Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Including aperture
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-31
2004-02-03
Watkins, III, William P. (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Including aperture
C428S195100, C428S207000, C428S143000, C029S433000, C269S047000, C063S037000, C063S038000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06686021
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to beadwork, specifically to beading pattern surfaces and a method of doing beadwork.
2. Background of the Invention
Because of the fine nature of many beadworks, the person constructing the beadwork (the beader) works on small detail from a close perspective. Consequently, a mistake is not often discovered until the beader has progressed many rows beyond the point at which the mistake was made. Therefore, devices and methods to minimize these mistakes are required.
Beaders oftentimes use pattern paper. The pattern paper typically consists of a series of rows and columns laid out in a grid of sorts to create a number of spaces indicating the position of beads depending on the particular beading stitch to be employed. Pattern paper may be purchased with or without a design already integrated into this bead grid.
Executing beadwork from beading patterns on available pattern paper has been difficult because the patterns are used separately from the beadwork being produced. The beader holds the beadwork being created while the pattern from which it is being created is on a table or stand. The beader must continuously look back and forth from the pattern to the project being beaded. It is time-consuming and also very easy for the beader to lose his or her place when even the smallest distraction occurs.
In addition to varying the location and color of the beads, the beader may construct a piece of work using varying stitches. Examples of stitches include loom, peyote, brick, comanche, square, and netting stitches. When using certain stitches, the beader is required to move from one row to an adjacent row. When moving from one row to an adjacent row in these stitches, the beader must use a “jump-up bead” or “jump-down bead” (the “jump bead”). The jump bead is a point in the beading work at which the risk of error is even greater. Moreover, certain patterns designate, or the beader may choose a location for, the jump bead to progress diagonally around/across the pattern as the beader works up/down the piece. Failure to mark off each row after its completion causes beaders to lose their place, skip rows, and repeat rows, thus creating mistakes which diminish the quality of the finished piece or necessitates removing and redoing the incorrect rows. In a project comprising hundreds of rows it is almost inevitable that a beader will forget to mark off some of those rows.
In addition, in beadwork it is difficult to predict the size of a finished piece. An actual size pattern might have more than 16 beads per inch in each direction, depending on the size beads being used. Because of the small size of beads in such instances, beading patterns have traditionally been enlarged to make them easier to see and follow. In so doing however, the beader loses the sense of the true size of the finished work.
Another critical aspect of beading is creating and maintaining the proper tension in the beadwork. The tension of a beadwork is regulated by the number of beads per inch. Thus, if the beader uses more beads per inch, the finished beadwork will have a greater tension or “stiffness.” When working with a non-flat form, it is difficult to know how many beads you should put around any given form, or conversely to know what size form to use for a pattern comprising a given number of beads, to create a desireable tension. These are critical decisions since the number of beads used to cover a given area directly affects the tension of the finished beadwork. If the tension is improperly gauged, the finished beadwork will be too stiff or will buckle, reducing the usefulness or attractiveness of the finished beadwork. Beaders have long complained about the difficulty in following patterns and in achieving a consistent and desireable tension.
More recently pattern papers have been developed which have spaces in the grid sized to correspond exactly to bead sizes and laid out to correspond exactly to specific bead stitches. These pattern papers are designed to be used in the traditional manner, i.e., separate from the beadwork being created. Before the introduction of the Tube Aloo device, described in more detail below, no one suggested that such pattern papers be used integrally with the beading form. These pattern papers are designed to show the size the finished piece will be. Due to the very small size of the spaces, patterns on these papers will be very difficult to see. These pattern papers do nothing to resolve the problems or difficulties encountered by the beader in following the pattern (pattern following) or creating or maintaining the proper tension in the work during the beading. Because the flat pattern paper does not allow for any open thread space to permit flexibility in the finished beadwork, or appropriately account for the difference in geometry between the flat pattern grid and the geometry of a grid that would exist in a non-flat beadwork (such as, for example, a tubular beadwork), discrepancies between the pattern grid and the beadwork will inevitably arise. Most times, the beadwork produced from employing these patterns is too tight.
Still more recently, in 1995, a tubular bead loom was developed which consists of a clear acrylic hollow tube, open at both ends. It is called a Tube Aloo and comes in two (2) sizes. The idea is to put a rolled beadwork pattern paper, of the type described above, or a rolled picture, inside the clear tube and bead around the outside of the tube. The concept of beading over the pattern was new, but there are several problems with this device. The beader is limited to working with only two sizes of the Tube Aloo, limiting the size of the finished work. Traditionally, beaders have used any available form such as cardboard centers from toilet and wrapping paper, pieces of PVC pipe, oatmeal boxes, or other forms from which the completed beadwork can be removed. The Tube Aloo also does not solve the problem of creating or maintaining the proper tension in the work. It fails to indicate to the beader how many beads to use around the Tube Aloo.
Although the Tube Aloo attempts to solve the difficulty of pattern following it does not do so. There is no beading pattern paper specifically designed for use with the Tube Aloo, nor is any beading pattern paper recommended for use with the Tube Aloo. The difference between the inside and outside circumferences of the Tube Aloo negates the value of being able to see the pattern beneath the beadwork being created. Moreover, given this difference, the bead spaces designated on presently available pattern papers do not line up with the actual placement of the beads in the beadwork. In addition, the bead spaces are not sized for use with this device in which the beading is done over the pattern. The size of the bead indicated in the patterned paper does not have the correct relationship to the size of the beads to be used in the work to maintain the proper tension. Thus, these discrepancies cause problems with controlling the tension of the beadwork.
The Tube Aloo also does not work well if the beader uses a picture instead of a bead pattern as a guide. Because: (a) no bead lines or spaces are designated in an ordinary picture, (b) most stitches do not allow for random placement of individual beads, and (c) the color in a picture may change at a point in the interior of a bead space, the beader must repeatedly make decisions concerning the choice of color for a bead at the point where the picture color changes. Incorrect choices do not become apparent until the entire project is complete. To further compound these difficulties, the beader must also decide how many beads to use around the form.
Flat beadwork has commonly been done with no form or base that is designed for that particular purpose. The relevant art does not suggest any techniques for doing flat beadwork that minimizes mistakes beyond the traditional methods that employ pattern
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