Patent Application
20100251767
This invention relates to decorative and ornamental articles, and is more particularly directed to an article of jewelry to be worn on the finger to enhance the appearance of the wearer's hand.
In general, many varieties of rings are worn to cover some portion of the finger, and these typically cover only a small portion of the finger, behind the fleshy part of the finger where the finger emerges from the palm. Other articles have been proposed to be worn over the tip of a finger, and may have the appearance of a simulated fingertip and nail. One of these is illustrated in U.S. Design Pat. Des 318,248. However, there do not exist finger jewelry pieces that adorn the entirety or even a majority of a finger.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an attractive jewelry article for the finger, which is worn on and covers the finger from the base to the tip, and which avoids the drawbacks of the prior art.
It is another object to provide a piece of finger jewelry that takes into account the anatomy of the human finger, and that takes into account the comfort of the wearer.
It is a further object to provide a jewelry article that covers and protects the wearer's finger tip and nail, and at the same time enhances the appearance of the wearer's hand.
It is a still further object to provide a jewelry article that can be made of affordable materials.
According to one aspect of this invention, jewelry article for the finger is adapted to cover the back and tip of a wearer's finger, but also has openings on the underside to allow for first and second knuckle joints of the wearer's finger to flex. The article has an elongated crown portion covering the back of the wearer's finger and extending over the sides of the finger. This crown portion extends from a proximal end, positioned at the base of the finger where the finger emerges from the palm, to a distal end beyond the tip of the wearer's finger. A cap portion is formed integral with the crown portion and covers the nail and tip (or a majority of the tip) of the finger. Favorably, the only open area(s) are at the proximal lower side. There are two integral bands that join the left and right sides of the crown portion. A first integrally formed band is situated at the proximal end and this band extends from one side of the crown portion to the other side at a position between the base and first knuckle joint of the wearer's finger. A second integrally formed band is situated midway between the cap portion and the proximal end and extends from one side of the crown portion to the other side at a position between the first and second knuckle joints of the wearer's finger. There is a first open zone defined between the first band and second band on the underside, at the position of said wearer's first knuckle joint. A second open zone is defined between the second band and the cap on the underside, at the position of the wearer's second knuckle joint. The cap portion has a hollow protuberance that projects forward at its distal end, and this may have the appearance of a fingernail.
In any of several preferred embodiments, the cap portion is open only at the second open zone, and the cap portion covers the entire fleshy pad and nail of the wearer's finger tip. Favorably the crown portion is generally a semi-cylinder in shape, and covers the back and sides of the wearer's finger. The first and second bands are continuous and unitary with the crown portion.
The article is formed of any of a number of materials. The finger jewelry article can be partly or entirely formed of silver, gold, or another a precious metal, which may be partly encrusted with precious or semi-precious stones. Alternatively, the finger jewelry article may be formed of a glass or ceramic material, or of a synthetic plastic resin material. The article may be formed, entirely or partly, of a chain mail or other metallic mesh, or a synthetic mesh material.
In the illustrated embodiment, the article is shown as worn on the pinkie, i.e., fourth or small finger. However, the article can be designed to wear on any of the fingers, of either hand, including the thumb, if desired.
With the finger jewelry article of this invention, the crown portion closes over the top surface, or back, of the finger. The underside of the jewelry article is open at two areas, i.e., open except for the tip or cap and the two bands, so there are open areas at the locations of the first and second finger joints or first and second knuckle joints. This article of jewelry covers the entire finger, except for the aforesaid open areas, from where the finger emerges from the palm.
The above and many other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art from the ensuing description of a preferred embodiment, which should be considered in connection with the accompanying Drawing.
With reference to the Drawing, and initially to
There are two bands that traverse across the sides of the article at the undersides, including a first band 18 disposed at the proximal end and a second band 20 disposed about midway between the first band 18 and the cap portion 14. A first opening 22 is defined between the first and second bands 18, 20, and a second opening 24 is defined between the second band 20 and the proximal edge of the cap portion 14, e.g., as shown in
The cap portion covers the wearer's fingernail and at least a portion of the fleshy pad portion of the finger tip, e.g., as shown in
This jewelry article can be configured in different ways and with different designs. For example, the article 10 of the illustrated embodiment is intended specifically for the wearer's left small finger or pinkie, but the article could be constructed to fit any of the other fingers of either hand, or for the thumb. As shown in
The “Pretifinger” article 10 may be made of any of a wide variety of suitable materials, such as silver or another precious metal, a glass or ceramic, or a durable synthetic material. The look of the article may be enhanced by placing gemstones or semiprecious stones in a desired design. The back or crown portion may be perforated in places, or the article may be made in part or in whole of a mesh material such as chain mail.
In some embodiments, the article can have a plain squeeze fit on the finger, in place of one or more of the bands.
Many equivalent alternatives can apply. Indeed, many modifications and variations will present themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.
