Patent Publication Number: US-6668871-B1

Title: Wire weaving apparatus and method

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to wire weaving tools and methods and, more particularly, to a wire weaving tool and technique for holding a multiplicity of wire pieces securely in place during a wire weaving operation. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The art of wire weaving and wire forming has generally utilized hand techniques for fabricating flat pads and padding for chair seat frames, fabric-like materials for beadwork, and twisted wire in the fabrication of decorative jewelry and toys. Depending upon the value of the components (e.g., beads, precious gems) used in the manufacture of the article, of course, the finished product may have substantial value. 
     Some of the more common techniques for using wire as a decorative article material are illustrated in United States Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 751,518 was issued to J. H. Killion on Feb. 9, 1904 for STOCK FOR FRAMING OR OTHER PURPOSES. U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,769 was issued to M. Godefroy on Jul. 1, 1924 for FABRICATED BEADWORK. U.S. Pat. No. 1,771,278 was issued to A. Weiner on Jul. 22, 1930 for ORNAMENTING DEVICE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME. U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,103 was issued to J. G. Lieber on Sep. 1, 1970 for WIRE AND BEAD JEWELRY CONSTRUCTION. U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,268 was issued to Kathy Klaus on May 12, 1992 for BEADS AND WIRE FRAME TOY. 
     Wire weaving and wire forming are generally arts that do not rely upon any special tooling or unusual techniques for fabricating articles. Rather, the wire weaving and forming arts have generally relied upon the imagination of creative artists to fashion their creations using ordinary tools and utensils. 
     Egg ornaments and toys have always fascinated the public, dating back at least to the famous Fabrege eggs that were created for the Romanoffs. Eggs are one of the most perfect shapes and have a pleasing aura. Unfortunately, however, creating hollow eggs from wire is not a trivial process. An unusual toy creation in the form of an egg, fashioned from interleaved and intertwined helix shells, is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,959, issued to Fleischer on Sep. 2, 1980, entitled TOY EGG. 
     The present invention meets a desire to create eggs that are fabricated by the weaving of a multiplicity of wires. In order to accomplish the weaving of wires that form the eggs of this invention, it is necessary to hold the many wires in place during the weaving process. Since ordinary looms and pegboards cannot be used to weave the egg shape, it was necessary to generate a new weaving tool and technique to create the egg. 
     The current invention comprises a new wire weaving technique and tool. The tool comprises a spindle or mandrel-type device, having a substantially circular head portion disposed on a distal end of an elongated shaft forming a handle portion. The head contains a plurality of substantially equally spaced holes. Each of the holes in the head receives an individual wire that is respectively threaded through the head portion and then bent inwardly toward the handle. 
     Owing to the unwieldy nature of many wires dangling from the head, it is necessary to affix the wires to the handle. Several bands wrap about the wires and affix them to the shaft. Simple rubber bands can be used for this purpose. The wires are prevented from shifting or working loose with respect to their position about the head since they take a sharp bend toward the handle after passing through the holes in the head portion. The firmly held wires can then be weaved easily in decorative articles, such as eggs. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a wire weaving tool and technique for fabricating decorative and useful wire-woven articles. The tool consists of a mandrel having a substantially circular head portion disposed on a distal end of an elongated shaft. The head contains a plurality of substantially equally spaced holes. Each of the holes in the head receives an individual wire that is respectively threaded through the head and then bent inwardly toward the shaft. Owing to the unwieldy nature of many wires dangling from the head, the wires are affixed to the shaft by several bands that wrap about the wires. Simple rubber bands can be used for this purpose. The wires are prevented from shifting or working loose with respect to their position about the head, due to a sharp bend of wires toward the shaft after passing through the holes. The firmly held wires can then be weaved easily in decorative articles of any regular or irregular substantially hollow shape, preferably an egg. The shape can have a flat bottom surface allowing the object to stand on its own accord. 
     Once the weave is substantially established, a shaping block can be placed on top of the tool to complete the weaving of the article. The shaping block is used as a guide to direct the weaver to form the wire into the desired decorative article. 
     The wire-woven article can also act as a method of dissipating energy and dampening vibration for diverse equipment. By using the woven wire to dissipate energy, each wire acts independently from every other. The total number of wires multiplies the individual action of each wire such that the total forces that can be dissipated are much greater than that of other methods. Additionally, the hollow design of the inventive wire-woven article enables it to be lighter in weight than other devices currently in use. The shape of the inventive article is maintained while dissipating energy and dampening vibration. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide an improved wire weaving tool and method. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a wire weaving tool that can hold in place a multiplicity of wires as they are formed into a decorative article. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a woven wire article that can be used to dissipate energy and dampen vibration. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings when considered in conjunction with the subsequent detailed description in which: 
     FIGS. 1 a  and  1   b  illustrate front and top views, respectively, of a wire weaving tool in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 1 c  depicts the tool shown in FIG. 1 a  with wires ready for weaving; 
     FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of a first row of wires disposed on the head of the tool depicted in FIG. 1 c;    
     FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective, frontal view of an egg article that has been partially weaved upon the tool depicted in FIGS. 1 a  through  1   c;    
     FIG. 4 shows a front view of the egg of FIG. 3 removed from the head of the tool depicted in FIGS. 1 a  through  1   c;    
     FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of the egg of FIG. 4 as it is placed on a guide form; 
     FIG. 6 depicts a front view of a woven egg fabricated in accordance with this invention; 
     FIG. 7 shows an enlarged, side view of a wire woven egg that is hinged at a mid-portion; and 
     FIG. 8 illustrates an enlarged front view of the egg article of FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     For purposes of brevity and clarity, like elements and components will bear the same designations and numbering throughout the figures. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Generally speaking, this invention is related to a unique wire weaving method using a new wire weaving tool that holds a multiplicity of wires in place during the weaving process. The tool comprises a shaft supporting a head with a plurality of wire receiving holes disposed substantially equally thereabout. Normally, a multiplicity of metal wires form a dangling, unwieldy mass of threads and strings, which hamper the weaving process. The present tool allows the wires to be held to the shaft of the tool after they have been bent inwardly from the head, thus locking them in place about the shaft. 
     Now referring to FIGS. 1 a  and  1   b , there is shown a wire weaving tool  10  in accordance with the present invention. The tool  10  comprises a circular head portion  12  disposed on top of a shaft-like handle  14 . The circular head portion  12  comprises a plurality of threading holes  16  that receive a multiplicity of wires  18 , as shown in FIG. 1 c . The wires  18  are threaded through the holes  16  and are then bent inwardly toward the shaft  14 . The multiplicity of wires  18  are made to run down the length of the shaft  14  where they are affixed to the shaft  14  by two, upper and lower rubber bands  15   a  and  15   b , respectively. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the wire weaving method of this invention is shown. The left hand wire  18   a  projecting from the top face  17  of the head  12  of tool  10  is caused to be bent towards the right (arrow  20   a ). As the wire  18   a  is bent towards the right, it encounters adjacent wire  18   b , at which point it is bent upwardly, as illustrated by arrow  22 . Thus, wire  18   a  uses wire  18   b  as a pivot when it is caused to be bent upwardly. Wire  18   b  is then bent towards the right (arrow  20   b ) where it encounters adjacent wire  18   c , and is pivotally directed upwardly, as was the wire  18   a  before it. 
     As the weaver works his or her way around the circular head  12 , each wire  18   a  - 18   d , etc. in turn is caused to be bent towards the right and then upwardly about its adjacent wire. The process is repeated until beginning wire  18   a  is reached. At this point in the process, the last wire  18  is tucked under the first wire  18   a  , completing the first woven row of a woven wire article. By building one row upon another row, a woven wire article is created using the tool  10  illustrated in FIGS. 1 a  through  1   c , and pursuant to the method shown in FIG.  2 . Beads  13  are threaded on each wire  18  for every row, resulting in a colorful pattern of colors and shapes. 
     The tool  10  comprises a spindle or mandrel-type device, as aforementioned, having a substantially circular head portion  12  disposed on a distal end of an elongated shaft forming a handle portion  14 . The head  12  contains a plurality of substantially equally spaced threading holes  16 . Each of the holes  16  in the head  12  receives an individual wire  18  that is respectively threaded through the head portion  12  and then bent downwardly about the handle  14 . Owing to the unwieldy nature of many wires  18  dangling from the head  12 , it is necessary to affix the wires  18  to the handle  14  by several bands  15   a ,  15   b  that wrap about the wires  18  and affix them to the shaft  14 . Simple rubber bands  15   a ,  15   b  can be used for this purpose. The wires  18  are prevented from shifting or working loose with respect to their position about the head  12  due to the fact that they take a sharp bend toward the handle  14  after passing through the threading holes  16  in the head portion  12 . The firmly held wires can then be weaved easily in decorative articles of any substantially hollow regular or irregular shape, including a woven wire egg, fruit or vegetable (not shown). The shape can have a flat bottom surface allowing the object to stand on its own accord. The artist weaver can add decorative beads to each wire  18  as each row is strung, in order to provide aesthetic character to the weave. A half-dome member (not shown) can be placed on top of the circular head  12  at surface  17  to guide the weaving of the egg. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, an egg  25  is shown being woven using the device  10  depicted in FIGS. 1 a  through  1   c . In the creation of an egg  25 , as shown in this figure, it is necessary to progressively reduce the number of wires  18  being woven. This is accomplished by progressively tucking a wire  18  under, after each row or after every other row, depending on the shape of the article to be formed. When the final row is reached, (i.e., the top of the egg  25  is formed, as shown in FIG.  4 ), the wires  18  of egg  25  can be removed from the tool  10 . A half-dome member  28 , as shown in FIG. 5, can be placed in the top portion of the partially completed egg  25  to provide a guide to the weaving of the bottom portion of the egg, producing the finished egg article illustrated in FIG.  6 . 
     Using the tool  10  and processes described herein, various articles of different shape and character can be woven. The size and shape of the article influences the size and number of holes  16  that are part of tool  10 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, two different egg articles woven in accordance with this invention are shown. The egg  25   a  of FIG. 7 has upper and lower sections  30  and  32 , respectively, which are articulated and attached together by a hinge  34 . FIG. 8 shows a similar egg  25   b  whose respective upper and lower halves  30  and  32  have been woven together to form a single structured article. 
     The inventive article, illustrated as an egg  25 , can also be used to dissipate energy and dampen vibrations. The article retains its shape when an external force is exerted onto it because of its natural energy dissipation and vibration dampening qualities. 
     The inventive tool can be used to create substantially hollow articles of any desired shape, depending upon the skill and creativity of the weaver. 
     Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention. 
     Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.