Jewelry eyeglass holder

A jewelry eyeglass holder having a loop that is movable about a hinge between hidden and exposed positions. In the hidden position, the loop is behind the rear of the design portion of the jewelry and in the exposed position, it hangs downwardly. Eyeglasses may hang from the loop in a balanced manner. The jewelry eyeglass holder also has a pin for securing the same to clothing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to jewelry for holding eyeglasses in a folded 
position. 
Jewelry eyeglass holders are known that have a specially formed loop 
hanging downwardly from a jewelry pin. While the loop is partially covered 
by the eyeglasses while they are held, the loop is fixed in position and 
thereby remains visible even when the eyeglasses are not being held. 
Unfortunately, the loop, which is not integrated into the jewelry pin 
design itself, is conspicuous and may detract from the appearance of the 
jewelry pin when the eyeglasses are not being held. In any event, it would 
be desirable to give the wearer the option of hiding the loop from view 
when eyeglasses are not being held and yet make it accessible for use when 
eyeglasses are to be held. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One aspect of the invention resides in a piece of jewelry having an 
eyeglass holder incorporated into the jewelry design itself so as to blend 
in with the rest of the design and yet hold the junction between the glass 
rim and the folded post of the eyeglasses. The eyeglass holder defines a 
loop. 
One aspect of the invention resides in a piece of jewelry having an 
ornamental design portion and also having an eyeglass holder movable 
between a hidden position, which is along the backside of the ornamental 
portion and hidden from view from the front, and an exposed position, 
which entails hanging the eyeglass holder downwardly from the ornamental 
design portion in plain sight. The jewelry piece also has a pin to secure 
the jewelry piece to clothing. The junction between the rim of the 
eyeglass and the folded post rests on the inner edge of the holder. The 
eyeglass holder may be a clip having a loop.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 shows a jewelry pin 20 having design portion 22, a pin portion 12, 
and an eyeglass holder 24 that is movable between a hidden position as 
shown in FIG. 1 to an exposed position as shown in FIG. 2. In the exposed 
position of FIG. 2, the eyeglass holder 24 hangs downward from the design 
portion 22. The eyeglass holder portion 24 is connected to the rear face 
of the design portion 22 by a hinge connection 26. 
The hinge connection 26 is of a conventional hinge type of a clip that is 
constructed so that when closing the eyeglass holder portion to the hidden 
position, a locking plate rotates about the hinge to press against a 
resilient element that retains the locking plate in position. By manually 
rotating the eyeglass holder portion from the hidden portion to the 
exposed position, however, the locking plate rotates to eventually free 
itself by clearing the resilient element. The locking plate is formed to 
extend the full length of the hinge and at an angle relative to the 
eyeglass holder portion. The resilient element is situated between the 
hinge and the rear of the design portion 22. 
The eyeglass holder 24 may define a loop of any closed geometric shape. The 
advantage of a closed geometric shape is that eyeglasses are unlikely to 
fall off the loop inadvertently, as may be the case if the loop were open. 
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the jewelry pin 20 of FIGS. 1-2 being secured to 
clothing 30 such as a scarf in a conventional manner, i.e., through the 
pin portion 12. Also, eyeglasses 40 are shown hanging downward from the 
downwardly extending loop clip portion 24. 
FIGS. 5 and 6 show the hinge connection 26 in greater detail as viewed from 
one side that mirrors that of the opposite side. In FIG. 5, the eyeglass 
holder portion 24 is shown with an end 25 protruding through an opening in 
the hinge plate 28. In FIG. 6, the hinge plate 28 is taken away to show 
that the eyeglass holder 24 has an angled stub portion 42 that presses 
against a resilient element 44 as the eyeglass holder 24 is swung in a 
clockwise direction from the position shown in the direction of the 
direction arrow 46. The resilient element 44 retains the eyeglass holder 
24 in the fully hidden (closed) position behind the design portion 22. If 
the eyeglass holder 24 is swung outwardly in a counterclockwise direction 
that is opposite to that of the direction arrow 46, the angled stub 
portion 42 will eventually clear the resilient element 44 and thus enable 
it to hang downward for accommodating eyeglasses. 
The embodiment of FIGS. 7-9 illustrate a different manner of hinging the 
loop to the rear of the design portion of the jewelry eyeglass holder pin. 
The loop 54 in this case has two resilient legs 56 that may be squeezed 
toward each other in the direction of direction arrows 58. The legs have 
two outwardly extending portions 59 at the free ends. When the squeeze is 
released as the two outwardly extending portions 59 become positioned 
between hollow holders 60, they enter into respective openings in the 
holders 60 in a conventional manner. The loop may be swung then about this 
hinge connection toward the pin portion 12 to be held in a clasp 62. 
The loop in the embodiments of FIGS. 7-9, although open, is substantially 
closed when its outwardly extending portions 59 are in the hollow holders 
60 such that the eyeglasses, if jostled while hanging from the loop, can 
not slip out of the spacing in the periphery of the loop because the 
holders 60 block access to the open portion of the loop between he legs 
56. 
The embodiments of FIGS. 10-14 each have an eyeglass holder 24 movable 
between a hidden position (behind the design portion 22) and an exposed 
position (hanging down from the design portion 22). 
FIGS. 16A, 16B and 17A, 17B show embodiments of the eyeglass holder of the 
type of FIGS. 1-2 in which the loop 24 is shown in the open, exposed 
position (FIGS. 16B, 17A) and swung to the closed, hidden position (FIGS. 
16A, 17B) which means that the side which is not hinged (i.e., the 
remaining side) is moved in a direction toward the pin portion 12 to reach 
the closed position. 
FIGS. 18 and 19 show embodiments having a contour of the eyeglass holder 
that defines a heart shape 50. 
FIGS. 20-22 shows the eyeglass holder in the form of a loop 70 and stem 72. 
The free end of the stem 72 has a circular portion 74 that is to be 
inserted into a pivotable receptacle 76 as shown in FIG. 20. Once inserted 
the circular portion 74 fits around a resilient, split post (not shown) 
inside the slot 78 of the receptacle 76 to hang downwardly in an exposed 
position as shown in FIG. 21. Once so fitted, the loop may be rotated 
about the post in the direction of the direction arrow 80 to reach the 
position of FIG. 22, where the loop is hidden behind the design portion. 
In so doing, the loop is rotated from the exposed position to the hidden 
position by rotation toward the pin portion 12. 
In all the embodiments, the jewelry eyeglass holder may be made of precious 
metals and/or stones and define a loop which may include design 
ornamentation along its contour. 
As concerns the embodiment of FIGS. 1-2, the invention is not limited to 
the use of the hinge shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 or of FIGS. 7-9. Other types 
of conventional hinges are envisioned as well that are capable of allowing 
the loop to move between the hidden and exposed positions. It is intended 
that the loop could instead be rotated between those positions about a 
pivot or hinge. Thus, the loop could flip between its open and closed 
positions as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 or FIGS. 8 and 9 or else pivot to 
swing in the same plane. 
In addition, the invention envisions any form of mechanical connection that 
allows the loop to move from an exposed position to a hidden position, 
such as through a sliding mechanism that provides linear movement as 
opposed to rotatable movement such that the loop snaps into place when 
slid into the hidden position but may be released to drop into the exposed 
position. 
While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred 
embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various 
changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit 
and scope of the present invention.