EP2205118B1

EP2205118B1 - Piece of chain for necklaces or bracelets

Info

Publication number: EP2205118B1
Application number: EP07820721A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Umberto Cazzola
Original assignee: Fope Srl
Current assignee: Fope Srl
Priority date: 2007-09-28
Filing date: 2007-09-28
Publication date: 2011-09-14
Anticipated expiration: 2027-09-28
Also published as: WO2009039893A1; EP2205118A1; ATE524084T1

Abstract

The invention is a piece of chain (100; 110) for necklaces or bracelets, comprising a plurality of cage-shaped elements (1 ), each one of the cage-shaped elements (1 ) being provided with a base (2) and with two or more tabs (4) projecting from the base (2) and suited to clip the cage-shaped elements (1 ) together in succession. The piece of chain (100; 110) comprises, in the space delimited by the tabs (4) and by the base (2) of each one of the cage-shaped elements (1 ), one connection element (10) having one base (11 ) and two hooks (13) projecting from the base (11 ) and suited to engage their end (14) with one or more ornamental items (15).

Description

The present invention concerns a piece of chain for necklaces or bracelets, in particular for necklaces or bracelets that can be customized for their user. Types of necklaces and bracelets are known, which comprise a plurality of cage-shaped elements arranged one after the other, provided with tabs suitable for clipping.
Such an assembly of cage shaped elements is known from document AT- 008 572-01
In order to obtain optimal clipping between two successive cage-shaped elements, these are positioned crosswise to each other, so that the tabs of one element to be attached to the successive one fit in the spaces present between the two tabs of said successive element.
These cage-shaped elements, connected to one another in series, make up necklaces, bracelets and similar objects with ornamental purposes.
The cage-shaped elements of known type are often decorated with ornamental items like pendants, rings, pearls and the like, which can be attached thereto in order to allow the user to wear a customized bracelet or necklace.
The operation required to add ornamental items to a necklace or a bracelet that has already been completed poses some drawbacks:
A first drawback lies in that according to the known art the ornamental items need to be attached to the necklace or bracelet by welding.
Consequently, therefore, the manufacturer has to carry out an additional operation while preparing the piece of chain, which involves higher costs and longer production times.
Another drawback deriving from the welding operations lies in that, if these are carried out on an already finished necklace or bracelet, the welding operations required for the addition of pendants or charms to these new articles also involve subsequent brushing and polishing steps, obviously resulting in high costs.
A further drawback is due to the fact that, once welded to the cage-shaped elements, pearls, charms and similar items cannot be replaced.
The object of the present invention is to manufacture a piece of chain for necklaces or bracelets to which ornamental items such pearls, charms and the like can be attached with no need to be welded to the piece of chain or to the finished necklace or bracelet and with no need for further polishing operations. A further object of the present invention is to manufacture a piece of chain for necklaces or bracelets or a finished article to which ornamental items can be attached in less time and more easily.
The objects described above have been achieved by the present invention concerning a piece of chain for necklaces or bracelets whose main characteristics are listed in the first claim.
From this point onward in the present description the word "piece" shall mean both a piece, that is, a section of a chain suitable for making necklaces, bracelets or even earrings, and a finished product like a necklace, a bracelet, an earring.
Advantageously, the piece of chain carried out according to the invention can be customized according to the needs of the person who is going to wear it. Still to advantage, the piece of chain carried out according to the invention allows the ornamental items attached thereto to be comfortably replaced at any time.
The objects and advantages described above will be highlighted in greater detail in the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that is supplied as an indicative, non-limiting example with reference to the enclosed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a detail of a cage-shaped element carried out according to the known art;
Figure 2 shows a detail of a connection element carried out according to the invention;
Figure 3 shows the elements of Figures 1 and 2 ready to be assembled together;
Figure 4 shows two cage-shaped elements, complete with the connection element of the invention, before they are connected to each other;
Figure 5 shows a piece of chain assembled with the elements of Figures 1 and 2;
Figure 6 shows a construction variant of Figure 5.

Figure 1 shows the cage-shaped element 1 carried out according to the known art, obtained by cutting a sheet of precious metal.
According to the known art, it comprises a base 2 provided with a substantially central lightening hole 3 from which one or more tabs 4 project partially and simmetrically, said tabs having all the same dimensions and being equally spaced from each other.
Each tab 4 has at its end an enlarged section 5 such that its cross section is larger than that of the corresponding tab 4.
Each end 5 is then bent, preferably 90°, with respect to the base 2, in order to allow clipping of a successive cage-shaped element, while each tab is bent, preferably 45° or 60° always with respect to the base 2.
These bending operations, carried out according to the known art, allow each cage-shaped element to be connected to the following one.
According to the present invention, a connection element 10 shown in Figure 2 is interposed between two successive cage-shaped elements.
As shown in Figure 2, the connection element 10 comprises a base 11 provided with a substantially central hole 12.
Figure 2 also shows that a plurality of hooks 13 radially project from the base 11, said hooks having all the same dimensions and being equally spaced from each other.
Substantially, the connection element 10 differs from the cage-shaped elements 11 above all due to the size of the hooks 13 that are shorter than the tabs 4 of the cage-shaped element 1.
Furthermore, the ends of the hooks 13 do not have an enlarged section because they are not required to close like a cage, but only to close like a ring in order to hold a charm or a pendant.
Also the base 11 has an element whose diameter is slightly shorter than the corresponding diameter of the base 2 of the cage-shaped element 1, while the hole 12 and the hole 2 are substantially the same.
As shown in Figures 3 and 4, each one of the hooks 13 is then interposed between two tabs 4 of a cage-shaped element 1, in such a way as to be interposed in the space delimited by the tabs 4 and by the base 2 of the cage-shaped element 1.
In this way the hooks are able to project from the space delimited by two successive tabs 4 of the cage-shaped element 1 and therefore serve their function.
The interposition of the connection element 10 between two successive cage-shaped elements takes place so that the connection elements and the cage-shaped elements are coaxial and therefore with the holes 3 and 12 respectively aligned.
In this way a piece of chain 100, substantially tubular in shape and visible in Figure 5 is obtained.
The piece of chain 100, as already said, is particularly suited to make necklace or bracelets.
Each one of the hooks 13 has one end 14 that is closed like a ring to attach one or more ornamental items 15.
The ornamental items 15 to be attached can be pearls, charms, rings and the like.
The hook 13 engages with the ring of the ornamental item 15 and this remains firmly attached to the piece of chain 100 with no need for any welding.
The ornamental items 15 can be released from the hooks 13 using special pliers of known type and replaced with other ornamental items.
For example, a ring can be replaced by a pearl and so on.
According to a variant shown in Figure 6, the piece of chain of the invention, indicated now by 110, is provided with a spring 111 that passes through the holes 3 and 12, respectively, of each cage-shaped element 1 and of each connection element 10.
This spring 111 serves as an elastic element for the piece of chain, so that the bracelet or necklace is elastic, too.
As an alternative to the spring it is possible to use a rigid wire to obtain a rigid bracelet or necklace.
In this way it is possible to produce a piece of chain that can be customized for the user and adapted to his/her taste as regards both the position of charms and pendants of various type and the possibility to have an elastic or rigid product.
Customizing the piece of chain according to the invention means avoiding further costly welding operations that extend processing times.
In the light of the above considerations, the piece of chain carried out according to the invention achieves all the previously-stated objects.
In the execution stage variants of the piece of chain of the invention can be carried out that are neither described nor represented herein, for example by varying the number of interposed connection elements.
Said variants must all be considered protected by the present patent, provided that they fall within the scope of the claims expressed below.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference sings have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

Piece of chain (100; 110) for necklaces or bracelets comprising a plurality of cage-shaped elements (1), each one of said cage-shaped elements (1) being provided with a base (2) and with two or more tabs (4) projecting from said base (2) and suited to clip said cage-shaped elements (1) together in succession, characterized in that it comprises, in the space delimited by said tabs (4) and by said base (2) of each one of said cage-shaped elements (1), at least one connection element (10) having one base (11) and at least two hooks (13) projecting from said base (11) and suited to engage their end (14) with one or more ornamental items (15).
Piece of chain (100; 110) for necklaces or bracelets according to claim 1), characterized in that the ends (14) of said hooks (13) of said connection elements (10) are bent to form a ring.
Piece of chain (100; 110) for necklaces or bracelets according to claim 1) or 2), characterized in that said base (11) of said at least one connection element (10) is provided with a substantially central hole (12).
Piece of chain (110) for necklaces or bracelets according to claim 3), characterized in that said hole (12) is suitable for housing an elastic means.
Piece of chain (110) for necklaces or bracelets according to claim 4), characterized in that said elastic means is a spring (111).
Piece of chain (100; 110) for necklaces or bracelets according to claim 1) or 2), characterized in that said at least one connection element (10) projects between two tabs (4) of said cage-shaped elements (1) arranged in succession.
Piece of chain (100; 110) for necklaces or bracelets according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said one or more ornamental items (15) are rings.
Piece of chain (100; 110) according to any of the claims from 1) to 7), characterized in that said one or more ornamental items (15) are charms.