Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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IIELD OF r1HE l~ )t-l
This invention relat~s to a novel construction for hand-~nade
chains, specifically jewelry chains of tlle ty~e known as
rope chains, anl to a method for malincJ same.
I-3~CKGROUND OF T~E INV~NI'ION
Rope chains made from preeious metals have, for decades,
been macle largely hy hand. 1'he method of making such chains
until th;s very lay will now he describe(l in letail with
reference to Figllres A-D~ The hasic cvnstruction elernent,
or componellt, of such rope chains is a ring formed of a
solid or hollow wire, usually oE precious metal, e.g. 14
karat gold. 'rhe ring 1 shown in Figure A has an opening or
gap 2 ~orme-l thereirl. This gap 2 has a narrow limension 3
at its inner ~liallleter and a wider dilllension at its outer
,1 iallleter .
The so]icl wire fornling the rincJ (Figure B) usually has
flattened sicles 4 ancl rounded ends 5 ~llicll give the rinc3 1 a
major dialneter (--lw~ 6 ancl a Inil-lor dialneter 7.- The
eross-section of the wire formin-3 the ring 1 may also be of
generally circular cross-section. rhe gap 2 Or ring 1 is
substantially larger than the minor diameter 7 and is
slightly larger than the major diameter dw at its narrowest
dimension 3.
A multiplicity of such rings 1 are intertwined to form, in
outward appearance, a double helix, as shown in Figure C,
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wh].Ch i S the ~orlnat for a stan~lar~1 rope C17~ 1. These
tiyhtly interfitting ring roye chains are lland-l~ade as
follows, hased on the prior art teachin-Js.
'1'he ring 1 use~1 ~or the chain s~louL-I h.1ve an inller dlameter
(~li) sligl-1tly Inore than X tilnes greater thal1 the In~ jor ,/ire
dialneter ~lw 6, and X equals 3 or an o-l(3 nulnber greater than
3, e.g. 3.4. See U.S. Patent 4,651,517 for a detaile-l
discussion. Referring now to Figures D1 4, the fir~t ring
forming the rope chain will he terme~:l herein the a ring. It
is the first ~1' a series o~ ~o~lr rirlgs for;lling a ring
assselnbly. In tl-le example of Figllr--?s Dl 4 v~ equals 3.
The relative orientation of the rings forming ti~e rope chain
is importal-t. Tl~e a ring is initially oriented (Inanually)
so that its g~p, designated 20a, lies in a predetermined
direction, e.g. facing generally up~aL(lly, as in Figure D1.
The second ring of this assembly, designated the b ring, is
passed througl- the gap 20a oE the a ring, with the gap 20b
oE the h ring facing downwardly at about 180 removed from
the a ring gap 20a, as shown in Figure D2. 'rhe a and b
rings are juxtaposed and intertwined so that they lay
against each other, with the periphery of the h ring lying
against the periphery of the a ring, to the greatest extent
possihle, thereby creating a relatively large central
opening 30 with the pair of intertwined abutting a and b
rings. The plane of the a ring lies in parallel to the
plane of the paper, and the plane of the b ring is slightly
skewed frolll the a plane.
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The gap ~Oc of thr third ring c is the~n passed through the
yap 20~) of the b ring and over the Ininor dialne~eL of th~ a
ring and laid ~1gularly against the a and b rings, the ga~
20c of the c ring lying in the saslle~ orientatiorl as the gap
20a oE the a rin~3, and as shot~n in Eigure V3, nut ,1ith its
plane n1ore greatly skewed than the a an(l b rings. ~ central
vpenil1g 30a still relnains within the now three intert~ined
rings a, ~ and c. The planes o~ eaci1 of the rings differ
Froll1 e(i~h other by perhaps about 2() hecauc;e of their
angular abutn)el1t. In the case "here ~ equals 5, the planes
Oe the rings woulrl differ frorn each otl1er by about 15.
Turnil1c3 now to Figure D4, the gap 20d of a fourth riny d is
now passed over the a, b and c ringC~ through the central
openil1g 30b, and thereby envelopes l:he a, h ar1d c rings.
rhe c rin(l is laid against the otl-1er rings (a-c) and its
plane lies appr~oxinlately 20 Eroln the plane of the c ring.
The gap 20d o~ the d ring is (1isposed in the same
orientatiol1 as the gap 20c of the d rinc3.
'l'he jnst-c1escri~e1 intertwining ar1(1 or-ier1tatior1 of a-d rings
permits the continuation of the intertwil1ing of additional
assem~lies of rings (o four rinc3s each, where X = 3, or six
rings each when X = 5 etc.) to create a "douhle helix" rope
chain of a desired length. The adding on of an additional
assembly of four rings is a repetition of the orientation
previously descri~ed with reference to the a-d series, hut
the planes of this second asseln~ly lie at appro~imately 90
to the planes of the respective rings in the first
assem~ly .
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It is to ~e notec1 that the gaps of thQ first arld thirc~ ring
additions oE a second ring asselnbly abut the previous firs~
and third rinqs, and the second and fourth rings pass
through the gaps of the previous second and fourth rings and
that the relative orientations of the gaps of the rinys
alternate bets1~en atljacent rings a~out 1f30. lrhu5~ as far
as the operalor is concerned, he or sh- is al~ays
alternatilly the gap orientation whiLe intert~ining each
adciitiol1al ring.
~fter ~uildinc3 ~Ip tl~e rings in tile Inanner just descri~ed, to
forlll tl~e louhle l1elix rope chaLIl (Fig~lres D1 ~)~ the rings
are he](1 in the c1esired juxtapositic~n temporari]y by thin
metal ~7ire 25 "rappec-l about the rinys (Figure C~. Then
solder , is intermittently applied, e.gO to every pair of
acljacent rings usually at t~o points of the e~ternal
periphery thereof. The wire 25 i; thell rellloved. The
int~rm.ittc?llt sol(leri.ny S resnltcs ;.11 a rope c~lain wherein
every rinc~ pair is slightly Inova'~le, w;th re;pect to its
adjacent ring pairs, and resu1ts in a Chaill having the
c1esire(l Elexil~ility Eor Eorming a necl;Lace or bracelet.
I'ope ChClillS havirlg ring diameter ratic)s ~ith .Y heirlcJ arl odd
number greater than 3 were d1SC1OSQ(j in U.S. Patent
No. 4,651,517, ~hicil disclosure is incorporatecl herewith by
reEeLence . '
~s is apparent from the above description, the Eormation of
such tigi)t fitting rope chains is extrelllely complex and
until no:~ they have been manuEactllred allllost entirely by
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hand, particularly by skilled and expert workmen.
Because of the extremely small size of these rings, the
linking of the open rings requires great dexterity and
manual agility and continuous concentration on the part
of ~he workmen. Since the rings must be overturned
alternately through 180 and simultaneously located so
as to embrace a plurality of preceding rings, errors in
the manual formation are far from infrequent. Thus the
production of these chains by hand involves long periods
of time and consequ~ntly is very labour-intensive which
adds significantly to the selling price.
It is an object of an aspect of the present invention to
provide a fine jewelry rope chain produced manually with
significant time saving.
It is an object of an aspect of the invention to provide
a method for hand manufacturing a greater variety of
fine jewelry rope chains with standard open rings than
has been possible heretofore.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objectives are achieved by providing a
rope chain made from precious metals, having tightly
interfitting rings of a given cross-section diameter,
each ring having a small gap slightly larger than its
cross-section diameter to permit one ring to pass
through the gap of a second ring, each of said rings
having an inner diameter equal to just over X times
greater than the ring cross-section diameter, where X is
a number equal to or greater than 3, said rope chain
being formed by a plurality of assemblies of said rings,
in series, each ass mbly comprising X + 1 rings, ~ach
ring of said asse~bly being angularly intertwined with
an adjacent ring, each said assembly of rings comprising
at least one ring oriented with its gap about 180
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removed with respect of the gap of at least one other
ring within said assembly, characterized in that each
ass~mbly of rings comprises at least one group of two or
more adjacent rings having their gaps in the same
orientation, said at least two or more adjacent rings
being fixedly attached to each other, each o~ said at
least one group of two or more adjacent rings being
also fixedly attached to another ring having a gap
orientation about 180 removed with respect of the gaps
o~ the rings of said group of two or more adjacent
rings, and the end ring of each assemhly in the series
envelops the other rings of said assembly.
In the conventional method of manufacturing tightly
fitting intertwined rope chains, thP major labour cost
involves the assembling of the rings in their proper
orientation within each other. This assembling
operation can account for between 80-90% of the labour
cost. As was stated earlier, the workman has to take
special care to introduce one ring within the other
rings in proper orientation, i.e., each ring must be
with its gap turned 180 with respect of the adjacent
ring gap. Thus such an operation involves inserting one
ring within another or within a group of rings and
turning the ring to its proper gap orientation. We have
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discc)v~ LC''I tl! l i i t is possi~Lc~ ~:o ~ rlllf~clur-~ ~OjJ2 C~ irl';
Witil tightly fittincJ intertTlined rings i~y usiillg Inultiple
adjacellt rings oriented "ith their gaps in the saine
directic7l-~ hi~i produces a lahour saving for e~ery ring
whicll is introduced into a ring asselnbLy, that ~loes not have
to be turned 1'3(). This novel and var;able arrarl3ement of
ring orientations permits the Inlnuflclure of rope chains
havirlg varia~le ring assemblies o~ botll ev~n and o.rl~l
nulllbe~s, i.e. ~rhere the ratio o the inner dia!lleter of the
ring to its cross-section, X, can 1~2 any even or od~l nulnber
from 3 and abov~.
Manufacturirlg rope chains accorcliny to this invention with
ring assenlb1ies having at least olle group oE two or more
acljacellt intertwined rings oriel-lted with their gaps in the
salne clirection is made possihle by fixiny the similarly
orientecl adjacellt rings to one another, so that each group
of such silnilarly oriented rings can be considered ancl
treate(:l as if it were a singLe ring witll a single ga2.
'I'he precious Inetals for fine jewelry rope chaills of this
invention Inay he gold, platinum, silver and their alloys.
~ F I~ESCRIPrl'IOt'l Oi '1'll1. I~R~INGS
The inv2ntion will now he discusse(l with reference to- the
drawirlgs, in wh ich -
L~igure ~ is a plall view of an or7erl ring used for Illa!~ing ro~7echains;
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Eigure ~ is a cross-section of the prior art "ire forlniny
the ring oE FiJure ~ taken along the lines ~-2;
Fi.gure C is a side elevation showlng a se~ctiorl of a prior
art finished rope chain;
Eigures 01-V,~ show, in sequerlce an-l in per;pective, the
bu:ild-up of pr;or art rope chains from opcn rings;
Figur.e 1 i~ a schelllatic representatioll of a section of rope
chairl with the ring gap orientation alternatirlc3 1~0 as in
the prior art, and wherein di is slightly greater than 3
times the ring cross-section. dw;
Fiyure 2 is a schematic represc-~ntati.orl of a section of rope
chairl in accorc~ance with the invetltiorl, a:lso l]aviny a 3 :1
r.ing diameter to cross-section ratio as in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a schelnatic representation of a section of rope
cllai.tl according to the invention having a ri~-lg cliameter to
cross-section rat:io of 4+:1;
Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a section of rope
chain in accordance with the invention, wherein the ring
diameter to cross-section is 5~
Figure 5 illustrates schematically a section of another
preferred rope chain in accordance with the invention having
a ring diameter to cross-section ratio o.E 5~:1; ancl
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Figure 5 illustr~tes schematica]ly tll inve]ltiorl ~Jith rillgs
haviny ~ 6~:l rirlg diameter to cross-seetion ratio.
Turnirlg now to Eiyure 1, this shows schelncltieall~ two ring
assem~-)lies in series irl accorclarlce witll tlle pr;or .Irt~ ~,rhere
~ = 3, i.e. three rings a, b an-l c ~E the firsl: asse~ )ly al~d
aa, bb and cc of the seeond assemhly are intert~,7ined with
alternating gap orientations of 1~0 and the fourth ring d
ar-d dd oE ti-e first and seeon-l assemblies respeetively is
loope-l 50, 51 through the first thxee rings. Thus rings a,
c, aa and cc have their gaps 40a, 40c, 4()aa ancl 40ee,
respectively turnt_d 180 with respect of the gaps of rings
b, cl, hh and dt-l. Rings d and ~d envelop (50, 51) the
previous three rings of their respective asst_mblies. Each
pair of alternating rings is soldered together S1 leaving
rooln for movemerlt between pairs of rings a-h, e-d, aa-bh and
cc-t:lcl. Because of this alternating ring gap orientation, all
the rings exeeE~t ring a must be inserted into tne group of
rincJs b~ turning 180 with respect of the previous ring,
thus requiriny additional time eonsuming manipulation.
Let us now eolnpare this prior art ring assembly with the
invention as illustratec1 in Figure 2. Ilere we see two ring
asselnhLies, a to d and aa to dd, eaeh having one group of
three adjeent rings b-e-d an-l bh-ee-dcl with the same gap
orientatiorl and or-ly two rings, a and aa, witll gaps oriented
180 with respect of these groups of rings. The rings d and
dd envelop (52, 53) the previous rings of their respective
ring assemblies. This arrangelllent of rings requires that
the yroups (~f rings, b-c-d- an(l ~ -ce-d-l, be soldered S
together to Forln single urlits~ Tl)e last rin(J ~l atld dd o~
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each assembly is, in this case, soldered S1 to ~he ~irs~
ring aa, ee of the ne~t assembly. In this exarnple, the
number or rinys whieh must h~ manipulated for eaeh assernbl~
and turned 180 ,lith respeet to the previous ring is only
one, which is a 2/3 saving of time for this type of
manipulationO Overall, this arrangement ean save
approximately 18-20~ of la~ollr costs in the manufacture of
such a rope ehain. ~s ~ill become apparent, this labour
saving inereases relative t-> the prior art method as the
number of adjaeent rings havirlg the same gap orientation in
a group increases.
It is to be understood that Figures 1-6 represent only
sehematie illustrations of tl~e gap orientation of the rings.
In reality the rings are aetually laid angularly against one
another, being intertwined, with the plane oE eaeh ring
differing from its adjacent ring as illustrated in Figure D4
for assemblies in which X = 3.
Referring now to Flgure 3, this schematically iLlustrates a
seetion of rope chain having a ring diameter to
eross-section ratio o 4+:1. Each ring assembly comprises 5
rings. In this case, rlngs a, d, aa and dd have their gaps
in one orientation and rings b, c, e, bb, ce and ee in the
opposite orientation. Rings b and e form one group and
rings bb and ce form another group of adjacent rings having
similar gap orientations. In this type of assembly, the
rings in each group, b-c and bb-ee, are solclered to each
other S, and the groups are soldered S1 respectively to
rings d ancl dd, ,~hieh have their gaps oriented 1~0 from the
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rings lr~ the gl-OUpS. Rings e anc1 ee envelop the yreceding
rings (54, 55) of their respeetive ring assem}~lies.
A jewelry rope chain as illustrated in Figure 3 based on
X = 4~ has never been thought to ~e possible.
Referrinc~ now to Figure 4, this seheltlatieally illustrates a
seetion oE rope ehain having a ring (liameter to
eross-section ratio a little over 5~ aeh riny assembly
eomprises 5 rings. In this arr~ngelllerlt, rings a, c1, aa and
dcl have their ~aps in one or-~entation and rings ~, e, e, f,
bb~ cc, ee ancl Ef in the opposite orientation. The groups
of adjaeent rings b-e, e-f, bb-ec anc1 ee-ff have similar gap
orientations. In this arrangement, the rings oE eaeh group
are soldered S together and the yroups in turn are soldered
S1 to rings d, aa and cld respectively, irrhich ha~e their gaps
orientec1 1~0 from the groups. I~ill(3s E ai1c1 f~ el1velop their
respective rinc3 assemblies (56, 57). This arrangement of
rings provides a beautiful rope chain with less labour eost
than is possible ~ith the arrangemel1t diselosed in U~S.
Patent 4,G51,517.
Figure 5 illustrates another variation in the orientation of
the rings in an assembly having an inside ring diameter to
eross-section ratio of just over 5:1. In this arrangement
there are groups of three adjaeent rings (b-e-d and
bb-ee-dd) having the gap in the same orientation for each
ring assembly. These rings are sok1erec1 to~ether S and the
groups b-e-d anc1 bb-ee-c1d are solderecl S1 to arlother ring e
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-- 1 2
and f respectively in the assemhly lJavirlg ;Iri opposite gap
orientation. Rir1gs f and EE envelop (5 3, 59) their
respective rin~3 assembly.
Figure 5 illustrates a ring arrangemerlt haviny an inside
ring clialneter to cross-section of jllSt over ~ :1 colnprising 7
rings in each assembly. rrhis arearlgelllent lllustrates two
ring assemblies, each with a group of four a~3jacent rings,
b, c, d, e and bb, cc, dd, ee, having the same ring gap
orientatlon soldered S together. Tl1ese yroups are further
soldered S1 to rings having opposite gap orientations f and
ff respectively. The time saving with respect of ring
manipulatiorl in this arrangement is even greater than in the
prevlous illustrations.
It shoulc1 also be noted that Figures 4 and 6 illustrate fine
jewelry rope chain configurations that were not contemplated
nor achievable according to the prior art, where only odd
number ratios X of ring diameter to cross-section were
considerecl .
This invention makes it possihle to InanuEacture fine jewelry
rope chains with assemblies where X may be an even or odd
number having from two to X nurnber oE adjacent rings with
the same gap or ientation .
The ratio of the ring inner diameter to ring cross-section
i5 preferably X.1 to X.X and Inost preferably X.1 to X.7
wherein X is a number equal to 3 or more. Preferably X
equa l s ~ to 7 .
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It is of course understood that hollo~" rin~l~; can also De
used to provide further cost savin~J, sir)ce ~ess precious
Inetal :is thell used.
