Patent Publication Number: US-6709765-B2

Title: Ornament

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a hangable ornament. 
     2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
     There are many hangable ornaments, the most common of which are mobiles. Mobiles typically include plastic, wooden or metal bodies in the shape of animals, birds or insects. The eye appeal of mobiles is often enhanced by the use of bright colors. By using an irregular surface on the figures, the mobiles can be caused to reflect more light. However, greater complexity of the mobile bodies, results in higher production costs. A need exists for a method of manufacturing an ornament which, while having a relatively complicated body design, is easy to produce. Moreover, there is always room for improvement in the actual design of an ornaments. 
     GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple method of producing a hangable ornament. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a hangable ornament having a unique body design, which is aesthetic to the eye. 
     Therefore, according to one aspect, the invention provides a hangable ornament comprising the steps of cutting a planar blank from a sheet of material, forming a circular hole in said blank, cutting slits in said blank to form a body with a planar annulus around the hole and a plurality of strips extending outwardly from the outer periphery of the annulus to the periphery of the body; bending the inner ends of said strips around their longitudinal axes; whereby the body includes a plurality of discrete strips extending radially outwardly from the annulus; and mounting a crystal in said hole. 
     According to a second aspect, the invention provides a hangable ornament comprising a planar body; an opening in said body; a multi-faceted crystal in said opening; a hook connecting said crystal to said body; a planar annulus surrounding said hole; and a plurality of discrete, elongated strips radiating outwardly from said annulus to a peripheral side edge of the body, said strips being inclined slightly from the plane of the annulus, whereby a side edge of each strip is in a different plane from a side edge of an adjacent strip. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention is described below in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of a blank used to produce a hangable ornament in accordance with the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a front view of the blank of FIG. 1 following a cutting operation; 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the blank of FIGS. 1 and 2 following a crimping operation; 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of a finished ornament; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a side edge of a small area of the blank following the cutting operation; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the area of side edge shown in FIG. 5 following the crimping operation; 
     FIG. 7 is a cross section taken generally along line  7 — 7  of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a crimping head used to produce the ornament of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a mandrel used to produce the ornament of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the crimping head and mandrel of FIG. 7 with an ornament blank in position for a crimping operation; and 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the crimping head and mandrel immediately before the end of a crimping operation; 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 to  4 , the first step in producing a hangable ornament in accordance with the present invention is to cut a blank  1  with the desired shape (in this case a butterfly with a circular hole  2  in it) from a sheet of material (not shown). In the present case, the preferred material is a laminate defined by three layers of vinyl, the center layer being clear and the outer layers being holographic vinyl. The holographic vinyl layers are 0.003 inch thick, and typically the clear layer is relatively stiff and 0.009 inch thick 
     The holographic vinyl having a variety of embedded designs is typically available in rolls with pressure sensitive adhesive on one side covered by a peel-off backing. The backing is removed and the vinyl is adhered to both sides of the central layer. Because it is quite stiff, the clear vinyl comes in flat sheets. If the clear vinyl was rolled, because of its inherent memory, it would tend to curl. 
     The next step in the method is to cut a plurality of slits  3  in the blank  1  to form a body  4  (FIG. 2) with a planar annulus  5  around the hole  2  and a plurality of strips  6  extending radially outwardly from the outer periphery of the annulus  5  to the outer periphery  7  of the body. The slits  3  are precisely nine degrees apart, making forty strips  6 , which have the same width at their inner ends, i.e. the ends adjacent to the annulus  5 . As best shown in FIG. 5, when the slits  3  are cut, there is a certain amount of crimping, i.e. transverse bending of the strips  6  occurs. By “transverse bending” is meant that the strips  6  are bent around their longitudinal axis so that one side edge is slightly above and the other side edge is below the plane of the annulus. 
     The strips  6  are then crimped at their inner ends using a crimping apparatus, so that the strips  6  are inclined laterally approximately 20-30° from the plane of the annulus  5 . 
     Crimping of the strips  5  is effected using a crimping machine, which includes a fixed mandrel  8  and a head  9  which is slidably mounted for reciprocating, vertical movement above the mandrel  8 . Reciprocation of the head  9  can be effected by any suitable means, e.g. a circular cam eccentrically mounted on one end of a driven shaft and engaging a roller on a top end of the head  9 . The mandrel  8  includes a cylindrical post  10  with a smaller diameter sleeve  12  on the top end thereof. The top end of the sleeve  12  includes teeth  13  with a sawtooth configuration, one side of each tooth being vertical and the other side being inclined. A shaft  14  mounted in the sleeve  12  is supported by a spring (not shown) in a central, longitudinally extending bore in the post  10 . Thus, the shaft  14  is free to move longitudinally in the post  10  to a depth equal to half the length of the teeth  13  when pressure is applied to the top end thereof. A disc  16  on the top end  17  of the shaft  14  retains a body  4  on the mandrel for crimping. 
     The head  9  is axially aligned with and similar in structure to the mandrel  8 . The head  9  includes a tubular body  18  with a narrow diameter sleeve  19  at the bottom end thereof. The bottom end of the sleeve  19  has teeth  20 , which are the same shape as the teeth  13  on the sleeve  12  and complementary thereto. Opposed teeth  13  and  20  on the mandrel  8  and the head  9  have one straight side and one steeply inclined side, so that when the head  9  is moved downwardly against the mandrel  8 , the teeth mesh perfectly. A recess  21  in the bottom end of a shaft  22  in the sleeve  18  receives the disc  16  when the teeth  13  and  12  are meshing. The shaft  22  is also vertically movable in the body  17  of the head, and is spring loaded for applying pressure during crimping to prevent any movement of the body  4  and for returning to a rest position after the head  9  moves away from the mandrel  8 . 
     During each crimping operation, with the head  9  spaced apart from the mandrel  8 , a body  4 , which has already been slit, is placed on the mandrel  8  with the disc  16  in the hole  2  and the body  4  resting on the top of the teeth  13 . The slits are aligned with the teeth  13  by gently rotating the body  4  while pressing gently downwardly until the teeth click into position. The head  9  is moved slowly downwardly so that the teeth  13  and  20  mesh (FIG.  11 ). One hit with the crimping head  9  is sufficient to permanently crimp the strips. 
     A hole is pierced in the top of the annulus  5 . A 20 mm long pin  25  (FIGS.  4  and  7 ), which is bent 90° adjacent to its head  26  is inserted into the hole. A loop of clear fishing line  27  is placed on the pin  25 , and a multifaceted, polyhedral crystal  29  with a hole bored through the center thereof is slid onto the pin  25 . The free end  31  of the pin  30  is passed through the central hole and then bent to prevent the crystal  29  falling off. 
     The thus produced ornament reflects sunlight or artificial light, the strips  6  providing reflective surfaces at various angles, and the crystal  29  acts as a prism. The use of the holographic outer layers on the laminate results in changing patterns and colors, depending on the vantage point of the viewer.