Abstract:
A device, system and method for layering individual jewelry articles in a desired order and configuration around a wearer and maintaining the jewelry articles in a desired layered arrangement about the wearer.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/091,933 filed Dec. 15, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Layered or compound articles of jewelry (e.g., necklaces) have become highly sought after as stylish and fashionable pieces of jewelry. In addition to their beauty and their appearance enhancing characteristics, layered jewelry are popular fashion statements capable of expressing subtle and complex messages that reflect the views, opinions, attitudes, culture, religion, or background of the wearer. They can also be selected and worn for purely ornamental or sentimental reasons. 
         [0003]    With respect to layered necklaces in particular, in their typical form layered necklaces are conglomerations of multiple individual necklaces combined into a single unit that the wearer can don as he or she would a singular necklace. Typically, each necklace in the ready-made conglomeration has a specific length that differs from the lengths of the other necklaces in the conglomeration, such that the necklaces appear arranged in a layered or nested manner with the longest length necklace (as measured to include the length of its chain, if any) hanging at the bottom of the conglomeration and subsequent necklaces (including the lengths of their chains) getting progressively shorter from bottom to top. 
         [0004]    Such ready-made or pre-assembled layered necklaces, however, suffer the disadvantage of their inability to be easily modified. It is difficult or impossible for the wearer to add necklaces to the conglomeration, remove necklaces from the conglomeration, replace necklaces, or change the order or lengths of the individual necklaces. These shortcomings stifle the wearer&#39;s creativity and ability to adjust and adapt a layered necklace for particular outfits, occasions, moods, or messages sought to be expressed. 
         [0005]    A solution to the inadequacies of the typical pre-assembled layered necklace is for the wearer to don multiple necklaces from his or her own collection of individual necklaces. This allows the wearer to mix and match styles, lengths, colors, and so forth, to present different and unique looks depending on the particular combination of necklaces chosen. However, make-shift or impromptu layered necklaces derived from the wearer&#39;s own supply of singular necklaces are also problematic, as the necklaces chosen have not been designed to be worn together. This can result in necklaces being too long or too short to work with one another. Moreover, since the individual necklaces are loose and not coupled to one another, there is a tendency for them to tangle up or overlap one another in unappealing or otherwise undesirable ways, and for the necklaces to tarnish or become damaged from rubbing against each other during use. 
         [0006]    Thus, there is a need for a device and improved method for wearing and arranging a plurality of individual necklaces into a desired layered or nested arrangement. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    The present disclosure is directed to a device, system and method for arranging articles of jewelry that overcome at least some of these challenges and drawbacks. Throughout this specification, the terms “clip” and “extender” will be used interchangeably with reference to the disclosed devices, systems, and methods. 
         [0008]    In one aspect, a device for layering a plurality of jewelry articles is disclosed, the device having an open configuration and a closed configuration and comprising an upper member and a lower member pivotally attached to the upper member, the device further comprising a locking mechanism configured to lock the upper member and the lower member together when the device is in the closed configuration, the device further comprising at least one gripping member for holding one or more jewelry chains in place, the at least one gripping member disposed on at least one of the upper member or the lower member. 
         [0009]    In another aspect, a jewelry system comprises: a plurality of chains; and a first chain layering device, the first chain layering device having an open configuration and a closed configuration and comprising an upper member and a lower member pivotally attached to the upper member, the first chain layering device further comprising a locking mechanism configured to lock the upper member and the lower member together when the first chain layering device is in the closed configuration, the first chain layering device further comprising at least one gripping member for holding the plurality of chains in place in a layered configuration, the at least one gripping member disposed on at least one of the upper member or the lower member. 
         [0010]    In a further aspect, a method for layering a plurality of necklaces around a neck of a wearer, each of the plurality of necklaces comprising a chain comprises the steps of: placing the plurality of necklaces around the neck; closing each of the plurality of necklaces; grasping each of the plurality of necklaces behind the neck at two positions on its chain, the two positions being selected such that the plurality of necklaces appears at a front of the wearer in a desired layered arrangement; sandwiching the two positions of each of the plurality of necklace chains in between gripping members of a clip situated behind the neck of the wearer; and closing and locking the clip such that the plurality of necklaces remain in place in the desired arrangement. 
         [0011]    In still a further aspect, a method comprises placing a first necklace around a user&#39;s neck and closing the first necklace; placing the first necklace in two jewelry clips, one on either side of the user&#39;s neck, each of the jewelry clips sandwiching the first necklace between corresponding gripping members disposed on the jewelry clips; placing a second necklace having two free ends and being shorter than the first necklace in the two jewelry clips, each of the jewelry clips grasping a portion at or near an end of the second necklace between corresponding gripping members such that the second necklace hangs lower on a wearer&#39;s front than the first necklace. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a top, perspective view of an embodiment of a jewelry clip in accordance with the present disclosure, the jewelry clip being shown in an open configuration. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a right side view of the jewelry clip of  FIG. 1 , the jewelry clip being shown in a closed configuration. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a rear view of the jewelry clip of  FIG. 1 , the jewelry clip being shown in a closed configuration. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  shows the back of the neck of a user of the jewelry clip of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows the front of a user of multiple of the jewelry clips of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a jewelry clip in accordance with the present disclosure, the jewelry clip being in an open configuration. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a further alternative embodiment of a jewelry clip in accordance with the present disclosure, the jewelry clip being in an open configuration. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Various embodiments are described herein in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. Reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the appended claims. Additionally, any examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and merely set forth some of the many possible embodiments for the appended claims. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a top, perspective view of an embodiment of a jewelry clip  10  in accordance with the present disclosure, the jewelry clip  10  being shown in an open configuration. With reference to  FIG. 1 , the jewelry clip or extender  10  comprises an upper leg  12  and a lower leg  14 . The upper leg  12  and the lower leg  14  are pivotally coupled to each other at the rear of the clip  10  via the hinge  16 . A locking mechanism  18  is disposed at the front end of the clip  10 . A first gripping member  20  is disposed on the upper side of the lower leg  14 , and a second gripping member  22  is disposed on the lower side of the upper leg  12 . According to this embodiment, the upper leg  12  has a convex upper surface  30 , and the lower leg  14  has a convex lower surface. The convexity of the lower surface of the lower leg  14  is shown in profile in  FIG. 1  and indicated by reference numeral  32 . 
         [0021]    The legs  12  and  14  of the jewelry clip or extender  10  can be made of any suitable material known in the art, including but not limited to a base metal or metal alloy, a precious metal, plastic, wood, glass, stone, and so forth. 
         [0022]    The gripping members  20  and  22  can be made of any material suitable to keep the jewelry articles (e.g., necklace chains) in place on the gripping members  20 ,  22  when the clip  10  is closed. By way of example and without limitation, the gripping members  20  and  22  can be made of natural rubber, an elastomer, Teflon®, silicone, vinyl, foam rubber, and so forth. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, each gripping member  20 ,  22  is a single, continuous element situated within the border of the top face  25  of the lower leg  14  and the bottom face  27  of the upper leg  12 , respectively. The thickness of the gripping members  20  and  22  is such that when the clip  10  is in a closed position, the gripping members contact each other lightly (so as not to damage the jewelry), but with sufficient force to keep necklace chains sandwiched therebetween in place by friction. In alternative examples, multiple piece gripping members are used. In further alternative examples, a gripping member is placed on one but not both of the legs  12 ,  14  of the clip. 
         [0023]    The gripping members  20 ,  22  are affixed to the legs  14 ,  12  (respectively) of the clip  10  through any suitable means, such as glue or other drying adhesive, hook and loop fasteners such as Velcro®, and so forth. 
         [0024]    Due to the flexible, compressible, gripping nature of the material of the gripping members  20 ,  22 , once the clip  10  is locked or otherwise secured with the necklace chains sandwiched between the clip&#39;s legs, the chains are held in place by the frictional force generated from the pressure applied on the chains by the gripping elements. This prevents the necklaces from moving about or tangling in undesirable ways, and hinders or prevents tarnishing or damage that may otherwise be caused by the necklaces&#39; and/or their chains&#39; rubbing together. 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is a right side view of the jewelry clip  10  of  FIG. 1 , the jewelry clip  10  being shown in a closed configuration. The locking mechanism  18  can be any suitable mechanism known in the art, such as a spring-ring clasp, toggle clasp, lobster clasp, magnetic clasp or so forth. Once the user places the necklace chains in the clip  10  at the desired positions, the legs  12 ,  14  of the clip are brought together by means of the hinge  16  and the locking mechanism  18  is engaged to secure the necklace chains in place at the desired positions. The clip  10  can hold as many necklace chains as can fit along the length (as measured from the front  21  to the back  23 ) of the gripping members  20  and  22 . It should be understood that, when a single clip  10  is used (rather than multiple clips, as discussed below; see  FIGS. 4-5 ), since the clip  10  grasps each necklace chain at two positions on the chain, each chain fed through the clip  10  is sandwiched by a length of the gripping members  20  and  22  approximately equivalent to twice the width of that chain. 
         [0026]    In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the locking mechanism  18  is made from the same material as the clip  10  and can be manufactured/cast integrally with the clip  10 . Alternatively, the locking mechanism  18  can be affixed to the legs  12  and  14  after the clip  10  is manufactured, through any suitable means such as soldering, glue, or so forth. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a rear view of the jewelry clip  10  of  FIG. 1 , the jewelry clip being shown in a closed configuration. In this example, the upper surface  30  of the upper leg  12  and the bottom surface  32  of the lower leg  14  are convex. In alternative examples, these surfaces are flat or substantially flat, and parallel to each other when the clip  10  is in its closed configuration. 
         [0028]      FIG. 4  shows the back of the neck of a user of the jewelry clip  10  of  FIG. 1 . The clip  10  is shown in closed configuration grasping a first necklace chain  80 , a second necklace chain  82 , and a third necklace chain  84 . Each of the necklace chains  80 ,  82 , and  84  is grasped by the clip  10  at two positions, resulting in slack from the chains lying below the clip in approximately loop or U-shaped formations as shown in  FIG. 4 . By adjusting the positions on the necklace chains grasped by the clip  10 , the user can adjust the amount of slack from each chain that falls below the clip, which in turn affects the length of each necklace appearing on the front of the user. For each chain, the more slack taken up by the clip (i.e. the longer each loop of chain falls below the clip), the shorter that particular necklace appears on the front of the user. In this manner, the user can customize a layered or nested look for a plurality of necklaces. 
         [0029]      FIG. 5  shows the front of a user of multiple of the jewelry clips  10  of  FIG. 1 . By using a pair of clips  10  as shown in  FIG. 5 , a longer necklace  92  lies above, and therefore appears shorter than, a shorter necklace  90 . In this example, the shorter necklace  90  is not long enough to attach behind the wearer&#39;s neck and also lie as low on the front of the wearer as shown in the figure. However, the ends of the chain of the shorter necklace  90  are held in place by the pair of clips  10  on either side of the wearer&#39;s neck, while the clips  10  themselves are held in place by the longer necklace  92 , which is fed through the clips  10  and hangs in the normal fashion from the back of the wearer&#39;s neck. Thus, it should be understood, in this configuration the chains of necklaces  90  and  92  are held at just one position along the chain (rather than two) by each clip  10 , thereby freeing up more space in each clip  10  to hold additional necklace chains. 
         [0030]    Alternatively or in addition, the appearance of the length of the necklace  92  can be further shortened relative to the appearance of the length of necklace  90  by feeding loops of slack of the chain of necklace  92  through one or more of the clips  10  in the manner described above with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0031]    Likewise, it should be understood that additional necklaces can be added to the configuration shown on  FIG. 5 , and fed through one or both of the clips  10  in accordance with the above disclosures to effect the appearance of a specific length of each of the additional necklaces at the front of the user relative to necklaces  90  and  92 . For example, a third necklace that is longer than the necklace  90  and shorter than the necklace  92  can be donned to appear to hang between the necklaces  90  and  92  on the front of the user by feeding sufficient chain slack through each clip  10 . By adjusting the slack through each clip, the exemplary third necklace can alternatively be positioned to appear to hang above the necklace  92  or below the necklace  90 . Thus, by using multiple clips  10  at the same time, it will be appreciated that numerous arrangements of a multitude of necklaces can be achieved. 
         [0032]    In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, more than two (e.g., three or four) clips  10  are used simultaneously to create the desired layered or nested look of a plurality of necklaces. 
         [0033]    In further embodiments, multiple locking devices are employed to secure the clip. 
         [0034]    In further embodiments, one or more locking devices are disposed on the clip in locations other than the front of the clip, such as the side of the clip. 
         [0035]    In further embodiments of the present disclosure, the length of the clip  10  or the length of the gripping members  20 ,  22  (as measured from their front  21  to their rear  23 ) is smaller or greater depending on the number of necklaces and/or the thickness of necklace chains to be engaged by the clip  10 . For example, the clip  10  can be long enough to grasp two necklace chains, or alternatively three, four, or five necklace chains, and so forth. Similarly, a clip of greater length would be suitable for engaging relatively thick necklace chains, and a clip of shorter length would be suitable for engaging relatively thin necklace chains. 
         [0036]    One exemplary method of using the jewelry clip  10  of the present disclosure includes the steps of placing the necklaces sought to be layered around the neck and closing them, grasping each necklace chain at two positions behind the neck, the positions being selected such that the necklaces fall down the front of the user in the desired arrangement/configuration, sandwiching the chains in a clip  10  designed in accordance with the disclosures herein behind the neck (e.g., by sandwiching the chains between corresponding gripping members  20 ,  22  disposed on the clip  10 ), and closing and locking the clip  10  such that the necklaces remain in place in the desired arrangement. 
         [0037]    In another exemplary method of using two of the jewelry clips  10  of the present disclosure, a first necklace  92  ( FIG. 5 ) is placed around a user&#39;s neck and closed. The first necklace  92  is placed in two jewelry clips  10 , one on either side of the user&#39;s neck, each of the jewelry clips  10  sandwiching the necklace between corresponding gripping members  20 ,  22  ( FIG. 1 ) disposed on the jewelry clips  10 . A second necklace  90  ( FIG. 5 ) having two free ends and being shorter than the first necklace  92  is placed in the two jewelry clips  10 , each of the jewelry clips  10  grasping a portion at or near an end of the second necklace between corresponding gripping members  20 ,  22  ( FIG. 1 ). In some example methods, the positions on the second necklace  90  grasped by the jewelry clips  10  are selected such that the second necklace  90  hangs lower on the user&#39;s front than the first necklace  92 . In alternative example methods, the positions on the second necklace  90  grasped by the jewelry clips  10  are chosen such that the first necklace  92  hangs lower on the user&#39;s front than the second necklace  90 . 
         [0038]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a jewelry clip  200  in accordance with the present disclosure, the jewelry clip  200  being in an open configuration. The clip  200  includes an interior cavity  201  defined by an upper housing  202  and a lower housing  204  pivotally connected with a hinge  206 . A recessed rim  208  about a portion of the perimeter of the lower housing  204  includes one or more locking elements  210 . The recessed rim  208  is disposed to nest inside at least a portion of the rim  212  of the upper housing  202  when the hinge  206  is rotated such that the upper housing  202  and the lower housing  204  come together to close the clip  200 . The one or more locking elements  210  (e.g., rubber protrusions) engage the upper housing  202  (e.g., in a frictional fashion) when the clip  200  is in a closed configuration to help prevent the clip  200  from opening undesirably. Openings  214  disposed on opposing sides  216 ,  218  of the upper housing  202 , with corresponding openings  214  disposed on opposing sides  220 ,  222  of the lower housing  204 , provide openings to the interior cavity  201  of the clip  200  when the clip  200  is in a closed configuration through which one or more jewelry chains can be placed in the manner described above. Gripping members  226 ,  228  are provided on the interior of the upper housing  202  and the interior of the lower housing  204 , respectively, to frictionally sandwich the one or more necklace chains therebetween when the clip  200  is in a closed configuration to provide the desired layered effect as described above. It should likewise be appreciated that more than one clip  200  can be used simultaneously as described above in connection with  FIG. 5 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a further alternative embodiment of a jewelry clip  300  in accordance with the present disclosure, the jewelry clip  300  being in an open configuration. The clip  300  includes an interior  301  defined by an upper member  302  and a lower member  304  pivotally connected with a hinge  306 . A locking element  310  (e.g., a flexible or spring loaded notched projection) is disposed on the lower member  304  and configured to releasably engage the upper member  302  (e.g., by engaging a corresponding groove or recess in the upper member  302  in a frictional fashion) when the clip  300  is in a closed configuration to help prevent the clip  300  from opening undesirably. Openings  314  disposed on opposing sides  316 ,  318  of the upper member  302 , with corresponding openings  314  disposed on opposing sides  320 ,  322  of the lower member  304 , provide openings to the interior  301  of the clip  300  when the clip  300  is in a closed configuration through which one or more jewelry chains can be placed in the manner described above. Gripping members  326 ,  328  are provided on the interior of the upper member  302  and the interior of the lower member  304 , respectively, to frictionally sandwich the one or more necklace chains therebetween when the clip  300  is in a closed configuration to provide the desired layered effect as described above. It should likewise be appreciated that more than one clip  300  can be used simultaneously as described above in connection with  FIG. 5 . 
         [0040]    The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the claims attached hereto. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the following claims.