orifices 22 have three downwardly disposed prong shaped slots 24 to allow three separate jewellry pieces to be retained within a single orifice. The protrusions 23 allow necklaces, bracelets and rings to be positioned thereon while the three- pronged orifices 22 allow jewellry such as earrings and other body piercing jewellry to be stored. Similar to the embodiment shown in Figure 1 , the holder 20 may be positioned on a rack or mounted on a stand. In Figure 3, there is shown a further embodiment of a holder 30 which is similar to the holder shown in Figure 2 but includes an integral base portion 31 effectively allowing the holder to stand by itself. The holder can be used as a one- piece device to be placed on the dressing table or on display. Figure 4 shows the holder 30 with different jewellry pieces placed thereon. The jewellery holder has a support with a plurality of openings. Each opening has two parts as described and shown in the figures. There is a first part which allows the jewellery piece to be located in the opening. The first part has a comparative wider opening portion. The second part comprises one or more slots extending from the first part opening and serves to retain the jewellery piece after it has been located within the opening. Each part has a complementary purpose and if the opening in the first part was too small then there would be difficulty in locating the jewellery piece in the opening and if the opening in the second part was too large the jewellery piece may fall out. The support is maintained at an angle to the horizontal so that chains and dangling earrings can hang downwards without concerns that they will become entangled with other pieces of jewellery.

ADVANTAGES The present invention has a number of advantages including the positioning and storing of jewellry on a holder without the need to separate parts of a jewellry piece or having the jewellry pieces entangled with each other in a container. The jewellery holder provides easy storage of jewellery and easy access for a wearer to select a piece of jewellery.

VARIATIONS It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth. Throughout the description and claims this specification the word "comprise" and variations of that word such as "comprises" and "comprising", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

Claims

1. A jewellry holder including a support having a plurality of openings which are spaced apart from each other, said support is adapted to be positioned at an angle to the horizontal so that long jewellry pieces are suspendable, each of said openings has a first opening portion with a comparatively wider opening for locating a jewellry piece and a second opening portion having one or more slots with a narrower opening for retaining the jewellry piece, said first opening portion has a substantially circular or oval shaped opening; said second opening portion has one or more slots extending downwards from the first opening portion; wherein in use the support is positioned at an angle to the horizontal axis and the jewellry piece is located in the opening of the first opening portion and held in the slot of the second opening portion.

2. A jewellry holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support has an integral stand portion which maintains the portion with the openings at an angle of substantially 80 degrees to the horizontal.

3. A jewellry holder as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein there are one to three spaced apart slots extending radially and substantially downwardly from the first opening portion of an opening.

4. A jewellry holder as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein there is a single downwardly disposed slot extending from the first opening portion of an opening.

5. A jewellry holder as claimed in any one of the above mentioned claims wherein the support also includes one or more upper or side projections for holding bracelets, necklaces, rings and the like on the upper and or side edges of the holder.

6. A jewellry holder as claimed in claim 5 wherein the support projections are shaped so that a jewellry piece can be positioned about the projection.

7. A jewellry holder as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.