Abstract:
A novel bracket assembly for a hinge bar for a hoop type earring in which the pivot pin is integrally formed with a bracket formed of hollow tubing. Hollow tubing is used to form the hinge bar as well.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 13/161,861, filed Jun. 16, 2011, which is incorporated herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates to hoop earring closure structures, especially for items of jewelry of precious metals or their alloys. The invention may be applicable more generally, but it was devised in connection with the manufacture of items of jewelry, in particular items of jewelry known as creole or hoop earrings. 
         [0004]    Therefore, in the following, reference is made mainly to hoop or creole earrings, as such reference best explains the nature of the invention. It must be stated however, that having regard to the nature of the invention, it has particular advantage and application in the field of items of jewelry which have hinge constructions of a delicate nature. 
         [0005]    The construction and method of making standard hoop earring closures generally use solid metal often gold. This is expensive and requires specific and additional manufacturing steps in the manufacture of the components used for the hoop earring closure. 
         [0006]    A prior art hoop earring hinge bracket is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,244. That bracket is formed by first stamping a mounting plate having an H shape with the bottom legs of plate set in spaced apart apertures of a two part hoop earring assembly. Thereafter the hinge bar is snapped into place in bracket over member, and the hinge bar has pressure applied at arms to close the hinge bar about the member. This method is undesirable and unwieldy for a number of reasons. For one, it can only be used where the hoop type earring is formed with two separate segments because unless there are two separate apertures into which the two feet of bracket can sit, the bracket of the &#39;244 patent can not be used. Additionally, the bracket is relatively small and must be properly centered in place in apertures in order to be sufficiently held so that pressure from hinge bar as it is connected to bracket does not dislodge bracket from apertures. 
         [0007]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0008]    A hoop earring comprises basically a looped body of part round, oval or other shape defining two upper ends which are adjacent, but are bridged by a hinge bar or hasp which passes through the user&#39;s ear. The hinge bar is hinged to a hinge pin at one end of the body and may be a stamping with a hole therein through which the pin passes, or a length of wire bent to shape around the pin. The hinge bar is conventionally made of solid metal, often precious metal. On the other end of the body is a clasp into or onto which the hinge clips. On the end where the hinge bar hinges, there is a U-shaped mounting bracket formed from a plate pressing and which is soldered or brazed to the body, and the bracket carries the hinge pin on which the hinge bar is pivotally mounted. The hinge pin is soldered at both its ends in apertures in the bracket. 
         [0009]    Such earrings each comprise the earring body, the mounting bracket, the clasp, the hinge pin and the hinge bar. 
         [0010]    Such earrings are notoriously difficult to make mainly because of the size, and typically are entirely hand made. The difficulties include that 
         [0011]    (I) it is difficult to locate the hinge pin in the hole of the hinge bar when such bar is a plate pressing, and it is difficult to form the wire around the hinge pin when the hinge bar is of wire 
         [0012]    (ii) the pin, which is of the order of 10-20 thousandths of an inch in diameter, is cut (usually with hand operated wire cutters) from wire and it may have burrs or flashings on the ends which have to be removed, and is difficult to handle. After it has been inserted in the bracket and is engaged by the hinge bar, it has to be swaged at its ends to keep it in position. The pin is a weak spot in the earring, and will pull out easily, especially if the swaging is not performed perfectly, 
         [0013]    (iii) the formation of the bracket from a flat plate (again of only 10-20 thousandths of an inch thickness) is a difficult operation, and if not performed perfectly, can cause difficulties in the hinge construction regarding the location of the hinge pin 
         [0014]    (iv) generally, the current method of construction and assembly is slow, difficult and expensive. 
         [0015]    Prior art patents to Doran U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,156,763 and 1,086,657 disclose a hinge construction in which a hinge pin is formed by first soldering or attaching a separate pin to one side of a bracket, the pin passing through one end of the hinge bar to be secured in an aperture in the opposite wall of the bracket. This eliminates trying to concurrently attach the hinge pin to both ends of the bracket by fixing the hinge pin to one end of the bracket prior to assembly. The hinge pin in Doran is formed of a separate small metal element which must be physically connected to one end of the bracket prior to assembly of the hinge bar. 
         [0016]    One end of the hinge bar is connected to the above identified bracket while the other end passes through and is secured at the opposite side to a closure mechanism. This could be by way of a hook or generally an enlarged end which is then secured in a clasp plate. 
         [0017]    Maintaining the hinge bar in the clasp plate requires special manufacturing techniques for the hinge bar and plate. 
         [0018]    In accordance with the principles of this invention, an improved structure and method for assembling a closure for a hoop type earring is described. 
         [0019]    This invention provides an improvement over prior art closure structures by utilizing hollow metal tubular material to form both the bracket and hinge bar. In particular, the bracket is formed by a stamping process in which the hollow tubing is stamped to provide a projection and an aperture from the hollow tubular member which, when assembled together, capture one end of a hinge bar. The hinge bar itself is also formed of a hollow tubular member, one end of which is partially closed, through which an aperture is stamped and the other end of which is cut and fully closed, forming a bulbous end which is captured in the clasp plate. A punch used in conjunction with one end of the tubular material which forms the hinge bar both closes that end and forms a bulbous construction. 
         [0020]    As described above, properly locating the pin in place between the apertures of the holding bracket and soldering the pin properly is time consuming, difficult and ultimately expensive. The present invention replaces the prior structure by providing a novel bracket which is formed of a unitary member comprising central bar and round ear members at opposite ends. A small pin is formed as part of the stamping integrally with a round ear member and an aperture is stamped in the other ear. When the bracket is folded, the pin of one ear member is aligned with the aperture of the other and since the pin is part of one ear member, it will not be separately manually handled in the assembly of the hinge. 
         [0021]    By eliminating the need to separately handle the pin during its attachment to the ear of the bracket as in the Doran structure, a significant, very difficult and time consuming step is eliminated. The hinge bar has an aperture at one end through which the pin on one ear member passes and is secured in the aperture of the other pin ear member by a simple soldering or swaging technique. In this manner, there is a significantly enhanced method and apparatus to assemble the hinge pin without the difficulty in handling the separate pin as a separate member. 
         [0022]    The novel bracket of this invention is secured to the upper portion of the hoop earring either prior to or after the bracket is bent or folded so as to bring the pin in one ear member closer to the aperture in the opposite ear member. By assembling the bracket in this manner, the pin that holds the hinge bar is fixedly connected to an ear member and is easy to pass through the hinge bar and aperture of the second ear member with soldering of the pin in the aperture of the second ear member after the hinge bar is so connected. The bracket can be soldered to the top of the hoop earring before or after it is bent, as appropriate. 
         [0023]    The novel method of assembly of the hoop earring closure using hollow tubing enhances the formation of the elements of the closure as well as reducing the cost thereof. The hollow members are structurally sufficient to perform the functions required, and by using hollow structures and the novel method of forming such hollow structures for use as elements in the closure, significant advantage in reduction of metal, costs and ease of assembly is achieved. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0024]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior art hoop earring with a hinge bar connected between a bracket and clasp plate. 
           [0025]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective showing the individual elements of the hinge bar and bracket assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the bracket formed in accordance with the metal forming process of this invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 4  is a front plan view of the bracket of this invention showing the pin and aperture. 
           [0028]      FIG. 5  is a view of the bracket of  FIG. 3  after being folded. 
           [0029]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a hollow tubular metal used in a stamping and punching process to form the bracket of this invention. 
           [0030]      FIG. 7  is a side view of a punch tool moving towards an open end of a hollow cylindrical metal tube used for the hinge bar. 
           [0031]      FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b  are top views showing the results of a metal forming process of this invention using hollow wire, which first squeeze the wire at one end and has an aperture punched therein for the hinge bar and is closed at the other end to form a bulbous end. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0032]    Referring to the drawings in  FIG. 1  a prior art conventional hoop  10  earring is shown, and will be seen to comprise a hoop body  14 . 
         [0033]    The earring body typically will be of precious metal or an alloy of precious metal or, in today&#39;s climate, of non-precious metal. It is to be mentioned that the earring body can take any suitable form and can be constructed of any appropriate material. 
         [0034]    Because of the shape of the body  14 , it defines at the top thereof two ends  20  and  22  between which is a gap  23  bridged by a hinge bar  24  of the earring. The hinge bar  24  is supported for hinging movement at end  20  by being mounted on a plate bracket  26  through which and through the end of the hinge bar passes a hinge pin  28 . The hinge bar is conventionally formed of a solid metal. 
         [0035]    A clasp plate  30  is provided on the other end  22  which is of U-shape form, so that the free end  32  of the hinge bar  24  can be snapped into the clasp  30  to hold it in the position shown. 
         [0036]    In the position shown in  FIG. 1 , the earring would normally be mounted on a user&#39;s ear in which latter case the hinge bar  24  would pass through the user&#39;s earlobe. 
         [0037]      FIG. 2  shows that the earring hinge assembly of  FIG. 1  has four components namely the mounting bracket  26 , the hinge pin  28 , the hinge bar  24  and the clasp plate  30 . 
         [0038]    The difficulties with the conventional earrings shown as mentioned herein are related to the use of a mounting bracket  26 , a hinge pin  28  and the method of connecting the hinge bar  24  to the mounting bracket  26  and pin  28 . Specifically, the hinge bar  24  is provided as shown in  FIG. 2  at one end with an aperture  34  through which the pin  28  has to pass. In manufacturing the conventional earring, the bracket  26  first of all is stamped initially from a hollow tube into a flat plate and then folded into U-configuration. The limbs of the U-configuration are provided with apertures  36  and  38  to receive the pin  28 . To assemble the bracket  26  and the hinge bar  24 , the end of the hinge bar is positioned between the limbs of the bracket  26  so that the aperture  34  aligns with apertures  36  and  38 , and then the hinge pin  28  is both held and fed through these apertures. When in position, the ends are soldered to fix the pin in position. These operations are carried out manually and are difficult to achieve successfully. 
         [0039]      FIG. 3  is a top plan perspective view of the hinge bracket  50  of this invention. As shown, it comprises a substantially straight center section  52  and ear elements or members  54  and  56 . Ear element  54  is substantially round and contains a center aperture  57  and ear element  56  is also substantially round of approximately the same size as ear element  54  and contains a pin  58 . The diameter of pin  58  is of such size to permit it to pass through aperture  57  of ear member  54 . This invention provides for making the bracket  50  from a hollow tubular member (see  FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  6 ) into a flat plate and forming ear elements and straight center section from a stamping. Pin  58  is drawn from the plate so as to be a one piece construction with the bracket and aperture  57  punched into ear  56 . 
         [0040]    In order to assemble the hinge bar  24  previously described in  FIGS. 1 and 2  in the present bracket  50 , bracket  50  is soldered at top end  20  of body  14 . It will be soldered at top portion  20  of body  14  in the same location as bracket  26  as shown in the prior art. Once so soldered, the ear members are bent upwardly so that pin  58  begins to approach aperture  57  becomes aligned with aperture  57 , and before pin  58  passes through aperture  54 , aperture  34  of hinge bar  24  is placed on pin  58  so as to capture the hinge bar on pin  58  before pin  58  is secured in aperture  60 . After the hinge bar  24  is so secured, pin  58  is soldered or riveted in aperture  60  so that ear member  56  is securely attached to ear portion  54  thereby capturing hinge bar  24 . 
         [0041]    The bracket  50  of this invention is of sufficient thickness to be folded into a U shape as shown in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  shows the complete assembly of the hoop earring and hinge bar. The method may include first folding bracket  50  closer to the U shape before soldering and then soldering the folded bracket to top  20  of the body of hoop earring  14 . 
         [0042]    The Doran prior art patents offer an improvement in which the hinge pin  28  is formed of a separate member and is first soldered or riveted in aperture  60 . 
         [0043]    The present invention eliminates the need for separately handling pin  58  as an individual separate member and attaching it to aperture  60  by utilizing hollow tubing which may be easily formed, stamped or otherwise to form a structure in which the hinge pin is formed as part of an integral one piece unit which forms both the hinge pin and the aperture of the bracket, which cooperate together to capture the aperture of the hinge bar. 
         [0044]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a hollow cylindrical metal tube or wire  65 , usually of precious metal. This hollow tubular member is subjected to suitable stamping processes to form a flat plate and ultimately the hinge bracket shown in  FIG. 4 , in which pin  58  is integrally formed of the hollow tubular member and aperture  57  is punched therethrough. Thus, hinge pin  58  is drawn from the hollow metal, and the bracket  50  is an integral one piece unit not formed of separate members as in Doran. 
         [0045]      FIGS. 7 ,  8   a  and  8   b  show a punch  75  and stages in the formation of the hinge bar  24 . The hinge bar of this invention is formed, again of a hollow cylindrical metal  65 , in which the wire is cut, one end is squeezed together as at  70 , through which an aperture  34  is punched. The other end of the hollow cylindrical tube is closed, as with a punch  76 , bearing against the closed end forming a bulbous closure  80 . The bulbous closure  80  cooperates with bracket  30  to close the hinge bar and secure the hoop earring closure securely together. 
         [0046]    It should be understood that the preferred embodiment was described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly legally and equitably entitled.