Jewelry Swivel

Abstract

A jewelry swivel provides for the controlled orientation of an ornamental part of the jewelry in relation to a support. The jewelry swivel has a locking base with a locking rod, a receiving base with a plurality of receiving openings, and a bias spring. The bias spring urges the receiving base toward the locking base, causing the locking rod to engage with at least one of the plurality of receiving openings. The locking rod engages at least one of the plurality of receiving openings, where the engagement of the locking rod in a particular receiving opening determines the orientation of the receiving base relative to the locking base. The jewelry swivel is placed between the ornamental part and the support.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A swivel for jewelry, the swivel comprising:
 a locking base, the locking base comprising an aperture and a locking pin;   a receiving base, the receiving base comprising a plurality of cavities and an elongated rod extending from the receiving base and through the aperture; and   biasing means to urge the receiving base in a direction toward the locking base, where the locking pin is capable of engaging one of the plurality of cavities.   
     
     
         2 . The swivel of  claim 1 , where the elongated rod has an axis and extends between a first end and a second end, where the first end is attached to the receiving base, and the second end has an end cap. 
     
     
         3 . The swivel of  claim 2 , where the biasing means comprises a spring that urges the end cap away from the locking base, in a direction away from the receiving base. 
     
     
         4 . The swivel of  claim 2 , where the receiving base is capable of rotation around the axis of the elongated rod. 
     
     
         5 . The swivel of  claim 1 , where the receiving base has an upper surface and the plurality of cavities are located on the upper surface. 
     
     
         6 . The swivel of  claim 1 , where one of the receiving base and the locking base are attached to a decorative piece of jewelry. 
     
     
         7 . The swivel of  claim 1 , where one of the receiving base and the locking base are attached to a jewelry support. 
     
     
         8 . The swivel of  claim 5 , where the locking base has a lower surface and the locking rod is located on the lower surface. 
     
     
         9 . An improved jewelry swivel, the improvement comprising:
 a receiving base, the receiving base having an upper surface,
 a plurality of cavities located on the receiving base, 
 an elongated rod having a first end attached to the receiving base, a second end distal from the first end, and an axis of rotation, and 
 an end cap attached to the second end of the elongated rod; 
   a locking base, the locking base having an upper surface and a lower surface, the locking base comprising an aperture extending between the upper surface and lower surface;   a locking pin located on the locking base, the locking pin capable of engaging one of the plurality of cavities; and   biasing means to urge the end cap in a direction away from the upper surface of the locking base;   where the elongated rod extends through the aperture, so that the end cap and second end of the elongated rod are located above the upper surface of the locking base, and the first end of the elongated rod is located below the lower surface of the locking base.   
     
     
         10 . The improved jewelry swivel of  claim 9 , where the end cap is larger than the aperture such that the end cap cannot pass therethrough. 
     
     
         11 . The improved jewelry swivel of  claim 9 , where the end cap has a shape which prevents the end cap from passing through the aperture.