Patent Application
20090151393
As the price of precious metals and jewels such as diamonds increases, jewelry becomes more expensive. The cost to purchase a ring and bracelet made of precious metals and valuable jewels can easily be thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Accordingly it would be desirable for a single piece of jewelry to serve two purposes, such as being suitable for use either as a bracelet or a ring.
The present invention provides such a piece of jewelry. In particular, according to the present invention a ring and bracelet combination is made up of plurality of segments hinged together, each segment having a digit sized opening therethrough. There are first and second end segments. A decorative head is pivotally connected to the first end segment and a clasp is pivotally connected to the second end segment for connecting the head to the second end segment. This combination has two configurations. In a bracelet configuration, the segments are end to end. In a ring configuration the segments are accordioned together with the segment openings aligned.
In use, the combination can be easily converted from a ring to a bracelet by uncollapsing the segments, or from a bracelet to a ring by collapsing the segments together.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:
A ring and bracelet combination 10 having features of the present invention is formed from a plurality of segments 12 hingedly connected to each other with hinges 14. There are opposed first and second end segments 16 and 17. First end segment 16 is pivotally attached to a decorative head 18 and the second end segment 17 is provided with at least a portion of clasp means 20, also referred to as a clasp, which optionally is pivotally attached to the second end segment 17. The clasp 20 is used for attaching end segment 17 to the head 18.
Each segment 12 has a central digit sized opening 22 therethrough. The openings 22 are substantially the same size and have a substantially circular configuration so that the combination 10, in a ring configuration, as shown in
For aesthetic reasons and for comfort when the combination 10 is a ring, it is preferred that the periphery 24 of segments 12 be substantially identical, although this is not required. Thus, generally the segments 12 are substantially identical.
The size of the openings 22 depends on the size of the digits of the person wearing the combination. It is typically a ring size 3 to 16, with an average ring size being about 6 to 6½. For a particular person it can be slightly larger than their normal ring size due to the thickness of the combination 16 in the ring configuration.
The clasp means 20 shown in the drawings is a bayonet type clasp, having a projection 20′ that slides into a receiving slot (not shown) in the head 18. The projection 20′ and the receiving slot together provide a clasp means. However, any conventional jewelry clasp used for holding ends of a bracelet together can be used on the clasp means, such as hooks, magnetic clasps, springs, and the like.
The head 18 is decorative. For example, for a diamond ring/diamond bracelet the head 18 can have mounted thereon a diamond 26. Any gem suitable for use for rings and bracelets can be used, such as a diamond, ruby, emerald, and even inexpensive stones. It is not necessary that there be a gem on the head 18.
All of the segments 12 and the head 18 can be made of same material or different materials. Materials suitable are plastics and metal, and preferably precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.
To obtain a bracelet configuration as shown in
To achieve the ring configuration shown in
The length of the combination in the configuration shown in
Typically there are from about six to about ten segments, and most preferably about eight segments.
The thickness of the segments is from about 0.1 to about 0.2 inches. If the thickness is less than about 0.1 inches, there could be durability problems. If the thickness is greater than about 0.2 inch, the combination becomes uncomfortably bulky in the ring configuration.
Preferably, in the ring configuration, the length of the ring is from about 0.25 to about 0.5 inch, and preferably about 0.35 inch for an aesthetically pleasing and comfortable ring.
A typical width of each segment is about 0.6 to about one inch. If it is larger than about one inch, it can be uncomfortable to wear in the ring configuration. If it is smaller than about 0.6 inch, there could be insufficient wall thickness in the region 28 shown in
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred version thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not necessarily be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.
All features disclosed in the specification, including the claims, abstracts, and drawings, and all the steps in any method or process disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in the specification, including the claims, abstract, and drawings, can be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means” for performing a specified function or “step” for performing a specified function, should not be interpreted as a “means step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. §112.
