Patent Abstract:
The present invention concerns the field of jewelry and costume jewelry, and in particular its object is a customizable ornament that is suitable for forming, or for being incorporated in, a product such as a bracelet, a necklace, a ring, earrings, a pendant or any other similar personal accessory item.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a 371 of PCT/IB2013/054180, filed May 21, 2013, which claims the benefit of Italian Patent Application No. FI2012U000034, filed May 22, 2012, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns the field of jewelry and costume jewelry, and in particular its object is a customizable ornament that is suitable for forming, or for being incorporated in, a product such as a bracelet, a necklace, a ring, earrings, a pendant or any other similar type of personal accessory item. The customization should be intended with reference to both the possibility of the user of “creating” the appearance of his own accessory item in the point of sale at the moment of purchase selecting from various solutions available, and modifying the appearance of a product that has already been purchased by replacing parts that are sold separately as spare parts. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As it is known, for accessories of this kind, customization is very strongly requested by the customers and push retailers and consequently the manufacturers to research solutions that allow such requirement to be satisfied in the most functional and practical manner possible, with a high quality result in terms of its appearance. 
     Among the solutions proposed in this field, some that have recently gained favour are those in which a replaceable decorative insert, in the form of a disc-shaped plate or in any case in a different shape, is fixed in a reversible manner to a base through magnetic or snap-fitting means which, because of their simplicity, make it possible for the user himself to assemble or disassemble it. 
     Indeed, it is the disassembling that leads to quite a serious technical problem, due to the fact that the reversible fixing system of the insert at the base must on one hand be, as mentioned, easily reversible, but at the same time it must ensure high secureness (so as to minimise the risk of the insert being accidentally lost or removed). These are requirements that are in some way opposite to one another, and that known solutions have not been able to combine in a completely satisfactory manner. 
     In fact, since it is necessary to assign a priority to the security requirements, disassembling methods are proposed that are not suitably simple and intuitive, requiring acting upon the rear area of the base (i.e. that opposite to the front area on which the insert is exposed), which is not always very accessible, said actions sometimes requiring a certain amount of skill, or effort, or the use of special accessory tools, with small dimensions, that are not easy to handle and that can be easily lost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention, on the other hand, proposes a customizable ornament that is capable of overcoming such problems, thanks to a system for fixing the base to the insert that is simultaneously secure and easily reversible, without requiring difficult manoeuvres (especially on the rear side of the base), or accessory tools. This with a structure that is in any case elementary and cost-effective providing a result in terms of its appearance that is elegant and particularly appreciable. 
     According to the present invention, an ornament comprises the essential characteristics according to the independent attached claim  1 . Other important characteristics are defined by the dependent claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The characteristics and the advantages of the ornament according to the invention shall become clearer from the following description of an embodiment thereof, given as an example and not for limiting purposes with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows an exploded side view of the ornament according to the present invention. 
         FIGS. 2 and 3  show the same exploded view in axonometric views from a point of view that is shifted towards the rear side and towards the front side of the ornament, respectively; 
         FIGS. 4 a  to 4 d , and 5 a  to 5 d    represent various subsequent steps of the procedure for assembling the ornament, through axonometric views that are analogous to and correspond to those of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , respectively; and 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an example of a bracelet obtained with a plurality of ornaments according to the previous figures, represented without the respective inserts. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference to the above figures, an ornament according to the invention comprises a base  1 , in the example having an overall cylindrical shape, the periphery of which is defined by a ring-like belt  11  developing symmetrically around a central axis X. A flat diaphragm  12  extends inside the belt  11  perpendicular to the axis X and, in cooperation with the belt itself, it forms two concavities, a front concavity or seat  13  and a rear concavity  14 , respectively. The outer surface  11   a  of the belt  11  has two circumferential grooves  11   b , for example that develop according to two opposite arcs in the area of the belt corresponding to the rear concavity  14 . 
     An axial protrusion  15  projects from the diaphragm  12  centrally inside the rear concavity  14 , said protrusion being centrally hollow due to a passage  16  opening, at one end, onto the same diaphragm and, at the opposite end, on a free end  15   a  of the protrusion  15 . The section of the passage  16  is elongated according to a diametrical axis, with a central portion  16   a  which, enlarged with respect to the thickness (crosswise dimension) of end portions  16   b , takes up a substantially cylindrical configuration. The free end  15   a  of the protrusion  15  moreover has a pair of recesses  17 , diametrically aligned along a direction that is perpendicular with respect to the diameter along which the hollow corresponding to the section of the passage  16  (see in particular  FIG. 2 ) runs. 
     The front concavity or seat  13  is intended to fittingly house an insert  2  that is substantially mushroom-shaped, comprising more precisely a head  21 , a front face  21   a  of which, variously decorated or in any case customized, flat or in relief, remains exposed and represents the characterising aesthetic element of the ornament. From the head  21 , on the side opposite with respect to the front face  21   a , a key shaped stem  22  projects, specifically in the shape of a T in the example, having an axial shaft  22   a  and a cross piece  22   b  at the free end. 
     The stem  22  is suitable for penetrating the passage  16  of the base  1 , with the shaft  22   a  taking up the central portion  16   a  and the cross piece  22   b  inserting in the end portions  16   b . The axial extension of the stem  22  is moreover such that, when the head  21  abuts against the diaphragm  12 , the cross piece  22   b  comes out from the passage  16 , beyond the free end  15   a  of the protrusion  15  inside the rear concavity  14 . In such a configuration the insert can be freely rotated around the axis X; more precisely the central cylindrical portion  16   a  of the passage  16  guides the rotation of the shaft  22   a , with the cross piece  22   b  that can thus be arranged at the recesses  17  (this will be further considered in greater detail hereafter) 
     Between the insert  2 , or more precisely the head  21 , and the base  1 , or more precisely the diaphragm  12 , according to the invention there are further provided elastic means  3 , which are suitable for opposing the displacement of the head  21  towards the diaphragm  12 , and consequently for urging the same head towards the front side. Such elastic means preferably take up the configuration of a laminar disc  3 , suitably shaped in accordance with the perimeter of the front seat  13 , placed over and in contact with the diaphragm  12 . The disc  3  has a central window  31  with an elongated shape that is congruent with that of the passage  16  of the base  1 , and a pair of tabs  32  extending from respective ends of the window  31  on the rear side or face. Such tabs  32  are suitable for being folded so as to hook onto the diaphragm  12 , indeed on the rear side inside the rear concavity  14 , acting as elements for anchoring the disc to the base  1 . 
     Two leaf portions  33  are raised from the plane of the disc  3  and constitute the elastically active component, since they react elastically to a bending that, caused by a force directed axially from the front side (just like that which is exerted by the head  21  of the insert  2  when it is inserted inside the seat  13 ), tends to move them closer to the diaphragm  12 . Advantageously, the laminar portions  33  are two circular segments that evolve peripherally along arcs that are diametrically opposite to one another, simply defined by shaped cuts that leave the portions fixedly attached with one end to the rest of the disc, and free at the opposite end which reaches the position that is the most raised from the plane of the same disc. Again preferably, the two portions  33  are symmetrical to one another, in the sense that the (raised) free ends of the portions are aligned along one same diameter, the same applying to the ends attached to the disc. 
     With particular reference to figures from  4   a  to  4   d , the procedure for connecting the insert  2  to the base  1  is carried out manually as follows (the spring  3  being previously anchored to the base  1  like what has just been described). The passage  16  of the base  1  is penetrated by the stem  22  of the insert  2  ( FIGS. 4 a , 5 a   ), until the head  21  comes into contact with the raised ends of the portions  33  ( FIGS. 4 b , 5 b   ). At this stage, in order to continue the run of the head  21  towards the diaphragm  12  it is necessary to lightly force it (arrow F1), so as to overcome the elastic resistance of the portions  33 . 
     When such an end stop is finally reached ( FIGS. 4 c , 5 c   ) the cross piece  22   b  comes out from the passage  16  and it is possible to give the insert a rotation (to that moment prevented by the abutment of the same cross piece itself against the inner walls of the passage  16 ), like the arrows F2, so as to bring the cross piece, with an angular displacement of 90°, to the recesses  17 . By finally releasing the insert, the action of the elastic portions  33  again pushes the head  21  upwards, and consequently makes the cross piece  22   b  snap-fit inside the recesses  17 , suitably sized so as to house the ends thereof ( FIGS. 4 d , 5 d   , arrow F3). 
     In such a condition, corresponding to the final configuration, or configuration of use of the ornament, the insert is fixedly locked in position by the abutment of the cross piece against the free end  15   a  of the protrusion  15 , urged by the elastic portions  33 . Only an axial pressure exerted from the front side on the outside of the head  21  can free the cross piece again from the engagement with the recesses  17 , overcoming the elastic resistance of the portions  33 , and thus making it possible, after another 90° rotation (reversed or consecutive to the previous one), to re-establish the conditions for making the stem  22  come out from the passage  16  of the base  1 . In such a way the insert  2  can be removed so as to be replaced with a differently decorated insert, by again following the assembly procedure described above. 
     Thanks to the particular configuration of the elastic means  33 , together with a suitable selection of material used (typically but not necessary metal) for its rigidity characteristics, it is possible to calibrate the elastic hindering force exerted, so as to reach an optimal compromise between the requirements of secureness and those of relative simplicity of the assemble/disassembly steps. Indeed, it is possible to make the axial force necessary for the release fairly high so as to prevent, or in any case minimize, the risk of an undesired release, without however exceeding a threshold that would make the release too difficult to carry out when removing/replacing the insert. 
     Also the particular configuration of the engagement of the stem with the protrusion of the base decisively collaborates in reaching such a compromise. Thanks to such a configuration the movement that leads to the release is a composite movement (pressure and rotation), therefore an adequate degree of security is ensured even when a low release pressure is set, since it is highly improbable for an accidental, involuntary or fraudulent action to be able to exert an axial pressure and at the same time the necessary rotation. 
     One material that can be used for the spring  3  is for example copper alloys (for example Cu—Be alloys), spring steel, but other metal or non-metal materials with a suitable rigidity can be used. For the rest of the ornament the reference materials can be those typically used in the field, or rather, materials that are precious, semi-precious or not precious for the base and for the body of the insert, with stones that are precious or semi-precious, enamels, glass, resins or anything else for creating the decoration of the front face  21   a  of the head  21 . The term decoration must, furthermore, be taken broadly speaking, being it possible for functional elements such as a watch case, a compass or anything else to be included. 
     With reference to  FIG. 6 , the ornament according to the invention can be for example integrated in a bracelet, and for such a purpose the outer grooves  11   b  of the belt  11  can be used for the engagement of a lace  4  that forms the core of the bracelet and that, through known and per se obvious knotting techniques, connects in series a plurality of ornaments to one another the customization designs of which can also be selected so as to obtain a conceptual association or simply be combined according to a coherence of style. Of course, other types of jewels such as earrings, pendants, chokers, necklaces in general, rings can be made with the present ornament, alone or in series, integrating it or integrating them as desired with the base structure of the jewel with any suitable method, selected among those known. 
     From this last point of view, it should be noted that the solution according to the invention is such as to not require—for the assembly and disassembly operations—acting upon the rear part, therefore, when enclosing the ornament itself in a complex product there is maximum construction freedom, with embodiments that can also foresee making the aforementioned rear part inaccessible. The ornament can therefore, for example, be welded or in any case fixed on to the outer face of a bracelet with a metal plate, however other applications on belts, bags or other similar personal accessories are not excluded. 
     The ornament according to the present invention ultimately achieves a secure and functional solution, which does not require particular strength, or skill, or tools, is cost-effective to make and does not have any negative effect on the appearance. 
     Of course, the outline of the head of the insert and correspondingly of the base, just like the configuration of the elastic means and in general the strictly constructive provisions may vary with respect to the advantageous ones of the embodiment described and illustrated here. The invention is not indeed limited to such a preferred embodiment, and other embodiments are possible belonging to the same inventive concept, all covered by the scope of protection of the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0