Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A44—HABERDASHERY; JEWELLERY
  • A44C—PERSONAL ADORNMENTS, e.g. JEWELLERY; COINS
  • A44C7/00—Ear-rings; Devices for piercing the ear-lobes
  • A44C7/003—Ear-studs or their catch devices

Definitions

• a user may wear an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion with a post.
• the post may snap, which may result in the frontal portion or the back portion falling off the user, which is not desired.
• an earring comprises: a housing including a cavity; a post extending out of the housing from within the cavity, wherein the post is externally threaded; a tube that is internally threaded; and a base from which the tube extends, wherein the cavity is configured to receive the tube such that (a) the post extends into the tube and (b) the post and the tube thread with each other while the tube spans between the housing and the base.
• a method comprises: manufacturing a first piece including a housing and a post, wherein the housing includes a cavity, wherein the post extends out of the housing from within the cavity, wherein the post is externally threaded; manufacturing a second piece including a base and a tube, wherein the tube extends from the base, wherein the tube is internally threaded; causing the cavity to receive the tube such that (a) the post extends into the tube and (b) the post and the tube thread with each other while the tube spans between the housing and the base.
• a method comprises: causing a user to hold a first piece including a housing and a post, wherein the housing includes a cavity, wherein the post extends out of the housing from within the cavity, wherein the post is externally threaded; causing the user to hold a second piece including a base and a tube, wherein the tube extends from the base, wherein the tube is internally threaded; and causing the user to form an earring via the cavity receiving the tube such that (a) the post extends into the tube and (b) the post and the tube thread with each other while the tube spans between the housing and the base.
• Figure 1 shows a front view of an embodiment of an earring according to this disclosure.
• Figure 2 shows a back view of an embodiment of an earring according to this disclosure.
• Figure 3 shows a top view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, before the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 4 shows a top schematic view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 6 shows a back perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 7 shows a front perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 8 shows a front perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, before the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 9 shows a back perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, before the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 10 shows a frontal view of a plurality of earrings according to this disclosure.
• Figure 11 shows a frontal view of a plurality of earrings according to this disclosure.
• Figures 12 to 14 show a plurality of perspective views of a plurality of earrings according to this disclosure.
• this disclosure discloses various earrings, some of which can include: a housing including a cavity; a post extending out of the housing from within the cavity, where the post is externally threaded; a tube that is internally threaded; and a base from which the tube extends.
• the cavity is configured to receive the tube such that (a) the post extends into the tube and (b) the post and the tube thread with each other while the tube spans between the housing and the base.
• a term "or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, "X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of a set of natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then "X employs A or B" is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances.
• a term “or others,” “combination”, “combinatory,” or “combinations thereof” refers to all permutations and combinations of listed items preceding that term.
• “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB.
• expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. Skilled artisans understand that typically there is no limit on number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.
• relative terms such as “below,” “lower,” “above,” and “upper” can be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element as illustrated in the set of accompanying illustrative drawings. Such relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of illustrated technologies in addition to an orientation depicted in the set of accompanying illustrative drawings. For example, if a device in the set of accompanying illustrative drawings were turned over, then various elements described as being on a “lower” side of other elements would then be oriented on “upper” sides of other elements.
• a term “about” or “substantially” refers to a +/- 10% variation from a nominal value/term. Such variation is always included in any given value/term provided herein, whether or not such variation is specifically referred thereto.
• first, second, third, and so forth can be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers, or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers, or sections should not necessarily be limited by such terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer, or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer, or section without departing from various teachings of this disclosure.
• Any or all elements, as disclosed herein, can be formed from a same, structurally continuous piece, such as being unitary, or be separately manufactured or connected, such as being an assembly or modules. Any or all elements, as disclosed herein, can be manufactured via any manufacturing processes, whether additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, or other any other types of manufacturing. For example, some manufacturing processes include three dimensional (3D) printing, laser cutting, computer numerical control routing, milling, pressing, stamping, vacuum forming, hydroforming, injection molding, lithography, and so forth.
• 3D three dimensional
• Figure 1 shows a front view of an embodiment of an earring according to this disclosure.
• Figure 2 shows a back view of an embodiment of an earring according to this disclosure.
• an earring 100 includes a back portion 102 (backing) and a front portion 104 (face).
• back portion 102 backing
• front portion 104 face
• the earring 100 is described in context of the lobe of the ear of head of the person, this is not limiting and other sections of the ear of the head of the person can also be used and, therefore, the earring 100 can be of different types (e.g., helix/cartilage, industrial, rook, daith, tragus, snug, conch, anti tragus).
• Figure 3 shows a top view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, before the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 8 shows a front perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, before the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 9 shows a back perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, before the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• the earring 100 includes the back portion 102 and the front portion 104 that are separate and distinct from each other before assembly.
• the back portion 102 includes a housing 106, a decorative piece 108, and a post 110.
• the front portion 104 includes a base 114, a tube 116, and a decorative piece 118.
• the housing 106 is dome-shaped, but can be shaped differently (e.g., non dome shaped, plate, cube, cuboid, conical, pyramidal).
• the housing 106 includes metal (e.g., gold, silver, titanium, rare earth) or metal alloy (e.g., steel, brass, nitride, boride), but can include other materials (e.g., plastic, rubber, silicone).
• the housing 106 includes a cavity (e.g., cube, cuboid, conical, pyramidal) that is internal, whether volumetrically symmetrical or volumetrically asymmetrical, whether positioned centrally in the housing 106 or non-centrally in the housing 106.
• the housing 106 includes an opening leading to the cavity, whether the opening is positioned on the housing 106 or not centrally positioned on the housing 106, whether opening is perimetrically symmetrical or perimetrically asymmetrical. Note that although the cavity is a well, the cavity can be a through-channel thereby extending through the housing and be open on both ends as well.
• the decorative piece 108 extends from or is attached to the housing 106.
• the decorative piece 108 can be unitary with the housing 106 (e.g., cast, molded, bonded, fused, melted) or the decorative piece 108 can be assembled with the housing 106 (e.g., adhered, magnetized, hook-and-looped, mated, fastened, interlocked).
• the decorative piece 108 includes metal (e.g., gold, silver, titanium, rare earth) or metal alloy (e.g., steel, brass, nitride, boride), but can include other materials (e.g., plastic, rubber, silicone).
• the decorative piece 108 is shown a ring of domes extending about the housing 106, but can be shaped differently (e.g., ring of non-domes, non-ring of domes, crescent, star, character).
• the decorative piece 108 can also be absent.
• the post 110 extends out of the housing 106 from within the cavity, whether in a cantilevered manner or a non-cantilevered manner.
• the housing 106 includes an inner surface from which the post 110 extends out of the housing 106 from within the cavity.
• the cavity includes a floor and a sidewall (e.g., smooth surface, rough surface), where the post 110 extends from the floor and the sidewall extends about the post 110.
• the sidewall can have a line (e.g., rigid, flexible) extending therefrom (e.g., bridging) such that the line spans between the sidewall and the post 110 and thereby supports the post 110 within the cavity such that the post 110 has at least two points of support (floor and sidewall).
• the post 110 can also extend from the sidewall (e.g., L-shaped, J-shaped, V-shaped).
• the post 110 and the housing 106 form a mushroom-shape, other shapes are possible (e.g., T-shape, L-shape, J-shape).
• the post 110 is rectilinear, but can be non-rectilinear (e.g., arcuate, sinusoidal, helical).
• the post 110 is internally solid, but can be internally hollow.
• the post 110 can be unitary with the housing 106 (e.g., cast, molded, bonded, fused, melted) or the post 110 can be assembled with the housing 106 (e.g., adhered, magnetized, hook-and-looped, mated, fastened, interlocked).
• the post 110 can be unitary with the housing 106 and includes same material (e.g., metal, metal alloy).
• the post 110 includes metal (e.g., gold, silver, titanium, rare earth) or metal alloy (e.g., steel, brass, nitride, boride), but can include other materials (e.g., plastic, rubber, silicone).
• the post 110 has an external surface which hosts a plurality of helical threads 112, whether continuous or discontinuous, whether right-handed or left-handed, whether male or female, whether square, triangular, trapezoidal or other forms, of any thread angle, of any type of lead, pitch, start, thread depth, or taper.
• the helical threads 112 can be unitary with the post 110 (e.g., cast, molded, bonded, fused, melted) or the post 110 can be assembled with the helical threads 112 (e.g., adhered, magnetized, hook-and- looped, mated, fastened, interlocked). As such, the post 110 is externally threaded.
• the post 110 has a longitudinal length, where the post 110 has the external surface extending along the longitudinal length and the external surface is not fully externally threaded along the longitudinal length.
• the helical threads 112 can have a thread length range or a recession range about 0.0001 millimeters (mm) to about 100mm.
• the helical threads 112 can have a thread thickness of about 0.1mm to about 80mm.
• the base 114 is dome-shaped, but can be shaped differently (e.g., non-dome shaped, plate, cube, cuboid, conical, pyramidal).
• the base 114 includes metal (e.g., gold, silver, titanium, rare earth) or metal alloy (e.g., steel, brass, nitride, boride), but can include other materials (e.g., plastic, rubber, silicone).
• the decorative piece 118 extends from or is attached to the base 114.
• the decorative piece 118 can be unitary with the base 114 (e.g., cast, molded, bonded, fused, melted) or the decorative piece 118 can be assembled with the base 114 (e.g., adhered, magnetized, hook-and-looped, mated, fastened, interlocked).
• the decorative piece 118 includes metal (e.g., gold, silver, titanium, rare earth) or metal alloy (e.g., steel, brass, nitride, boride), but can include other materials (e.g., plastic, rubber, silicone).
• the decorative piece 118 is shown a pair of arcs of domes extending from the base 114, but can be shaped differently (e.g., ring of non-domes, non-ring of domes, crescent, star, character, single arc of domes, triple arc of domes, single non-arc of domes, triple non arc of domes, single non-arc of non-domes, triple non-arc of non-domes).
• the decorative piece 118 can also be absent.
• the tube 116 extends from the base 114. Although the tube 116 and the base 114 form a T-shape, other shapes are possible (e.g., L-shape, J-shape, mushroom shape).
• the tube 116 is rectilinear, but can be non-rectilinear (e.g., arcuate, sinusoidal, helical).
• the tube 116 is internally hollow, but can be internally solid and internally hollow.
• the tube 116 can be unitary with the base 114 (e.g., cast, molded, bonded, fused, melted) or the tube 116 can be assembled with the base 114 (e.g., adhered, magnetized, hook- and-looped, mated, fastened, interlocked).
• the tube 116 can be unitary with the base 114 and includes same material (e.g., metal, metal alloy).
• the tube 116 includes metal (e.g., gold, silver, titanium, rare earth) or metal alloy (e.g., steel, brass, nitride, boride), but can include other materials (e.g., plastic, rubber, silicone).
• the tube 116 includes an open end 120 distal to the base 114, a closed end proximal to the base 114, and a cavity extending between the open end 120 and the closed end and in fluid communication with the open end.
• the open end 120 is circular, but can be shaped differently (e.g., oval, square, octagon, pentagon, triangular).
• the open end 120 leads into the cavity of the tube 116.
• the open end 120 is sized and shaped to receive the post 110 therethrough.
• the cavity can extend from the open end to the closed end of the tube 116 or less than that distance (e.g., less than 9/10, 8/10, 7/10, 6/10, 5/10, 4/10, 3/10, 2/10, or 1/10 longitudinal length of tube 116) from the open end.
• the cavity is sized and shaped to receive the post 110 after the post 110 enters the open end 120.
• the tube 116 can avoid the closed end proximal to the base 114 and thereby be an open end as well, whether allowing access into the base 114 or stopping at the base 114 without access into the base 114.
• the tube 116 has an inner surface defining the cavity.
• the inner surface hosts a plurality of helical threads 122, whether continuous or discontinuous, whether right- handed or left-handed, whether male or female, whether square, triangular, trapezoidal or other forms, of any thread angle, of any type of lead, pitch, start, thread depth, or taper.
• the helical threads 122 start in proximity of or from the open end 120 and extend into the tube 116.
• the helical threads 122 can longitudinally span the cavity from beginning to end or less than that, whether from the open end 120 or past the open end 120 or up to the closed end or before the closed end.
• the helical threads 122 are configured to engage with the helical threads 112 such that fastening can occur.
• the helical threads 122 can be unitary with the tube 116 (e.g., cast, molded, bonded, fused, melted) or the tube 116 can be assembled with the threads 122 (e.g., adhered, magnetized, hook-and-looped, mated, fastened, interlocked). As such, the tube 116 is internally threaded.
• Figure 4 shows a top schematic view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 6 shows a back perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• Figure 7 shows a front perspective view of an earring having a frontal portion and a back portion, after the frontal portion is assembled with the back portion according to this disclosure.
• the earring 100 is assembled via the back portion 102 fastening with the front portion 104.
• This assembly occurs via the cavity of the housing 106 receiving the tube 116 into the cavity of the housing 106 such that the post 110 extends into the cavity of the tube 116 through the open end 120, and the post 110 and the tube 116 thread with each other via the helical threads 112 and the helical threads 122 while the tube 116 spans between the housing 106 and the base 114 and the tube 116 is within the cavity of the housing 106.
• the post 110 can enter the tube 116 from the open end portion of the tube 116, where (a) the closed end portion is proximal to the base 114, (b) the tube 116 has the inner surface longitudinally extends between the open end portion and the closed end portion, (c) the inner surface of the tube 116 has a longitudinal length between the open end portion and the closed end portion, or (d) the inner surface is not fully internally threaded along the longitudinal length, as show in Figure 3.
• the post 110 can enter the tube 116 from the open end portion and to avoid contact with the closed end portion when the post 110 and the tube 116 thread with each other completely via the helical threads 112 and the helical threads 122.
• the post 110 can contact or can avoid contacting the base 114 when the post 110 is completely threaded to the tube 116 via the helical threads 112 and the helical threads 122.
• the earring 100 can be manufactured via a method including manufacturing (e.g., unitary, assembly) the back portion 102 (e.g., first piece) including the housing 106 and the post 110, where the housing 106 includes the cavity and the post 110 extends out of the housing 106 from within the cavity while the post 110 is externally threaded, as shown in Figure 8.
• the method includes manufacturing (e.g., unitary, assembly) the front portion 104 (e.g., second piece) including the base 114 and the tube 116, where the tube 116 extends from the base 114 while the tube 116 is internally threaded, as shown in Figure 9.
• the method includes causing the cavity to receive the tube 116 such that (a) the post 110 extends into the tube 116 and (b) the post 110 and the tube 116 thread with each other while the tube 116 spans between the housing 106 and the base 114, as shown in Figures 3-5.
• the earring 100 can be used via a method including causing a user to hold a the back portion 102 (e.g., first piece) including the housing 106 and the post 110, where the housing 106 includes the cavity and the post 110 extends out of the housing 106 from within the cavity while the post 110 is externally threaded.
• the method includes causing the user to hold the front portion 104 (e.g., second piece) including the base 114 and the tube 116, where the tube 116 extends from the base 114 while the tube 116 is internally threaded.
• the method includes causing the user to form the earring 100 via the cavity receiving the tube 116 such that (a) the post 110 extends into the tube 116 and (b) the post 110 and the tube 116 thread with each other while the tube 116 spans between the housing 106 and the base 116.
• Figure 10 shows a frontal view of a plurality of earrings according to this disclosure.
• the earrings 100 differ from each other via the frontal portions 104, as shown.
• the decorative portions 108 are decoratively different from each other in visual appearance. Note that these decorative portions 108 are illustrative and other decorative portions are possible, as understood to skilled artisans, and are omitted solely for brevity purposes.
• Figure 11 shows a frontal view of a plurality of earrings according to this disclosure.
• the earrings 100 differ from each other via the back portionsl 02, as shown.
• the decorative portions 118 are decoratively different from each other in visual appearance. Note that these decorative portions 118 are illustrative and other decorative portions are possible, as understood to skilled artisans, and are omitted solely for brevity purposes.
• Figures 12 to 14 show a plurality of perspective views of a plurality of earrings according to this disclosure.
• each of these earrings 100 has the back portion 102 and the front portion 104.
• any mix-and-match combinations between the back portions 102 and the front portions 104, as disclosed herein, are possible.
• any decorative portion 108, as disclosed herein, can be mixed-and-matched in any combinatory or permutational manner with any decorative portion 118, as disclosed herein.

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• 2020
  • 2020-12-04 WO PCT/US2020/063231 patent/WO2021113586A1/en unknown
  • 2020-12-04 EP EP20829253.2A patent/EP4048113B1/en active Active
  • 2020-12-04 CA CA3160727A patent/CA3160727A1/en active Pending
  • 2020-12-04 CN CN202080095138.8A patent/CN115038355A/zh active Pending
  • 2020-12-04 ES ES20829253T patent/ES2938793T3/es active Active
  • 2020-12-04 TW TW109142926A patent/TWI753687B/zh active

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