Finger Ring And Radially Compressible Adjustable Sizing Device, And Method Of Fitting A Ring

Abstract

An adjustable device is disclosed for use with a finger ring which permits the wearer to easily size the ring for a comfortable fit. The adjustable device comprises an externally threaded shim which threadably engages the inside periphery of the ring so as to circumferentially compress the shim as the ring is rotated relative thereto.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention pertains to the jewelry art, and more particularly to a device for use with a finger ring which permits the wearer to adjust the ring size for comfort and ease of passing over a knuckel.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The problems involved in ring comfort and sizing have always amounted to a compromise between being able to pass the ring over a knuckle and a good fit on the ring-wearing portion of the finger. This compromise results in a relatively loose fitting ring which is not only aggravating but dangerous, as serious injuries have resulted from rings being snagged on obstructions. Loose fitting rings are especially irritating when the ring has a gem or signet mounting, as the mounting will invariably turn into the palm of the wearer. It is practically impossible to comforably fit a ring to a person having large knuckles or arthritis, and many people have given up wearing rings for that reason.

Many variables enter into ring comfort as well as the hereinbefore mentioned problems; the wearer may gain or lose weight, and a person's extremities are known to swell causing variations in finger size even from one day to the next.

It would, therefore, be highly advantageous to provide an adjustable ring-sizing device that the wearer can adjust for comfort and ease of passing over a knuckle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Altering the size of finger rings has long been an art reserved exclusively for the craftsmen in the jewelers' trade. This art has basically amounted to adding or removing metal to alter the ring diameter or modifying the basic structure of the ring so that it will accept the well-known crescent-shaped shim.

Among the many attempts to solve ring sizing problems, the disclosure of U. S. Pat. No. 3,465,544 is exemplary of the prior art. This particular prior art device discloses, among other things, the usual crescent-shaped shim which is provided with means for pivotally connecting the shim to a reduced cross-sectional area machined in the band of the ring. The shim is adapted to pivot about this area and snap into arcuate grooves or notches provided on the internal diameter of the ring.

Other prior art devices have provided tabs, screws, springs, and the like to provide mounting means for the crescent-shaped shims.

The prior art devices provided, at best, are only partial solutions to the ring sizing problems, and some of these devices created other problems which hindered their wide acceptance. Some of the short comings of the prior art devices are their inability for adjustment and their lack of easy removal, as some even required tooling to unsnap the crescent shims. Other devices resulted in protruding parts such as tabs, screws and the like, which often irritated fingers and caught on objects handled by the wearer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a new adjustable ring-sizing device is provided which facilitates passing the ring over a knuckle and allows the wearer to adjust the ring size for a comfortable fit. Th device comprises an externally threaded sleeve or shim of deformable resilient material which is appropriately selected so that the internal periphery will comfortably pass over a particular wearer's knuckle. To accommodate the deformable sleeve, the ring is provided with threads on the internal periphery of the band or shank portion. The adjustable feature of this invention is obtained by either the threads of the ring or the threads of the sleeve (or both) being tapered, and sized to apply an increasing circumferential pressure to the sleeve as it is threaded into the ring. Since the material of the ring is rigid in comparison to the deformable material of the sleeve, a decreasing internal diameter results as the sleeve threadably engages the ring. This device may be used on existing rings as well as new manufactures by simply taping the internal periphery of ring-shank.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable ring-sizing device which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ring-sizing device which is easily passed over a knuckle and then adjusted to provide a comfortable fit on the ring-wearing portion of the finger.

A further object of this invention is to provide a ring-sizing device which permits the wearer to increase the ring size for ease of removal.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an adjustable ring-sizing device which is easily adapted to existing rings.

The foregoing and other objects of this invention, the various features thereof as well as the invention itself, may be more fully understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a hand having the ring and sleeve of the present invention exploded therefrom.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a ring with a shim adjacent thereto, and incorporating the features of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the shim assembled thereto.

FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another modification of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a fragmentary portion of a hand 10 with a ring 12 and an adjustable sizing shim or sleeve 14 exploded therefrom.

To accomplish the adjustable ring sizing objectives of the present invention, a deflection means cooperating between the ring 12 and the sleeve 14 is contemplated. The deflection means is intended to circumferentially inwardly compress sleeve 14 to provide a variable effective internal diameter of the sleeve. To accomplish this inwardly directed circumferential compression, various cooperating devices are possible such as tapered splines, cam-lock mechanisms and the like. However, as illustrated and described in the preferred embodiment, the deflection means is shown as various combinations of linear threads and tapered threads as will now be explained in detail.

As seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the ring 12 is provided with a setting 16 which may be of any of the usual forms of signet, gem, and the like. The band or shank portion 18 of the ring 12 is provided with tapered threads 20 which may be formed in a conventional manner during manufacture of the ring, or may be added to an existing ring by using a simple tap. The shim or sleeve 14 is formed of a deformable resilient material of relatively thin wall construction, having linear, that is, straight, untapered threads 22 formed on the periphery. As may be seen in the drawings, the sleeve 14 and the ring 12 are designed for threaded engagement therebetween with the obvious result that an increasing circumferential deformation or compression of sleeve 14 due to an increasing interference fit therebetween will result as sleeve 14 is threaded into ring 12. The inwardly directed deformation will result in randomly spaced bulges 24 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The number of bulges and the dimensional deflection of each bulge depends on the material of sleeve 14, the angle of taper threads 20, the cross-sectional dimensions of the walls of the sleeve 14, and the amount of thread engagement. The inwardly deflected deformation of bulges 24 have been found not to create any discomfort to the wearer, therefore, by controlling the variables of material, thread angle and wall thickness in the design, the only remaining variable, thread engagement, is used to provide the adjustable feature of the invention.

To properly fit a ring, employing the adjustable feature of the present invention, it is only necessary that a sleeve 14 be selected which will comfortably slide over the wearer's knuckle and to select a ring 12 having the large diameter 26 of taper threads 20 substantially equal to the outside diameter of sleeve 14. This dimensional relationship will allow threaded engagement between the sleeve 14 and the ring 12 after they have been passed over the wearer' s knuckle. To adjust the effective internal diameter, the wearer need only slide the ring-shim assembly toward the palm of the hand, or toward the knuckle to a point where the diameter of the finger increases sufficiently to frictionally retain the sleeve 14 so that th ring 12 can be rotated relative thereto.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modification of the hereinbefore described structure. The differences being that the ring band or shank 18 is provided with conventional linear threads 28, and the sleeve 14 is a frustrum with external taper threads 30 and a linear or conical internal bore 32.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another species where the sleeve 14 is an externally threaded frustrum similar to the one hereinbefore described in relation to FIG. 5. The ring 12 is provided with taper threads 20 as described in regard to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

Both of the modified structures described in relation to FIGS. 5 and 6 will result in the same type of inwardly directed deformations as hereinbefore described, hence the adjustable feature of the present invention results from any of these structures.

Some rings, usually of the inexpensive variety, are formed with an internal cavity (not shown) adjacent to the area where the gen or signet is mounted on the band. To adapt this type of ring to the adjustable device of the present invention, it will be necessary to fill this cavity 34 with a material 36 to prevent sleeve 14 from deforming thereinto during adjustment.

Various changes in the device herein chosen for purposes of illustration in the drawing will readily occur to pereons skilled in the art having regard for the disclosure hereof. To the extent that such modifications and variations do not depart from the spirit of the invention, they are intended to be included within the scope thereof which is not limited to the device or method specifically illustrated but rather by a fair interpretation of the following claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A finger ring and ring adjusting device comprising: a ring having shank portion; a sleeve adapted for insertion into the interior periphery of the shank of said ring so that the exterior periphery of said sleeve is in contact with the interior periphery of the shank of said ring; and deflection means including a thread formed on the interior periphery of the shank of said ring and a mating thread formed on the exterior periphery of said sleeve, said thread and said mating thread adapted for an interference fit therebetween with the amount of interference increasing as the amount of threaded engagement therebetween increases for increasingly inwardly circumferentially compressing said sleeve as said sleeve is inserted into the shank of said ring.

2. A finger ring adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sleeve is formed of deformable resilient material.

3. A finger ring and ring adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said deflection means comprises a tapered thread on the interior periphery of the shank of said ring and a linear thread formed on the exterior periphery of said sleeve.

4. A finger ring and ring adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said deflection means comprises a linear thread formed on the interior periphery of the shank of said ring and said sleeve defining an externally threaded frustrum having a linear interior periphery.

5. A finger ring and ring adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said deflection means comprises a linear thread formed on the interior periphery of the shank of said ring and said sleeve defining a frustrum having a tapered thread formed on the exterior periphery thereof and a conical interior periphery.

6. A finger ring and ring adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said deflection means comprises a tapered thread formed on the interior periphery of the shank of said ring, and said sleeve defining a frustrum having a tapered thread formed on the exterior periphery thereof.

7. A method of adjustably fitting a ring to a wearer's finger comprising the steps of: threading the interior periphery of the band of the ring with a tapered thread; selecting a deformable resilient sleeve having a thread formed on the exterior periphery thereof which substantially matches the largest diameter of the tapered thread of the ring, said sleeve having an interior circumference which will comfortably slide over the wearer's knuckle; mounting the sleeve and the ring on the wearer's finger; and rotating the ring relative to the sleeve for producing threaded engagement therebetween to circumferentially compress the sleeve about the wearer's finger.