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Patent Abstract
A jewelry article includes an elongated support and a multiplicity
of beads strung along the support. At least one of the beads constitutes
a locking bead consisting of a substantially closed hollow shell
with a pair of aligned holes sized to slideably receive the support.
A heat-shrinkable plastic tube is positioned inside the shell with
its opposite ends captured by portions of said shell around the
holes. The tube has a heat-deformed inner wall which substantially
conforms to the support so as to permanently anchor the bead to
the support. A method of stringing the locking bead is also disclosed.
Patent Claims
1. A jewelry article comprising an elongated slender support, and
a multiplicity of beads strung along the support, at least one of
said beads constituting a locking bead including a substantially
closed hollow metal shell having a pair of aligned holes sized to
readily receive the support, and a heat-shrinkable plastic tube
positioned inside the shell, said tube having a wall with an inner
diameter no smaller than said holes and opposite ends captured by
portions of said shell around said holes said tube having heat-deformed
outer and inner walls which engage around and substantially conform
to, said wall having been heat shrunk into substantial conformance
with said support so as to permanently anchor said locking bead
to said support.
2. The article defined in claim 1 wherein said support consists
of a chain composed of links.
3. The article defined in claim 2 wherein said chain is of a metal.
4. The article defined in claim 1 wherein the support is capable
of forming a loop.
5. A bead for a jewelry article, said bead comprising a substantially
closed rigid metal shell having a pair of aligned holes therein,
and a heat-shrinkable plastic tube fixed entirely inside the shell
in alignment with said holes, said tube having an axial passage
whose cross section is no smaller than each of said holes, a length
that is at least as great as the spacing of said holes and an overall
cross-section that is larger than each of said holes, so that an
elongated support may be threaded easily through said holes and
said tube, said tube being adapted to shrink radially upon the application
of heat so that said tube tightens around the support thereby permanently
anchoring the bead to the support.
6. A method of stringing a bead comprising the steps of forming
a substantially closed seamless metal shell having a pair of aligned
holes therein with a heat-shrinkable plastic tube having an axial
passage no smaller than said holes inside the shell in alignment
with said holes; threading an elongated slender support through
said holes and said passage so that the shell is located at a selected
location along the support, and heating the shell sufficiently to
shrink the tube so that it tightly engages around the support.
7. The method defined in claim 6 wherein the support is formed
as a chain.
Patent Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to jewelry. It relates more particularly
to such jewelry consisting of hollow beads and similar ornaments
strung on a support such as a chain or wire which can be engaged
around a person's neck, wrist or ankle. In some cases the beads
are spaced apart along the support; in other cases, they are arranged
in groups which groups are spaced apart along the support. In either
event, steps must be taken to provide stops for at least some of
the beads to maintain the proper spacing of the individual beads
or groups of beads along the support and to prevent them from sliding
off the support in the event the support should break.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] In conventional necklaces, bracelets, and the like the positions
of some or all of the beads on the support are fixed by stops which
may consist of drops of solder on the support that bracket each
bead or group of beads. In the case where the support is a chain
or wire, the chain or wire may be deformed to form a flat which
cannot pass through the holes in the adjacent beads. In both cases,
the stops, being located in the support outside the beads, may be
visible and thus detract from the ornamental appearance of the necklace,
bracelet or the like.
[0005] The conventional methods for locking beads are disadvantaged
also in that the stops must be provided at the time the jewelry
article is being assembled. This means that the arrangement of beads
on the necklace, bracelet or the like is fixed by the time it is
purchased by a customer. Thereafter there is no possibility of reconfiguring
the beads on the jewelry article.
[0006] To address this problem, I have recently developed self
locking beads which can be adjustably positioned on their supports;
see U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,376. The self locking beads allow a purchaser
of the jewelry article to reposition the beads on their supports
to suit the desires of that purchaser. The self locking beads described
in that patent consist of a shell having aligned holes for stringing
the shell on a support. A plastic tube extends between the holes
within the shell, the inner diameter of that tube being smaller
than the diameter of the holes. When the bead is strung on a support
such as a chain, the inner wall of the tube frictionally engages
the links of the chain thereby holding the bead at a fixed location
along the bead unless the bead is slid along the chain with sufficient
force to overcome that frictional engagement.
[0007] While that self locking bead performs its function quite
well, it is disadvantaged somewhat in that it is difficult to initially
string the beads along a chain or other support because the inner
wall of the included plastic tube is smaller than the bead holes
so that the tube frictionally engages the chain or other support
during the stringing process. Of course, increasing the inner diameter
of the plastic tube in that patented bead would defeat the purpose
of the invention there. In other words, the same feature which gives
that prior bead its superior adjustable self locking function, also
makes it more difficult to string that bead on its support in the
first place. Bearing in mind that a given necklace may have a large
number of my prior beads, the process of stringing a necklace with
those beads can be a tedious and time consuming task.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Accordingly it is an object to the present invention to
provide a necklace, bracelet, anklet or other beaded jewelry article
whose beads can be strung easily on that article's chain or other
support, yet can be permanently fixed easily at selected locations
along that support.
[0009] Another object of the invention is to provide a jewelry
article comprising a plurality of beads or hollow ornaments strung
on a support wherein the beads or other ornaments can be permanently
fixed at selected locations along the support at any time after
the manufacture and assembly of the article.
[0010] A further object of the invention is to provide a hollow
jewelry bead or ornament which can be made and sold in quantity
for subsequent stringing on a chain or other support after which
the bead may be permanently locked at a selected location along
the support by means located entirely within the bead and not on
the support.
[0011] Other objects will, in part, be obvious and will, in part,
appear hereinafter.
[0012] The invention accordingly comprising the sequence of steps,
features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement
of parts which will be exemplified in the following detailed description,
and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
[0013] Briefly, jewelry incorporating my invention includes an
elongated slender support having strung thereon a multiplicity of
beads and/or ornaments one or more of which is a special locking
bead whose position along the support may be permanently fixed by
means located entirely within that bead and not on the support.
This allows the beads or other ornaments on the support to be spaced
apart along the support or to be grouped along the support to suit
the desires of the purchaser or wearer of the jewelry.
[0014] As will be described in more detail later, each of the locking
beads comprises a hollow shell having a pair of diametrically opposite
holes therein through which the chain or other bead support may
be threaded. The bead also has incorporated therein at the time
of its manufacture a plastic tube which is aligned with the holes
in the shell and compressed between the wall portions of the shell
around those holes so that the tube remains aligned with the holes.
Preferably, the inside diameter of the plastic tube is no smaller
than the holes in the shell so that the bead support may be threaded
easily through the holes in the bead when stringing the bead.
[0015] In accordance with the invention, the aforesaid plastic
tube is a heat shrinkable tube of the type commonly used in the
electronics industry to insulate wire connections. This type of
shrinkable tubing shrinks when heated by a relatively low temperature
heat source such as a torch, hair dryer, match, candle, etc.
[0016] Thus jewelry beads and other similar ornaments equipped
with such internal heat shrinkable tubes can be sold in quantity
to a jeweler who may string the beads easily on a chain or other
support and subsequently stop or lock selected beads by applying
heat to those beads. That heat will shrink the shrinkable tubes
within those locking beads allowing the jeweler to space or group
the beads as desired along the support. Alternatively, the jeweler
may sell the necklace or other jewelry article to a customer who
may perform the heating step on the locking bead(s) so that the
beads on a given necklace may be spaced or grouped along the support
as desired by that customer.
[0017] As will be seen, a wide variety of different bead or ornament
placements and groupings are possible for a given piece of jewelry
such as a necklace, bracelet, anklet, brooch, earring, belt, etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0018] For a fuller understanding the nature and the objects of
the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed
description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in
which:
[0019] FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a beaded necklace including
locking beads incorporating my invention positioned at different
elevations on the necklace support to establish different bead groupings
on that support;
[0020] FIG. 2A is a view in medial section on a much larger scale
showing one of the locking beads in the FIG. 1 necklace before the
bead locking function is implemented, and
[0021] FIG. 2B is a similar view showing the same bead after the
bead locking function is implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT
[0022] Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a necklace 10 incorporating
the invention is shown hung around a wearer's neck N. The illustrated
necklace includes a bead support 12 in the form of a chain composed
of interlocking links 12a which may be of any metal or other material
suitable for making jewelry. Of course, other bead supports are
possible including strings, wires, tubes, etc. The illustrated necklace
10 has beads 14 and a plurality of special locking beads 16. The
various beads 14 are arranged in groups with those groups being
maintained at selected positions along support 12 by the locking
beads 16 which may be permanently fixed to the support. Of course,
in another necklace, all of the beads on support 12 may be locking
beads 16 spaced apart along the support.
[0023] While necklace 10 has only one ornamental strand, it is
obvious that the invention can be incorporated into a multiple strand
necklace, bracelet, anklet, etc. which would allow a variety of
different bead spacings and groupings along the different strands.
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 2, each locking bead 16 comprises
a thin shell 18 of any metal or alloy for making jewelry, e.g. gold,
silver, platinum, stainless steel, brass, etc. The shell 18 has
a pair of diametrically opposite holes 22 sized to slideably receive
the support 12 so that the bead 16 can be strung easily on the support.
At the time of its formation, the shell 18 is provided with an internal
plastic tube 24 whose inside surface is preferably aligned with
the edges of holes 22.
[0025] In accordance with the invention, the tube 24 is a so called
heat-shrinkable tube of the type commonly used in the electrical
industry to sheathe wire connections so as to insulate those connections.
[0026] Tube 24 may be incorporated into bead 16 at the time of
its manufacture by the method disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,036,
the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The inside diameter of the tube should be more or less the same
as the diameter of holes 22 in the shell 18 and the outside diameter
of the tube should be slightly larger than those holes so that the
tube is somewhat compressed lengthwise between the shell material
around the holes whereby the tube remains aligned with the holes
even if the bead should be impacted or jostled. Thus, the bead holes
22 as well as the tube 24 are sized so that the beads can be strung
easily on the chain 12. In other words, the links 12a of the illustrated
chain are rather loosely received within both the bead holes and
the tube so that the beads 16 can be positioned easily at selected
locations along the chain 12.
[0027] Referring now to FIG. 2B, after the beads 16 have been properly
positioned along support 12, they may be permanently fixed or located
at those locations by heating each bead 16 using a suitable heat
source represented by the candle C in FIG. 2B. Since the shell 18
is of metal which is a thermally conductive material, the heating
of each bead will cause the tube 24 within each bead to heat up
and shrink diametrically as shown at 24' so that the inner wall
of tube 24' will engage around and conform generally to support
12 thereby permanently anchoring each bead to the support. Due to
the tight engagement of the ends of the tube 24' against the inner
wall of the shell 18, the ends of that tube do not shrink as much
as the middle segment of the tube so that the tube ends do not project
through the holes 22 in the shell. It is important to note that
each bead 16 is locked or fixed to the chain by means located entirely
within each bead and without any alteration or deformation of support
12. Therefore, the bead locking function does not detract from the
beauty of the necklace or other jewelry article.
[0028] It will thus be seen in the objects set forth above among
those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently
attained. Also, since certain changes may be made in carrying out
the above method and in the construction set forth without departing
from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter
contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying
drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting
sense.
[0029] It is also to be understood that the following claims are
intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the
invention described herein.
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