US2768787A - Rosary assemblage - Google Patents

Description

Oct 30, 1956 s. J. czERWIcZNlK 2,768,787

ROSARY ASSEMBLAGE f Filed Jan. '7, 1955 n IN V EN TOR.

RSARY ASSEMBLAGE Stanley l. Czerwieznik, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application January 7, 1955, Serial No. 480,553

Claims. (Cl. 23S- 123) The present invention relates in general to improvements in rosaries, and relates more particularly to improvements in the construction and operation or assemblages for compactly concealing and conrming ordinary rosary chams in pre-arranged condition within housings so as to provide units in which the rosaries may be conveniently carried and manipulated.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved rosary assemblage which is simple and compact in construction, and wherein the rosary chain may be easily manipulated to say prayers, while being conned and positively guided for free longitudinal advancement of its beads along a deiinite path within a durable casing.

It has heretofore been proposed to confine rosaries, each comprising a succession of prayer designating beads, Within casings or housings so that the chains or strings of beads could be manipulated from the exteriors of the enclosures to cause the same to traverse definite paths so as to avoid entanglement of the chains while facilitating the saying of prayers. Most of these prior rosary assemblages require the use of complicated movable parts Such as rotors cooperating with the rosary chains, but in one of the prior rosary units the chain of beads is caused to slidably coact with stationary circuitous runways formed Within the conning housing which is provided with a local peripheral access opening through which the beads can be advanced by hand while prayers are being said.

Although this prior unit with stationary guides or runways has proven quite satisfactory and superior to those employing movable carriers for the rosaries, it has been found diicult in commercial production to constantly insure free sliding of the beads along the runways because of slight initial variation in lengths of the guides and rosary strings, and also due to such variations as may be caused by expansion or contraction of the guides and chains resulting from temperature changes.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide an improved rosary assemblage of the type embodying xed guides for a rosary chain conned within a casing, wherein free longitudinal advancement of the rosary beads is assured at all times.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an improved mechanical rosary unit in which more or less standard rosary chains may be freely slidably conned within rigid housings so as to eliminate possible undesirable retardation and entanglement of the beads.

A further important object of the invention is to provide an assemblage wherein a rosary or" relatively great length is compactly confined within a small casing so as to produce a unit adapted to be readily carried in a pocket or hand bag, and in which the rosary beads are conveniently manipulable with minimum effort,

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide an improved mechanical rosary comprising an endless chain of rosary beads slidably coacting with a circuitous guideway disposed within an enclosure, and in which the chain is properly tensioned at all times so as to insure free sliding of the successive beads.

States Patent O Patented Oct. 3i",

ICC

An additional important object of this invention is to provide a simple but highly practical rosary assemblage which may be durably manufactured and sold at moderate cost and easily operated.

These and other more specic objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, from which it should be noted that the gist of the improvement is the provision of a rosary assemblage in which a casing is provided with an internal guideway having an access opening near the casing periphery, and a rosary bead chain is slidably cooperable with the guideway so as to present the successive beads to the opening, while the chain is automatically tensioned by the application of resilient pressure thereagainst in order to insure free advancement of the beads along the guideway.

A clear conception of the features involved in the present invention and of a typical commercial embodiment of the improved features, may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the various views.

Fig. l is a plan view of a typical commercial embodiment of the invention looking toward the cover portion of the rosary housing, the assemblage being illustrated approximately full size;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same rosary assemblage but with the housing cover removed so as to reveal the internal guideway, the rosary chain, and the improved chain tensioning device;

Fig. 3 is considerably enlarged central vertical section through the rosary unit, taken along the line 3 3 oi Fig. Z but with the housing completed by the application of the cover;

Fig. 4 is a similarly enlarged transverse section through the same unit, taken along the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, but also showing the cover applied; and

Fig. 5 is a likewise enlarged transverse section through the assemblage, taken along the line S-S of Fig. 2, and again showing the housing cover applied.

While the invention has been illustrated and described herein as having been embodied in a unit having a relatively long rosary chain housed within a casing comprising complementary main casing and cover sections of heart shape united along the approximate plane of advancement of the chain, and wherein the chain is tensioned by a particular type of leaf spring, it is not the intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the use or" the improved features to such a specific assemblage; and it is also contemplated that descriptive terms employed herein be given the broadest possible interpretation consistent with the actual disclosure.

Referring to the drawing, the improved rosary assemblage shown therein, comprises in general, a two-part housing or casing consisting of a main section 8 and a complementary cover section 9 cooperating to form a circuitous guideway having an inner downwardly interrupted loop portion 14) and an upwardly interrupted outer portion 11 provided with an access opening 12 near the casing periphery; a continuous ilexible rosary chain having an uninterrupted succession of beads 13 slidably cooperable with the guideway portions 14E, 11 so as to present the successive beads to the casing opening 12; and a resilient leaf spring 14 disposed within the interruption in the loop portion 10 of the guideway and pressing against the adjacent rosary beads 13 to tension the chain.

The complementary sections S, 9 of the main housing may be formed of any light but relatively rigid and durable material such as metal, wood or plastic, and may be united along their coacting edge surfaces 16 by fusion of metal, with adhesive, or otherwise; and in order to facilitate assembly, the main section 8 may be provided with a central socket 17 adapted to receive an integral projection 1S formed on the cover section 9, as shown in Pig. 3. As illustrated, the guideway portions lo, lll are formed integral with the main section S of the casing, and the cover section alone is provided with religious embossment i9, while the entire housing partakes the shape of a heart, but these speciic formations do not constitute an essential part of the present improvement. rl`he opening 12 in the periphery of the enclosure should be of considerable length and disposed near the outer guideway portion il so as to cause the beads 13 which travel past this opening to project outwardly of the casing, as depicted in Figs. l and 2.

The rosary beads i3 are interconnected by chain links 21 which allow free exing of the rosary, and some of the beads i3 may be made larger and of different shapes in order to represent definite decades, such as Hail Mary, Our Fathers, and a Crucifix. These special beads may also be of various special colors, and are preferably seprated from the intervening normal spacer beads 13 by longer or more links Zi than are provided directly between the adjacent spacer beads. As illustrated in the drawing, the rosary chain is of relatively great length and constitutes a complete rosary of tive decades; and While the chain is adapted to travel in only a single stretch along the outer guideway portion il, it travels in double loop formation around the inner portion l@ of the guideway, as depicted in Figs. 4 and 5.

The chain tensioning leaf spring 14- is of U-shape and cooperates with the inner guideway portion l@ to form the loops, see Fig. 2. One end 22 of this spring 14; is insertihle between lugs 23 formed integral with the casing section 8 to positively prevent movement of this spring end 22, while the remainder of the leaf spring is biased outwardly so as to exert a slight lateral pressure against the rosary chain and to thereby tension the endless rosary. Y

The surface of the guideway sections itl, lli and of the spring i4, with which the rosary beads i3 coact and along which these beads are adapted to travel, should however be smooth in the direction of advancement of the chain in order to facilitate such advancement by normal pressure applied to the beads i3 which are exposed through the manipulating opening il When the various parts of the improved rosary unit have been properly constructed as above described, they may be assembled and utilized as follows. With the casing or housing sections 8, 9 separated, the chain tensioning spring 14 may be initially inserted within the main housing section S so that its attaching end 22 coacts with the lugs 23 as in Fig. 2, whereupon the rosary chain may be applied to the inner loop portion 1li of the guideway and to the leaf spring 14 in double loop formation, and to the outer guideway portion il in single loop formation as depicted in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive. rEhe cover section 9 of the casing may then be secured to the section S along the surfaces lo in order to confine the rosary within the housing, whereupon the spring id will function to tension and stretch the chain so as to'cause the beads 13 to snugly but slidably co-act with the fixed guideway portions it), lll.

With the unit thus completely assembled, it may be utilized to say prayers by merely applying a tinger or the thumb of the user to one of the beads 13 which is exposed through the casing opening ft2 and by exerting slight pressure against the contacted bead 13 longitudinally of the chain This pressure will cause the rosary to advance along the fixed internal guideway and to thereby present the successive rosary beads to the operators ngers througr the casing opening l2, but the major portion of the chainvwiil remain constantly concealed within and protected by the housing under slight longitudinal tension applied by the leaf spring i4, so that no entanglement of the chain can occur. The various sizes and shapes of the successive rosary beads i3 and the diiferent spacings thereof will definitely indicate to the user whenever a ai, decade is presented to the touch, so that accuracy of performance is assured at all times.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be noted that the present invention provides a simple and very compact and attractive rosary assemblage in which a cornplete relatively standard rosary is neatly slidably confined under slight constant tension within a rigid casing While being conveniently manipulable to say prayers. The improved device may be readily carried in a pocket or handbag and may be operated any place and at any time without necessitating visual observance by the user, and it is also ideal for church and group recitations. The user may hold the unit concealed in the palm of one hand and may advance the rosary chain while saying a few beads or the entire rosary, with a finger or the thumb of the other hand, and all danger of entanglement or sticking of the long chain is constantly eliminated by the chain tensioning spring ld which still permits easy advancement of the beads i3. The invention has proven highly satisfactory and successful in actual use and the housing sections 8, 9 may be of any desired shape and decorated in any suitable manner to provide a highly attractive unit.

it should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction of the rosary assemblage herein specifically shown and described, for various modifications Within the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. ln combination, a rigid casing having therein a relatively rigid fixed circuitous guideway comprising an interrupted loop section coacting with the opposite ends of an interrupted outer groove section provided with a local access opening, a continuous rosary chain having a succession of beads engageaole with and slidable along said guideway by application of pressure against the beads in a direction longitudinally of the chain through said opening, and resilient chain tensioning means disposed within the interruption of said guideway loop section.

Z. In combination, a casing having therein a tixed circuitous locally interrupted guideway provided with a local access opening near the casing periphery, a continuous rosary chain slidably engaging said guideway and being movable along the latter by application of pressure against the chain through said opening, and a leaf spring lfor exerting lateral resilient pressure against the chain through the interruption in said guideway.

3. In combination, a casing having coacting main and cover sections provided with an internal fixed guideway comprising an inner locally Vinterrupted loop portion and an outer portion surrounding the loop portion and having therein an access opening near the casing periphery, a continuous rosary chain having a succession of beads slidable along said guideway by application of pressure against its beads in a direction longitudinally of the chain, and a U-shaped leaf spring located vin the interruption of said loop portion and coacting with said beads to tension the chain.

4. ln combination, a casing having therein a circuitous locally interrupted guideway provided with an access opening near the casing periphery, a continuous rosary chain slidably engaging said guideway and being movable therealong by application of longitudinal pressure against the chain through said opening, and a spring for guiding and tensioning the chain lat the interruption in said guideway. i i Y 5. in combination, a casing provided with an internal guideway comprising an internal locally interrupted loop portion and an outer portion surrounding the loop portion and having therein a local access opening, a continuous rosary chain having a succession of beads slidable along said guideway by application of longitudinal pressure against the chain through said opening, and a U- shaped spring coacting with said beads at theV interruption in said internal loop portion to guide and tension the chain.

References Cited in the le of this patent 6 McCann Aug. 1, 1944 Eriksson Nov. 8, 1949 Bengtson May 8, 1951 Czerwicznik Sept. 15, 1953

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