Patent Application
20100251769
This invention relates generally to jewelry, and more particularly to a jewelry assembly having an adjustable bail member for receiving one or more pendant portions to thereby accommodate a user's clothing type and fashion preferences.
Necklaces typically comprise a length of flexible chain made from one or more precious and semi-precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, stainless steel, and so on. These chains are available in a wide variety of designs. The flexible chains are also commonly adorned with a pendant which generally comprise one or more precious stones, such as diamonds, rubies and sapphires, mounted in settings of precious metal and semi-precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, stainless steel, and so on.
Purchasers of jewelry currently select a pendant of a desirable style and size and either have it mounted on a flexible chain of a standard or custom length. Other pendants are permanently fixed to a length of chain and cannot be removed by the average person. If the popular fashion changes or if a certain clothing style, pattern or color is selected, it is often desired to change out the pendant or use another pendant/chain combination that more closely matches the clothing style, pattern, color or personal preference for a particular day or occasion. However, changing out the pendant often requires the services of a professional jeweler to remove the old pendant from the chain and mount a new pendant. Thus, mounting a new pendant on the chain can be inconvenient, time consuming and expensive. Accordingly, many persons have little choice but to purchase multiple chains and/or pendants, which can become quite costly. In many cases, the precious metal chain can cost more than the pendant itself.
An adjustable jewelry assembly according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an adjustable bail member adapted for connection to a flexible jewelry member; a primary pendant removably connected to the bail member; and a secondary pendant removably connected to the bail member behind the primary pendant. At least a portion of the secondary pendant is viewable through the primary pendant.
An adjustable bail member according to another aspect of the present invention comprises a front plate; a rear plate pivotally connected to the front plate between open and closed positions; and a mounting shank extending rearwardly from the front plate for receiving at least one pendant. The rear plate is adapted to retain the at least one pendant when in the closed position.
The foregoing summary as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be best understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements throughout the drawings, and wherein:
It is noted that the drawings are intended to depict typical or exemplary embodiments of the invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope thereof. It is further noted that the drawings are not necessarily to scale. The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings, and to and to
As shown, the flexible member 12 includes a loop portion 26 extending from one side of the clasp 20 and the bail member 14 and one or more primary pendants 16 and/or secondary pendants 18 extending from the loop portion 26. A pair of legs 28 and 30 extend from the opposite side of the clasp 20. The loop portion 26 can extend around the neck or other body part of a wearer (not shown) with the clasp 20 located behind the neck and the legs 28 and 30 extending generally downward from the clasp and with the one or more pendants 16, 18 hanging downwardly from the front of the neck or other body part. The leg 28 terminates in a first free end to which the first end stop 22 is attached by means well known in the art, such as soldering when the components are constructed of metal. The leg 30 terminates in a second free end to which the second end stop 24 is attached by similar means. The first and second end stops 26 and 28 can be fashioned in a wide variety of decorative and ornamental shapes and can also comprise precious stones, such as one or more diamonds, rubies, sapphires and so on. Alternatively, the flexible member 12 can be a single continuous length of material which itself forms a loop and which therefore would not have a first free end or a second free end. Thus, in this alternative embodiment, the first end stop 22 and second end stop 24 would not be present.
Due to the wide variety of body shapes and sizes, a necklace chain of a given length will hang differently from person to person. For example, an eighteen-inch necklace chain which hangs at a fashionable length on an average-sized person would not hang at the same fashionable length on a relatively larger or relatively smaller person. In some cases, such persons have been unable to wear necklaces and other jewelry at appropriate fashionable lengths. Moreover, the style and type of a person's clothing can interfere with the appearance of a necklace and affect the way the necklace hangs. For example, a pendant which hangs at approximately the same length as the neckline of the person's clothing can often be hidden from view by the clothing. Likewise, a pendant which hangs at a fashionable length when worn over light clothing may not hang at the same fashionable length when worn over relatively bulky clothing. Accordingly, the clasp 20 can be provided to permit adjustment of the hanging length of the one or more pendants 16, 18 according to a user's preference. Details of a suitable clasp 20 can be found in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,202,443 and 6,484,535 as well as U.S. Publication No. 2007/0251,269, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. It will be understood that the present invention can be used without the clasp 20 if desired. Those skilled in the art will also understand that the present invention is not limited to necklaces, but can also be readily applied to jewelry commonly worn elsewhere, such as around the waist, wrist and ankle.
Referring now to
The front plate 32 preferably includes a front wall 40 and a top wall 42 that curves rearwardly from the front wall. The hinge joint 36 preferably includes a first knuckle portion 44 formed at the end of the top wall 42 with a bore 46 extending therethrough for receiving a pivot pin 48. A curved retaining member 50 preferably extends between the first knuckle portion 44 and the front wall 40 to create a space 52 for slidably receiving the flexible member 12 (
The rear plate 34 is closest to the user's body when worn and preferably includes a rear wall 54 with a lower lip 55 that curves downwardly and rearwardly for manipulation by the fingernail or fingertip of a user for opening the bail member 14. An opening 65 extends through the rear wall 54 for receiving the mounting shank 38. The hinge joint 36 also preferably includes a pair of spaced knuckle portions 56, 58 extending upwardly from the rear wall 54 and bores 60, 62 extending through the knuckle portions for receiving the pivot pin 48.
The mounting shank 38 preferably includes a shaft 64 and a head 66 connected to the shaft at a forward end thereof. A plurality of spaced grooves 68 are preferably formed in the shaft 64. The head 66 is preferably positioned within a depression 67 formed in the rear face of the front wall 40 through well-known connecting means such as soldering, adhesive bonding, and so on. The grooves 68 of the shaft 64 engage with a projection 70 located within the opening 65 of the rear wall 54 to create a tactile feel or “click” as the rear plate 34 is closed to one of a plurality of closed stop or detent positions depending on the number of pendants installed on the mounting shank 38 as well as the thickness of each pendant. The grooves 68 also serve to releasably lock the pendant(s) in place on the mounting shank 38. Preferably, at least the top wall 42 is formed with a degree of elasticity that permits the projection 70 to engage one of the grooves 68 with a biasing force to provide the tactile feel when the rear plate 34 is being closed as well as resistance against the rear plate inadvertently opening. The mounting shank 38 is preferably sufficiently long to accept at least two pendants. However, it will be understood that the shank 38 can be shorter to accept only one pendant or longer to accept three or more pendants.
Referring again to
The secondary decorative pendant 18 also preferably includes a heart-shaped border or frame 82 and an interior panel 84 located within the border 82. A mounting ring 86 (shown in hidden line in
It will be understood that the present invention not limited to the particular shape, size, color or material of the primary and/or secondary pendants since these features can greatly vary. For example, a primary decorative pendant 92 is shown in
As shown in
Referring now to
As in the previous embodiment, the primary and secondary pendants 92, 94 are preferably of similar size and shape so that when viewed from the front, the secondary pendant 94 is behind the primary pendant 92 with the panel 108 of the secondary pendant showing through the primary pendant.
It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to the exemplary pendants shown and described, since the primary and secondary pendants can greatly vary in size, shape, material, design, as well as other features. One or each of the pendants can include one or more settings with precious stones such as a diamonds, rubies, sapphires and so on. It is contemplated that one, two, three or more pendants can be mounted on the bail and each pendant can have a different shape, color, design, pattern, and so on.
In use, and referring to
As shown in
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, the retaining member 50 can be connected to one or both knuckle portions 56, 58 to rotate with the rear plate 34. With this arrangement, the bail 14 can be removed from the flexible member 12 and installed on another flexible member when the rear plate 34 is in the open position.
Referring now to
Referring now to
With reference now to
As shown, the bail member 134 preferably includes a front wall 140 connected to a rear wall 142 via a curved top wall 144, a bottom wall 146, and an intermediate wall 148 that extends generally parallel with the bottom wall. The top wall 144 together with the intermediate wall 148 form a space 150 through which the flexible jewelry member 132 extends. A slot 152 extends through the rear wall 142 and bottom wall 146. An enlarged opening 154 is formed at an upper end of the slot 152 while a step 155 on the bottom wall 146 is preferably formed at the other end of the slot 152.
The primary pendant 136 preferably includes a body portion 156 and a neck portion 160 extending upwardly from the body portion. A ball 162 is located at an upper end of the neck portion 160. Likewise, the secondary pendant 138 preferably includes a body portion 158 and a neck portion 164 extending upwardly from the body portion 158. A ball 168 is located at an upper end of the neck portion 160. The body portions 156, 158 can be fashioned in a similar manner to the primary and secondary pendants as previously described so that the secondary pendant 138 is displayed behind the primary pendant 136.
In use, the primary pendant 136 is inserted into the bail member 134 by inserting the ball 162 through the opening 154 of the rear wall 142, as shown in dashed line. The pendant 136 is then swung down until the ball 162 rests on the step 155 of the bottom wall 146 and the neck 160 extends through the slot 152 in a downward direction through the bottom wall. The secondary pendant 138 is installed in a similar manner. The enlarged ball 162 ensures that the pendant(s) will not inadvertently become dislodged from the bail member 134. The pendants 136, 138 can be removed from the bail member 134 in the reverse order.
Referring now to
As shown, the bail member 174 preferably includes a slot 180 that extends through the rear wall 142 and bottom wall 146. An elongated, traverse opening 182 is formed at an upper end of the slot 180. A door 185 is pivotally connected to the rear wall 142 via a hinge joint 187 to thereby cover the slot 180 and traverse opening 182.
The primary pendant 176 preferably includes a cross piece 184 located at an upper end of the neck portion 160. Likewise, the secondary pendant 178 preferably includes a cross piece 186 located at an upper end of the neck portion 164.
In use, the door 185 is swung to the open position (
While the invention has been taught with specific reference to the above-described embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. For example, the hinge joints in each of the above-described embodiments are not limited to knuckles and pins but can be constructed as living hinges or other types of mechanisms allowing one object to pivot, tilt or rotate with respect to another object. Thus, the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
