Earring

An improvement in post-type earrings, which are earrings connected to a human ear by a rigid slender short rod or post. One end of the post is attached to an ornament. The post is rectilinear and cylindrical and extends from attachment to the ornament. In service, the other end of the post is pushed through an opening in a person's ear, and a suitable element is attached to the other end of the post to secure the earring on the ear. In the present invention, at least a portion of the outer surface of the post has a helical threading. The element used to secure the post on the ear is a clutch having a central opening about which are radially arrayed a plurality of spaced apart springy fingers. The fingers extend to terminal attachment to a base portion of the clutch. The clutch is engageable by the post by extending the post axially through the opening in the clutch, until the tips of the springy fingers pass over the convolutions of the threading and are held in the threading. The fingers cannot be moved reversely in an axial direction because in this direction they catch on the flanks of the threads. To disengage the clutch from the post, the clutch must be rotated about the post, so that in effect the clutch is pushed on axially and screwed off by rotary motion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
A post-type earring for pierced ears. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
There are two kinds of earrings that are used for pierced ears. One is the 
so-called "wire" earring. The other is the so-called "post" earring. In a 
wire earring, the dangling ornament is provided with a U-shaped thin wire 
at one end of the ornament. One branch of the U is connected to the 
ornament permanently, the other end of the U is threaded through a 
person's ear and then is engaged with a catch of the ornament. 
A post earring is connected to an ear by a rigid slender short rod or post. 
One end of the rod is attached to the ornament; the other end of the rod 
is pushed through the opening in a person's ear, and then a friction nut 
is slid onto this other end. This nut has a central opening defined by the 
tips of a plurality of resilient fingers. The fingers frictionally engage 
on the rod or post. The friction nut slides onto the post easily and 
slides off with difficulty. The problem with this type of prior art 
earring is that the friction nuts can become displaced accidentally, for 
instance, while the person is engaged in physical exertion or sleeping. 
Among the prior art on this type of earring may be mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 
3,882,702 and 2,373,002. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
1. Purposes of the Invention 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved earring. 
Another object is to provide an improved post-type earring. 
A further object is to provide post-type earring in which the friction nut 
or clutch is pushed on and screwed off. 
An additional object is to provide a post-type earring in which the clutch 
is self-locating onto the post. 
Still another object is to provide a post-type earring in which the clutch 
is mounted on the post by a ratchet-like movement but must be screwed off 
for removal from the post. 
Still a further object is to provide a post-type earring in which the 
clutch is shaped to provide a stronger ratchet and better ratchet effect. 
Still an additional object is to provide a post-type earring in which the 
hole in the rear clutch is self-locating so that a woman emplacing the 
earring is assisted in getting the post into the hole. 
An object is to provide a post-type earring in which the post is cammed 
into the hole in the clutch. 
An object is to provide an earring which cannot be dislodged by strenuous 
physical activity or the like, but only by screwing the clutch or friction 
nut off of the post. 
An object is to provide an earring in which the clutch is readily emplaced 
on the post and yet is not easily accidentally dislodged when once 
emplaced, and is only removable by the positive and conscious effort of 
screwing the clutch off of the post. 
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become 
evident from the description which follows. 
2. Brief Description of the Invention 
The present earring post differs from a conventional post in that instead 
of a smooth post, a post is provided with a threaded helix, and also in 
that instead of the usual friction clutch, a clutch is provided with 
springy fingers. When this clutch is pushed on to the post, it can slide 
smoothly in an engaging direction, there being a ratchet-like passage of 
the tips of the fingers over the crests of the convolutions of the 
threads. However, the fingers cannot be moved reversely in an axial 
direction, because in an axial direction they catch on the flanks of the 
threads. To remove the springy fingers and thereby release the post, the 
fingers have to be rotated about the post. Thus the present concept 
entails an axial push type engagement of the clutch, with rotary 
disengagement. In other words, where the conventional post was smooth, the 
new post is formed with a helical rib, i.e., a thread. The new post is 
used in the same way as the old one, that is to say, it is pushed through 
a person's ear and then a friction nut is pushed on to it. However the nut 
cannot be pulled off, because the thread is too great an impediment to 
axial removal of the nut. Instead, it must be screwed off. 
To summarize, the present earring for pierced ears includes an ornament, a 
rectilinear cylindrical post, and a clutch. The post extends from 
attachment to the ornament. At least a portion of the outer surface of the 
post has a helical threading. The clutch has a central opening defined by 
the tips of a plurality of radially-extending fingers. In other words, a 
plurality of spaced apart springy fingers are radially arrayed about a 
central opening in the clutch. The fingers extend to terminal attachment 
to a base portion of the clutch. Thus the clutch is engageable by the post 
by extending the post axially through the opening in the clutch, so that 
the tips of the fingers pass over the convolutions of the threading. The 
clutch may be disengaged from the post only by rotating the clutch. 
In most instances the fingers will extend outwards from the plane of the 
base, so that the fingers define a concave recess for entry of the post 
into the central opening in the clutch. In this case, typically the 
fingers are curved, so that the curved fingers define a cup-shaped 
extension from the base, which extension defines the concave recess. 
The base may be disc-shaped, in which case, in a preferred embodiment, a 
circular lip depends from the perimeter of the base. In an alternative 
embodiment when the base is discshaped, two opposed arms extend outwards 
from the base, which arms are preferably substantially circular. The base 
may alternatively be hemispherical, with the two opposed circular arms 
configuration also being provided in this case. The outer end portion of 
the post may be free of threading and/or may be tapered, with the outer 
end terminus of the post being of minimum cross-sectional area. 
The present earring provides several salient advantages. The present 
improved post-type earring features a friction nut or clutch which is 
pushed on and screwed off, thus an improved earring fastening means is 
provided which is readily mounted on the post, yet is secure and not 
removable except by screwing off. Thus the clutch is mounted on the post 
by a ratchet-like movement, but must be screwed off for removal from the 
post. The clutch is self-locating onto the post, because of the 
configuration of the fingers which provide a cup-like concave recess for 
ingress of the post. The clutch is shaped to provide a stronger ratchet 
and a better ratchet effect. The hole in the rear or back clutch is 
self-locating so that a woman emplacing the earring is assisted in getting 
the post into the hole, i.e., the post is cammed into the hole in the 
clutch. The present earring when once emplaced cannot be dislodged by 
strenuous physical activity or the like, but only when the clutch or 
friction nut is screwed off. Thus an advantage is that the clutch is 
readily emplaced on the post simply by pushing it onto the post, and yet 
the clutch cannot be accidentally dislodged when once emplaced, and is 
only removable by the positive and conscious effort of screwing the clutch 
off of the post. 
The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, 
combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be 
exemplified in the article of manufacture hereinafter described and of 
which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, an ornament 10 is mounted via fingers 12 to 
one end of a rod or post 14 which is provided with annular threading 16 
along the other end of its length. An ear lobe portion 18 having an 
opening or hole 20 is shown; the earring is mounted to the ear portion 18 
in FIG. 2. This has been accomplished by extending or threading post 14 
through opening 20, and then sliding clutch or friction nut member 22 onto 
threaded end 16 of post 14. The clutch 22 is characterized by the 
provision of the plurality of springy fingers 24, the tips of which define 
a central opening 26 (FIG. 1) in which the theaded section 16 of post 14 
has been lodged. The fingers 24 extend radially from a ring-shaped or 
disc-shaped base 28. As best shown in FIG. 3, the base 28 of the clutch 22 
has an outer annular lip 30 which presses into the ear lobe 18 when the 
clutch 22 is emplaced. FIG. 3 shows the concave recess 32 formed by the 
fingers 24, while FIG. 4 shows the radial orientation of the fingers 24 
which are separated by slits 34. 
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a concave central disc-shaped clutch 36 having fingers 
38 (FIG. 6) separated by slits 40. In addition, FIGS. 5 and 6 show two 
opposed circular arms 42 extending outwards from the base 36. Finally, as 
shown in FIG. 5, the outer end portion 44 of the post 14 is free of 
threading. 
Thus, in FIGS. 5 and 6, slits 40 are provided in the concave shape 36 for a 
ratchet effect. The concave shape of element 36 makes the post 
self-locating and yields a stronger ratchet. 
FIG. 7 is similar to the FIG. 5 embodiment, in that two opposed circular 
arms 46 are provided, however the central clutch section 48 is flat rather 
than concave, and the end portion 50 of the post 14 is tapered to an outer 
end terminus 52 of minimum cross-sectional area. 
The spring-like nature of the fingers 24 or 38 insures a yielding when the 
clutch is pushed onto the post, however the configuration of the fingers 
namely the inclination of the fingers out of the plane of the base of the 
clutch so as to form a concave recess, insures that the clutch cannot be 
pulled off of the post but must be screwed off in all cases. 
It thus will be seen that there is provided an earring which achieves the 
various objects of the invention and which is well adapted to meet the 
conditions of practical use. 
As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and 
as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is 
to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the 
accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a 
limiting sense. Thus, it will be understood by those skilled in the art 
that although preferred and alternative embodiments have been shown and 
described in accordance with the Patent Statutes, the invention is not 
limited thereto or thereby.