Chain – staple – and horseshoe making – Chain making – Blanks and processes
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-23
2004-09-07
Jones, Daivd B. (Department: 3725)
Chain, staple, and horseshoe making
Chain making
Blanks and processes
C059S080000, C059S082000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06786032
ABSTRACT:
REFERENCE TO DOCUMENT DISCLOSURE CERTIFICATES
Reference is made to U.S. Document Disclosure Certificate Nos.: 449,115 recorded Dec. 22, 1998; 459911 recorded Jul. 30, 1999; 458876 recorded Jul. 5, 1999; 455008 recorded Apr. 19, 1999; and 455009 recorded Apr. 19, 1999; the entire contents of all such certificates incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of decorative jewelry items, and more particularly to: the basic structural link element of a jewelry closed-link chain exhibiting attractive, decorative, and ornamental visual properties; a chain of assembled ones of such link elements; and a method of manufacture of the link elements and of the assembled chains.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Jewelry chain link elements, a plurality of which when connected together form a chain, can be manufactured in a variety of ways, including the stamping of link elements from a sheet of appropriate material, most likely a precious metal. In most cases, the material or physical appearance of a link is uniform. In other words, the link may be made from silver, gold, platinum, white gold, brass, or other material. If manufactured of silver, it conventionally would be entirely silver and uniform in its silver appearance. Should the craftsman desire to add a different visual property to the link, it would be added after the manufacture of the link or the completed chain.
Closed-link chains are a popular type of jewelry item made from linking a number of, typically, annular link elements together in a repetitive manner in which each link element has an enclosed open area, and each link element has a linking portion passing through the enclosed open area of an adjacent link element. The result is a chain that is flexible and pleasing to the eye. The annular link elements are typically formed of gold, silver, or other precious metal and may be round in cross section or may be rectangular in cross section with flat major side surfaces, depending on the method of manufacture. The overall generally circular configuration of the annular link elements is completely closed, although there is provided a closed gap to permit the link elements to be twisted open, interlinked with another link element, and then twisted closed again. Preferably, the touching ends of the link element at the closed gap are soldered, sonic welded, or otherwise solidly connected to prevent inadvertent opening of a gap and loss of a link element or the chain itself.
The link elements may be assembled together to form a rather loose interlinked chain, or they may be sized and treated before, during, and/or after assembly, such that tightly interlinked link elements give the chain the appearance of a tire-tread-like pattern, yet the chain remains flexible but to a more limited extent.
A number of link elements may be interconnected in a twisted fashion and in a systematic and repetitive pattern of orientation, resulting in an eye-pleasing, flexible, and beautiful jewelry article that looks and feels like a flattened braided chain.
Some manufacturers of jewelry use different colored gold and silver elements to enhance the beauty of the jewelry article. An example is a closed-link chain in which sets or groups of link elements of one color alternate with sets or groups of link elements of another color, resulting in bracelets or necklaces exhibiting such different colors along their lengths, but with each individual link element being of a single color (and/or texture), assembled with other single colored (and/or textured) link elements. Gold, for example, is available in at least four colors; white, yellow, rose (pink), and green.
Thus, in typical prior art construction techniques for producing closed-link chain jewelry, each link element is of a single solid color, texture, shape, and pattern, e.g., each link element may be stamped from a solid thin sheet of precious metal, such as gold, in the form of an annular ring. While an all yellow gold closed-link chain or an all white gold closed-link chain is attractive, it is otherwise uninteresting due to the monotonic nature of its unvarying coloration, texture, and/or shape along the link elements of the chain. Those prior art closed-link chains that do exhibit variations of colors along their lengths nevertheless are constructed of individual link elements each of which is of a single solid color, texture, shape, and/or pattern.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides the means and methods for constructing closed-link chain link elements in a way to produce a closed-link chain piece of jewelry in which each link element, or selected link elements, and therefore the closed-link chain itself, exhibits unique visual properties.
The present invention teaches the manufacture of a chain link element, whereby the visual property of an individual link element can be varied and determined during the manufacture process. This may be done by stamping the chain link element from a sheet of material and predisposing the desired visual property on or in the sheet of material prior to stamping. For example, a sheet of material may be fabricated with a first visual property and a second visual property. A chain link element is then stamped from the sheet of material forming a chain link element with a first visual property thereon and a second visual property thereon. The visual property may be due to different materials (e.g. gold v. silver), different coloration, different texture, different karat weights, or any other differences in physical or visual appearance. The chain link element thus produced can then be cut (if necessary) or otherwise connected to other chain link elements to form a chain.
A chain link element can be produced from a sheet of material having a variety of different visual properties. The predominant visual property of a chain link element can be varied by varying the visual properties of the sheet of material.
Preferably, the chain link element may be produced with a closed gap during stamping which would preclude the necessity of cutting the chain link element prior to connecting with other chain link elements.
By providing individual link elements with different visual properties, including different shapes, the ultimate appearance of the completed closed-link chain can be determined. For example, if each individual link element exhibits two colors, the resulting closed-link chain will exhibit those two colors in a pattern determined by the manufacturer's designer. Since the link elements overlap, and since they are placed in pre-determined positions when they are interlinked, the location of the colors will have an influence on the appearance of the finished product.
Coloration is only one type of “visual property”, and may vary according to the type or formulation of the material or materials from which a link element is made. Reflectivity, surface texture, pattern feature or characteristic, in addition to shape, are among other visual properties of a link that can influence the appearance of a finished closed-link chain. Such unique visual property traits for the succession of link elements results in a more attractive, fanciful, more delicate and interesting fashion jewelry item.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the link elements may be formed by a stamping process whereby the desired visual effects on the link elements are preliminarily provided on or in the sheet of material from which the link elements are later stamped. Alternatively, especially when the visual property is surface texture or shape, the desired visual effects on the link elements may be created during or after the stamping process.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the link elements may be manufactured by bending a thin elongated wire of prescribed dimensions into the desired shape. The wire may be supplied on spools and formed by machine. For example, a Link-O-Matic® machine, such as the Model 534 available from Crafford Precision Products Co., O
Chia Cheo K.
Chia Huy K.
Chia Meang K.
Jones Daivd B.
Ladas & Parry
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