Method of making self-stopping beads

A method of making a self-stopping bead for jewelry. The method comprises the steps of: inserting a resilient tube with an axial passage lengthwise into a relatively rigid tube having a longitudinal axis; deforming the rigid tube inward toward said axis at at least first and second spaced-apart locations along said axis until the rigid tube is necked down at said locations enough to pinch the resilient tube at a depression; and severing the rigid tube and the resilient tube at said depressions thereby forming a self-stopping bead with opposing holes wherein during the step of deforming, the rigid tube and the resilient tube are pinched off so that each hole in the bead receives therein an end of the resilient tube so that the resilient inner tube has a length substantially the same as an axial length of the self-stopping bead between the opposed bead holes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to jewelry. More particularly, the present invention relates to jewelry that includes an array of beads or other ornaments strung on a support such as a chain or wire. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved self-stopping bead and its method of manufacture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A necklace is often constructed of a series of beads strung on an elongated slender support, such as a chain, wire, string, etc., which can be hung around a person's neck. In some cases, the number of beads on the support is such that the beads occupy substantially the entire length of the support. In other cases, the beads are arranged in groups spaced apart along the length of the support with the beads in each group often having different sizes. In the latter case, one may take steps to provide stops for at least the end beads of each group in order to maintain the integrity of each group and the spacing between adjacent groups along the support. In the past the stops may include drops of solder on the support that bracket each group. In the case of chains, the bracketing links may be flattened or deformed in some way so that they cannot pass through the holes in the adjacent beads. When the bead support is a string, the string can be knotted at the opposite ends of each bead group to provide stops.

With past jewelry items one disadvantage is that, once the beads or other ornaments are strung, there is no possibility to rearrange them along the support. As one may imagine, this limits the utility of the necklace or other jewelry article. For example, while a given woman's necklace may coordinate well with one dress or blouse, it may not look pleasing with another dress or blouse having a different style or neckline. Consequently, a woman may have to purchase many different necklaces in order to satisfy her wardrobe requirements. Needless to say, this can result in a considerable expense, particularly if the necklaces are of a precious metal such as silver or gold.

One bead stop arrangement is shown in patents to Pratt U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,557,376 and 6,722,036 which incorporate an inner resilient plastic tube within an outer metal shell. One of the disadvantages of that structure is that there may be a close tolerance between the inner plastic tube and the outer metal shell resulting in an undesired motion between the inner plastic tube and the outer metal shell. This can cause a sliding motion of the inner plastic tube relative to the outer metal shell thus defeating the “stop” action. Also, the existing teachings do not provide any means by which one can adjust the dimensions of the bead, particularly the passage holes in the bead, to compensate for the use of the beads with different size and type of support.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a beaded belt, necklace, bracelet, anklet and or other jewelry article whose beads can be arranged in different groupings along a chain or other elongated support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a jewelry article comprising a plurality of beads and/or other ornaments strung on a support wherein the beads and/or other ornaments can be adjustably grouped along the support.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a necklace or other jewelry article comprising an elongated slender support having one or more beads adjustably positioned along the support.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable self-stopping bead for a necklace or other jewelry article, and in which the inner tube part of the bead is more securely positioned relative to the outer metal shell of the bead.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of making an adjustable self-stopping bead for a necklace and or other jewelry article, and in which the method can be carried out more effectively than in the past.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a jewelry item employing beads or the like and in which means are provided by which one can adjust the dimensions of the bead, particularly the passage holes in the bead, to compensate for the use of the beads with different size and type of support or chain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The jewelry in accordance with the present invention includes an elongated slender support having strung thereon a series of beads and/or other ornaments one or more of which is a self-stopping bead whose position along the support can be adjustably fixed. This allows the beads or other ornaments on the support to be variably grouped along the length of the support to suit the desires of the wearer. The support may be any one of a variety of known members such as a chain, solid or braided wire, tubular wire, string, monofilament wire or the like.

Each of the adjustable self-stopping beads comprises a hollow shell having a pair of holes therein through which the bead support may be threaded. The bead also has incorporated therein at the time of its manufacture a short flexible resilient tube which is aligned with the shell and preferably disposed so that the ends of the tube extend completely through the shell opposed holes. When that bead is strung on the support, the segment of the support within the tube is resiliently engaged by the wall of the tube such that an appreciable force is required in order to slide that bead along the support. Consequently, the self-stopping beads allow the variable grouping of other, freely slidable, beads or ornaments along the support. With the stop bead arrangement of the present invention a wide variety of different ornamental groupings are possible for a given piece of jewelry.

In accordance with the present invention there is also provided a method of making a self-stopping bead for jewelry. The method comprises the steps of: inserting a resilient tube with an axial passage lengthwise into a relatively rigid tube having a longitudinal axis; deforming the rigid tube inward toward said axis at at least first and second spaced-apart locations along said axis until the rigid tube is necked down at said locations enough to pinch the resilient tube at a depression; and severing the rigid tube and the resilient tube at said depressions thereby forming a series of self-stopping beads each with opposing holes wherein during the step of deforming, the rigid tube and the resilient tube are pinched off so that each hole in the bead receives therein an end of the resilient tube so that the resilient inner tube has a length substantially the same as an axial length of the self-stopping bead between the opposed respective bead holes outer flush surfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring first toFIG. 7of the drawings, a necklace10incorporating the invention is shown hung around a wearer's neck N. The illustrated necklace includes a bead support in the form of a chain12that may be composed of interlocking links or may be a rather straight chain construction. The chain may be formed of any metal or other material suitable for making jewelry. When in use, the chain12forms a loop around the wearer's neck N, as shown inFIG. 7. The illustrated necklace10may have relatively large beads14aand somewhat smaller beads14bon opposite sides of each bead14a. The necklace also includes a plurality of adjustable self-stopping beads16. In the illustrated necklace, the beads16may be smaller than beads14band there is a self-stopping bead16adjacent to each bead14b. The beads16enable all of the beads to be adjustably grouped along chain12. Thus in one necklace format, all of the beads can be clustered at the lower end of the necklace as shown inFIG. 7. Alternatively, the two left-most self-stopping beads may be raised up on the left-hand stretch of the necklace and the two right-most beads may be raised up on the right-hand stretch of the necklace to form two upper bead groupings, leaving a third bead group at the bottom of the necklace such as between locations17aand17binFIG. 7. In another variation, the two end beads on the necklace can be moved farther up on the chain to provide still another design effect. Thus, by variously positioning the self-stopping beads16along chain12, the single necklace can be transformed to have a variety of different bead configurations to coordinate with the different garments in the wearer's wardrobe. Each grouping has at least one stop bead16at each end of the bead grouping to hold that particular bead grouping in place on the chain. While necklace10has only one ornamental strand it is obvious that the invention can be incorporated into a multiple strand necklace which would allow a variety of different bead grouping along the different strands. The support may be any one of a variety of known members such as a chain, solid or braided wire, tubular wire, string, monofilament wire or the like.

Referring now toFIGS. 5 and 6, each self-stopping bead16comprises a thin shell (tube)18of any metal, alloy or other deformable material suitable for making jewelry, e.g. gold, silver, platinum, stainless steel, brass, etc. The shell18has a pair of opposing holes22sized to receive the chain12so that the bead16can be strung on the chain. At the time of its formation, the shell18is provided with an internal tube24which is aligned with holes22. Refer inFIG. 5to dimension “A” for the hole22diameter. Preferably, tube24is of a relatively hard plastic material, preferably polyurethane. Due to the method of installing the tube in shell18, the outside diameter of the tube (dimension “B” inFIG. 5) corresponds, at the hole22, substantially with the diameter of holes22and thus the inside diameter (dimension “G” inFIG. 5) of the tube is smaller than those holes22, at each hole22As illustrate inFIG. 5, the outer diameter of the tube24is substantially the same as the hole22diameter so that the tube24extends preferably completely through the holes22at both sides of the bead to the flush end at “F”. This provides a secure interlock between the tube24and the outer metal shell (tube)18. When the bead16is strung on chain12, the links12aof the chain within the tube are resiliently engaged by the tube wall such that when the bead16is slidably positioned at a selected location on chain12, the bead remains at that location until an appreciable force is applied to slide the bead to a different location along the chain. In the cross-sectional view ofFIG. 5the tube24is shown somewhat exaggerated in diameter at its middle section24a.

Referring now toFIGS. 1-4, the beads16are formed from a long tube18′ by progressively deforming the tube. However, prior to deforming the tube, a small diameter flexible resilient tube24′ is inserted into tube18′. Preferably tube24′ is as long as or longer than tube18′. Following insertion of the tube24′ in tube18′, while rotating tube18′ about its longitudinal axis, the tube18′ is advanced past a succession of hammers or dies H indicated schematically by the arrows J inFIGS. 3 and 4. The hammers H drive progressively closer to the rotary axis X so that tube18′ is progressively deformed as indicated inFIG. 4as viewed from left to right. In other words, the first hammer H makes a slight circular deformation in the otherwise straight tube18′. That circular deformation may then travel to a second hammer which makes a slightly deeper deformation in the tube. That slightly deeper deformation may then be advanced to a third hammer which deepens the deformation even more, and so on, until the tube is deformed or crimped to such an extent that the wall of the tube18′ is necked down so that it actually pinches the resilient tube24′ as shown at depression D inFIGS. 3 and 4. At that point, the diameter of the tube18′ has been reduced to an extent that it is almost pinched off. This hammering action thus forms a more or less oval bead structure at18′ which is connected to the rest of tube basically only at the small neck remaining at the depression D. Tube18′ is then advanced past a cutting device C (for severing the bead) which cuts the tube at the depression D so that the protoshell18is formed with the resilient tube segment therein being separated from the remainder of tubes18′ and24′, respectively, thereby forming a series of self-stopping beads16each with holes22as shown inFIG. 5. The cutting is preferably by means of a saw cutter to be described further hereinafter.

The particular shape of beads16is determined primarily by the shapes of the hammers or dies and the cross-sectional shape and inner and outer diameter dimensions of tube18′. In the illustrated necklace, the hammers H are spaced-apart a distance related to the cross-section of tube18so the beads are preferably oval. However, many other bead shapes are possible, e.g. round, cube, polyhedron, oblate spheroid, etc. The hammers, or the like, can be controlled in opposed direction as indicated by the arrows J inFIG. 3. Alternatively, a hammer may be used against an opposed anvil to form the depression. The shell deformation may be controlled in a single step with a single strike or multiple steps with successive hammer strikes. The metal tube may be moved incrementally to provide successive strikes. Alternatively, several hammer elements can be grouped in series and actuated concurrently.

The links12aof chain12, which are sized to fit through the holes22in shell18, have a maximum diameter or width which is slightly larger than the inside diameter of tube24, at the hole22, so that the links are resiliently engaged by the wall of the tube thereby preventing the free sliding movement of the bead16along the chain. That is, in order to move the bead along the chain, the chain can be held stationary and an appreciable force applied to the bead in a direction parallel to tube24. Because the inner tube extends into the bead holes on both sides of the bead, this provides a firm interlock between the tube and shell. Thus, the tube remains fixed in position relative to the shell providing a secure locking of the bead to the support while still allowing some limited sliding motion of the bead along the support with the application of some reasonable force against the bead. This interlock at the hole22between the tube24and shell18also provides a rather fixed positioning of the end of the resilient tube24(at the flush surface F) so that there is a firm engagement of the chain at each chain link with the inner surface of the tube24at end flush area F.

With further reference toFIGS. 1-4, it has been found in accordance with the present invention that an improved interlock is provided between the inner plastic tube24and the outer metal tube18by selecting a particular material for the plastic tube and providing certain dimensions of the plastic tube to attain the desired results. In this regard the metal shell or tube18′(FIGS. 1 and 2) is a sterling tube that may have an outer diameter of 0.180 inch and a wall thickness of 0.006 inch (inner diameter of 0.168 inch). Into the tube18′ one inserts a polyurethane tube that may have an outer diameter of 0.125 inch and a wall thickness of 0.0156 (inner diameter of 0.0938 inch). It has been found that a relatively hard polyurethane provided improved results in order to provide an enhanced interlock of the plastic tube with the outer shell. It was found that if the hardness is too soft the tube did not stay within the shell hole and thus there is a critical hardness or range of hardness that enabled the proper interlock. This enabled the inner tube to remain stationery as a chain is pulled through the bead or as the bead is moved relative to the chain. Softer materials for the inner tube such as silicone did not provide the desired interlock as they tended to pull away from the shell. The preferred polyurethane used had a 85 A durometer hardness, and ones that were most effective had a durometer hardness of at least 60 A. It has also been found that the plastic inner tube should not be too hard as then the inner plastic tube does not display sufficient resiliency to provide some yielding relative to the support member. The preferred range of hardness on the Shore “A” scale has been found to be between 60 A and 95 A.

The diagram ofFIG. 4actually depicts both the deformation step (arrows J) and the severing step (means C). These are separate steps but for the sake of simplicity are both shown inFIG. 4.FIG. 4also shows by the arrows J a direction of the hammer, or the like.FIG. 4also depicts different shapes for the hammer depending upon the particular application. Progressively from top to bottom inFIG. 4the hammer head has a more rounded configuration. At H1it is quite rounded; at H2it is less rounded; and at H3it is virtually squared. Each of these different hammer configurations will provide a different shaped depression.

Regarding the severing step, a saw blade has been used. SeeFIG. 4and the illustration of a severing means at C. In order to provide a uniform bead construction on both sides of the bead, each cut is centered at centerline C1. However, different width blades may be used to provide different size bead ends where the plastic tube is flush with the metal tube as at F inFIG. 5.FIG. 4depicts two different cutting widths W1and W2; each dependent upon the blade width. The cut at W1is wider than the cut at W2. In essence by controlling the blade width this essentially controls the width of each bead. A wider blade makes for a narrower bead; and a narrower blade makes for a wider bead. This also controls the tension imposed at the bead between the bead insert and the chain or other support. The wider the saw blade, the further in from the end of the bead the saw makes a cut, thus allowing for a slightly bigger bead hole. This would be helpful when the support is larger in diameter such as for a larger size chain, whereby the bead would fit better with the larger chain while yet enabling the same sliding and locking motion between the bead and support. This blade selection thus allows the use of different size chains while still keeping a similar friction tension on basically the same size oval or round bead construction.

Another parameter that can be varied is the particular size of the inner and outer tubes. One may use larger or smaller metal pieces of tubing or larger or smaller plastic inserts depending upon the final product that is to be formed. In one example provided the metal shell or tube may have an outer diameter of 0.180 inch and a wall thickness of 0.006 inch, and the polyurethane tube may have an outer diameter of 0.125 inch and a wall thickness of 0.0156. It is preferred that the wall thickness of the metal tube be thinner than the wall thickness of the plastic tube as relatively represented inFIG. 4.

One use of the slide bead is to be able to lengthen or shorten the necklace or bracelet. There are several ways to use one slide bead threaded in various manners with the chain or chord to fix the chain or chord at a certain length. This makes the use of the slide bead important in adjusting the length of the chord or chain by repositioning the slide bead. Also, inFIG. 1there is just shown a random length of the tubes18′ and24′. In actuality, there are a number of different lengths that may be employed. It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained. Also, certain changes may be made in carrying out the above method and in the construction set forth without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the self-stopping beads16may be used to adjustably group beads or other ornaments even in small jewelry articles such as earrings, pins and brooches. Therefore, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention described herein.