GB2249122A

GB2249122A - "Fastener for necklaces, bracelets and similar jewellery"

Info

Publication number: GB2249122A
Application number: GB9027907A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Febrer Antonio Adrover
Original assignee: Perlas Manacor SA
Current assignee: Perlas Manacor SA
Priority date: 1990-10-23
Filing date: 1990-12-21
Publication date: 1992-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 2010-12-21
Also published as: GR1001057B; GR910100241A; DE4039515A1; PT96159A; ES1015561Y; GB9027907D0; IT1241391B; PT96159B; JPH0489009U; IT9068082A1; ES1015561U; JP2541549Y2; FR2668042A1; GB2249122B; FR2668042B1; IT9068082A0

Abstract

A fastener comprises a female part composed of two portions 1 and 2 hinged together and provided with an internal spring 20, which biases the fastener closed. A male part 15 can be inserted between the internal faces of the portions 1 and 2 which faces have formations 13, 14 for the guidance and automatic retention of the male part 15. The leading edge 16 of the-male part is preferably bevelled, as is the retaining protrusion 14 on the inner face of the female part 2. The female part is opened by means of finger and thumb pressure at the position of the arrows in fig. 4, behind the pivot and against the force of the spring. The male tongue 15 may then be withdrawn. <IMAGE>

Description

121 91 2 1 "Fastener for necklaces, bracelets and similar jewellery,,

DescriDtion This invention relates to a fastener for necklaces, bracelets and similar jewellery.

An object of the invention is to provide a fastener which is both reliable and can be ornamented to match the jewellery.

In jewellery several types of tongue-and-clevis fasteners are known, all of them are based on the same functional and constructive principle. Its female part is rigid and is provided with a simple recess entered by the male part which is provided with resilient means for retaining the parts together. Said fastener, unfortunately, is not always reliable, because the spring effect of the male part is lost with prolonged use, this causing inadvertent unfastening and possible loss of the jewellery.

These problems are fully overcome with the fastener of this invention. According to this invention there is provided a fastener for necklaces, bracelets and similar jewellery, comprising two parts, one female and the other male, adapted to be joined to the ends of the related jewellery, the female part component being composed of two portions that are secured to each other by means of a hinge type articulation and are subject to the stress of an internal spring that, in the rest condition, biases the fastener closed, and the internal faces of the two portions of the female part having means for guiding the insertion and automatic retention of the male part.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig 1 is an exploded view of the portions of the female part; Fig 2 is a plan view of Fig 1, but the male part added; Fig 3 shows the fastener closed and in side elevation; 2 and Fig 4 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale that clearly shows the internal composition of the fastener.

In the drawing, a fastener is composed in its female part (Fig 1) of two portions 1 and 2, preferently of same outline and provided with respective external recesses 3 and 4, in which are inserted and conveniently fixed any ornaments 5 and 6 that can be pearls, precious stones orsimilar, as can be seen with detail in enlarged Fig 4.

on the internal faces, the portions 1 and 2 have respective ribs 7 and 8, the former provided with holes 9 and the latter with internal pivot pins 10 to be inserted into the holes 9 so as to constitute a hinge type articulation in the female part described.

One of above portions, for example the portion 1, possesses an end ring 11 and in the internal face there is housing 12 and elongate guides 13. The other portion 2 is provided, also on its internal face, with a protrusion or stop 14 having a bevelled edge (Fig 4). The male part 15 (Fig 2) is constituted by a forked plate, with a bevelled recess 16, a hole 17, in correspondence with the stop 14, and a ring 18, that like the ring 11 is fixed to the necklace, bracelet or similar ends, shown with dotted lines 19.

As a resilient means to close the fastener, a singlewire torsion spring 20 (Fig 1) is f ixed at one end in the housing 12 (Fig 4) and is disposed in such a way that, in the rest position, it biases the fastener closed (Fig 3) where the male part 15 is inserted.

The insertion of the male part for fastening is simply carried out by pushing the plate 15 along the guide 13 so that the bevelled edge 16 rides over the bevelled edge of the stop 14 as the spring 20 yields. The insertion movement ends when the stop 14 enters the hole 17 under pressure of the spring 20. This gives rise to the perfect fastening of the male and female parts of this fastener, without the possibility of it opening inadvertently. The deliberate opening is very simple, it being enough to exercise finger 3 and thumb pressure on the fastener remote from where the male part is inserted (see the mutually approaching arrows in fig 4). This overcomes the stress of the spring 20 and the male part 15 is freed for easy withdrawal from the female part. The result of the finger pressure is shown by the mutually departing arrows in Fig 4.

As can be seen, the retaining is perfect and the closing and the opening operations offer no difficulty for the user, who has to give no special attention to the thorough fastening of the male within the female.

4

Claims

1. A fastener for necklaces, bracelets and similar jewellery, comprising two parts, one female and the other male, adapted to be joined to the ends of the related jewellery, the female part component being composed of two portions that are secured to each other by means of a hinge type articulation and are subject'to the stress of an internal spring that, in the rest condition, biases the fastener closed, and the internal faces of the two portions of the female part having means for guiding the insertion of and automatic retention of the male part.

2. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein on the internal face of one of the portions of the female part there are ribs with holes for the said articulation, a medial housing for the spring and elongate guides, while on the internal face of the other portion of the female partthere are ribs with pivot pins for the said articulation and a tooth-like stop, provided with a bevelled edge to aid the insertion of the male part defined by a forked plate, with a bevelled recess and a hole that receives the said stop.

3. A fastener according to claim 2, wherein the spring is so disposed that it can be overcome by finger and thumb pressure applied to the fastener remote from where the male part is inserted.

4. A fastener for necklaces, bracelets and similar jewellery, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

1