Ring and Catch and Method

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to articles of costume jewelry and in particular rings for fingers and toes and the method of manufacturing the same. The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a ring having a ring head made of any malleable or pliable and elastic material such as but not limited to Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material. Examples of PVC material include FIMO clay or any other suitable substitute. The ring head is configured preferably with a design on both faces of the ring head and a pieces of material such as a strand of metal or a wire or other similar material that is used to secure the ring head to the ring and to form a beaded ring with beads there which are threaded onto the wire.

2. The Prior Art

Jewelry and method of fabricating jewelry are known from the prior art.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,412,731 to Wormser a necklace made od strung beads.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,051,591 to Brogan relates to a clasp for string jewelry.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,149 to Panicci relates to a Beaded Teething Ring, Closure Latch.

None of these patents disclose a method of making a ring or a ring formed of along a head of FIMO clay or other suitable material with wire going through the ring head and forming notches that are at least partially inserted into said ring head. Nor these inventions disclose such a structure or method of making the same which further includes threading the wire through beads.

It is therefore a principle object of the invention to make a ring that can securely hold a ring head fabricated of FIMO clay or other suitable plastic polymers.

It is another object of the invention to provide an aesthetically pleasing ring with color coordinated beads decorating the ring loop or wire that match or compliment the ring head.

It is yet another object to provide a ring that has a design on its faces of made from FIMO clay or other pliable, elastic material or PVC material.

It is still another object of the invention to make a ring as described in the above that easy to fabricate and cheap to manufacture.

It is still another object to manufacture a ring in which the wire is threaded through the sides of the ring head.

Other objects will become known from the following drawings and description .

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention:

FIG. 2 is a front view of the invention:

FIG. 3 is a side view of the present invention:

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines of 4--4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines of 5--5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the method of making the ring in which a wire has one shaped in a clamp or closure and the other end is the lead end of the wire to be threaded through the hole going through the ring head;

FIGS. 6A-6C show different embodiments for FIG. 6 in which instead of a U-shaped catch end for the wire may have any other possible shape;

FIG. 7 shows the next step in the process in which the lead end of the wire is threaded through the ring head and the trailing end of the wire is formed as a catch and is at least partially embedded in the ring head and beads are being threaded onto the wire;

FIG. 8 shows the next step in the process in which all the beads have been placed onto the wire and FIG. 68 also shows the view of FIG. 7 along lines 8--8 with beads all added on to the wire;

FIG. 9 shows the next step in the prices in which them wire is now threaded a second time through the hole in the ring head;

FIG. 10 the view along lines 10--10 of FIG. 9 with lead end of the wire being bent into a catch as had been previously done to the trailing end of the wire;

FIG. 10 A is the same step in the process as FIG. 10 with a differently shaped catch;

FIG. 11 shows the lead end of the wire bent into a catch shape being at least partially embedded into the ring head;

FIG. 12 shows another shaped catch of the lead end of the wire at least partially embedded into the ring head;

FIG. 13 is a view taken along lines 13--13 of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 14 is a view taken along lines 14--14 of FIG. 13.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-14 of the drawings, the present invention is for an article of jewelry such as a ring 1 having a ring head 2 made of a malleable and elastic material such as a plastic polymer such as sold by the Eberhard Faber Company of Germany under the trademark FIMO clay or PROMATE, a PVC material sold by a company in Illinois. The material should reform around the threaded wire or strand.

Various designs can be fabricated utilizing such material which would appear on each face of the ring head. Techniques known for fabricating such designs include the Millifiore technique. This technique combines different colored clays to form designs which appear on both faces of the ring head. The material for the ring head 2 is malleable and elastic. A small drill hole 3 is drilled through the sides 4 of the ring head 2 as shown in FIG. 2. A wire or strand of material 5 is threaded through the hole 3. The trailing end 6 of the strand 5 is bent into a catch 7 and then at least partially embedded into a side 4 of the ring head 2. The strand or wire may be made of copper material. The catch 7 includes a portion 7a engaging and a portion 7b embedding the side surface of the ring can be shaped in any way possible. The invention is not limited to any particular shape. For example in FIG. 6 the catch 7 has a square u shape. FIGS. 6A through 6C show other possible shapes for the catch 7 such as a double loop shape (FIG. 6A); a u shape (FIG. 6B) and a triangular shape (FIG. 6C).

The lead end 8 of the strand 5 is then threaded through openings 9 in beads 10. The beads 10 can be made of any preferable material such as glass, plastic or clay. The beads 10 are preferably selected with colors that are coordinated with the design of the ring head 2.

The lead end 8 of the strand 5 is then pulled through the drill hole 3 of the ring head 2 a second time and the end of the lead end 8 is shaped as a catch 7 and at least partially embedded into the ring head 2. The ring 1 is formed in this manner and constitutes the strand 5, the ring head 2 and the beads 10.

The strand 5 is preferably rigid and the beads 10 are stacked close together so that the bead at each end of the strand is pressed against the catches embedded in the sides of the ring head 2. Thus the beads are be preferably aligned in tight compressed order on the strand to apply pressure to the catches 7 that are embedded, at least partially into the ring head 2 to assist in keeping the strand ends connectably inserted within the ring head 2.

The drill hole through the ring head is in the preferred range of 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm in diameter. The hole for the beads is of the same diameter range as for the hole through the ring head. The strand or wire can have a thickness of from 0.012 inches to 0.022 inches in thickness and preferably in the range of 0.016 inches to 0.020 inches in thickness.

The beads are preferably 5 mm. to 20 mm. in diameter. The ring head is preferably 7 mm. to 12 mm. in diameter. The ring can be worn on a finger or a toe and the length of the strand should be made sufficiently long to fit around the circumference of a wearer's finger or toe.

The invention is not limited to the use of one strand of material or wire, As one can also have two or more wire or strands threaded through the ring head. Also additional strands can be threaded through the beads in the manner described above.

While presently preferred embodiments have described for purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes in the arrangement of method steps and apparatus parts can be made by those skilled in the art. Such changes are encompassed within the spirit of this invention as defined by the appended claims.