Stud and wire post assembly

Abstract

A stud and wire post assembly that may be used as an earring and/or as a support for hanging decorative elements that are suspended from the stud and wire assembly for swinging, rotational or other movement including a hollow stud having a bottom slot and a laterally extending wire post for supporting the decorative assembly.

Description

RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

The present application is a division and claims the benefits of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/821,393 filed Jun. 22, 2007, claiming the benefits of U.S. Provisional applications Nos. 60/815,591 filed Jun. 22, 2006 and 60/816,325 filed Jun. 26, 2006, each of which is incorporated herein by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

As stated in the above-identified United States Patent application, the present invention relates to jewelry that adorns the ear and/or can be used as a pin or as a pendant. Further, as described in the above-identified patent application, one version of the jewelry comprises a stud element of a cylindrical or some other geometric or non-geometric shape and a wire post that extends from the stud element. Also, as indicated in the above-identified patent application, the wire post may be designed to receive a spring-type nut that releases upon squeezing between a thumb and forefinger to release the stud element and wire post from an earlobe or other support article through which the wire post extends. While such a nut configuration may be utilized with the improved stud and wire post assembly of the present invention, other backing members are available for such use as are curved hook ends of the wire post, none of which form a component of the improved stud and wire assembly as claimed herein.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Basically, the present invention is directed to a preferred form of a stud and wire post assembly that may be used as an earring and/or as a support for hanging decorative elements that are suspended from the stud and wire assembly for swinging, rotational or other movement. To provide such decorative features, the stud and wire assembly includes a hollow stud having a bottom slot and a laterally extending wire post. Decorative elements for support and display by the stud and wire assembly may be secured on the wire post and introduced into the hollow of the stud for decorative vertical suspension from the assembly upon attachment of any conventional nut, backing or other securing element on or secured to the wire post.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows bottom, side, front and cross-sectional views of the stud and wire post assembly and details the transverse slot on the bottom and a T-shaped bottom slot and connection of a vertical member to the wire post (see FIG. 12 of Ser. No. 11/821,393).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

FIG. 1 details a hollow stud assembly 9 including (i) a wire post 10 extending laterally through an open side of the stud, (ii) a bottom slot 14 and (iii) a vertical member 3 of a decorative assembly (not shown) having a tip that includes a loop or ring 16 slipped onto the wire post 10 to connect the decorative assembly to the stud assembly 9. In that regard, the interior of the stud assembly 9 is hollowed to enable the ring 16 of the vertical member 3 to be slipped onto the wire post 10 and additionally provides security and stability while allowing a certain amount of swing by the vertical member 3.

The bottom view of FIG. 1 shows a “T” shape 15 of the hollowed interior of the stud assembly 9.

The side view of the stud assembly 9 reveals the bottom slot 14 that permits additional swinging of the vertical member 3 of the decorative assembly.

In the bottom view, the vertical member 3 is seen from its end 24 and the remainder of the decorative assembly is not shown.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A stud and wire post assembly for use as an earring and/or as a support for hanging decorative elements that are suspended from the stud and wire assembly for swinging, rotational or other movement, comprising:

a hollow stud having an open side and a bottom slot for receiving an extension from a decorative element; and

a wire post extending laterally from the hollow stud through the open side to support the extension from the decorative element within the hollow stud.

2. The stud and wire post assembly of claim 1 wherein the hollow within the stud is in the shape of a “T” from a bottom perspective.

3. The stud and wire post assembly of claim 2 wherein the slot within the hollow stud extends across its bottom aligned perpendicular to the wire post.