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.

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.

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.