Clamping structure for personal ornament

Abstract

An earring including a primary ornamental body and a clamping member, a pair of mounting legs and a mounting base held in between formed at an end of the ornamental body and an end of the clamping member, respectively, the pair of mounting legs and the mounting base being pivotably attached to each other with one or two or more elastic metal plate members interposed therebetween, the pivot portion being swaged together with the metal plate member. The mounting base has a recessed groove or notch formed in its outer periphery, and when the mounting legs and the mounting base are relatively turned, the metal plate member is deflected into the recessed groove or notch of the mounting base, and the deflected portion is engaged with an end edge of the recessed groove or notch of the mounting base.

Claims

1. An earring comprising: a primary ornamental body; a clamping member; a pair of mounting legs formed at an end of the primary ornamental body; and a mounting base formed at an end of the clamping member and held between the pair of mounting legs; wherein the pair of mounting legs and the mounting base are pivotably attached to each other with at least one elastic metal plate member interposed therebetween, and wherein the mounting base has a recessed groove or notch formed in an outer periphery of the mounting base, such that when the mounting legs and the mounting base are relatively turned, the metal plate member is deflected inward into the recessed groove or notch of the mounting base, and the metal plate so deflected is engaged with an end edge of the recessed groove or notch of the mounting base.

2. The earring according to claim 1, wherein the metal plate member has a thickness in a range from 0.1 to 0.3 mm.

3. The earring according to claim 1, wherein the recessed groove or notch formed in the outer periphery of the mounting base is so formed as to be U-shaped or V-shaped in cross section.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a clamping structure for a personal ornament of this invention.

(2) FIG. 2(a) is a perspective view with clamping members on both sides closed, and FIG. 2(b) is a perspective view having the clamping members on both sides opened.

(3) FIG. 3(a) is a transparent view of pivotably-attached portions in their disassembled state, and FIG. 3(b) is a cross-sectional view of the pivotably-attached portions in their disassembled state.

(4) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view thereof in their assembled state.

(5) FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the pivotably-attached portions if a notch having a V-shaped cross section is applied.

(6) FIG. 6 is an enlarged view thereof in their opened state.

(7) FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the pivotably-attached portions if a notch having a U-shaped cross section is applied.

(8) FIG. 8 is an enlarged view thereof in their opened state.

(9) FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a conventional example of a clamping structure for a personal ornament.

(10) FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing another conventional example of a clamping structure for a personal ornament.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(11) Embodiments of a clamping structure for a personal ornament of this invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

(12) In an example shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 where the clamping structure for a personal ornament of the present invention is applied to a clip-on earring, 1 denotes a primary ornamental body, 2 denotes a secondary ornamental body as an earlobe clamping portion, their overall shapes are substantially the same arc-like shapes, and they form a ring-like shape in their assembled state. It should be noted that though a gemstone composed of a diamond or the like is not attached to a front face side in this embodiment, a gemstone may be freely attached and, of course, the earring may be attached whichever of them faces the front side of the earlobe. In addition, their cross-sectional shapes are also substantially arc-like shapes, so-called a round shape, but the shapes are not limited to the round shape. It should be noted that regarding their materials, gold (18K or the like), platinum, silver, or the like, may be used for both of them.

(13) A connecting portion of the primary ornamental body 1 is integrally provided with a pair of mounting legs 3, 4, opposite to which a connecting portion of the secondary ornamental body 2 is formed integrally with a mounting base 5 fitted in between the mounting legs 3, 4.

(14) Furthermore, a pivot pin 8 is passed through through-holes 6, 7 opened in them, this portion is swaged, and the swaging at this time is performed with elastic one or two flat and smooth metal plate members 9 having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.3 mm, preferably made of stainless steel or the like having a thickness of 0.15 mm, interposed between the mounting legs 3, 4 and the mounting base 5.

(15) The reason why the thickness of the flat and smooth metal plate member 9 is in a range from 0.1 to 0.3 mm is that, if it is less than 1 mm, the elasticity cannot be made use of. Similarly, if it is more than 0.3, the metal plate member itself loses elasticity.

(16) Though the metal plate member 9 may be one or two in number, it is desired that the metal plate member 9 be two in number, taking into consideration the retainability of the clamping force, because even two metal plate members cause no problem in terms of economy and assembly workability and the like.

(17) It should be noted that the reference signs 10, 11 denote earpad portions formed on an end face of the primary ornamental body 1 and an end face of the secondary ornamental body 2, and they may employ an anti-slip structure having a wavy cross section.

(18) In this example, the mounting base 5 has a recessed groove or notch 5a having a V-shaped cross section formed in its outer periphery, as shown in FIGS. 3(a), 3(b) or FIG. 6, and, when the mounting legs 3, 4 and the mounting base 5 formed on the primary ornamental body 1 as a first member and the clamping member 2 as a second member, respectively, are relatively turned, the metal plate member 9 is deflected inward into the recessed groove or notch 5a of the mounting base 5, and the deflected portion is engaged with an end edge of the recessed groove or notch 5a of the mounting base 5. That is, when the mounting legs 3, 4 and the mounting base 5 formed on the primary ornamental body 1 as the first member and the clamping member 2 as the second member, respectively, are relatively turned, a load applied to the metal plate member 9 is applied at a portion of the mounting base 5 intersecting with the end edge of the recessed groove or notch 5a.

(19) FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate another example of the present invention, and a recessed groove or notch 5b having a U-shaped cross section is formed in the outer periphery of the mounting base 5. It should be noted that the recessed groove or notch 5b having a U-shaped cross section also achieved a similar action and effect to the recessed groove or notch 5a having a V-shaped cross section.

(20) It is presumed that, regarding the function of the clip-on earring of this example of increasing the clamping force onto the earlobe tremendously as compared with a conventional one, and moreover retaining the clamping force at a constant level for a long period of time, the elasticity of the metal plate member 9 due to deflection and engagement of the one or two metal plate members 9 at a portion of the metal plate member 9 intersecting with an end edge substantially radially extending from the pivot pin 8 of the recessed groove or notch 5a of the mounting base 5 when a pivot portion is fastened acts effectively, so that such a remarkable effect can be achieved.

(21) It is also presumed that a friction between the end edge of the recessed groove or notch 5a of the mounting base 5 and the plate face of the metal plate member 9 influences the improvement of the clamping force, and the like.

(22) Incidentally, a conventional earring having a washer simply interposed therebetween showed a reduction in the clamping force after the opening and closing operation was repeated several tens to hundreds of times, whereas the earring of this example showed almost no reduction in the clamping force even after several thousand or more opening and closing operations, and the clamping force itself was much better than that of the conventional washer type earring.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(23) As described above, this invention has the recessed groove or notch formed in the outer periphery of the mounting base, and when the mounting legs and the mounting base formed on the primary ornamental body as the first member and the clamping member as the second member, respectively, are relatively turned, a load applied to the metal plate member is applied at a portion intersecting with the end edge of the recessed groove or notch of the mounting base.

(24) Therefore, it goes without saying that the present invention is applicable not only to an earring using an arc-like clamping member, such as shown in the drawings, but also to an earring having another design, and an earring provided with a pin for piercing.

(25) It also goes without saying that the present invention is applicable not only to an earring, but also to a variety of personal ornaments requiring the opening and closing operation, such as a finger ring or a bracelet, unless the spirit of the present invention is changed.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(26) 1 primary ornamental body 2 secondary ornamental body 3, 4 mounting leg 5 mounting base 5a recessed groove or notch 6, 7 through-hole 8 pivot pin 9 metal plate member 10, 11 earpad portion 21 primary ornamental body 22, 23 mounting leg 24 clamping member 25 mounting base 26 washer 27 pin 31 primary ornamental body 32, 33 mounting leg 34 clamping member 35 mounting base 36 metal plate member 37 pin 38 recessed portion