U.S. patent number 3,890,801 [Application Number 05/429,718] was granted by the patent office on 1975-06-24 for adjustable ring-shaped articles of jewelery.
Invention is credited to Jacob Newman.
United States Patent |
3,890,801 |
Newman |
June 24, 1975 |
Adjustable ring-shaped articles of jewelery
Abstract
A finger ring or bracelet has two arcuate links pivotally
connected at the ends thereof to opposite ends of an arcuate base
member for angular movement about axes parallel to the axis of the
ring and a resilient strip having the opposite ends thereof
telescopically mounted one on each of the two links, the base
member cooperating with the two links and the resilient strip to
form a ring the size of which can be varied by telescopic movement
of the strip on the links. The links are tubular and substantially
semicircular in cross-section with the flat side facing the inside
of the ring, the flat side being turned outwardly at the open ends
of the links to form stops which engage abutments on the ends of
the resilient strip. The ends of the strip are split longitudinally
to form prongs which are splayed apart into frictional engagement
with the inside wall of the links.
Inventors: |
Newman; Jacob (London,
EN) |
Family
ID: |
23704429 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/429,718 |
Filed: |
January 2, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
63/15.65;
224/176; 63/7; 224/179 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A44C
9/0046 (20130101); A44C 5/22 (20130101); A44C
9/0038 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A44C
9/00 (20060101); A44C 9/02 (20060101); A44C
5/22 (20060101); A44C 5/18 (20060101); A44c
009/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;63/15.45,15.5,15.65,15.7,7,8,9 ;224/4D,4K |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
994,931 |
|
Aug 1951 |
|
FR |
|
22,358 |
|
Apr 1912 |
|
GB |
|
932,162 |
|
Jul 1963 |
|
GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Shay; F. Barry
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Browdy and Neimark
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A ring-shaped article of jewelry comprising:
a base;
two arcuate links, each link pivotally connected to opposite sides
of said base for angular movement about an axis parallel to the
axis of said ring-shaped article, wherein each of said links
comprises an arcuate tube having a cross section which has a flat
side turned outward at the end of each of said tubes remote from
said base to form abutments;
a resilient strip having a cross section which has a flat side and
having its ends telescopically mounted one in each of said tubes,
the strip being telescopically movable relative to said links by
pressure to adjust the internal dimensions of the article, the
center portion of such strip between said ends being cut away along
its flat sides so that the end portions are larger than its center
portion, said end portions being a close sliding fit within said
tubes, the abutments on said tubes forming a close sliding fit
against the flat side of the center portion of the strip and
engaging the larger end portions of said strip when the article is
expanded to its maximum size thereby preventing withdrawal of the
strip from the tube said close sliding fits of said end portions
within said tubes and between said abutments and said flat side of
said center portion providing means affording sufficient frictional
resistance to prevent relative movement of said links and strip out
of adjusted position during normal use.
2. A ring-shaped article as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of
said tubes and the resilient strip are substantially semi-circular
in cross section.
3. A ring-shaped article as claimed in claim 2, wherein the tubes
are arranged with the flat sides thereof facing the center of the
article.
4. A ring-shaped article as claimed in claim 2, wherein each end of
the resilient strip is split longitudinally to form prongs which
are splayed apart into engagement with the inside wall of the
arcuate tube.
5. A ring-shaped article as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of
said arcuate links comprises a plurality of arcuate tubes connected
together side by side, and a plurality of resilient strips having
their end portions engaged as a close sliding fit within said
tubes, the tubes and the strips being substantially semi-circular
in cross section, the center portions of said strips being cut away
along the flat sides thereof, and the flat sides of the tubes being
turned inward at the ends of the tubes remote from said base to
form abutments adapted to engage the end portions of the strips
when the ring-shaped article is expanded to its maximum size.
6. A ring-shaped article as claims in claim 5, wherein the tubes of
each link converge in the direction towards the end of the link
remote from said base.
7. A ring-shaped article as claimed in claim 5 wherein said base
comprises the external casing of a watch.
Description
This invention relates to rings, bracelets, wrist watches, and
other ring-shaped articles of jewellery or wearing apparel adapted
to be worn on a finger or limb of a wearer, and has for its object
to provide a ring-shaped article of jewellery or wearing apparel
which is adjustable to fit different sized fingers or limbs of
wearers.
According to the present invention there is provided a ring-shaped
article of jewellery or wearing apparel comprising a plurality of
members connected together to form an endless band for embracing a
finger or limb of a wearer, wherein one of said members comprises
an arcuate link pivotally connected to an adjacent member for
angular movement about an axis substantially parallel to the axis
of the ring-shaped article, and another of said members consists of
a resilient strip telescopically mounted on the arcuate link, the
link and the resilient strip being telescopically movable relative
to one another by finger pressure to adjust the internal dimensions
of the article, and the frictional resistance between the link and
strip being sufficient to prevent telescopic movement therebetween
during normal use of the article as jewellery or wearing
apparel.
In a preferred arrangement of the ring-shaped article of the
invention two of the members comprise arcuate links pivotally
connected to opposite ends respectively of a base member for
angular movement about axes substantially parallel to the axis of
the ring shaped article, and the resilient strip has the opposite
ends thereof telescopically mounted one on each of the two
links.
Each arcuate link can conveniently consist of a tube open at one
end thereof, the other end of the tube being pivotally connected to
the base member, opposite ends of the resilient strip being
telescopically engaged as a close sliding fit within the tubes, and
the resilient strip and tubes having means co-operating to prevent
withdrawal of the strip through the open ends of the tubes.
The present invention is particularly applicable to finger rings
which are required to be a relatively close fit, and the variation
in size can be large enough to enable a ring to fit the fingers of
any adult other than those with exceptionally large or
exceptionally small hands. Moreover the ring can be expanded so as
to enable the ring to be slipped over the knuckle of a finger when
removing or fitting the ring on the finger.
The invention may in addition be applied to any article having a
strap for attaching it to an arm of a wearer, for example a wrist
watch. Relatively broad articles such as wrist watches are however
preferably provided with links each consisting of two or more
arcuate tubes connected together side by side and open at one end
of the link, and two or more resilient strips arranged with their
opposite ends telescopically engaged as a close sliding fit in the
tubes of the two links, the other ends of the links being pivotally
connected to the casing of the watch.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of
example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a part-sectional elevation view of one construction of a
finger ring according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II--II in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a part-sectional view of the expandable portion of the
ring, and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wrist watch having an adjustable
strap in accordance with the present invention.
The ring shown in FIGS. 1-3 comprises an arcuate base member 10,
two arcuate tubular links 11, 12 and an arcuate spring steel strip
13 connected together to form the ring. One end 14 of the link 11
is formed in the shape of a clevis (not shown) and is pivotally
connected by a pin 15 to one end 16 of the member 10, and the
opposite end 17 of the link 11 is open and receives an end portion
18 of the resilient strip 13 as a close sliding fit, that is the
strip 13 is telescopically mounted in link 11. Similarly, one end
20 of the tubular link 12 is shaped in the form of a clevis (not
shown) and pivotally connected by a pin 21 to the other end 22 of
the base member 10, and the opposite end 23 of the tubular link 12
is open and receives the opposite end portion 24 of the resilient
strip 13 as a close sliding fit. The pivot pins 15, 21 are parallel
to the axis of the ring so that the tubular links 11, 12 are free
to pivot towards or away from each other in the general plane of
the ring with the end portions 18, 24 of the resilient strip
sliding along the inside walls of the tubular links 11, 12, so as
to adjust the size of the ring by increasing or decreasing the
internal dimensions between the centre portions of the links 11, 12
and also between the centre portions of the base member 10 and the
resilient strip 13.
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the tubular links 11, 12 is
substantially semi-circular in cross section with the flat side 19
of the link facing the inside of the ring. The flat sides of the
links 11, 12 are turned outwardly at the open ends of the two links
to form end stops 25, 26 respectively, as shown in FIG. 1. The
resilient strip 13 is formed from a length of spring steel of
semi-circular cross section having dimensions slightly less than
the internal dimensions of the tubular links, the centre portion of
the strip being cut away along the flat side thereof so that the
end portions 18, 24 are larger in size than the centre portion of
the strip. The centre portion of the strip is a close sliding fit
between the abutments 25, 26 on the open ends of the links and the
outer walls of the links. Each of the end portions 18, 24 of the
strip 13 is partially split longitudinally to form two pairs of
prongs 27, 28 and 29, 30, the prongs of each pair being splayed
apart as shown in FIG. 3 to ensure that the end portions of the
strip are a close sliding fit in the tubular links.
The base member 10 may be made of precious metal and form the
ornamental portion of the ring. Alternatively, a gem, signet
surface or other ornament may be mounted on the base member 10.
It will be apparent that the dimensions of the finger opening in
the ring may be made smaller by applying finger pressure to the
resilient strip 13 so as to slide its end portions 18, 24 around
the tubular links 11, 12 towards the ends 14, 20 thereof. In the
fully contracted position the ends of the resilient strip 13 are
adjacent the ends 14, 20 of the two links. The dimensions of the
finger opening in the ring may then be made larger by pulling the
strip 13 away from the base member 10 so as to slide the end
portions 18, 24 around the tubular links. In the fully expanded
position, the end portions 18, 24 abut against the stops 25, 26 on
the open ends of the tubular links 11, 12, these stops preventing
the strip from being drawn out of the links. The frictional
resistance between the strip and the links is sufficient to prevent
relative movement therebetween during normal use of the article as
jewellery or wearing apparel.
The wrist watch shown in FIG. 4 has a casing 35 containing the
watch mechanism, two arcuate links 36 pivotally connected to
opposite ends respectively of the casing, and two spring steel
strips 37 having their opposite ends telescoped within the links
36, the casing 35, links 36 and strips 37 forming an endless band
adapted to embrace the wrist of a wearer. The casing 35 is formed
at each end thereof with a pair of spaced lugs 38 supporting a
pivot pin (not shown) on which the associated link 36 is pivotally
mounted. Each link comprises two arcuate tubes 42 arranged side by
side but converging in the direction away from the casing 35, a
cross tube 43 extending across and welded to the ends of the two
tubes 42 adjacent the casing, and a further cross tube 44 extending
between and welded at its ends to the centre portions of the tubes.
The ends of the tubes remote from the casing are open and receive
the ends of the two spring steel strips 37 as a close sliding fit.
The pivot pin for each link extends through the cross tube 43, the
pivot pins for the two links being substantially parallel so that
the links are free to pivot towards and away from each other with
the end portions of the resilients strips 37 sliding along the
inside walls of the tubes 42.
Each spring steel strip 37 and the two tubes 42 which
telescopically receive the opposite ends of the strip are similar
in construction to the strip 13 and tubular links 11, 12 of the
ring of FIGS. 1-3, and the ends of the strip are split
longitudinally to form prongs which engage against the inside walls
of the tubes and increase the frictional resistance to a value at
which the strap formed by the links and strips will remain at any
size to which it is manually adjusted.
The arcuate links 36 may of course each comprise three or more
tubes which telescopically receive the ends of three or more
resilient strips 37, and the tubes may be parallel instead of
convergent. The multiple tube construction of links can of course
be used in a finger ring according to the invention.
* * * * *