US2952058A - Flexible jewelry band and snap clasp therefor - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 13,

1960 S. GELDWEIVRTH FLEXIBLE JEWELRY BAND AND SNAP CLASP THEREFOR Filed July 21, 1958 y /5 09/ 32 32 3/ K- 7 /9 34 6527 50; 5 20 /995 g 35 35 za 024 2a i 37 57 C FIG. 4 2A. w/s/ :vp/fiz,

I l INVENTOR. 29 22 76 L4 L22 j/Mdfl g g B I ATTORNEY United States Patent O FLEXIBLE JEWELRY BAND AND SNAP CLASP THEREFOR Simon Geldwerth, New York, N.Y. (1434 57th St., Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Filed July 21, 1958,'Ser. No. 749,893

9 Claims. (Cl. 24-230) members during the clasping operation, and to guide one of the clasp members within .the other during the closure of the snap clasps.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a strong, rugged, and durable bracelet or necklace, and clasp therefor, which shall be relatively inexpensive. to manufacture, and which shall yet be practical and efficient to a high degree and use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinaiter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereina-fiter described, and of which the scope of invention will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing in which is shown vari ous illustrative embodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of abracelet or necklace provided with a snap clasp member etnbody ing the invention,

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a top perspective view of the clasp-members separated from one another,

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a blank for making the female snap clasp member, and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a blank for making the male snap clasp member.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, designates a bracelet or necklace embodying the invention. The same comprises a bracelet or necklace chain or band 1 1 of any suitable construction. Said chain may comprise links or any other articulated elements. One end 11a, of the chain 11, is attached to a female snap clasp member 13. The other end 11b, of the chain 11, is attached to a male snap clasp member 14.

Member 13 is made from the blank '15 shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing. The blank 15 may be made of sheet metal, if desired. The blank 15 comprises a central section 16 having a straight end edge 17, and is bounded at the sides by bend lines 18, indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. Opposite to the edge 17, is a convex edge 19, connected by short aligned edge portions 20 to the ends of the bend lines 18. The bend lines 18 are parallel to one another and extend' to the edge 17. Extending .from the bend lines 18 are similar symmetrical sections 21, rectangular in shape and having edges 22 coextensive with the edge 17. Opposite the edges 22 are aligned bend lines 23,, which are coextensive with the short edges "ice 20. Sections 21 have outer end edges 24, parallel to the bend lines 18.

EX-tending from the bend lines 23 are similar symmetrically disposed sections 27. Said sections 27 have inner edges 28, parallel and spaced close to the edges 24. It will be noted that the metal is slitted to form the coextensive edges 24, 28. Sections 27 have edges 29 which are in alignment with the edges 22 and 17. Said sections have parallel edges 30 at right angles to the edges 29. Said sections also have edges 31 in alignment with one another and parallel to the edges 29. Said sections 27 are also formed with inner edges 32 parallel to the edges 30, and extending from the edges 31, terminating short of the bend lines 23 at points 33.

Extending from the points 33 are aligned short edges 34 perpendicular to the edges 32. Extending downwardly from the edges 34 are inner edges 35 parallel to one another and terminating at points opposite from the bend lines 23. Extending inwardly from the lower ends of edges 35 are .aligned edges 36 parallel to the bend lines 23. Extending from the inner ends of edges 36 are parallel edges 37 which terminate substantially at the junctions of the bend lines 18 and 23.

To form the clasp member 13 from the blank 15, section 16 forms a bottom wall for. said clasp member. Sections 21 are bent upwardly about the bend lines 18 to term side walls for the clasp member. Saidside walls have upper edges 24. The sections 27 are bent about the bend lines 23 inwardly into alignment until said sections are at right angles to the side walls 21, as shown in'Fig. 3 of the drawing Said sections 27 will now form wings extending outwardly beyond the side walls 21. The edges 31 will now be parallel to and spaced from one another. The edges 30 will now be in alignment. The edges 31 will be parallel to one another. The edges 32 will be in alignment. The edges 32 will be spaced above the top surface of section 1 6 and the edges 35 will also be spaced above the upper surface of section 16 forming slot 3511, but will be closer thereto forming slots 36a. It will now be understood that the bracelet or necklace at l la is attached to the clasp member 13 by welding or soldering the said bracelet end to the upper edges 24 of the side walls 21' and to the rear surfaces of sections 27. The bracelet end 11 will have a recess at the space between the edges 31 tor the purpose hereinafter appearing 'Ihe clasp member 14 may be made from the blank 40 shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing. Said blank 40 may likewise be made of sheet metal. The blank 40 comprises a rectangular section 41,.having a long edge 42, and parallel shorter side edges 43, at right angles to said long edge. Extending inwardly from edges 43, are aligned edges 44, parallel to the edge 42, and terminating at points 45. The points 45' are interconnected by .a bend line 46, shown in dotted lines inthe drawing. Extending from the points 45 are parallel edges 47, the lower ends of which are interconnected by a bend line 48 parallel to the bend line 46. The part of the blank bounded by bend lines 46, 48, and side edges 47, constitutes a section 50. Extending from the ends of the bend line 48 are inwardly inclined edges 51 from which extend parallel edges 52, interconnected by an edge 53 perpendicular to said edges 52, and parallelto the bend line 48. The part of the blank bound' by bend line 48 and edges 51, 52 and 53, constitutes a section 54.

To make the clasp member 14 from the blank 40, section 54 is bent about bend line 48 over section 50. The length of section 54 is somewhat less than the length of section 50. Section 54, when it is bent over section 50, normally remains in upwardly and rearwardly inclined position relative to section 50. Thus section 54 becomes a spring plate or tongue, and said section may be depressed until it lies flat on the upper surface of :section 50. Section 50 is bent about bend line 46 until it is at right angles to section 41. It will be' noted that section 50, at the two sides thereof, extends beyond section 54 thereby forming guide flanges 50a. Soldered -to the bent-over section 54 is a pin 60 having a head 61. The pin 60 is located close to edge 53 and is centrally disposed between the side edges 52.

4 The opposite end :11]; of the bracelet or necklace is Welded or soldered to the outer surface of section 41. It will be noted that the outer ends of the sections 27 and 41, may be clipped to accommodate the width of the bracelet or necklace to the combined widths of sections 27 and to the width of section 41.. For a wider bracelet, sections 27 and41 of greater length, are used. To accommodate a narrower bracelet, the outer end of wings are cut down to suit.

7 In order to join together the ends of the bracelet, sections 54 and 50 are passed between the wall 16 and the edges 32 and 35. It will be noted that the side flanges 50a, of member 14, engage between the edges 35 'and the upper surface of section 16 in slots 36a, whereas the top surface of the spring bent-over section 54 engages the edges 32, passing through slot 35a. The pin 60 pass- .es through the space between sections 27. When the edge 53 of bent-over section 54 passses beyond sections 27, spring tongue section 54 will snap up so that the edge 53 thereof will engage the inner surfaces of sections 27, to keep the clasp closed. The pin 60 will enter the recess in the middle of end 11a of the bracelet or necklace in back of the space between sections 27.

Thus the flanges 50a serve to guide the clasp members 14 and 13 during clasping engagement and to prevent sidesway of the parts. Thus if members 13 and 14 are -made of .025" stock, edges 34 and 36 would be .030" in length each. Thus there would be only .005" play between the flanges 50a and the edges 35. Yet the sections 50, 52 may be readily pressed together since section 54 is only .025 thickness and passes through a space of If, for example, the flanges 50a were omitted, and the shoulders formed by edges 34, 35 were omitted,

then after the spring section 54 were fully through the slot beneath the wings 27, and said spring section were to spring up, then the .025" thickness of the bottom wall -50 would have loose movement in a space of .060" between the bottom wall 16 and the edges 32. Such. construction would result from making the sections 50 and 54 of the same width and ehninating the shoulders formed by edges 34 and 35.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an appara- .tus in which the several objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet the condition of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense,

I claim:

7 1. -A clasp for a bracelet or necklace comprising a clasp member comprised of a single sheet of metal of uniform thickness bent to form a bottom wall, parallel side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall, a pair of aligned spaced wings extending transversely from the forward ends of the side walls and extending outwardly beyond said walls and inwardly, said wings being spaced at their inner ends to form a central vertical space, the lower edges of said wings between said side walls being cut away to form a horizontal slot intersecting said vertical space, and a second clasp member comprised of a single sheet of metal of uniform thlckness bent to form a bottom wall, a spring section bottom section, an upstanding wall extending upwardly about the front end of the bottom section, and extending outwardly beyond the sides of said bottom section, and being coextensive lengthwise with the combined aligned sections of thefirst clasp member, and parallel thereto, said bottom wall and spring section engaging in said horizontal slot, with said spring section bearing against the under sidesof the portions of said wings between said side walls.

2. A clasp for a bracelet or necklace comprising a claspmember having a flat sheet forming a continuous bottom wall, integral parallel side walls extending upwardly from the sides of the bottom wall, and a pair of integral aligned spaced wings extending from the forward ends of the side walls, said wings having portions extending inwardly of said side walls and terminating short of each other to form a space between the wings,

and said wings extending outwardly beyond said side walls, the inwardly extending portions of said wings forming a slot with the flat bottom wall, a second clasp member having a bottom wall, a spring tongue extending from one end of the bottom wall and inclined upwardly toward the other end of said bottom wall, an upstanding wall extending upwardly from the other end of said bottom wall, said upstanding wall extending to opposite sides of said bottom wall, a pin fixed to the tongue and extending upwardly therefrom and formed with a head, said bottom wall and tongue being insertable in the slot between the inwardly extending wings of the first clasp member and the bottom wall of the first clasp member and said pin passing through said space between said wings.

3. The combination of claim 2, in combination with a flexible band having one end attached to the upper edges of the upwardly extending side walls of the first clasp member, and also being attached to said aligned wings, and the other end of the band being attached to the outer face of the upstanding wall of said second clasp member.

4. The combination of claim 2, said aligned Wings of said first clasp member being formed with a pair of narrow slots extending outwardly of the first slot, and the bottom wall of the second clasp member having side flanges extending outwardly beyond the sides of said spring tongue and received within said pair of slots.

5. The combination of claim 2, each of said clasp members being formed from a single blank of sheet material of uniform thickness.

' 6. In combination, a clasp member comprised of a single sheet of metal of uniform thickness bent to form a flat bottom wall, side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall, and wings connected to the side walls and having portions extending inwardly of the side walls and portions extending outwardly of the side walls, the inwardly extending portions of the wings forming a space therebetween and also forming a slot with said bottom wall, a second clasp member having a bottom wall, a spring tongue extending from one end of the bottom wall and overlying said bottom wall, and an upstanding wall extending upwardly from the other end of said bottom wall, said bottom wall and tongue being movable through the slot formed between the inwardly extending portions of the wings and the bottom wall of the first clasp member, said space between the inwardly extending portions bent over the bottom section about the rear end of h is sec ed to the pp side of Said tongue and passes i V 5 through said space between the inwardly extending portions of said wings.

9. The combination of claim 7, the bottom wall of the second clasp member having flanges extending outwardly beyond the sides of the spring tongue, and said first clasp member being formed with narrow ends of the slot between said wings and said bottom wall extending from the first slot to slidably receive said flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Nielsen Feb. 8, 1916 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1908 Great Britain 1904 Great Britain Aug. 26, 1935 France May 18, 1912 France Aug. 20, 1956

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