Jewelry – Body member encircling ornament – Ring
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-28
2001-07-17
Knight, Anthony (Department: 3628)
Jewelry
Body member encircling ornament
Ring
C063S003000, CD11S004000, CD11S026000, CD11S029000, CD11S037000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260383
ABSTRACT:
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
This application contains a microfiche appendix consisting of one microfiche having Appendices A through D thereon, which together comprise a total of 19 frames of G-code programs.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
A process for the computer controlled machining of a ring in which blanks are cut from a tube of metal (such as silver or gold), two annular V grooves are machined into the blanks, and a multiplicity of recessed shapes are then machined into the space between the annular grooves.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Jewelry rings have traditionally been made by an “investment casting” process, such as, e.g., the process described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,136,858, 4,744,274, 4,626,145, 3,991,809, 3,735,800, and the like. In this process, a master ring is made by hand and thereafter encased in raw rubber, which is then heated and pressure cured to form a solid rubber block. The cured rubber block is then cut open, the master ring is removed, and the cavity within the rubber block is then filled with molten wax. After cooling, the wax ring thus formed is then removed from the rubber block and encased in “investment” (which is primarily “plaster of Paris). The investment is then heated to remove the wax encased therein and cooled to the desired casting temperature. Molten metal is then poured into the investment, the investment is allowed to cool, and then the investment is broken up (usually with a waterjet) to remove the cast ring.
In one embodiment of this process, a strip of silver with Roman numerals stamped into it is wrapped around the cast ring and inlayed into a groove around the outside of the ring. One example of the ring made via this embodiment is a Roman numeral ring, which is sold by Tiffany and Company and has met with a substantial amount of commercial success.
The process of making the Roman numeral ring, described above, is tedious and cumbersome. Furthermore, the ring made by the process often contains a substantial number of pits and has one or more surfaces which are not suitably smooth. At least one of these defects is due to the presence of “shrinkage porosity” within the cast ring.
During the investment casting process, when the metal in the investment changes for a liquid to a solid, it shrinks by about ten percent. This reduction in volume causes small voids in the cast product; and, after the cast ring is given a high polish by conventional means, this “shrinkage porosity” manifests itself as small pits in the highly polished ring surfaces.
It is an object of this invention to provide a process for preparing a silver ring with no “shrinkage porosity” and the appearance defects associated therewith.
It is another object of this invention to provide a process for preparing a silver ring with smooth surfaces.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a process for preparing a Roman numeral silver ring with high definition recesses disposed on the top surface of the ring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention, there is provided an integral ring which is comprised of at least 35 weight percent of a precious metal selected from the group consisting of silver and gold, wherein said ring has a porosity of less than 0.1 percent, a Vickers pyramidal hardness of at least about 120, and a tensile strength at least about 60,000 pounds per square inch. The ring has an inner surface, and outer surface, an inner diameter of from about 0.55 to about 0.93 inches, and outer diameter of from about 0.61 to about 1.09 inches, and a thickness of from about 0.03 to about 0.08 inches; it has a circumference of from about 1.7 to about 3.5 inches; disposed about and extending around the entire outer surface of the ring is a first annular groove and a second, spaced apart annular groove, and at least 10 adjoining recessed areas disposed between and communicating with these annular grooves, wherein each of the first annular groove and the second annular groove has a width of from about 0.01 to about 0.02 inches and a depth of from about 0.008 to about 0.018 inches; and disposed between the adjoining recessed areas are at least about 10 raised indicia.
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patent: D. 390150 (1998-02-01), Wein
patent: D. 418078 (1999-12-01), Pasquetti
patent: 2168490 (1939-08-01), Moss
patent: 2653402 (1953-09-01), Bonagura
patent: 5586390 (1996-12-01), Barr
patent: 6062045 (2000-05-01), West
Reichert David C. D.
Warren Malcolm
Chop Andrea
Greenwald Howard J.
Greenwald & Basch LLP
Knight Anthony
Warren Metallurgical Inc.
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