Abstract:
A stopper to adjust the contained length of a flexible jewelry strand such as a chain or a string is disclosed. The body of the stopper includes two side portions held in a spaced relationship by a central hub having at least one aperture through which at least one end of the strand is passed. A pair of resilient rings are provided in the groove of between the side portions to prevent the strand from slipping.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention to a stopper for accessories for tightening accessory chains or string elements, especially such as necklaces, bracelets and the like. 
     A variety of stoppers for holding an accessory chain or a string element, herein referred to as flexible strands, have been proposed. 
     For example, one proposal is to provide a type of personal ornament wherein a portion of a necklace is attached to a body of the stopper formed in a spherical shape of wax and having an insertion hole provided on the body of the spherical stopper, with silicon rubber put in the insertion hole, and a portion of the necklace being inserted in the insertion hole for releasably holding the necklace with silicon rubber. However, in this type of stopper, it is difficult to attach jewels such as diamonds, because the body of the stopper is of a thinly formed in thickness, resulting in inconvenience. 
     In addition, as described above, because this type of stopper is structured by providing an insertion on the spherically formed body of the stopper with silicon rubber put in the insertion hole and an end portion of the necklace is inserted in the insertion hole for holding the middle portion of the necklace with the silicon rubber, the structure makes it difficult to replace silicon rubber with ease, resulting in inconvenience when the rubber is missing or damaged. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves the above problem by providing stopper that enables releasibly fastening the flexible strand, such that the stopper becomes a valuable accessory, thereby making the necklace and the bracelet more valuable, while lowering the price of the product and making repair work easier. 
     In one preferred embodiment, the accessory-chain/string stopper is characterized in that the accessory-chain/string element stopper comprises a first decoration side portion, a second decoration side portion spaced from the first decoration side portion, a central body portion with an end of the body connected to said first side portion, and another end connected to the second side portion, an aperture through the central body portion to enable an accessory chain or a string element to be inserted therethrough, and a first ring-like elastic element and a second ring-like elastic element formed from an elastic material provided around said body each of which is held between said first side portion and said second side portion. 
     The stopper assembly for jewelry use is especially characterized as comprising a pair of dome-shaped side elements and a central hub connecting the elements and defining circular or other shaped groove between the side elements surrounding the hub. At least one aperture is provided through the hub, with the aperture having a diameter larger than the diameter of the flexible strand, enabling the passage of at least one end of the strand through the aperture. At least one and preferably two elastomeric washers having central openings are installed within the groove in order to releasably retain the strand from longitudinal movement while allowing adjustments by pulling on the strand near the stopper. In the preferred embodiment, the outer diameter of the washer(s) is coextensive with the outer diameter of side elements or has a diameter less than the side elements. The flexible or elastic washers may be press fitted into the groove on either side of the aperture and strand, with the washers under compression with each other. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a fractional diagonal view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper element of the first embodiment. 
     FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper of the first embodiment. 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the accessory-chain/string element of the first embodiment. 
     FIG. 4 is a magnified view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper of the first embodiment showing a usage of the stopper. 
     FIG. 5 is an overall view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper of the first embodiment showing a usage of the stopper and strand assembly. 
     FIG. 6 is an overall view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper of the first embodiment showing another usage of the element. 
     FIG. 7 is a fractional diagonal view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper element of the second embodiment. 
     FIG. 8 is an overall diagonal view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper element of the second embodiment showing a usage of the element. 
     FIG. 9 is a fractional diagonal view of the accessory-chain/string element stopper of the third embodiment. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The first embodiment of the present invention for an accessory-chain and string element stopper is shown in FIG.  1  through FIG.  6 . This embodiment shows an accessory stopper comprising of an accessory-chain/string stopper applied to a necklace formed by a chain or line flexible strand. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, a stopper body  12  of the accessory-chain/string element stopper  10  is uniformly formed by a metal such as a gold alloy, such that the stopper is of unitary construction. Both of the first decoration side portion  14  of the stopper body  12  and the second decoration side portion  16  are formed in disks and a peripheral outer side  14 A and a peripheral outer side  16 A are formed to have a convex or dome shape. Accordingly, the outer surfaces of the first decoration side portion  14  and the second decoration side portion  16  can hold jewelries (not shown) because the first decoration side portion  14  and the second decoration  16  portion are thickly formed. 
     As shown in FIG.  2  and FIG. 3, the first decoration side portion  14  and the second decoration side portion  16  are spaced apart in confrontation. A central body portion in a cylindrical shape  18  is provided between the flat inner surface  14 B of the first decoration side portion  14  and the flat inner surface  16 B of the second decoration side portion  16 , and an end portion  18 A of the body portion  18  is connected to the inner surface  14 B of the first decoration side portion  14  while another end portion  18 B of the body  18  is connected to the inner surface  16 B of the second decoration side portion  16 . The central body portion  18  has a substantially smaller diameter that the side portions such that a circular groove is established between the side portions. 
     An aperture  22  is provided through the body portion  18 , allowing the necklace  20  (shown in FIG.  5 ), or other flexible strand, to extend therethrough. The aperture  22  is formed so that the hole is elliptic when viewed from the front, to allow passage of two strands. 
     As shown in FIG. 5, an end  20 A of the necklace  20  is connected to the decoration side portion  14  with wax. In addition, a drop prevention element  23  having a larger diameter than the necklace  20  and smaller than the insertion through hole is provided and is fixed on another end  20 B of the necklace  20 . 
     As shown in FIG.  1  and FIG. 2, a first ring-like elastic element  24  and a second ring-like elastic element  26  are provided around body  18  with the elements held in the circular groove between the first side portion  14  and the second side portion  16 . Both of the first ring-like elastic element  24  and the second ring-like elastic element  26  are formed from an elastic material, such as silicon rubber, and a circular aperture  24 A in the first ring-like elastic body  24  and a circular aperture  26 A in the second ring-like elastic element  26  are equal or smaller in outer diameters than the diameters of the first side portion  14  and the second side portion  16 , preventing the ring-like elastic elements  24  and  26  from coming off accidentally. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the flexible strand  20  such as a chain or a string having a middle portion  20 C may be extended through the aperture, followed by installation of the elastic rings  24  and  26  on each side of the strand in order to releasably clamp the strand. As shown, the two ring members resiliently engage each other upon installation in the circular groove. 
     As shown in FIG. 5, the one end  20 B of the necklace  20  is extended through the insertion hole  22  and the first ring-like elastic element  24  and the second elastic element  26  and are installed in the circular groove between the side portions. As a result, as additionally shown in FIG. 4, the first ring-like elastic element  24  and the second ring-like elastic element  26  hold and tighten the middle portion  20 C of the necklace  20  enabling the necklace to be put on. 
     In addition, because jewelries such as diamonds can be mounted on the first decoration side portion  14  and the second decoration side portion  16 , the accessory-chain/strip element stopper  10  itself can be valuable as an accessory and the value of the product will be increased in combination with the necklace  20 . 
     Furthermore, even in the case that the necklace  20  is put on around the neck, the middle  20 C of the necklace  20  can be moved by pulling the necklace  20  with a strong force at the accessory-chain/string stopper  10 , enabling easy adjustment of the length of the necklace after the necklace  20  is put on. 
     In case the ring members  24  and  26  become worn or damaged, they can be easily replaced at low cost. In addition, production costs are low in comparison with other proposed devices. 
     Furthermore, as shown in a preferred embodiment of FIG. 5, an end  20 A of the necklace  20  may be connected to and fixed upon the first decoration side portion  14  with wax and the other end of the  20 B of the necklace  20  may be inserted through the insertion hole  22 . It is apparent that the first ring-like elastic element  24  and the second ring-like elastic element  26  may be used for tightening and fixing while an end  20 A together with another end  20 B of the necklace  20  is inserted through the insertion hole  22 . 
     An accessory-chain/string stopper  30  of another preferred embodiment is shown in FIG.  7  and FIG.  8 . Here, the structures in common with those in the accessory-chain stopper  10  of the first embodiment are indicated by identical numbers and descriptions of such structures are omitted. 
     As shown in FIG. 7 a first central body portion  34  and a second central body portion  36  are provided between the first decoration side portion  14  and the second decoration side portion  16  of the stopper body  32  of the accessory-chain/string stopper  30 . Both the first body portion  34  and the second body portion  36  have a hole  22  through the body portions, respectively. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, by inserting an end  20 A of the strand  20  through the hole  22  of the first body portion  34  and by inserting another end  20 B of the strand  20  through the hole  22  of the second body portion  36 , adjustment of each individual end is enabled. 
     Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 9. A detailed description of the features in common with the previous embodiments are omitted for the sake of brevity. Here, instead of a central post between the outer sides, a pair of spaced posts  34  may be provided to define an opening  44 . 
     Although the stopper bodies  12 ,  32 ,  42  are preferably formed from gold alloy in the embodiments disclosed, which is a precious metal, it is apparent that the present invention is not limited to gold alloies, and silver alloy, platinum alloy and other materials may be used. In addition, although accessory-chain/string element stoppers  10 ,  30 ,  40  are applied to a necklace chain  20 , it is also apparent that applications shall not be limited to necklace chains, and the present invention may be applied to bracelets or string elements. Although the first ring-like elastic element  24  and second ring-like element  26  are formed from silicon rubber having elasticity in the preferred embodiments, it is also apparent that other materials having elasticity may be used. In addition, although the body portion  18 , the first body portion  34  and second body portion  36  are formed in round shapes in the preferred embodiments, the shape is not limited to such shapes. Although each of the body portions  18 , the first body portion  34  and the second body portion  36  has an insertion through hole  22  in the preferred embodiments, it is also apparent that a number of insertion holes may be provided on the body portion  18 , the first body portion  34  and the second body portion  36 .