Retroreflective Chain and Manufacturing Method
AssigneeUnnamed Studios LLC
InventorsYi Hu, Christina Liu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to jewelry and specifically jewelry with retroreflective inlays. Specifically, the invention relates to a chain link or other jewelry item, with an inlay trough formed in the chain. The inlay trough can be created in a number of ways including casting, CNC milling, photolithography and chemical milling. Once an inlay trough is created, a retroreflective material is embedded in the trough. The retroreflective material which has a bonded top layer of acrylic or polyester is then sealed into the trough with a resin layer that creates a highly reflective, water-resistant, and protective surface. The disclosed invention covers the chain or other jewelry of similar style and the method for producing the jewelry.
Claims21
A method for manufacturing a reflective jewelry item comprising the steps of:
- Casting metal into a jewelry body having a top side and a bottom side using a mold comprising a top mold and bottom mold;
- Forming a trough in the top side of the jewelry body, the trough having a defined shape;
- Cutting a retroreflective material into the defined shape, the retroreflective material comprising an adhesive layer, a retroreflective layer and a face film layer;
- Placing the retroreflective material into the trough;
- and
- Covering the top of the retroreflective material with resin.
A reflective jewelry item comprising:
- A jewelry body having a top side and a bottom side, the jewelry body being formed of metal;
- The top side of the jewelry body having a trough formed therein;
- and
- The trough containing a retroreflective material and a resin material covering the top of the retroreflective material, the retroreflective material comprising an adhesive layer, a retroreflective layer and a face film layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.