Jewelry – Body member encircling ornament
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-24
2001-03-20
Melius, Terry Lee (Department: 3628)
Jewelry
Body member encircling ornament
C063S003200, C063S023000, C024S11500R
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202443
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention r elates to jewel ry, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for precisely adjusting the length of jewelry, such as necklaces, to easily accommodate the fashion desires, size, and clothing of the wearer.
BACKGROUND
For many years, people have worn necklaces at various different lengths depending upon the prevailing fashion at the time. During some years the common length has been a short choker length of approximately fifteen inches. During other years the common length has been eighteen inches or longer. The trends in length have come and gone repeatedly over the decades.
Necklaces commonly comprise a fixed length of flexible chain made from one or more precious metals, such as gold, silver and platinum, and these chains are available in a wide variety of designs. The flexible chains are also commonly adorned with a wide variety of pendants, which generally comprise one or more precious stones, such as diamonds, rubies and sapphires, mounted in settings of precious metal. Purchasers of fine jewelry currently select a pendant of a desirable style and size and have it mounted on a flexible chain having a fixed length, which is usually fifteen, eighteen, twenty-four, or thirty inches. If the popular fashion changes, for example, the pendant can in many cases later be mounted on a chain of a different length, but this generally requires the purchase of a new chain and also often requires the services of a professional jeweler to remove the pendant from the old chain and mount it on the new chain. Thus, mounting a pendant on a new chain can be inconvenient, time consuming and expensive.
In fine jewelry the most common commercially-available necklace length during the last twenty years has been approximately eighteen inches, which generally allows the looped end to hang about two to three inches below an average-sized person's collar bone. A twenty-four-inch necklace has also been fashionable from time to time, which length generally allows the looped end to hang about three inches lower than the eighteen-inch chain. A thirty-inch necklace has been another common length, but this has generally been the longest commercially-available necklace length.
People, of course, come in a wide variety of body shapes and sizes, and a necklace chain of a given length will therefore hang quite differently on different people. An eighteen-inch necklace chain, for example, which hangs at a fashionable length on an average-sized person, would not hang at the same fashionable length on a relatively larger or relatively smaller person. Particularly large people and particularly small people, including children, have therefore, in some cases, been unable to wear necklaces and other jewelry at appropriate fashionable lengths.
Moreover, the style and type of a person's clothing can interfere with the appearance of a necklace and affect the way the necklace hangs. For example, a pendant which hangs at approximately the same length as the neckline of the person's clothing can often be hidden from view by the clothing. A necklace chain that hangs at a fashionable length when worn over light clothing may not hang at the same fashionable length when worn over relatively bulky clothing.
It is therefore desirable to provide methods and apparatus which allow the length of jewelry, such as necklaces, to be precisely adjusted to quickly and conveniently accommodate the particular fashion desires, size and clothing of the wearer. Such methods and apparatus would permit the wearer to precisely adjust the length of the necklace chain so that the pendant or other ornament hangs at the most fashionable, appropriate and flattering position, regardless of the person's particular size and clothing. It is also desirable to provide methods and apparatus which allow the person to adapt a necklace to accommodate a variety of different fashionable lengths without requiring the person to purchase a new chain of a different length and have the pendent mounted on the new chain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides methods and apparatus for precisely adjusting the length of jewelry, such as necklaces, to easily and conveniently accommodate the particular fashion desires, size and clothing of the wearer. Since the present invention allows the necklace to be precisely adjusted to any desired length, the necklace can be custom fit to match the prevailing fashion at the time, regardless of the particular size and clothing of the wearer. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to necklaces, but can also be readily applied to jewelry commonly worn elsewhere, such as around the waist, wrist and ankle.
The apparatus according to the present invention comprises a flexible member, such as a chain, which is looped upon itself to form a loop portion, a first leg terminating in a first free end and a second leg terminating in a second free end. Alternatively, the flexible member can be formed of a single, continuous length of material, which itself forms a loop and thus has no free ends. The flexible member can be a chain formed of a precious metal, such as gold, silver and platinum, or can be a length of some other flexible material, such as fabric, string, plastic or silicone.
A slidable clamping device is mounted on the flexible member so that the first leg and the second leg of the flexible member project through the slidable clamping device. The slidable clamping device, when positioned on the flexible member, securely prevents relative movement between the clamping device, the first leg and the second leg of the flexible member. The slidable clamping device, however, can be adapted to slide freely along the lengths of the first leg and the second leg of the flexible member, thereby increasing and decreasing the size of the loop portion of the flexible member. The slidable clamping device can be easily moved to any desired position along the lengths of the first and second legs of the flexible member, and, thus, the size of the loop portion of the flexible member can be precisely adjusted. Once positioned so that the desired size of the loop portion has been obtained, the slidable clamping device can be adapted to once again securely prevent relative movement between the slidable clamping device, the first leg and the second leg of the flexible member. When the necklace is worn, the slidable clamping device is generally positioned at the back of the person's neck with the loop portion of the flexible member extending around the person's neck and hanging down the chest, depending upon the size of the loop portion.
The invention also preferably comprises one or more ornaments, such as pendants, mounted on the flexible member, but this is not a necessary aspect of the invention. First and second end stops also can be attached to the first and second free ends, respectively, of the flexible member. The first and second end stops are preferably sized so that they are too large to pass through the slidable clamping device. Thus, the first and second end stops can provide added security to prevent the slidable clamping device from inadvertently sliding completely off either the first leg, the second leg or both. If one or more ornaments are mounted on the flexible member, the first and second end stops will also provide added security to prevent an ornament from inadvertently sliding completely off either the first leg or the second leg of the flexible member and becoming lost.
The method according to the present invention is a method for precisely adjusting the length of jewelry, such as a necklace, to easily and conveniently accommodate the particular fashion desires, size and clothing of the wearer. The method comprises the steps of providing a flexible member; looping the flexible member upon itself to form a loop portion, a first leg and a second leg; positioning a slidable clamping device on the flexible member so that the first leg and the second leg of the flexible member project through the s
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld L.L.P.
Chop Andrea
Melius Terry Lee
Wirthlin Alvin R.
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