Patent Application
20070044511
The invention is in the field of jewelry bracelets and necklaces and methods for making jewelry, specifically, methods for making bracelets and necklaces with a specific emphasis on tennis bracelets.
In the prior art, the assembly of tennis bracelets is a long process. First links are fashioned so that each link has a male portion and a female portion to enable the connection to one another. After assembling the links to make a bracelet or necklace, they must be soldered one by one at a joint formed by the male and female portions. This is a difficult and time consuming process because each soldered joint is very small and there are a large number of these joints in a typical bracelet or necklace, each of which must be soldered separately. The resulting product does not always turn out straight or accurate due to the fact that the links are fitted one by one, and then each soldered separately at the joint.
There are three common connection techniques for making bracelets and necklaces known as loop connection, groove/tongue connection and hinge connection. A typical loop connection link is shown in
The invention is a bracelet or necklace link and method for facilitating the assembling of tennis bracelets (gold links set with diamonds), other bracelets and necklaces, using a new, easier and time saving method using the invented link. The invention uses a wire or rail or cable to assemble the links to form a bracelet or necklace. Unlike the prior art, the links do not need additional molding or material to produce the male and female portions which are no longer needed. In this manner, the invented link and method saves time and costs, because the links do not need to be connected one by one, and soldered one by one, but rather they are threaded together on a wire that runs through openings in the links. The soldering is performed only at the beginning and end of the assembling of the bracelet or necklace, at the first and last links, with no need to solder each and every link at the joint.
Referring first to
In order to construct a bracelet or necklace using the invented links, main body portion 110 is molded or cast to a desired shape. At least two holes 118a and 118b are drilled in the body portion, which holes are large enough to receive a wire or cable of the desired diameter. The wire or cable may be made of any flexible material, including spun gold or the like. Each link is threaded onto respective cable or wires, which pass through corresponding holes 118a and 118b in the link. After the desired number of links have been threaded onto the cable or wire pair, preferably the hole/wire combination pair of the first and last links have solder applied. In this manner all of the links are held in place, even though solder has been applied to only two of the links. In order to complete the bracelet or necklace, suitable clasps are attached. The specifics of such clasps or method of attachment are not necessary for an understanding of the invention.
The resulting product will always look straight and accurate, because the links are evenly placed and fitted to the wire through the holes in each link. More than two holes can be provided for additional wires or cables to produce a slightly different look without departing from the invention.
