Personal ornaments

Abstract: A personal ornament (1) is formed by fitting separately molded ornamental members (3) to a personal ornament body (2). The personal ornament body (2) has a space (4 of 9) formed therein at a place where the ornamental members (3) are to be fitted, and a space (4 or 9) having engaging portions or members (5) formed therein so as to extend transversely therein. Each of the ornamental members (3) has ridges (8) formed integrally on the rear surface thereof and adapted to be fitted in the space (4 or 9), and legs (7) also formed integrally on the rear surface thereof and each being adapted to engage with each of the engaging portions or members (5) in a snap fit fashion. The arrangement is made such that the configuration of the ornamental members (3) to be fitted to the personal ornament body (2) is larger than that of the space (4 or 9).

Description: The present invention generally relates to a personal ornament having ornamental members such as, for example, pendants of ear-rings and necklaces or pulls of slide fasteners, etc.. The present invention particularly relates to a personal ornament formed by fitting separated molded ornamental members to a personal ornament body, the personal body having a through-hole formed therein at a place where the ornamental members are fitted and each of the ornamental members has ridges formed integrally on the rear surface thereof and adapted to be fitted in the through-hole. A personal ornament of this type is disclosed in FR-A-1 367 936. In this conventional personal ornament, fixing of an ornamental portion in the ornament body is achieved exclusively by means of friction. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved personal ornament which is suitable for mass production with low costs. According to the invention a personal ornament of the type mentioned above satisfying this requirement is characterized in that the through-hole of said ornament body has engaging members formed so as to extend transversely therein and that each of said ornamental members has formed integrally on the rear surface thereof at least a pair of transversely staggered leg pieces each having at its leading end a projection as an engaging pawl adapted to engage with each of the engaging members in a snap fit fashion, the arrangement being made such that the configuration of the ornamental members to be fitted to the personal ornament body is larger than that of the through-hole. Preferred embodiment of the invention is set out in the dependent claim 2. When the ornamental members are fitted in the personal ornament body, a stable position of the ornamental members relative to the personal ornament body is obtained by means of the ridges formed on the former, and at the same time, the portions of the ornamental members defining the configuration thereof cover completely the portions of the personal ornament to be fitted with the ornamental members. In particular, in case of producing ornamental members by injection molding, the trace of the gate can be put out of sight from the personal ornament by locating the trace of the gate on the side of the rear surface of the ornamental members. The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and claims as illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration only, show preferred embodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of a personal ornament according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view looking from the rear surface of one of ornamental members used in the personal ornament shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a front view of a personal ornament body used in the personal ornament shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a front view of the personal ornament shown in Fig. 1 which shows the condition of the ornamental member mounted thereon only from the rear surface side thereof; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a modification of the personal ornament body according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail hereinbelow by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figs. 1 to 6 illustrate a representative embodiment of the present invention. A personal ornament 1 according to the present invention is formed by a personal ornament body 2, and a pair of ornamental members 3, 3 to be fitted to or mated with the personal ornament 2 from the front and rear sides thereof, respectively. The personal ornament body 2 has a through-hole 4 formed at a place where the pair of ornamental members 3, 3 are to be fitted, and there are provided in the through-hole 4 parallel upper and lower engaging portions or members 5,5 formed integrally with the personal ornament body 2. Each of the pair of ornamental members 3,3 has the same configuration Each ornamental member 3 has formed integrally on the rear surface thereof at least a pair of transversely staggered leg pieces 7, 7 each having at the leading end thereof an engaging pawl 6 engaging with each of the aforesaid engaging portions or members 5,5. Each ornamental member 3 has also ridges 8 formed integrally on the rear surface thereof at upper and lower ends and an intermediate portion thereof and which are adapted to be fitted tightly in the through-hole 4. Further, the arrangement is made such that the configuration of the pair of ornamental members 3,3 is larger than that of the through-hole 4. Therefore, when the pair of ornamental members 3,3 are thrusted into the through-hole 4 from the front and rear surfaces of the personal ornament body 2, respective side walls of the ridges 8 are put in position so as to abut against the inner wall of the personal ornament body 2, and the engaging pawl 6 of each of the leg pieces 7 is engaged with the corresponding engaging portion or member 5 thereby combining the pair of ornamental members 3, 3 integrally with the personal ornament body 2 so as to be able to maintain a stable combined condition. The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, as shown in Fig. 7, it is possible to form a cavity 9 instead of the through-hole 4 at the place of the personal ornament body 2 where the ornamental member 3 is fitted, embed partially separately molded engaging members 5, 5 into a wall surface 9A of the cavity 9 to fixedly secure them thereto, and thrust the ornamental member 3 into the cavity from one side thereof while the positioning thereof is being made by means of the ridges 8 so as to engage the ornamental member 3 with the cavity 9 in a snap fit fashion thereby combining the ornamental member 3 integrally with the personal ornament body 2. Since the personal ornament body and the ornamental member of the present invention is constructed as mentioned herein above, the positioning of the ornamental members relative to the personal ornament body can be made readily, and the combination of them can be made rapidly and surely in a snap fit fashion so that the personal ornament can be produced easily. Further, the positions of the personal ornament in which the ornamental members are fitted can be put completely out of sight by provision of the above-mentioned configuration so that the resulted product can possess an aesthetical external appearance suitable to personal ornaments. In particular, in case of producing the ornamental members by injection-molding, the trace of the gate which occurs necessarily can be hidden in the interior of the personal ornament, and therefore an ornamental product which does not give an image of low-priced article inherent to injection-molded articles can be provided. It is to be understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrative of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and that the scope of the invention is not to be limited thereto, but is to be determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: A personal ornament (1) formed by fitting separated molded ornamental members (3) to a personal ornament body (2), the personal ornament body (2) having a through-hole (4) formed therein at a place where the ornamental members (3) are fitted and each of the ornamental members has ridges (8) formed integrally on the rear surface thereof and adapted to be fitted in the through-hole (4) characterized in that the through-hole (4) of said ornament body (2) has engaging members (5) formed so as to extend transversely therein and that each of said ornamental members (3) has formed integrally on the rear surface thereof at least a pair of transversely staggered leg pieces (7) each having at its leading end a projection as an engaging pawl (6) adapted to engage with each of the engaging members (5) in a snap fit fashion, the arrangement being made such that the configuration of the ornamental members (3) to be fitted to the personal ornament body (2) is larger than that of the through-hole (4). A personal ornament as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said personal ornament body (2) has a cavity (9) formed therein at a place where the ornamental member (3) is to be fitted, the cavity (9) having a wall surface (9A) in which separately molded engaging members (5) are partially embedded to fixedly secure them to the wall surface, and said ornamental member (3) is adapted to be thrusted in the cavity (9)from one side thereof while the positioning thereof is being made by means of the ridges (8) so that it may be fitted in the cavity (9) in a snap fit fashion thereby combining the ornamental member (3) integrally with the personal ornament body (2).

Inventors: HORITA YOSHIYUKI, ISHII SUSUMU, TERADA YASUHARU, HORITA, YOSHIYUKI, ISHII, SUSUMU, TERADA, YASUHARU
Applicants: YOSHIDA KOGYO KK, YOSHIDA KOGYO K.K.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: A44C1
IPC codes: A44C1, A44C25