Abstract:
A jewelry product whose ring shank is strengthened after ring sizing by securing a protective reinforcement plate made of a material to a recess in the ring shank. The ring shank is less susceptible to wear from abrasion than is the ring shank. The ring shank may have a decorative portion facing outwardly located diametrically opposite the recessed portion. An insert may be seated about the decorative portion.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to reinforcing or strengthening a ring shank. 
         [0002]    It is known to adjust a ring shank size to fit on a wearer&#39;s finger. One conventional ring sizing process involves sawing the ring shank at a location diametrically opposite the decorative portion of the ring to form a cut, filing the ring shank at the cut until enough material is removed to attain a desired size of the wearer and then soldering together opposite sides of the cut. 
         [0003]    The ring sizing process itself is known to cause physical changes to occur to the ring shank. For instance, there is usually a reduction in the shank dimension where the sizing process took place. Such reduction further weakens the ring shank than would otherwise be the case. The texture of the ring shank appearance may become altered in that it may no longer match as before, particularly if the sizing process causes the formation of visible solder seam lines, cold solder joints, incomplete solder joints or pits in the solder seam. Indeed, the inside contour of the ring may no longer be perfectly round after sizing. 
         [0004]    It would therefore be desirable to form the ring shank in a manner to address undesired alterations to the ring shank appearance attributed to the ring sizing process. That is, to make provision for strengthening the ring shank after ring sizing and for hiding seams from view should they arise from the ring sizing process. It is further desirable to increase the wear of a ring shank by rendering it less susceptible to wear from abrasion. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    One aspect of the invention relates to formation of a recess in a metal ring shank. The recess has portions configured to engage with fasteners to secure a protective reinforcement plate to the recess. The plate should be of a harder metal than that of the ring shank. Its dimension is such that when positioned in the recess of the ring shank, it not only covers, strengthens and protects the underlying ring shank from wear due to abrasion, but also hides imperfections that may be present in the ring shank, such as seams that may remain as a result of the ring sizing process. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a ring shank to which is secured a protective reinforcement plate in accordance with the invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged front view of the plate with fasteners of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is an isometric view of a container with the plate and fasteners of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is an isometric view of a ring with the plate of  FIG. 2  held with an elastic band to the ring shank. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of a further ring shank configured to hold the plate of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a front view thereof, but with the plate of  FIG. 2  being secured. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is an isometric view of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a front view as in  FIG. 6 , but after the plate is secured. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is an isometric view of the further ring shank of  FIG. 5  to show the top after securing an insert to the top. 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is a top view of  FIG. 9 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  is a left side view of  FIG. 9 , which is symmetric to the right side thereof. 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  is a front view of  FIG. 9  prior to securement of the insert. 
           [0019]      FIG. 13  is a front view as in  FIG. 10 , but after the insert is secured. 
           [0020]      FIG. 14  is an isometric view as in  FIG. 9 , but without the insert seated. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    Turning to the figures,  FIG. 1  shows a ring  10  in accordance with the invention. The ring  10  includes a ring shank  12  made of a metal and a protective reinforcement plate  14  secured to the ring shank  12 . The protective reinforcement plate  14  is made of a harder material than the ring shank  12  and is less susceptible to wear from abrasion than the ring shank  12 , if at all. The protective reinforcement plate  14  may be secured to ring shank  12  by fasteners  16 , such as screws. If desired, the protective reinforcement plate  14  may have raised or recessed lettering or other kinds of indicia.  FIG. 2  shows an enlargement of the protective reinforcement plate  14  with fasteners  16 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  exemplifies a container or box  18  to contain the ring  10 . The box  18  may have the protective reinforcement plate  14  of  FIG. 2  (or an identical plate) secured to it. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows a ring  20  to which is tied the protective reinforcement plate  14 . The protective reinforcement plate  14  is preferably elongated and has two holes or apertures  17  spaced apart from each other. The distance between the two holes or apertures  17  substantially matches the distance between threaded holes in the outer facing surface of the ring shank  12  so that they align to enable insertion of the fasteners  16  through the two holes or apertures  17  to secure to the ring shank  12  in the manner of  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 4 , the tying may be done after ring sizing is complete to allow the wearer to try on the ring to verify proper sizing and fit before the protective reinforcement plate  14  is fastened. 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  shows a ring shank  30  in accordance with a further embodiment. A recessed portion  32  is curved in a circumferential direction of the ring shank  12 . The protective reinforcement plate  14  is configured to be bent or curved to fit onto the recessed portion  32 . The recessed portion  32  includes threaded recesses  34  to receive the fasteners  16  exemplified by screws. The recessed portion  32  may be formed at the time the metal is cast for the ring or may be made later by filing material until a desired depth for the recess is attained to accommodate the thickness of the protective reinforcement plate  14 . 
         [0025]      FIGS. 6-8  show the manner of securing the protective reinforcement plate  14  to the recessed portion  32  with the fasteners  16 . The two holes or apertures  17  of the protective reinforcement plate  14  (see  FIG. 4 ) are spaced apart from each other to be substantially the same distance apart as, and thereby align with, the threaded recesses  34  when the protective reinforcement plate  14  is curved or bent to conform to the contour of the recessed portion  32 . Diametrically opposite to the recessed portion  32  is a decorative portion  36 . The decorative portion  36  may be made of precious metal or have a setting for retaining precious stones. 
         [0026]    The ring shank  30  is cast using any conventional metal casting techniques. The protective reinforcement plate  14  is of different material from that of the ring shank  30  and is stamped using any conventional metal stamping techniques. The protective reinforcement plate  14  is screwed into the threaded recesses  34  in the underside of the ring shank  30  using a conventional jeweler&#39;s screwdriver. 
         [0027]    The purpose of the protective reinforcement plate  14  is to reinforce the bottom of the ring shank  30 , to protect the outer facing surface of the shank  30  and to cover any seam line after ring sizing. The purpose of the fasteners  16 , such as screws, is to attach the protective reinforcement plate  14  to the ring shank  30  and to allow for removal of the protective reinforcement plate  14  before ring sizing. 
         [0028]    After ring sizing, a new plate may be used that is sized to fit into the recessed portion  32  with holes or apertures drilled into it in alignment with where the threaded recesses  34  are positioned relative to each other. Alternatively, the same protective reinforcement plate  14  could be used, but it may be necessary to enlarge the holes to ensure alignment for the fasteners  16  with the threaded recesses  34 . 
         [0029]    The bottom of a ring shank  30  is the area that has greatest wear and potential damage from abrasion. By securing the protective reinforcement plate  14  to the recessed portion  32  with fasteners  16  in a releasable manner as described previously, the result will be a longer wearing ring. The ring shank  30  may be silver, the protective reinforcement plate  14  may be titanium, and the fasteners  16 , such as screws, may be steel. Thus, both the ring shank  30  and the protective reinforcement plate  14  may be made of different kinds of metals, whether precious or non-precious metals. 
         [0030]    As seen in  FIGS. 9-14 , the decorative portion  36  may be raised to seat a surrounding insert  38  in a seat  40 . The seat  40  is adjacent a raised surface  42  that extends around the outer periphery of the decorative portion  36 . The insert  38  may be friction fit on the seat or soldered or fastened with fasteners  16  to the ring shank, depending upon how one chooses to retain the insert  38  on the seat  40 . 
         [0031]    If desired, instead of the protective reinforcement plate  14  having two holes or apertures  17 , it could have a single hole or aperture centrally located. Thus, the recessed portion  32  of the ring shank  30  may have a single formation centrally located and configured to align and engage with a single fastener  16  that extends through the one hole or aperture in the protective reinforcement plate  14 . 
         [0032]    While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.