JEWELRY DISPLAY MOUNT AND SHOWCASE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The present invention relates to the field of jewelry displays or showcases and jewelry mounts, and more particularly, to jewelry mounts and cases for larger pieces of jewelry, including earrings, bracelets, bangles and necklaces.,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[002] Earrings, particularly hoop earrings, are typically sold and displayed in self included jewelry boxes 10, samples of which are shown in Figure 1. Each conventional jewelry box 10 has a bottom container 11 and an openable cover 12, with hinges 13 connecting the bottom container 11 and the cover 12 as shown in Figure 2 in the open position. Each pair of earrings is hung on a display mount 20 which comprises a base (not visible in Figures 1 and 2) generally of a square shape, which fits the contour of the bottom portion of the box, and an inwardly tapering stem 21 that has at its ends a pair of dog-ears 23, each ear including a perforation 24 via which each earring of the pair can be mounted as shown. The base and the stem 21 of the display mount are pivotable so that the stem 21 can be lifted relative to the base or bent downward into the box 10 when the cover 12 of the display box is closed. The display box 10 will not bend or squeeze or otherwise deform the earrings 15. For a typical earring display box 10 of the prior art, the width and the depth are each approximately 2.5 inches, and the height in the closed position is approximately 1 inch, for a total volume of approximately 6.25 square inches. Figure 2 shows the hinge connecting the cover and the base of the display box. It will be understood that all dimensions provided herein are only for purposes of example, and substantial variation of one or more of these dimensions may be undertaken without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[003] In stores or at other venues where jewelry is displayed, each pair of earrings 15 is pre- housed in its display box 10, and the boxes are conventionally displayed together in a see- through display case 30 as shown in Figure 3. The display case typically has five shelves 31a, 31b, 31c, 3 Id and 3 Ie, as shown Fig. 4, each shelf with room for four jewelry boxes, for a total of 20 pairs of earrings on each side of the display case, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The display case 30 is mounted on a pedestal 35, which allows the case 30 to rotate to expose a similar set of five shelves on the rear side of the case 30, each shelf housing four jewelry boxes, whereby the rotatable display can house a total of 40 pairs of earrings. [004] Thus, Figure 1 shows a set of four jewelry boxes and their earrings, Figure 2 shows a back of the box 10 and the hinge 13, and Figure 3 shows the front side of the display. Figure 4 shows the display case of Figure 3 with the front door 36 opened and one shelf-full of jewelry boxes removed and placed at the top 33 of the display case, thus showing the back side of the jewelry boxes on the other side of the display case, including their hinges. Figure 9 is a perspective view of the side and front of a prior art jewelry box with the display mount 20 and the earrings 15 mounted on the display mount 20 removed from the box. [005] Figure 5 illustrates one of the problems that the present invention is intended to solve or ameliorate. Shown on the left in Fig. 5 is a conventional jewelry box 10 and earrings 15. Earring fashion changes all the time and earring hoop sizes have undergone tremendous changes. A prior art-type jewelry box for a pair of earrings for the large size earring hoop would be on the order of 4.5 by 4.5 by 3 inches, a volume almost 10 times as large as traditional boxes. Such jewelry boxes could not be packaged and displayed in their opened position in the conventional display case shown 30 of the type shown in Figure 4. A display case sufficiently large to house a comparable number of jewelry boxes of such size would have to be very large indeed and unsuitable to be displayed and carried in a convenient manner. Shown on the right in Figure 5 is a jewelry mount 50 according to an aspect of the present invention, with earrings 55 mounted thereon as described hereinafter. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[006] A jewelry display mount and a jewelry display case or showcase are provided. The display mount and display case are configured to display jewelry, including larger pieces of jewelry and earrings, and allow the mount to stand substantially or approximately upright or near upright in the case and in the jewelry box. The base of the display mount is designed to be cooperatively received in a slot in the shelf of the display case when displayed, and in a slot provided in or on a jewelry box when sold or transported.

[007] Generally the present invention comprises a jewelry display device and associated display case therefor configured for holding and displaying multiple items of jewelry. The display case has at least one shelf for placement and support of a plurality of jewelry display devices with itmes of jewelry thereon. The shelf has a retaining element for holding the display device in a substantially upright display position. The display device comprises a mount element having a substantially upright member with at least one support element on the member configured for holding an item of jewelry in a substantially forward viewing position, the member further comprises a supporting base having an engaging element which is configured to be cooperatively removably held in a retaining element of the supporting shelf such as a slot. A jewelry box for the jewelry item is configured to contain the jewelry item and display device and is preferably provided with a slot therein for engagement with the engaging element. The exterior of the jewelry box may also be provided with a slot to provide an individual display of the jewelry item on a supported display device.

[008] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[009] Fig. 1 is a front view of four conventional jewelry boxes;

[010] Fig. 2 is a back view of a conventional jewelry box with a bottom portion 11 and top portion 12 connected by hinges 13;

[011] Fig. 3 is a front view of a conventional jewelry case with five shelves of jewelry boxes;

[0U-%. 4 is a front view of a conventional jewelry case with a door in an open position;

[013] Fig. 5 shows on the left a perspective view of a conventional jewelry box, and on the right a jewelry mount according to the present invention;

[014] Fig. 6 is a jewelry mount according to the present invention with earrings mounted thereon;

[015] Fig. 7 is a jewelry case and jewelry mounts positioned therein according to an aspect of the present invention;

[016] Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a jewelry case according to an aspect of the present invention;

[017] Fig. 9 is a conventional jewelry box with a conventional jewelry mount removed therefrom;

[018] Fig. 10 is a close-up view of a jewelry case and jewelry mounts according to an aspect of the present invention;

[019] Fig. 11 is a side view of a conventional jewelry case on the right, and on the left a side view of a jewelry case according to an aspect of the present invention;

[020] Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a jewelry mount according to an aspect of the present invention removed from the inventive jewelry case;

[021] Fig. 13 is a close-up front view of the display case showing an array of four slots in a shelf of the display case;

[022] Fig. 14A and 14B are schematic illustrations that show, respectively, slots in a side of the box inside the box, and a slot on top of the box for receiving the jewelry mount according to an aspect of the present invention;

[023] Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a box with a cover over the slot on top of the box into which the mount according to an aspect of the present invention is slid;

[024] Figs. 16A-E are alternative designs for the cover over the slot on top of the box.

[025] Figs. 17A-C are jewelry mounts in accordance with other aspects of the present invention for a pendant necklace, ring and bangle bracelet, respectively;

[026] Fig. 18 is another embodiment of the present invention of a slotted bracelet mount and supporting stand;

[027] Figs. 19A-C are side views of display case arrangements for displaying jewelry on mounts of the present invention, having 2, 3 and 4 display sides respectively;

[028] Figs. 20A-C are top views of the display case arrangements of Figs. 19A-C, respectively; and

[029] Figure 21 is an expanded and exploded view of the display case arrangement of Figs.

19A and 2OA showing jewelry mounts and placement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION [030] A jewelry mount 50 as shown in Figure 6, includes a small base portion 51, shown in this exemplary embodiment as approximately 2 centimeters long and wide, a stem 52, approximately 10 centimeter long, and a dog-ear portion 53. The width along the dog-ear portion may be comparable to dog-ear portion of a mount in the prior art. The mount 50 may also include an aperture 57 on the right side 54a and an aperture 57 on the left side 54b of the dog-ear portion 53, though which a clasp of the earring 55 can be slid for mounting on the mount 50. Alternatively, the dog-ear portion can have slits on each side as shown in Fig. 1, for mounting the earring 55. This type of mount with the earrings inserted in or on the mount would certainly not fit in the conventional jewelry box. Such a mount 50 may be made of a variety of materials of structured integrity, such as plastic, PVC, a foam material, injection molding, cardboard, metal, glass, wood or a combination of the foregoing. According to an aspect of the present invention, the base 51 and the stem 52 of the mount 50 are made of a stiff material to achieve an upright look for the mount 50 even when larger pieces of jewelry 55 are attached or secured to the mount 50.

[031] Figure 7 illustrates a display case 60 according to an aspect of the present invention, which in this embodiment is approximately the same height and width as the display case 30 of the prior art but about two inches narrower. Forty pairs of earring hoops can be easily accommodated, and the presentation and salability of the displayed earrings may be improved. Thus in accordance with the present invention, forty earring pairs of the type stored in a display mount 50 shown in Figure 6 can be mounted on five shelves 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d and 61e of display case 60 shown in Figure 7, with 20 pairs on each side of the display. However,

it will be understood that fewer or more shelves may be positioned in the case 60, depending on the size of the jewelry to be displayed and the size of the case 60. The door 68 is opened from the left to the right, but can be created to work in the opposite direction. Such a display case 60 may be made of a variety of materials, such as plastic, PVC, a foam material, injection molding, cardboard, metal, glass, wood or a combination of the foregoing. Also shown in Fig. 7 are three sets of hinges 62 for attaching the door 68 of the display case 60 such that it can be opened and closed, and a lock 69 for the door. The door may be made of glass or clear plastic, or of materials of which the remainder of the display case 60 is made.

[032] Figure 8 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the display case 60 according to an aspect of the present invention. Each side of the display case 60 may have five shelves 61a, 61b, 61c, 61d and 61e encased in a transparent plastic housing. Each of the shelves 61a, 61b, 61c, 61 d and 61 e may have a deeper bottom portion 74 approximately half the size of the upper portion 75, and between these two portions of each shelf there may be four slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d (shown in Figures 10 and 13), which are wide and thick enough to receive the base 51 of the mounting display 50 shown in Figure 6.

[033] Figure 13 shows an array of slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d evenly spaced on a shelf of the display case 60, according to an aspect of the present invention. Accordingly, the array of evenly spaced slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d on each shelf of the display may be neatly aligned with similarly spaced slots on the shelves above and below it in the display case 60 to provide an attractive symmetrical appearance to the jewelry being displayed, as shown for example in Figure 7, which shows four neat columns of jewelry arrayed on five shelves on one side of the display case 60. Accordingly, a fully loaded display case 60 will have jewelry neatly displayed on mounts held securely in an upright manner.

[034] According to an aspect of the present invention, the slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d on each shelf must be sufficiently wide, and of sufficient height and depth, to receivingly accommodate the base 51 of each jewelry mount 50, such that when the base 51 of the jewelry mount 50 is inserted into any of the slots 66a, 66b, 66c, or 66d, the jewelry mount 50, together with the weight of the jewelry 55 attached thereto or fixed thereon, is secured in the slot in an upright manner, for example at an angle of 90 degrees, or at near 90 degrees, with respect to

the shelf. At the same time, each of the slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d must receivingly accommodate the jewelry mount 50 in such a way that the jewelry mount 50 may be easily and conveniently inserted or removed from the slots by a potential customer or by the jewelry store attendant. Thus, any of the jewelry mounts 50 must cooperate with any of the slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d in an interchangeable manner, without access wiggle room in the slots on the sides or on the top or bottom of mount 50, must be held in an upright manner by the slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d, but the slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d must accommodate the mount 50 in such a manner that the mount 50 can be conveniently inserted into or removed. Such wiggle room in any of the slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d might cause the mount 50 to shift slightly toward one side, or to lean in or out with respect to the top surface of the shelf, and thereby destroy the neat and symmetrical display provided together by all the mounts with jewelry. Such a neat and symmetrical appearance is another synergy that may arise from the combination of the inventive display case 60 with slots 66a, 66b, 66c, and 66d, and the inventive mount 50.

[035] Further instead of single slots, each slot may be comprised of two tongues, one on each side, as shown in Fig. 14A and 14B in connection with the jewelry box 80. These tongues may be positioned on top of each shelf, instead of as slot inside the shelf 61 between the bottom portion 74 and the upper portion 75. When the base portion 51 of the mount 50 is tucked in between the bottom portion 74 and top portion 75 it slides into the slot 66 shown in Figure 10 of the display case 60 such that the earrings 55 stand upright as shown in Figure 10, or near upright. Alternatively, the mount may stand at an oblique angle leaning toward the back of the case 60.

[036] According to the embodiment shown in Figure 10, the height between the shelves may be approximately 5 inches, and the width of the showcase may be approximately 7 inches, which is approximately 2 inches narrower than the case of the prior art, even though the jewelry case according to the present invention houses as many earring pairs where each earring pair may be much larger than those housed in the prior art. Figure 11 shows the conventional case 30 on the right and an embodiment of the jewelry case 60 according to the present invention on the left.

[037] Figure 12 illustrates a display mount 50 with a pair of earrings 55 thereon that has been removed from the slot 66 in one of the shelves 61. According to an aspect of the invention, a customer can easily remove a mount 50 from the showcase and hold it against his or her ear to check for fit and look in a mirror 77 provided at the side of the display case 60. [038] If desired, the shelving in the display case 50 can be mounted adjustably so that the height between shelves can be adjusted, for example, to accommodate large hoop earrings of different diameters. Some of the shelves may be provided with the room for traditional jewelry display boxes while others may be configured to provide for display mounts of the type described herein for the large hoops.

[039] The earring 55 may be taken together with the display mount 50 and placed in a box 80 as shown in Figures 14A and 14B where the base 51 of the mount 50 is slid into a holding slot 86 at the side of the box 80 and provided to the customer to take away. Such a box is also shown in Figure 15. As shown in Figs. 14A, 14B and 15, the box can have a similar slot 86 on the top thereof so that the jewelry mount with the jewelry can be displayed separate from the display case at the point of sale or at the customer's home. The box 80 may also have lids so that the box 80 can be closed. As another option, the box 80 in which the customer can take the earrings home may be provided in a form of collapsable box that can be opened. More typically they would be provided in a shape similar to the prior art boxes but in much larger sizes, for example 4.5 inch by 4.5 inch by approximately 2 inches high. [040] Figure 15 A is a perspective view of an open box 80 into which the jewelry mount according to the present invention can be slid. The slot according to an embodiment shown in Fig. 14A may be comprised of two tongues 87a and 87b, each tongue forming a side of the slot for receiving the base 51 of the jewelry mount 50. The same type of slot comprised of tongues 87a and 87b is shown in Figure 14B located on top of the box 80. [041] Figure 15 shows box 80 with a slot 86 located on top thereof. Also shown in Figure 15 is a decorative cover 89 positioned on top of the slot illustrated in this embodiment as a heart-shaped cover. Figures 16 A-E show various other designs for the cover on top of the slot, Figure 16A showing a five-point star-shaped cover, Figure 16B showing a flat heart, Figure 16C showing a diamond, Figure 16D showing a bow tie, and Figure 16E showing a

flower-shaped mount cover. However, it will be understood that other such designs may be provided in addition to or instead of the cover shapes shown in Figures 16A-E.

[042] Figures 17A-C and 21 depict jewelry mounts 150, 151 and 152 suitable for use with pendant necklace 160, ring 161 and bracelet 162, respectively. Jewelry mount 150 is shown with notch cutouts 150' and 150" at an upper edge to permit a necklace 160 to be fitted and gravitationally securely held within the notches and adjusted to display pendant 160a. As with the embodiments, shown with respect to hoop earrings 55, the base portion 150a has a tuck tab 150b for insertion within support holding slots or tongues as shown in Figures 14A and

14B.

[043] Slots 151 ' and 152' are sized to adjustably frictionally engage and hold inserted ring

161 and bracelet 162 respectively but in a substantially upright position for ready forward for front full view display. Figure 21 depicts jewelry mounts 150, 151 and 152 placed on shelf tiers 101, 102 and 103 respectively of display stand 100, with tabs 150b, 151b and 152b tucked into slots 101', 102' and 103', respectively for holding support. It is noted that display stands with tiers sometimes have obstructed downward views as shown in Figure 21 with an upper tier (e.g., 102) partially blocking a lower tier (e.g., 101), depending on the height of the display and viewer. Access of a front full view and access with an upright display is the most desirable.

[044] In another embodiment shown of a bracelet mount 252 in Figure 18, the mount is provided with an extending insert element 252' sized to be frictionally inserted into any of slots 261-264 of base shelf 260. Mount 252 has a slot 253 opening upward into slot 254 through which bracelet 270 is positioned and held for display.

[045] Display case arrangement 300, 310 and 320 shown in Figures 19A-C each have six tier displays and shelves (101-106) for each display case unit 100 with, as shown, four display mounts of the types shown in Figures 7 and 17A-C on each shelf, with each tier or shelf having a single type of mount.

[046] As more clearly seen in Figures 20A-C, display case arrangements 300, 310 and 320 are comprised of 2, 3 and 4 individual display stands 100 respectively, with each display stand

holding 24 mounts with assorted jewelry and facing outwardly relative to the center of the rotatable display stand.

[047] Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention should be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.