US2873586A

US2873586A - Finger ring having two internal finger gripping means with diverging ends

Info

Publication number: US2873586A
Application number: US389081A
Authority: US
Inventors: Krandall Sidney
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-10-29
Filing date: 1953-10-29
Publication date: 1959-02-17
Anticipated expiration: 1976-02-17

Description

Feb. 17, 1959 s, KRANDALL 2,873,586

FINGER RING HAVING TWO INTERNAL FINGER GRIPPING MEANS WITH DIVERGING ENDS Filed QGt. 29, 1953 IIIII- V JL'JEJEEEL' NM -lIIIIIIIIIlllllllllll'lllll g III- INVEN TOR.

A TTORAM-IJ United States Patent i FINGER RING HAVING TWO INTERNAL FINGER GRIPPING MEANS WITH DIVERGING ENDS Sidney Krandall, Detroit, Mich.

Application October 29, 1953, Serial No. 389,081 1 Claim. (cl. 63-15.6)

This invention relates to a finger ring.

Finger rings are ordinarily formed with a circular finger opening. Rings thus formed have a tendency to slip around the finger for several reasons. In the first place, the ordinary finger is not circular in cross section but generally rectangular, and when a ring is. positioned on the finger, the ring does not usually embrace the entire circumference of the finger. It: contacts the finger at some points and is spaced therefrom at other points around its periphery. This can be readily seen by comparing the cross section of an ordinary ring with the cross section of the finger when the ring is positioned thereon. In the second place, rings usually .fit loosely on the finger because the knuckle joint between the secmid and third phalanges is larger in cross section than the cross section of the finger above this joint; The size of this second knuckle joint therefore in most cases determines the size of the ring. H

The variation in the shape of the finger as compared with the circular opening in a finger ring and the greater dimension of the second knuckle joint as compared with the portion of the finger above this joint have been recognized before and several attempts have been made to provide finger rings which are constructed to compensate for this difference in shape and size. In some instances such as illustrated in United States Patents Nos. 1,687,020

I and 1,913,463, the ring itself is fashioned with a generally rectangular shape so that when positioned on the finger, the finger opening, of the ring generally conforms with the cross sectional shape of the finger. Other attempts in solving this problem have been directed along the lines of incorporating in the ring a spring member which is arranged to yieldably decrease the effective size of the finger opening so that the ring can be passed over the knuckle joint between the second and third phalanges and still snugly engage the finger when in the position in which ringsare usually worn. In one form of construction, such as is shown in Patent No. 596,900, the

spring member is formed from a strip of spring metal No. 486,720, the spring member or members are formed integrally with the ring by stamping them inwardly in the form of spring fingers from the finger-encircling band portion of the ring. A still further construction that has been proposed heretofore for the purpose of preventing a ring from turning on the finger has to do with the provision of a generally rigid insert member which is adapted to be attached to the ring after it is in the position in which it is worn, the construction being illustrated in Patent No. 1,382,043.

A more recent construction that has been suggested is shown in Patent No 2,615,314 wherein a socket is formed in the ring and a member is telescoped within the socket and urged outwardly of the socket by springs positioned between the underside of the member and the base of the socket.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 228,853, I

2,873,586 Patented Feb. 17, 1959 have shown a construction for preventing a ring from turning on the finger wherein one or more rigid members are integrally connected to the finger encircling portion of the ring to diminish the size of the: circular opening at the desired section.

The present invention has to do with an. improved ring construction wherein yieldable meansare provided for adapting the ring to the size and shape of the finger on which it is to be worn, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a finger ring provided with simple spring means for accommodating fingers of various sizes and shapes which effectively prevent the ring from rotating on the finger when in place.

. A further object of the invention is to provide a spring adapter for rings which can be easily and permanently mounted on a conventional finger ring for adapting a ring of a given size to various shapes and sizes of fingers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a nonturning finger ring which can be fitted to the wearer's finger very readily by the" jeweler without mutilating the ring and without detracting from the ornamental appearance of the ring.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the ring of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the ring.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the lines 3--3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows the ring asit is worn on the finger.

4 Fig. 5 is a view showing the manner in which the springmember permits the ring to slip over the knuckle of the finger at approximately the lines 55 in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view showing the manner in which the springmember of the ring engages the fleshy portions of the finger at the location 66 in Fig. 4 and prevents the ring from turning on the finger.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a ring having a generally circular body portion 10 which encircles the finger and is provided with an enlarged setting 12 at the top side thereof. The setting 12 is usually larger, that is, of

greater mass than the finger encircling portion 10; and

tating on the fingerand at the same time enabling the ring to be passed gently over the large knuckle of the .fing'er comprises a spring member 14. In the embodiment shown, the spring member 14 is formed as two similarly shaped pieces. members. as shown is preferred, but it will be appreciated that a single spring member rather than two can be e'mployed if desired. The spring member 14 is fashioned as a segmentr of a circle and preferably ex tends circumferentially about 270'. Spring member 14 is permanently secured to the inner face of the finger encircling body portion 10 of the ring at the central bottom portion thereof as indicated at 16.

Referring now to Fig. 2 wherein the spring 14 is shown in the untensioned condition, it will be observed that the member 14 is secured to the ring in a position disposed symmetrically with respect to the vertical central axis of the ring with the open side of the spring, that is, the side defined between the ends of the

spring legs

18 and 20 disposed toward the upper end of the ring where the setting 12 is provided. In the untensioned condition, the spring member or members 14 have a diameter substantially less than the inner diameter of the finger encircling portion 10 of the ring. Thus, with a member 14 secured to the finger encircling portion 10 of the ring at 16 as by silver soldering or the like, the

The use of a pair of spring;

member 14 is tangent to the ring at this point; and the

spring legs

18 and 20 are generally spaced from the adjacent inner faces of the portion of the ring a progressively increasing distance in the direction of the free ends of the

spring legs

18 and 20.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be noted that where two spring members. 14 are employed, they are soldered or otherwise secured atthe area 16. in side by side contacting relation; but these spring members preferably diverge in a direction toward their free end. This construction is especially desirable in relatively heavy rings as distinguished from thin, light rings. In a heavy ring, the body encircling portion 10 usually increases in Width in a direction from the. bottom side to the top side of the ring, and the spring members 14 are disposed so as to more orless conform to. the. increasing width of the ring. The, spring members 14 are of relatively light weightand require. but little tension to spread the legs 18 and 29 apart. This is desirableto provide a comfortable. rather than a binding or-pinching fit on the finger. However, to compensate for the relatively light grip with which the spring member 14 engages the finger, the spring member 14 is. provided with serrations 24 which increase substantially: the flictionalengagement of the spring member 14. with the finger. The use of two spring members 14 as shown also enhances the holding ability of the light spring members. 1

In fitting a ring of the. present invention on a persons finger, a ring size is selected such that the diameter of the finger encircling portion 10 reduced by a double thickness ofthe. spring member 14 is sufiicient topass freely overthe second knuckle jointof the finger. This is illustrated clearly in Fig. 5 which shows the extent to which the. spring member 14 is expanded when passingover the knuckle joint 25 generally designated by the lines 5 45 onthe -,finger-illustrated' in Fig. 4. It will beobserved that when the ring isslippedoverthis joint, spring member 14 expands to a position wherein there: is only a slight clearance '26 between the ends of the spring legs. 18 and and the adjacent inner surfaces of. the body encircling portion 10 of the ring. The diameter of the spring member 14 in an untensioned condition is controlled by another factor; namely, the cross sectional size. of the finger at a point where the ring is usually worn. This section, referenced 28, is designated by, the lines 6-46 in Fig. 4, and the ring when positioned at this section of the finger is shown in Fig. 6. .In the finger illustrated, the cross section at the thinner portion 28 is less than the cross section of the knuckle at the line 5,-5. Thus when thering is worn in its usualhposition on the finger illustrated, spring member 14 i s;expanded to adiameter greater than its diameter in an untensioned condition (Fig. 2) but less than the diameter to which it is expanded when passing overthe second knuckle joint (Fig. 5). If thecross section of the finger in the planev 6.6-were.substantially smaller than hand, if it should happen that the cross section of the finger at the plane 6.-6 were substantially larger than the knuckle cross section at the plane 5--5, then the body encircling portion 10, as well as the spring member 14, would have a greater diameter than shown in Fig. 2.

Thus, it will be seen that by the provision of generally circular spring members such as shown at 14 and by arranging these spring members within the ring as illustrated and securing them to the ring by such simple means as silver soldering, a finger ring of a particular size can be adapted to finger which differ substantially in size and shape. Furthermore, I have found that by providing a substantially circular, relatively light spring member as illustrated and by permanently attaching the spring member to the inner face of the finger encircling portion of the ring at the bottom side thereof and in a position disposed generally symmetrically with the vertical central axis of the ring, the ringisheld firmly in non-rotating condition on. the finger and, at the same time, no discomfort isexperienced bythe wearer.

I claim:

A finger ringcomprising a body portion having a generally circular finger encircling portion provided with a setting at the top side thereof, said finger encircling portion being generally of increasing. width i113. direction upwardly from the bottom side thereof to said setting, a pair of leaf spring members secured to the inner peripheryof said finger'encircling portion at the bottom side thereof, said spring members being generally U- shaped with the bight portion thereof secured to the bottom portion of the ring and each spring member being provided with a pair of arcuate spring legs extending upwardly from the bottom portion of the ring only slightly beyondthe central portion of the ring, the free ends of said spring legs of each leaf spring being spaced apart a distance greater than the radius of the ring and being spaced radially inwardly from the adjacent inner face portions. of the finger encircling portion of the ring, said spring legs being relatively thin as compared with the finger encircling portion of the ring and having a generally fiat inner surface, said' leaf springs being secured to the bottom sideof said finger encircling portion of the ring in side-by-side relation and diverging in the direction of the free ends thereof, said springlegs lying entirely within the confines of said finger encircling portion whereby when said ring is placed upon the wearers finger, said spring legs tend to maintain the ring in an upright position.

References. Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 512,839 Oppenheimer Jan, 16, 1894 ,5 2, 7 B 1 1I 92.

FOREIGN PATENT S' 902 Great Britain Jan. 21-, 1885 376,142 Great Britain July 7, 1932