Patent Application
20080168800
The present invention generally relates to jewelry arrangements, and particularly to exemplary ring arrangements.
Rings worn on user's fingers and on other portions of the user's body, such as engagement rings and wedding bands, may be made of precious or semi-precious metals, such as gold, silver or platinum, and can be fitted with a variety of precious gemstones, such as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, opals, etc. Generally, these rings have a pseudo-cylindrical or cylindrical shell or portion, the internal surface of which is shaped such that it can be easily placed/maintained on the wearer's finger. In order for the ring not to easily revolve around the finger, and thus possibly slip off the finger unintentionally, the ring can be fit in a snug manner. Another issue to be addressed is for the ring to fit snugly enough not to easily rotate on the finger, while still fitting around the knuckles of the finger. The common feature in many if not all fitted rings is to increase the pressure on the finger by slightly reducing or otherwise lessening the radial length or radius of the ring, thereby increasing the friction on the skin of the finger to have the ring maintained on the finger snuggly. Prior attempts to address these issues have led to a creation of rings fitted with inserts, clasps, and other ways of adjusting the size of the ring.
While making the above-described adjustments, it is also important to maintain an aesthetically pleasing appearance of the ring. Further, although the above-described inserts, clasps, etc. may facilitate the ring fitting snuggly on the user's finger, these additional elements may require additional effort by the user to actually fit the ring on a finger. In addition, the use of these additional elements may detract from the aesthetic features of the ring. It may be desirable to provide a jewelry arrangement, e.g., a ring that does not utilize additional elements or a reduction of the radial length/radius to be maintained snuggly on the finger, while functioning to resolve common fitting issues.
Thus, it is one of the objects of the present invention to overcome the above-described deficiencies, and provide exemplary embodiments of a jewelry arrangement according to the present invention. According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a ring arrangement can be provided which has a first jewelry portion and a second jewelry portion. The first jewelry portion preferably is attached to the inner surface of the second jewelry portion in at least one place. The first jewelry portion preferably creates a non-uniform surface that may contact a ring wearer's skin. The first jewelry portion may include at least one element which has a shape that is different from the particular skin portion. These elements may be of varying sizes and shapes. Additionally, the second jewelry portion may contain a ring crown that may be a setting for a stone. This ring crown may also form part of the non-uniform surface in the first jewelry portion.
In a different exemplary embodiment, the first jewelry portion may have a plurality of sections which extend along for the full circumference of the finger of the user. In similar exemplary embodiments, the sections may extend along for at least a quarter, an eighth or half of the circumference of the finger. In a different exemplary embodiment, the first jewelry portion may have a shaped that looks like an cross, “W”, “M”, “U”, or any other angle of such image.
In a different exemplary embodiment, the sections of the first jewelry portion may be connected by at least one end to the second jewelry portion. In some exemplary embodiments, the sections of second jewelry portion may contain more than one end which may be connected to the second jewelry portion or other sections of the first jewelry portion. The sections of the first jewelry portion may have a rounded, semi-circular, semi-cylindrical, or arc-shaped look, which may contact a portion of skin. In a different exemplary embodiment, the first and/or second jewelry portions may contain gemstones.
The detailed description below will refer to the following illustrations, wherein like numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:
Throughout the figures, the same reference numerals and characters, unless otherwise stated, are used to denote like features, elements, components or portions of the illustrated embodiments. Moreover, while the subject invention will now be described in detail with reference to the figures, it is done so in connection with the illustrative embodiments. It is intended that changes and modifications can be made to the described embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit of the subject invention as defined by the appended claims.
According to one exemplary variant, a single element 120 can be provided on the inner face of 110. In another variant, two or more of the elements 120 can be provided, spaced apart from one another, e.g., the respective ends 130 of each element 120 not contacting the respective ends 140 of any other of the elements 120 (e.g., for the entire inner face 110 or portion thereof). In still another variant, one of the respective ends 130 of at least one of the elements is immediately adjacent to and contacts one of the respective ends 130 of another element. Indeed, as shown in the first exemplary embodiment of
Unlike traditional rings having a uniform inner face surface which to a large extent conforms to a shape of a finger, the exemplary embodiment of the jewelry arrangement 100 may be fitted with at least one arc-shaped, rounded or semi-cylindrical elements 120 can provide a non-uniform surface which is intended to contact the skin of the finger fitted with such jewelry arrangement 100. By providing these exemplary inner semi-cylindrical or arc-shaped elements 120 on the inner face of 110, the jewelry arrangement 100 may better provide a snug fit on the user's finger. This snug fit may decrease the amount of rotation of the ring arrangement once on a finger, thereby reducing the unintentional slippage of the jewelry arrangement 100 on the finger, at least partially, and limiting a readjustment of the size of arrangement 100. Additionally, as provided in the first exemplary embodiment of the invention, shown in
As shown in
The semi-cylindrical, rounded or arc-shaped and cylindrical elements 520 may be in a configuration to create a non-uniform surface which is intended to contact user's skin. Additionally, the semi-cylindrical, rounded or arc-shaped and cylindrical elements 520 may be affixed to the inner surface of the main ring band 530 or to other semi-cylindrical, rounded or arc-shaped elements and/or the cylindrical elements 535. In addition to the semi-cylindrical, rounded or arc-shaped and cylindrical elements, the exemplary arrangement 500 may contain a uniform surface 540 which is intended to contact the skin of the user. The complete side of the exemplary jewelry arrangement 500 intended to contact the skin of the user may be a combination of the inner surface of the main ring and at least one of the semi-cylindrical, rounded elements 520 and/or the cylindrical elements 525.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the semi-cylindrical, rounded or arc-shaped elements can be provided on the jewelry arrangement such that the respective ends thereof are pointed toward the skin of the user, which the rounded portion between the respective ends is attached to the inner face/surface of the exemplary embodiment of the jewelry arrangement. In addition, other shapes of members attached to the inner face/surface which do not have a shape for approximately conforming to the shape of the user's finger on which the exemplary jewelry arrangement is to be placed. Such shapes include but no limited to “X”, “M”, “W” or others that are overlaid by an inner face/surface on a side opposite to the skin of the user.
Although the present invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, variations are possible. The present invention may be embodied in specific forms without departing from the essential sprit or attributes thereof. For example, although the present invention is illustrated with embodiments having semi-cylindrical or arc-shaped and cylindrical elements to create non-uniform surfaces, one skilled in the art will recognize that other embodiments may use which have various geometries (such as hexagonal, oval, or tear-drops) that still create a non-uniform surface which may contact a ring wearer's skin. It is desired that the embodiments described herein be considered in all respect illustrative and not restrictive and that reference be made to the appended claims and their equivalents for determining the scope of the invention.
