Miniaturized Couplings for Jewelry Components

The present non-provisional patent application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/401,596, filed Dec. 31, 2023, by Timothy Barnard and Dillon Chen, and entitled “MINIATURIZED COUPLINGS FOR JEWELRY COMPONENTS,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/324,153, filed May 19, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,857,037, issued Jan. 2, 2024, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/027,756, filed May 20, 2020. The entire contents of each of the patent applications listed above are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention generally relates to miniaturized coupling mechanisms and, more particularly, to coupling mechanisms suitable for enabling almost invisible intercoupling and/or reversible interlocking of jewelry components associated with necklaces, charms, bracelets, rings, earrings, wristbands etc., in a manner that provides a more secure and single-step coupling mechanism and allows easy disassembly of the coupled jewelry components. The coupling mechanisms of the present invention may be adapted to serve as jewelry clasp mechanisms and/or as miniaturized coupling elements usable in fields other than jewelry.

The coupling devices and mechanisms described herein are intended in accordance with preferred implementations of the invention to serve as the central components behind the jewelry concept that the present applicant refers to by the name Myriad, which aims to provide creative and self-expressive individuals with a DIY (do it yourself) ability to create unique jewelry pieces that are assembled from different jewelry components such as chains, beads, strands and the like, the choices and the final products being limitless. At the same time, the easy disconnection of the coupling devices also enables using the same jewelry components over and over again in different combinations, even on a daily basis, to create jewelry assemblies for particular occasions, settings, individuals and cultures.

A function of a jewelry coupling and closure mechanisms and the like is not only to make initial contact between the ends of two jewelry components or to allow easy interchanging of charms, beads, strands and like functions, but also to ensure that during the lifetime use of the jewelry pieces, the coupling and closing mechanisms remain secure, easy to use and not prone to accidentally open owing to metal fatigue or wear, particularly when made of gold, which can result in expensive jewelry becoming lost.

Clasps and various closures and coupling are abundant in the jewelry field, including as evidenced in patent to the assignee of the present invention. But, prior art closures are generally more bulky and too visible for the purposes of the present invention.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide jewelry coupling mechanisms and devices that avoid many of the drawbacks of the prior art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide jewelry coupling mechanisms and devices that are very small, so as not to substantially affect the aesthetic designs of the individual jewelry components being assembled.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide jewelry coupling mechanisms and devices that are easy to use by lay persons, ornamentally compatible and highly reliable and far less likely to lose their functionality with repeated use of the coupling mechanism.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide jewelry coupling mechanisms and devices that are sturdy and strong as standard jewelry, as well as being flexible, and having a nice touch and feel, including a tactile feel of the coupling, yet being capable of inexpensive and easy manufacturing.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized in accordance with several preferred embodiments of the present invention that have been reduced to practice, as illustrated in the appended drawings.

In preferred embodiments, a miniaturized coupling for jewelry includes a male coupling and a female coupling, each of which is millimeter-sized or sub-millimeter-sized and each of which is attached to or suited to be attached to a respective jewelry component, the male coupling having a locking member configured to be inserted into the female coupling through an opening into an interior of the female coupling; a resiliently-biased, snap connector located in the interior of the female coupling, so constructed that when the locking member is inserted into the female coupling it initially moves and then is retained by the snap connector; and an actuating pin in the female coupling that is configured to move the snap connector to release the locking member and thereby disengage the male and female couplings from each other, the actuating pin having an outer surface accessible at an outer surface of the female coupling, said outer surface of said actuating pin being configured to be actuated to move the snap connector using either a releasing tool having a needle inserting tip or a human nail.

Preferably, the coupling comprises surface decorations and an overall shape that promotes the look and appearance of the coupling to blend into a corresponding look and appearance of the jewelry component. Upon mating of the male and female couplings the locking member is rendered virtually invisible. The coupling includes a spring that is engaged with the locking element, to push it out of the female coupling upon actuation of the actuating pin. The snap connector comprises an inclined surface that is engaged by the locking member when pushed into the interior of the female coupling, in a manner that causes the snap connector to move laterally relative to the locking member, enabling the locking member to move past the snap connector. The snap connector has a spring that biases the snap connector to resist moving laterally when the inclined surface is engaged by the locking member.

Preferably, the locking member comprises a pair of fingers, each with a respective distal end, in which distal ends are oriented toward each other, with a gap therebetween, said distal ends being configured to move past the snap connector and to become locked inside the female coupling. One or both of the male and female coupling has a cross sectional dimension of less than six millimeters, or even less than five millimeters. The outer surface of the actuating pin may be aligned with the outer surface of the female coupling. The actuating pin is movable in a direction into the interior of the female coupling. Alternatively, the actuating pin is movable in a direction generally parallel to the outer surface of the female coupling, toward or away from the opening. A safety latch may be included.

The pair of fingers of the male coupling define a space for the snap connector, the space being generally square or circle shaped. The inclined surface may have a frusto-conical shape. In an embodiment, the female coupling comprises an outer housing, a base partially accommodating therein the snap connecter inside the housing and a cover over the base.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.

With initial reference to, the conceptual underpinning of the present invention can be grasped at a glance. Thus, a first jewelry piece or componentcan be snap connected to a second jewelry component, using the millimeter-sized coupling. The couplingcomprises a male couplingphysically attached to the upper jewelry pieceand a female couplingattached to the bottom jewelry. As elaborated below, an actuating button (buttonin) at the rear of the female couplingcan be inwardly pressed to release the snap connection.

A jewelry piecemay have one male or female coupling attached to it such as the male coupling, or several couplings attached to it at different locations () to enable connecting to it multiple jewelry components. The outer surfaceof the female couplingcan have surface decorations formed thereon and its outer shape can be any shape desired including round, oval, triangular, literally any shape desired. See some examples in. Similarly with the male coupling, while its bottom half portion needs the shape shown for effecting the coupling, its upper half can have a body shape that matches that of the female coupling, so that when the two coupling halves are interlocked the appearance is of a single contiguous piece. The material of the couplings can be any material whether plastic, metal, precious metal, combinations of materials and precious metal coated materials, without limitations.

Turning to specific embodiments,shows a couplingcomprising a female couplingto which is attached a jewelry strandat point, with the male couplinglocked to the bodyand having attached thereto the other end of the jewelry strand held with a ring. To release the male coupling, the invention provides a releasing toolhaving a bodyand an inserting distal end, which when pushed against the releasing pinlocated in the openingcauses the male couplingto become separated from the female coupling, as more fully explicated below. The stop bandon the toolis located to control the depth of insertion of the toolinto the cavity. Preferably, at least 75% of the distal endmust be inserted to cause separation of the male and female couplings, thereby preventing accidental disengagement thereof, e.g. about 1 or 2 mm beyond the surface of the female coupling. In an embodiment, the outer edge of the actuating pin may extend just beyond (less than a millimeter) the outer surface of the female coupling, so that its location can be quickly determined by finger touching.

show the internal functional components inside the female coupling, including the interior spaces inside the bodywith a first top side openingthrough which a first vertical springis dropped into a bottom cavity. The interior space is also shaped for the insertion of the releasing tool. The side openingis used during assembly to insert the sliding catchwhose forward distal end comprises the releasing buttonwhich is fitted into the front cavity, with the horizontal springbeing closed inside by the end capwhich is glued or welded to lie flush with the outer surface of the body.

With reference to, the sliding catchhas a main body portionwith a heightand thicknessand right and left inclined sliding surfaceslocated at a thickened portion, which also includes a protrusionthat holds the spring. The springis supported at its opposed end in the cavityof the end cap. Also note the already mentioned release button. Thus assembled, the female coupling() is able to receive the male coupling, which male coupling has a bodywith a shape partly defined by the pins, through its upper openinginto the female coupling. The male coupling is formed with fingers,that bend inwardly to form catches,, with a space therebetween 48 that is just slightly wider than the thickness dimension() of the sliding catch (or slider). The fingers,define a rectangular inner spacewhose extension in the direction of the arrowjust exceeds the dimensionof the slider.

Hence, when the male couplingis pushed into the female coupling, the fingers,engage and bear against the sliding surfaces, pushing the slidersideways against the biasing force of the spring, until these finger catches,slide past (below) the slider. Thereupon, the slider is free to slide back locking the fingers,below the slider. In this position, the male coupling is locked to the female coupling, thus securing the jewelry components respectively attached to the couplings firmly attached to each other, as seen for example in. Releasing the lock is exceedingly simple and requires no more than a momentary insertion of the tipof the releasing toolinto the cavity, which results in the sliderbeing pushed back, which immediately causes the finger end of the male couplingto be pushed out by the spring().

Inabove, a male coupling(identified asin) is secured to the jewelry chain, while a female coupling(identified asin) is secured to the jewelry strands. In, male couplings(recognized by the two finger like ends) are attached at three locations to the V-shape chain (not marked). Regardless, according to the present disclosure jewelry components, e.g., chains, adornments, strands, pendants and the like, can have attached to them male or female components for intercoupling many different jewelry chains, strands, adornments and the like to each other, at will and very interchangeably and readily.

To enhance that capability, the invention provides as shown ina choice of female couplings and male couplings including, as shown ina square-shaped female couplingA with openingand release buttonserving the same functions as previously described, as well as spherical and trapezoid shape female couplingsB andC, respectively. The latter are shown as being constituted as dual female couplings with opposed openingsandand corresponding release buttonsand. The dual port female couplings may be used to couple to each other two jewelry components that have only male couplings at distal ends thereof, as in. In addition, the somewhat bulkier female couplings have outer body surfacesdecorated with precious stonesand surface carvings and the like indicated at. The female couplingD is provided to illustrate that the body shape thereof can be asymmetric to achieve any desired look and appearance such as a human face, an animal shape or flower shape or anything whatsoever.

The same concepts described here for the female couplings are equally applicable to the variously shaped male couplingsA,B andC shown in. Here again, the male couplingA has opposed pair of locking fingersA/B, to enable locking two jewelry components that have only female couplings. The male couplingC has four (4) locking finger sets for increased versatility and is representative of the concept of the invention that enables the couplings to be both functional and decorative elements and which enable endless combinations of jewelry components to create jewelry ensembles of one's personal liking or to suit different occasions for wearing jewelry. One of the male couplings depicted in this figure has multiple male couplings interconnected to each other by chain style links (not numbered), the functionality of which is self-evident. Thealso shows several female coupling shapes, the shapes and functionalities of which are self-describing.

are photograph-like renditions of an actual coupling that is millimeter-sized and includes a female couplinginterlocked with a male coupling, rendered against a ruler to show their comparative dimensions. Although not shown, it is a trivial matter to render the female coupling large enough to allow providing therein multiple (spaced) openings and snap members for receiving and holding a corresponding number of female couplings.

A similar but differently implemented second embodiment of the present invention is explicated below by reference to. The male couplinghas a front openingwider than the thicknessof the slider, whereby when it is pushed into the top opening, its inwardly bent fingers bear against the slanted surfacesof the thickened portion, pushing the sliderto the right and then catching below the thickened portionas previously described. In this embodiment, a pushing leverprotrudes upwards and can be engaged by a human finger or the like to be pushed to the right to release the male coupling.

In the exploded view ofcan be observed the hollow bodywhich accepts a base componentthat provides the spaces for the lateral springand the vertical springthat provide the same functions as the springsandof the first embodiment. It also provides the lateral sliding space for the sliderthat includes the upright releasing bar. Thereby, and as shown in, releasing the male coupling requires just sliding the bar to the right which immediately causes the springto pop the male couplingupwards, as the thickened portionis pushed out of the way as shown in, which should be compared to.

In accordance with an alternative to the above modification of the second embodiment, as indicated by the dashed lines, the height of the buttonis made to be flush with the top surface of the coverof the female coupling. Instead of engaging and sliding the sliderwith a finger, the tool() is provided with a narrowed diameter (pen-tip sized) needle endthat is capable of being inserted into the round crevicelocated on the release button, to slide it to the position that will cause the male coupling to pop out of the coupling opening, disengaging the couplings from each other.

A third embodiment of the invention described with reference to, includes the male coupling, a female coupling, a releasing buttonand a releasing toolusable to disengage the coupling elements from each other. As shown in, the male couplinghas a round openingaccessible via the openingthat is just wider than the diameter of the cylindrical center portionof the slider. As in the prior embodiments, the sliderhas a thickened portionand a frusto-conical section. After the slideris inserted into the interior space of the female coupling through the opening, its positioning therein is secured by the closing cylinderwhich bears on the thickened portionand biases it inwardly by the spring, similarly to the prior embodiments. Also, note the vertically oriented springinside the female coupling.

Owing to the springpositioned at the thick side of the slider, it is possible to push the release buttonto the left so that the thickened portionis biased to locate itself in the opening into the female coupling. When the male coupling is pushed in, its fingers push the sliderlaterally, until the fingers move past the slider, whereupon the slider reverts to its position, locking the male coupling.demonstrate the use of the releasing toolto release the lock hold. Ideally, one can provide the sliderwith a bottom surface that is flat, to prevent rotation of the sliderabout its longitudinal axis, and to allow the catch fingers of the male coupling to rest against the flat bottom of the slider section. This will assure that the male coupling will not be pulled out by applying a hand force in a direction out of the female coupling.

A fourth embodiment of the invention is explicated below by reference to. Structurally and functionally the fourth embodiment is similar to the second embodiment in that its components are inserted from the top side of the coupling that is eventually capped with a top cover. The female couplingreceives and locks therein the male coupling, which male coupling can be released with the releasing toolby the insertion thereof into the openingand pressing the release button.

The exploded view ofshows the hollow body of the female coupling with a housingthat is sized to receive the base, which has defined therein the space for the vertical spring, the sliderand the lateral spring. The slideris identical to some of the prior sliders in that it comprises the releasing buttonand the thickened portionthat supports the sliding surfaces. The structural components are covered by the coverand fitted into the hollow space. The male couplingcan now be inserted and locked within the female coupling. See.

Referring now, one can see at a glance the many jewelry components,, that are assembled together to realize an assembled jewelry piece, utilizing the couplings of the present invention. See also the jewelry piecesandand so on throughout the. Since the couplings are tiny, mm sized, and can have body shapes, metal types and finishes that are tailored to many different applications they can blend invisibly into the overall jewelry pieces and allow creative people tremendous latitude and flexibility in creating jewelry pieces for the moment, the occasion, the mood and style required. The concept of the invention can be used by professional designers to manufacture jewelry pieces from basic stock components and to re-use and re-purpose jewelry components. In a further conceptualized form of the invention, the individual jewelry components may be displayed on a computer monitor, with App being provided that allows customers the option of the computer combining various pieces together to obtain a final look and appearance of the jewelry. Customer who like how a jewelry assembly that they have visualized on a computer screen, can then place an order for all those jewelry components with just a computer click, thereafter receiving the components and assembling them at home.

The couplings utilizing the novel concepts of the present invention have been described above in relation to jewelry. However, many other applications are contemplated by the inventors herein. Thus, inthe panelingor() comprise female couplingsand male couplingsat the shown locations in or on the paneling. In one embodiment each panel is provided with a pair (or more) of female couplings on one mating edge and male couplings on the opposed mating edge. In another embodiment, the larger panels are provided with only male couplings and a connecting panel() has the female couplings built-in. Preferably, the releasing pin for the female couplings can have a screw slot and can be threadedly turned to lock or unlock the male coupling.

In, the chairhas legs(), a sitting platform() and a backrest() all held together by the couplings of the invention, including coupling partsand, in the manner already amply described.

In, the tablehas a top() and legs() that are assembled and held together by the female and male couplingsand. Similarly, in, the ship's anchor assemblycomprises a land based anchor() and a crank and spool(), that utilize male and female couplingsand. Owing to the size and strength of these components the handlemay be used to effect the locking and unlocking of the male coupling. In the same vein, the glassesinhas a frame() inter-assembled with its posts() by the shown couplingsand, using the handle.

Further modifications to the couplings themselves are depicted in. In, the male couplings have either short action() or longer action() constructions.shows an “X” shape male coupling whileshows an “H” shape male couplingwith a loopfor attachment to a jewelry (or non-jewelry) component. A similar male coupling() is shown in, including a cross bar(). The female coupling ofincludes a cover() for the releasing button, but may include other elements that block or prevent unintended actuation of the releasing button.

Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.