Jewelry Swivel

Abstract

A jewelry swivel provides for the controlled orientation of an ornamental part of the jewelry in relation to a support. The jewelry swivel has a locking base with a locking rod, a receiving base with a plurality of receiving openings, and a bias spring. The bias spring urges the receiving base toward the locking base, causing the locking rod to engage with at least one of the plurality of receiving openings. The locking rod engages at least one of the plurality of receiving openings, where the engagement of the locking rod in a particular receiving opening determines the orientation of the receiving base relative to the locking base. The jewelry swivel is placed between the ornamental part and the support.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of jewelry, specifically mechanisms for adjusting the appearance of jewelry items while being worn by a user.

BACKGROUND

Jewelry items, such as earrings and pendants, are often designed with a single outward facing appearance. A jewelry designer may choose to depict a three dimensional ornamental design with the ability to rotate, using a swivel, pivot, or similar connection. The wearer of jewelry with such a rotating element currently has no control over the way that the rotatable design presents on the wearer, as the common swivel or similar connection freely moves and changes position.

What is desired is a mechanism to allow for multiple outward facing appearances for a single piece of jewelry, while providing the wearer with the ability to select a first desired appearance or angle of the jewelry, and to change to a second (or further) desired appearance or angle of the jewelry.

SUMMARY

The invention is a jewelry swivel that provides for the movement of an ornamental part of the jewelry in relation to a base support, and the ability to lock the relative position of the ornamental part into a particular orientation with respect to the support. The jewelry swivel has a locking base with a locking rod, a bias spring, and a receiving base with a plurality of receiving cavities for receiving and engaging the locking rod. The locking rod is capable of engagement with at least one of the plurality of receiving cavities. The bias spring urges the locking rod into engagement with at least one of the plurality of receiving cavities. A user may exert force against the force of the bias spring to release the locking rod from the particular receiving cavity, whereby either of the locking rod or the plurality of receiving cavities may be repositioned with respect to the other, such that upon the user's withdrawal of force, the bias spring urges the locking rod into another of the plurality of receiving cavities. A rotation rod and an aperture are provided to limit or control the possible positions of the locking rod and receiving cavities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the swivel in a separated position.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the swivel in a resting position.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the locking base of the swivel.

FIG. 4 is a top view of receiving base of the swivel.

FIG. 5 is a side exploded view of the swivel, showing its placement in association with an earring.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of an alternate embodiment of the locking base, and a top view of an alternate embodiment of the end cap.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of another alternate embodiment of the locking base, and a top view of another alternate embodiment of the end cap.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of the receiving base.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is comprised of locking base 10 and receiving base 70, placed between a support 100 and decorative jewelry part 80.

Locking base 10 has an upper surface 11 and a lower surface 12. Locking base 10 has at least one locking rod 20 protruding therefrom, and an aperture 30. In a preferred embodiment, locking rod 20 extends outward from lower surface 12. While the invention will work with a single locking rod 20, a preferred embodiment includes a plurality of locking rods 20.

Aperture 30 extends through locking base 10, between upper surface 11 and lower surface 12, establishing a channel through locking base 10. Aperture 30 may be centered within locking base 10, but an offset location on locking base 10 is possible.

Receiving base 70 has a plurality of locking cavities 72. In a preferred embodiment, locking cavities 72 are oriented toward locking base 10, facing locking rod 20.

Receiving base 70 has a rotation rod 40 extending therefrom, with proximal end 42 of rotation rod 40 attached to receiving base 70. Distal end 41 of rotation rod 40 is preferably extended away from receiving base 70. Rotation rod 40 has an axis of rotation 44 extending between the distal end 41 and proximal end 42.

Aperture 30 in locking base 10 allows for rotation rod 40 to pass therethrough, where rotation rod 40 may freely rotate around axis of rotation 44 within aperture 30.

Distal end 41 of rotation rod 40 is attached to end cap 50. In a preferred embodiment, end cap 50 has a larger width or cross section than aperture 30. The larger width or cross section of end cap 50 prevents or restricts end cap 50 from passing through aperture 30. As end cap 50 is attached to distal end 41, end cap 50 prevents distal end 41 of rotation rod 40 from passing through aperture 30, retaining distal end 41 of rotation rod 40 within or at aperture 30, with end cap 50 preferably adjacent to upper surface 11 of locking base 10.

In alternate embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, end cap 50 and aperture 30 may be formed in particular shapes, such that end cap 50 can only pass through aperture 30 in a single orientation, and otherwise is restricted from passing through aperture 30. In this alternate embodiment, a user may replace receiving base 70 with another receiving base, thereby allowing for multiple pieces of jewelry to be supported by locking base 10.

Bias spring 60 urges end cap 50 in a direction away from receiving base 70, thereby urging distal end 41 of rotation rod 40 in the same direction. In a preferred embodiment, bias spring 60 urges end cap 50 in a direction away from upper surface 11.

As distal end 41 of rotation rod 40 is urged away from upper surface 11, proximal end 41 and receiving base 70 are also urged toward locking base 10, bringing the plurality of locking cavities toward and into engagement with locking rod 20. Locking rod 20 is capable of engaging one of the plurality of locking cavities 72. As locking rod 20 is engaged in a locking cavity 72, receiving base 70 maintains a fixed relationship with respect to locking base 10, namely by restricting rotation around axis of rotation 44.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of locking rods 20 are shown. While the number of locking rods 20 and locking cavities 72 do not have to be identical, the number of locking rods 20 must be less than or equal to the number of locking cavities 72. A locking rod 20 that is not engaged with a locking cavity 72 would prevent receiving base 70 from being in contact with locking base 10.

When a user desires to change the appearance of the jewelry, receiving base 70 may be manually pulled by the user in a direction away from locking base 10, and against the bias of bias spring 60, thereby disengaging locking rod 20 from one of the plurality of locking cavities 72. When locking rod 20 is disengaged, receiving base 70 may be rotated around the axis of rotation 44, to allow locking rod 20 to engage a different one of the plurality of locking cavities 72.

One of locking base 10 and receiving base 70 is connected to support 100, while the other of locking base 10 and receiving base 70 is connected to a decorative jewelry piece Support 100 is preferably connected to the one of locking base 10 and receiving base 70 in a fixed relationship so that the one of locking base 10 and receiving base 70 has limited to no movement with respect to support 100.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, locking base 10 is preferably attached to, or a part of support 100. Receiving base 70 is attached to a decorative jewelry piece 80, such as an earring, pendant, or similar item. Decorative jewelry piece 80 preferably is three-dimensional and presents different aspects depending on the angle of view. The present invention allows for a user to rotate decorative jewelry piece 80 relative to support 100, by applying pressure against the bias of bias spring 60 to release locking rod 20 from a first locking cavity 72, thereby allowing receiving base 70 to rotate around the axis of rotation 44. Once the desired aspect of decorative piece of jewelry 80 is achieved, the user may release the pressure and locking rod 20 engages a different locking cavity 72.

Support 100 may be a loop, ring, prong, or other means for attaching a piece of jewelry to an individual as is known in the art, most commonly connecting to an individual's ear for earrings, or to a necklace for a pendant. Alternate jewelry pieces such as bracelets, bangles, or body piercings are also within the scope of the invention.

While certain novel features of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A swivel for jewelry, the swivel comprising: a locking base, the locking base comprising an aperture and a locking pin;a receiving base, the receiving base comprising a plurality of cavities and an elongated rod extending from the receiving base and through the aperture; andbiasing means to urge the receiving base in a direction toward the locking base, where the locking pin is capable of engaging one of the plurality of cavities.

2. The swivel of claim 1, where the elongated rod has an axis and extends between a first end and a second end, where the first end is attached to the receiving base, and the second end has an end cap.

3. The swivel of claim 2, where the biasing means comprises a spring that urges the end cap away from the locking base, in a direction away from the receiving base.

4. The swivel of claim 2, where the receiving base is capable of rotation around the axis of the elongated rod.

5. The swivel of claim 1, where the receiving base has an upper surface and the plurality of cavities are located on the upper surface.

6. The swivel of claim 1, where one of the receiving base and the locking base are attached to a decorative piece of jewelry.

7. The swivel of claim 1, where one of the receiving base and the locking base are attached to a jewelry support.

8. The swivel of claim 5, where the locking base has a lower surface and the locking rod is located on the lower surface.

9. An improved jewelry swivel, the improvement comprising: a receiving base, the receiving base having an upper surface, a plurality of cavities located on the receiving base,an elongated rod having a first end attached to the receiving base, a second end distal from the first end, and an axis of rotation, andan end cap attached to the second end of the elongated rod;a locking base, the locking base having an upper surface and a lower surface, the locking base comprising an aperture extending between the upper surface and lower surface;a locking pin located on the locking base, the locking pin capable of engaging one of the plurality of cavities; andbiasing means to urge the end cap in a direction away from the upper surface of the locking base;where the elongated rod extends through the aperture, so that the end cap and second end of the elongated rod are located above the upper surface of the locking base, and the first end of the elongated rod is located below the lower surface of the locking base.

10. The improved jewelry swivel of claim 9, where the end cap is larger than the aperture such that the end cap cannot pass therethrough.

11. The improved jewelry swivel of claim 9, where the end cap has a shape which prevents the end cap from passing through the aperture.