Abstract:
The present invention is a method and apparatus for forming wire loops using wire looping pliers. In one embodiment of the invention, the pair of wire pliers having a cylindrical jaw and a recessed jaw for accepting the cylindrical jaw allows the user of the tool to make symmetrical wire loops on a consistent basis. Additionally, the width of the recessed jaw can be set such that the user can use the recessed jaw to measure the distance from a particular point where the neck of the wire loop should be broken. The recessed surface of the recessed jaw and the cylindrical jaw mate together in such a manner as to provide uniform pressure around a significant portion of the loop so as to prevent marring of the surface of the wire.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/281,447 filed May 19, 2014, and published as U.S. 2014/025142 A1 on Sep. 11, 2014, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/797,462 filed Jun. 10, 2010, and published as U.S. 2011/0303319 A1 on Dec. 15, 2011, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as examples. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming wire and more particularly to wire looping pliers and a method of using same during the manufacture of jewelry. 
       2. Description of Related Art 
       [0003]    The art of hand making jewelry has become more popular in recent years. Professionals and amateurs alike have conducted substantial business making and selling handmade jewelry. In the process of making jewelry, tools are used to accomplish certain tasks. One task that is often performed in making jewelry is what is referred in the art as “wire looping.” For example, wire looping can be used to create wire loops on two sides of a bead to enable attachment of the bead to other parts. Wire looping can also be used to form what is called an eye pin. 
         [0004]    One of the problems with the current tools that are used to create wire loops is that it is difficult to consistently create a symmetrical loop. Current tools also tend to cause marring or distortion of the wire surface in certain places, leaving an undesirable appearance. Additionally, for determining where to “break the neck” of the wire loop, current tools require the user to guess where to place the tool that is used to form the loop to provide the appropriate spacing. This leads to mistakes and inconsistency in the appearance of the wire loops. 
         [0005]    Therefore, there is a need for wire looping pliers that will allow for the consistent creation of wire loops with minimal distortion or marring of the surface of the wire. There is also need for a more precise means of measuring the distance or the location at which a wire loop should be formed to eliminate some of the guesswork required by current tools. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention is a method and apparatus for forming wire loops using wire looping pliers. In one embodiment of the invention, the pair of wire pliers having a cylindrical jaw and a recessed jaw for accepting the cylindrical jaw allows the user of the tool to make symmetrical wire loops on a consistent basis. Additionally, the width of the recessed jaw can be set such that the user can use the recessed jaw to measure the distance from a particular point where the neck of the wire loop should be broken. The recessed surface of the recessed jaw and the cylindrical jaw mate together in such a manner as to provide uniform pressure around a significant portion of the loop so as to prevent marring of the surface of the wire. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a pair of wire looping pliers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an end view of the jaws of a pair of wire looping pliers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0010]      FIGS. 3-14  are illustrations of the steps taken in a method of forming wrapped loops on each side of a bead in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0011]      FIGS. 15-19 , are illustrations of the steps taken in a method of forming an eye pin in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0012]      FIGS. 20-24 , are illustrations showing certain alternative steps in a method of forming wrapped loops on each side of a bead in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a perspective view of a pair of wire looping pliers  100  in accordance with an embodiment of present invention as illustrated. A pair of handles  110  are connected at a pivot  120 . A cylindrical jaw  130  and a recessed jaw  140  are connected to the respective handles  110  at the pivot point  120  so as to allow the cylindrical jaw  130  and the recessed jaw to move from the open position shown in  FIG. 1  to a closed position as shown in  FIGS. 2-3 . Springs  150  may also be attached to the handle  110  to cause the pliers to automatically return to the open position that is illustrated in  FIG. 1  when the handles  110  are released. By squeezing the handles  110 , the cylindrical jaw  130  mates with a trough  160  in the recessed jaw  140 . 
         [0014]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , an end view of the jaws  130 ,  140  of the wire looping pliers  100  is illustrated. As show in  FIG. 2 , the cylindrical jaw  130  mates with the recessed jaw  140 . Although not shown, a wire will be forced into compliance with the shape of the space  210  to form the wire into approximately a ninety degree bend with a radius that is approximately equal to the radius of the cylindrical jaw  130 . However, the invention is not limited to tools that create bends of ninety degrees as it may be desirable depending on the application to have bends of different angles. 
         [0015]    In one embodiment of the invention, the overall width  220  of the recessed jaw is approximately 5.5 millimeters. The height  230  of the recessed jaw can be set at 3.5 millimeters and the wall width  250  of the recessed jaw  140  can be set to 1.5 millimeters. The diameter of the cylindrical jaw  130  can be set at 1.5 millimeters. The pliers  100  can be constructed such that when the jaws are completely closed there is a slight gap  210  between the recessed jaw  140  and the cylindrical jaw  130 . The gap can be such that it is smaller than the diameter of the wire to be formed so as to allow the wire to be securely gripped while preventing the user from applying excessive force that causes the wire to be marred or deformed. In one embodiment of the invention, the gap  210  may be set to 0.4 millimeters. This allows the pliers to grip wire sizes ideally in the 20 to 24 gauge range. However, one with skill in the art will understand that the dimensions of the jaws described above can be changed to accommodate different wire sizes, to allow for different sized loops to be formed, and to provide a guide as discussed below for where to form a loop to provide for a certain number of wraps on a wire loop. 
         [0016]    For example, in an alternate embodiment of the invention, the overall width  220  of the recessed jaw  140  is approximately 7.5 millimeters. The height  230  of the recessed jaw can be set at 4.0 millimeters and the wall width  250  of the recessed jaw  140  can be set to 2.0 millimeters. The diameter of the cylindrical jaw  130  can be set at 2.5 millimeters. The gap  210  may be set to 0.7 millimeters. This allows the pliers to grip wire sizes ideally in the 18 to 20 gauge range. 
         [0017]    In another alternate embodiment of the invention, the overall width  220  of the recessed jaw  140  is approximately 9.0 millimeters. The height  230  of the recessed jaw can be set at 4.5 millimeters and the wall width  250  of the recessed jaw  140  can be set to 2.0 millimeters. The diameter of the cylindrical jaw  130  can be set at 3.0 millimeters. The gap  210  may be set to 1.2 millimeters. This allows the pliers to grip wire sizes ideally in the 16 to 18 gauge range. 
         [0018]    In order to help prevent marring, the gap  240  near the top of the trough  160  of the recessed jaw  140  is slightly larger than the gap  210  at the bottom of the trough  160  to help prevent damage to the wire during the bending process. The top edges of the trough  160  of the recessed jaw  140  are also rounded and smooth to help prevent marring of the wire as well and to allow the use of the top edges for bending the wire in a direction opposite to the bend created when the jaws  130 ,  140  are closed, also known as “breaking the neck.” 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIGS. 3-14 , a method of forming wrapped loops on each side of a bead is illustrated. Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a wire  310  is inserted between the jaws of the pliers  100  and the user squeezes the handles  110  of the pliers  100  to cause the wire to bend. Using one embodiment of the pliers  100 , the closing of the jaws  130 ,  140  causes a bend in the wire that is approximately 90 degrees although other angles are possible by changing the shape of the trough  140 . 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , one leg  405  of the wire  310  is bent over the top edge  420  of one side of the trough  160  of the recessed jaw  140  so that the angle  410  between the two wire legs is approximately 135 degrees. Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the other leg  505  of the wire  310  is pulled to a position that is essentially parallel to the opposite leg  405 . The steps shown in  FIGS. 1-5  are taken while the user applies pressure to the handles to keep jaws pressed against the wire  310  to hold it in place. 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the jaws  130 ,  140  are opened slightly to allow the wire to be rotated slightly such that the leg  505  extends outward at an angle while keeping the break in the neck close enough to the top edge  420  of the trough  160  of the recessed jaw  140  to allow the top edge  420  to provide support to leg  505  during wrapping of the neck while being sufficiently spaced from the edge  420  to allow the neck to be completely wrapped. 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , the user of the pliers  100  reapplies pressure to the handles  110  to grip the wire  310  in place and the short leg  405  of the wire  310  is then bent across the opposite leg  505  as shown in  FIG. 7  and wrapped around the leg  505  to form a symmetrical wire loop as shown in  FIG. 8 . Once the desired wraps have been turned, the user then clips the remaining portion of the leg  405  from the loop. When wrapping the wire as shown in  FIG. 7 , the end of the wire  405  can be gripped with another pair of pliers to perform the wrapping. By providing a tight tension as the wire is wrapped, the wraps will be evenly spaced and snug against each other. 
         [0023]    Referring now to  FIG. 9 , a bead  910  is threaded over the end  505  of the wire  310  and pushed snug against the wrapped loop  920 . The pliers  100  are then placed by the user immediately adjacent to the opposite side of the bead  910  with the side  930  of the recessed jaw  140  resting against the bead  910 . The jaws  130 ,  140  are then closed by the user resulting in the wire leg  505  being bent to an angle that is approximately 90 degrees relative to the axis of the bead  910  as shown in  FIG. 10 . The thickness  250  of the side  1010  of recessed jaw  140  is such that when the pliers  100  are placed adjacent to the bead  910  and the bend made, the bend will be in the correct position to allow wire to be wrapped the desired number of times while giving a snug fit against the bead  910 . 
         [0024]    Once the 90 degree bend is performed as shown in  FIG. 10 , the user then opens the angle between the leg  505  and the axis of the bead  910  to approximately 135 degrees by rotating the pliers while maintaining the grip on the wire as shown in  FIG. 11 . While holding the pliers  100  in the same position as illustrated in  FIG. 11  and continuing to grip the wire, the user then bends the leg  505  of the wire so that it touches the side of the bead  910 . While making sure that the bead is snug against the wire loop  920  as shown in  FIG. 12 , the wire end  505  is then wrapped around the wire  310  using a separate set of pliers  1310  as shown in  FIG. 13 . The finished product that results from this method is shown in  FIG. 14 . Note that the wire loops  920 ,  1410  are symmetrical and that the windings are tight, creating a pleasing appearance. 
         [0025]    Referring now to  FIGS. 15-19 , a method of forming an eye pin is illustrated. Referring now to  FIG. 15 , a wire  1510  is placed between the jaws of the pliers  100  in such a manner that an end  1515  of the wire  1510  is underneath the cylindrical jaw  130 . The user then squeezes the handles of the pliers  100  to form a bend in the wire. As shown in  FIG. 16 , the jaws are repeatedly opened and closed while the wire is worked around the cylindrical jaw  130  to form a complete circle as shown in  FIG. 17 . Once the complete circle is formed, the user then bends the wire  1510  against the top edge  1520  of the recessed jaw  140  as shown in  FIG. 18  so as to form an eye pin as shown in  FIG. 19 . 
         [0026]    The methods described are easily repeated and create a symmetrical loop shape. The method described makes it easy to center the loop over the wire without distorting or bending the loop. Additionally, the user can create consistent loops time after time without guessing as to where to break the neck. The simplicity of the tool used makes it relatively cheap to manufacture compared to other tools. 
         [0027]    Referring now to  FIGS. 20-24 , an alternative method of forming wrapped loops on each side of a bead is illustrated. In some cases, it may be desirable for the wrapped loop on each side of a bead to have a longer neck than the neck created using the method described above with reference to  FIGS. 3-14 . However, the wall width  250  of recessed jaw  140  may be too small to provide an accurate guide for measuring the distance from the bead to create the bend described above with reference to  FIG. 9 . Nevertheless, it is possible to accurately measure the location of the bend for a longer neck by revising the method described above. 
         [0028]    The first wrapped loop is created in the manner described above with the desired number of wraps necessary to create a long neck on the first loop. The wire is threaded through the bead and a bend is performed on the end of the bead opposite the first loop that is created as described with reference to  FIG. 10 . The method then changes slightly from that described above to create the second loop. With reference to  FIG. 20 , the pliers  100  are placed adjacent the bend  2010  just created and another bend is formed in the wire  2020  by squeezing the pliers  100 . With reference now to  FIG. 21 , the wire  2020  is then bent around the cylindrical jaw  130  of the pliers  100 . With reference now to  FIG. 22 , the loop is closed and the pliers are rotated while keeping the jaws closed until the loop is centered over the wire, straightening the bend  2010  but not completely. Referring now to  FIG. 24 , the neck of the wire is wrapped until the space between the bead is filled resulting in wrapped loop with a long neck  2420 . 
         [0029]    This method is best used with wire that is at least 16 to 20 gauge because lighter weight wire is apt to bend and distort as the jewelry is worn. Of course, different length necks can be created by varying the width  250  of the wall of recessed jaw. But using the method described with reference to  FIGS. 20-24  allows the same pair of pliers to precisely measure the bend location to form two different neck lengths. 
         [0030]    Although the invention hereof has been described by way of a preferred embodiment, it will be evident that other adaptations and modifications can be employed without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. The terms and expressions employed herein have been used as terms of description and not of limitation; and thus, there is no intent of excluding equivalents, but on the contrary it is intended to cover any and all equivalents that may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, using the same basic shapes, a pair of pliers having multiple cylindrical portions for the cylindrical jaw as well as multiple recessed portions could also be manufactured so that one tool could accommodate multiple wire sizes. Additionally, various sizes and shapes of the jaws could be implemented without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.