US3849945A

US3849945A - Precision tool for cabochons and jewelry

Info

Publication number: US3849945A
Application number: US00384623A
Authority: US
Inventors: L Lindzy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-08-01
Filing date: 1973-08-01
Publication date: 1974-11-26
Anticipated expiration: 1991-11-26

Abstract

A high precision manually operated pedestal mounted tool for cutting and polishing cabochons and jewelry is disclosed. The base of the pedestal, including means for effecting vertical adjustment, is secured in proximity to a grinding and/or polishing wheel. A pivotable assembly is secured atop the pedestal to permit movement of the stone or gem toward or away from the grinding wheel. A stone mounting assembly, including a handle extending therefrom, is secured within a pivotable holder by a ball and socket. With the above apparatus, the stone is movable toward and away from the grinding wheel, positionable with respect to the grinding wheel within a predetermined arc of the grinding and pivotable vertically and laterally with respect to the grinding wheel. With the above described degree of freedom of movement, a stone or gem may precisely be ground and polished to any degree of curvature in any direction.

Description

[ 51 Nov. 26, 1974 PRECISION TOOL FOR CABOCHONS AND JEWELRY [76] Inventor: Leo K. Lindzy, 2668 Hogan Ave.,

Mesa, Ariz. 85205 OTHER PUBLICATIONS The Ingram Faceting Machine, Ingram Laboratories, Inc.; 2-1963, Griffin, Georgia Primary ExaminerAl Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-Marc R. Davidson Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cahill, Sutton & Thomas 5 7 ABSTRACT A high precision manually operated pedestal mounted tool for cutting and polishing cabochons and jewelry is disclosed. The base of the pedestal, including means for effecting vertical adjustment, is secured in proximity to a grinding and/or polishing wheel. A pivotable assembly is secured atop the pedestal to permit move ment of the stone or gem toward or away from the grinding wheel. A stone mounting assembly, including a handle extending therefrom, is secured within a pivotable holder by a ball and socket. With the above apparatus, the stone is movable toward and away from the grinding wheel, positionable with respect to the grinding wheel within a predetermined arc of the grinding and pivotable vertically and laterally with respect to the grinding wheel. With the above described degree of freedom of movement, a stone or gem may precisely be ground and polished to any degree of curvature in any direction.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PRECISION TOOL FOR CABOCHONS AND JEWELRY The present invention relates to lapidary tools, and, more particularly, to tools for forming cabochons and jewelry.

Historically, the lapidary art has been practiced on a personal or a commercial basis. When the lapidary art is practiced essentially for personal enjoyment or for limited commercial benefit, the stones and gems are normally hand-held against a grinding and/or polishing wheel. This procedure produces products of a quality in direct relationship to the skill of the operator. In commercial production, a plurality of stones are generally fixedly mounted upon a jig and the polishing and/or grinding wheel is moved about the stones in a predetermined pattern. The quality of the final product may be excellent but the apparatus is very limiting, without extensive adjustments and modifications, in the degree of curvature of the polished surfaces.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a tool for grinding and/or polishing stones and gems, which tool permits a wide latitude in the degree of curvature of the resulting cabochons.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a manually operated tool for producing high quality cabochons.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a manually operated tool having a three axis freedom of movement for forming cabochons and jewelry.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a precision tool for forming cabochons useable with any sized stone or gem.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a precision tool for cabochons useable with any type of grinding or polishingapparatus.

A yet further object of the present invention is to pro vide an easily workable manually operated tool for forming cabochons.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.

The present invention may be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the present invention taken along lines 2-2, as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the present invention taken along lines 33, as shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown the cabochon forming tool of the present invention mounted upon a base 1. The base, shown as a U-shaped channel for simplicity in attachment to horizontal or vertical surfaces, may take any one of several forms. In the alternative magnets may be attached to the base to secure it to a work surface. A pedestal 2 is secured to base 1 by means of bolts 4, 5 and 13 (see FIG. 2) engaging

flanges

3 and 14 extending lateral to the pedestal.

As shown more clearly in FIGS. 1 and 2, a three sided shroud 6 extends upwardly from the lower part of pedestal 2. A vertically oriented slot 8 is disposed within the center part of shroud 6. A channel member 7 engages and extends about shroud 6. An aperture 9 is disposed within the base of the channel member, which aperture is coincidental with slot 8. The channel member 7 is retained adjacent shroud 6 by means of a bolt 10 extending through aperture 9 and slot 8 and engaging a washer 12 and nut 11. As may be understood by those skilled in the art, channel member 7 is vertically positionable by loosening nut 11, sliding the channel member 7 upwardly or downwardly and retightening the nut 11.

The

arms

18 and 19 of a U-shaped member 15 are pivotally secured to the upper part of the sides 48 and 49 forming channel member 7 by means of nut and

bolt combinations

36 and 37. The base of channel member 7 is not coextensive with the sides of the channel member to permit an extended degree of pivotal freedom of U-shaped member 15.

The description of the means for securing holder 22 to U-shaped member 15 will be described primarily with reference to FIG. 3. Holder 22 includes a pair of laterally disposed downwardly extending

flanges

28 and 29. These

flanges

28 and 29 are apertured to re ceive the bolt of nut and bolt combinations and 21, respectively. Similarly,

arms

18 and 19 of U-shaped member 15 are apertured to receive the bolt of nut and

bolt combinations

20 and 21, respectively. A spacer 24 is disposed intermediate flange 28 and arm 18. Similarly, a spacer 25 is disposed intermediate flange 29 and arm 19. A washer 26 may be disposed intermediate the head of the bolt and flange 28; similarly, a washer 27 may be disposed intermediate the head of the bolt and flange 29. One of the purposes of

spacers

24 and 25 and the associated washers is that of providing a variable degree of friction for pivotally positioning holder 22 with respect to U-shaped member 15. The variable friction is effected by tightening or loosening the nut and

bolt combinations

20 and 21. In this manner, the degree of force required to pivot holder 22 with respect to U-shaped member 15 may be varied.

I-Iolder 22 further includes a base 32 having lips 30 and 31 (see FIG. 2) extending downwardly therefrom. The combination of the base, lips and the flanges forms an inverted open ended box. A socket 34 is centrally disposed within the box. The socket may be a two-piece device split down the middle to permit insertion of a ball 35. The socket is centrally retained within holder 22 by means of positioning

members

38 and 39 secured to

flanges

28 and 29 by

bolts

46 and 47, respectively. The amount of friction exerted upon ball 35 by the two element socket 34 is determined by the degree of inward bias applied to the

positioning members

38 and 39 through

bolts

46 and 47.

A handle 40 threadedly engages ball 35 and extends generally in a direction away from base 32 of holder 22. A grip 42, shown in the preferred embodiment as a ball, is secured to the extremity of handle 40. A shaft 41 also threadedly engages ball 35 in a diametrically opposed relationship to handle 40. Shaft 41 extends through aperture 33 disposed within base 32, which aperture is generally coincident with ball 35. The opposed mating edges of the two element socket 34 are cut away to per mit pivotal movement of both handle 40 and shaft 41 within an imaginary cone extending downwardly and upwardly, respectively. from the center of ball 35. In a preferred embodiment, the angle defined by the apex of the opposed imaginary cones is approximately 45. The size of aperture 33 in base 32 is of sufficient width and breadth so as not to impede the movement of shaft 41.

The manner of securing a stone, such as stone 45 to shaft 41 may be accomplished in the following manner. A support 43 is glued, epoxied or otherwise secured to the rear face of stone 45. The opposite end of support 43 may be internally threaded to receive the threaded end of shaft 41. In the alternative, the end of support 43 may include a split recess to receive shaft 41. In the latter case, a clamp 44 is mounted upon support 43 to secure the interior walls of the recess in a frictional engagement with the extremity of shaft 41.

The operation of the present invention may be described as follows. Base 1 is secured in general radial alignment with the grinding or polishing wheel. The pivot point of stone 45, that is ball 35, is raised or lowered with respect to the grinding wheel by loosening nut 11 to permit upward to downward repositioning of channel member 7. The extent of upward or downward positioning with respect to horizontal has, to some extent, an effect upon the degree of curvature of the cab ochon to be formed. The pivotal movement of U- shaped member 15 permits the stone 45 to be moved toward or away from the grinding wheel. In addition, it permits manual variation in the amount of pressure applied while grinding and polishing. The pivotal movement of holder 22 with respect to U-shaped member 15 permits extended upward or downward movement of the stone 45 with respect to the grinding wheel. A slot 17 may be disposed within the base of U-shaped member 15 to accomodate downward pivotal movement of shaft 41 and further extend the available pivotal movement. The somewhat limited movement of ball within socket 34 and the long handle permits fine and easily controlled pivotal movement of the stone in I both the vertical and horizontal axis. Further, the ball and socket permits rotation of the stone about an axis defined by shaft 41. Thus, although extensive pivotal movement is only available in the vertical axis, the capability of rotating the stone permits the extensive vertical pivotal movement to be applied along any axis of stone 45.

From the above discussion, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that a constant curvature cabochon can be readily and easily obtained with the present invention. Or, a varying curvature surface can be formed upon the cabochon by selective manipulation of handle 40 through grip 42. Yet further curvature variations can be effected if the diameter of the grinding and/or polishing wheel is varied. In summary, the present invention permits the forming of cabochons with an extremely precise tool.

While the principles of the invention have now been made clear in an illustrative embodiment, there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, the elements, materials, and components, used in the practice of the invention which are particularly adapted for specific environments and operating requirements without departing from those principles.

I claim:

1. A manually operated tool for selectively maintaining and orienting cabochons and jewelry adjacent grinding and polishing wheels, said tool comprising in combination:

A. a base for mounting said tool in proximity to the grinding and polishing wheels;

B. holding means for securing the cabochon or jewelry to a shaft;

C. positioning means disposed intermediate said base and said holding means, said positioning means including:

l. first means for raising and lowering said holding means with respect to said base;

2. second means for moving said holding means toward and away from the grinding and polishing wheels; and

3. third means for pivoting said holding means about two axes, said third means including:

a. an apertured holder;

b. a ball disposed within said holder generally coincident with the aperture of said holder;

0. a socket disposed within said holder, said socket retaining said ball coincident with the aperture while permitting rotation of said ball;

d. said holding means extending through said socket and being radially secured to said ball;

e. said handle being secured to said ball diametrically opposed to said holding means; whereby, said ball permits manual orientation of said holding means about two axes; and

f. pivot means for pivoting said holder, said pivot means providing coarse pivotal movement of said holding means and said ball providing fine pivotal movement of said holding means;

D. a handle secured to said holding means; whereby, the cabochon or jewelry secured to said holding means may be manually oriented adjacent the grinding or polishing wheels to work the surface of the cabochon or jewelry.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first means is secured to said base, said second means is secured to said first means and said third means is secured to said second means.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein said first means includes a friction lock to vertically position said second means.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein said second means is pivotable with respect to said first means to position said third means toward or away from the grinding or polishing wheel.

Claims

1. A manually operated tool for selectively maintaining and orienting cabochons and jewelry adjacent grinding and polishing wheels, said tool comprising in combination: A. a base for mounting said tool in proximity to the grinding and polishing wheels; B. holding means for securing the cabochon or jewelry to a shaft; C. positioning means disposed intermediate said base and said holding means, said positioning means including: 1. first means for raising and lowering said holding means with respect to said base; 2. second means for moving said holding means toward and away from the grinding and polishing wheels; and 3. third means for pivoting said holding means about two axes, said third means including: a. an apertured holder; b. a ball disposed within said holder generally coincident with the aperture of said holder; c. a socket disposed within said holder, said socket retaining said ball coincident with the aperture while permitting rotation of said ball; d. said holding means extending through said socket and being radially secured to said ball; e. said handle being secured to said ball diametrically opposed to said holding means; whereby, said ball permits manual orientation of said holding means about two axes; and f. pivot means for pivoting said holder, said pivot means providing coarse pivotal movement of said holding means and said ball providing fine pivotal movement of said holding means; D. a handle secured to said holding means; whereby, the cabochon or jewelry secured to said holding means may be manually oriented adjacent the grinding or polishing wheels to work the surface of the cabochon or jewelry.

3. third means for pivoting said holding means about two axes, said third means including: a. an apertured holder; b. a ball disposed within said holder generally coincident with the aperture of said holder; c. a socket disposed within said holder, said socket retaining said ball coincident with the aperture while permitting rotation of said ball; d. said holding means extending through said socket and being radially secured to said ball; e. said handle being secured to said ball diametrically opposed to said holding means; whereby, said ball permits manual orientation of said holding means about two axes; and f. pivot means for pivoting said holder, said pivot means providing coarse pivotal movement of said holding means and said ball providing fine pivotal movement of said holding means; D. a handle secured to said holding means; whereby, the cabochon or jewelry secured to said holding means may be manually oriented adjacent the grinding or polishing wheels to work the surface of the cabochon or jewelry.