BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a ring shank to which is secured a protective reinforcement plate in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the plate with fasteners of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a container with the plate and fasteners of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a ring with the plate of FIG. 2 held with an elastic band to the ring shank.
FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a further ring shank configured to hold the plate of FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a front view thereof, but with the plate of FIG. 2 being secured.
FIG. 7 is an isometric view of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a front view as in FIG. 6, but after the plate is secured.
FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the further ring shank of FIG. 5 to show the top after securing an insert to the top.
FIG. 10 is a top view of FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is a left side view of FIG. 9, which is symmetric to the right side thereof.
FIG. 12 is a front view of FIG. 9 prior to securement of the insert.
FIG. 13 is a front view as in FIG. 10, but after the insert is secured.
FIG. 14 is an isometric view as in FIG. 9, but without the insert seated.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Turning to the figures, FIG. 1 shows a ring 10 in accordance with the invention. The ring 10 includes a ring shank 12 made of a metal and a protective reinforcement plate 14 secured to the ring shank 12. The protective reinforcement plate 14 is made of a harder material than the ring shank 12 and is less susceptible to wear from abrasion than the ring shank 12, if at all. The protective reinforcement plate 14 may be secured to ring shank 12 by fasteners 16, such as screws. If desired, the protective reinforcement plate 14 may have raised or recessed lettering or other kinds of indicia. FIG. 2 shows an enlargement of the protective reinforcement plate 14 with fasteners 16.
FIG. 3 exemplifies a container or box 18 to contain the ring 10. The box 18 may have the protective reinforcement plate 14 of FIG. 2 (or an identical plate) secured to it.
FIG. 4 shows a ring 20 to which is tied the protective reinforcement plate 14. The protective reinforcement plate 14 is preferably elongated and has two holes or apertures 17 spaced apart from each other. The distance between the two holes or apertures 17 substantially matches the distance between threaded holes in the outer facing surface of the ring shank 12 so that they align to enable insertion of the fasteners 16 through the two holes or apertures 17 to secure to the ring shank 12 in the manner of FIG. 1. In FIG. 4, the tying may be done after ring sizing is complete to allow the wearer to try on the ring to verify proper sizing and fit before the protective reinforcement plate 14 is fastened.
FIG. 5 shows a ring shank 30 in accordance with a further embodiment. A recessed portion 32 is curved in a circumferential direction of the ring shank 12. The protective reinforcement plate 14 is configured to be bent or curved to fit onto the recessed portion 32. The recessed portion 32 includes threaded recesses 34 to receive the fasteners 16 exemplified by screws. The recessed portion 32 may be formed at the time the metal is cast for the ring or may be made later by filing material until a desired depth for the recess is attained to accommodate the thickness of the protective reinforcement plate 14.
FIGS. 6-8 show the manner of securing the protective reinforcement plate 14 to the recessed portion 32 with the fasteners 16. The two holes or apertures 17 of the protective reinforcement plate 14 (see FIG. 4) are spaced apart from each other to be substantially the same distance apart as, and thereby align with, the threaded recesses 34 when the protective reinforcement plate 14 is curved or bent to conform to the contour of the recessed portion 32. Diametrically opposite to the recessed portion 32 is a decorative portion 36. The decorative portion 36 may be made of precious metal or have a setting for retaining precious stones.
The ring shank 30 is cast using any conventional metal casting techniques. The protective reinforcement plate 14 is of different material from that of the ring shank 30 and is stamped using any conventional metal stamping techniques. The protective reinforcement plate 14 is screwed into the threaded recesses 34 in the underside of the ring shank 30 using a conventional jeweler's screwdriver.
The purpose of the protective reinforcement plate 14 is to reinforce the bottom of the ring shank 30, to protect the outer facing surface of the shank 30 and to cover any seam line after ring sizing. The purpose of the fasteners 16, such as screws, is to attach the protective reinforcement plate 14 to the ring shank 30 and to allow for removal of the protective reinforcement plate 14 before ring sizing.
After ring sizing, a new plate may be used that is sized to fit into the recessed portion 32 with holes or apertures drilled into it in alignment with where the threaded recesses 34 are positioned relative to each other. Alternatively, the same protective reinforcement plate 14 could be used, but it may be necessary to enlarge the holes to ensure alignment for the fasteners 16 with the threaded recesses 34.
The bottom of a ring shank 30 is the area that has greatest wear and potential damage from abrasion. By securing the protective reinforcement plate 14 to the recessed portion 32 with fasteners 16 in a releasable manner as described previously, the result will be a longer wearing ring. The ring shank 30 may be silver, the protective reinforcement plate 14 may be titanium, and the fasteners 16, such as screws, may be steel. Thus, both the ring shank 30 and the protective reinforcement plate 14 may be made of different kinds of metals, whether precious or non-precious metals.
As seen in FIGS. 9-14, the decorative portion 36 may be raised to seat a surrounding insert 38 in a seat 40. The seat 40 is adjacent a raised surface 42 that extends around the outer periphery of the decorative portion 36. The insert 38 may be friction fit on the seat or soldered or fastened with fasteners 16 to the ring shank, depending upon how one chooses to retain the insert 38 on the seat 40.
If desired, instead of the protective reinforcement plate 14 having two holes or apertures 17, it could have a single hole or aperture centrally located. Thus, the recessed portion 32 of the ring shank 30 may have a single formation centrally located and configured to align and engage with a single fastener 16 that extends through the one hole or aperture in the protective reinforcement plate 14.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Patent Application
20080047299
