Looking for Guidance: Manufacturing and Licensing My Fidget-Spinner Ring

[jasongberger (JB)]

I’m so pleased to have so much to respond to. In regards to the patent, it is a utility patent, so it covers any ring with the general structure described, which means it can have any design on the faces of the ring, like a panorama of a landscape, some kind of tessellation, or an ouroboros. There is so much potential to a project like this, and having the utility patent reduces my fear of losing my rights, giving me the confidence to take a leap and collaborate with other artists.

Whether or not I have rights internationally, I still have bragging rights to claim the originality of the idea for the sake of history, which I think is a good selling point when it comes to deciding between buying one made by the originator vs. a knock-off. As far as I’m concerned, the rights and protection the patent offers is a secondary added bonus to the achievement itself.

@benedict The ring with bearings is only one version that is covered, and I made sure to include it for the “nerds” who want speed. To clarify, they would be pre-fabricated ball bearings added to the ring mid-print, not made by DMLS. I think you have a good idea to design the ring to feature the ball bearings, but to make something like that would require some trial and error, which means I’d need access to a DMLS machine. The profitability is there, but it would require further R & D.

Another version I think is unique (included in the patent and featured in my animation), less complicated than the ring with ball bearings, and difficult if not impossible to reproduce by hand, features a hidden interlocking channel between the rings (see 103 and 104 of FIG 3); all of the spinning rings I’ve come across have the inside-band’s rims protrude outward to prevent the outside-band from breaking free. It’s almost like a magnetic effect, having unseen forces holding the two bands together.

One issue to consider about resizing or manipulating any spinner ring; how can even the most meticulous of bench jewelers smooth or shape the faces of the bands inside the gap? When resizing the ring, the crack or bead will still exist on the faces between the bands. When it comes to spinning the outer band, a smooth and consistent curving of the band is best.

@benedict I don’t quite understand what you’re saying about declaring a ring printed in gold a yellow alloy, I haven’t come across anything like this in any of my DMLS research. For example, 3D Alchemy describes their jewelry by the precious metal they make it with https://www.3d-alchemy.co.uk/3d-printing-in-gold.html.

[benedict (Ben)]

@jasongberger

I don’t quite understand what you’re saying about declaring a ring printed in gold a yellow alloy, I haven’t come across anything like this in any of my DMLS research. For example, 3D Alchemy describes their jewelry by the precious metal they make it with 3D Printing in Gold, Silver and Platinum. 3d-printed precious metals..

Well, for example in Switzerland, which I admit has a very strict law about jewelry gold, the proposed mix from 3d-alchemy with Au751/000 won’t guarantee an average value of Au750/000 after being smelted locally by a laser and in a big container as powder. Therefor if you’d sell it as gold (which is only called like that from 750/000, and alloys like 585/000 or lower are not to be sold as gold), you basically can be hold responsible for scamming. As general rule, you are not allowed to put a EU convention mark on SLM produced gold alloys. Au 750 is the new expression for 18k gold.

@jasongberger

Whether or not I have rights internationally, I still have bragging rights to claim the originality of the idea for the sake of history, which I think is a good selling point when it comes to deciding between buying one made by the originator vs. a knock-off. As far as I’m concerned, the rights and protection the patent offers is a secondary added bonus to the achievement itself.

Wellendorff:

Cartier:

Bucherer:

Meister:

they all have their own form of bearings. pretty sure MONT BLANC has one as well, but I thiiink without bearings. And I admit the one from Bucherer is not very fluid in movement.

@jasongberger

difficult if not impossible to reproduce by hand

by hand, you’d just make the outer ring out of two halfs and solder them together only heating locally.

[EricM (Eric Paul Marvets)]

@jasongberger

most meticulous of bench jewelers smooth or shape the faces of the bands inside the gap?

@benedict

by hand, you’d just make the outer ring out of two halfs and solder them together only heating locally.

I wouldn’t solder. Cast two bands, polish, and stretch/compress.

Again, I made your exact figure over ten years ago when everyone went nuts for fidget spinners, except 103/104 were half-round instead of a V groove.

In the US, you can karat stamp sintered pieces. It’s done by weight in a fire assay. But…

@jasongberger

pre-fabricated ball bearings

Good luck with that one. Steel ball bearings aren’t on the list of exemptions.

Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries

[jasongberger (JB)]

@benedict and @EricM I wanted to take some time to study and to carefully consider both of your counter-solutions. First, let me say that I think both solutions are quite elegant. I do recall having seen both in my prior art search for the patent examination phase and remember my astonishment with a jeweler’s ingenuity.

However, I believe each of your solutions sacrifices some valuable quality to the ring, in either the design on the outside band or the overall comfort, function, and strength of the ring.

@benedict To combine the outer band from two pieces the way you describe would limit what intricate designs you can make out of the outside band. You’d be forced to incorporate a big crack (or two) into your design; you can see how Cartier leaned into it and incorporated the big crack into its designs. I suppose you could solder it shut, but then you’d need to smoothen and blend it into the design somehow.

@EricM To compress the outside band to fit the inside band in the method you describe would also put limitations on what designs can be made on outside band, as I think we can expect smudging on any raised, complex designs.

Alternatively, stretching the inside band poses other limitations regarding the band’s thinness, as well as the reassurance of the two pieces interlocking. If the band is too thin, it will likely snap in the process, and if it doesn’t snap, it loses some of its structural integrity and will bend or snap under less pressure than if it hadn’t been stretched.

If the band is too thick, it will feel bulky when worn, considering the outside band will add to the overall size of the ring. The outside band could be made thinner, but then you lose the ring’s spinnability by decreasing the weight of the outer band.

By compressing/stretching the ring, you are also restricting yourself from metals with high tensile strength, like stainless steel, titanium, or cobalt, which would allow for even thinner bands.

There is also the issue of getting the channel 103 or protrusion 104 (FIG. 3) to fit correctly together, as you are stretching the inside diameter of the inside band (or compressing the outside diameter of the outer band), and so you have less control over the shape of the surfaces between the bands. After compressing/stretching, the protrusions may not protrude deep enough into the channel, or the channel may lose some of its depth, which would cause the ring’s interlocking to fail. And then there is also the possibility of undesired warping, losing consistency and smoothness along 103/104. Or in an effort to avoid interlocking failure, decreasing the gap between the bands will have negative effects on the ring’s spinnability.

@EricM you mentioned you already made these rings, I’d be interested in seeing any photos of your finished product.

@benedict you quoted my passage about my bragging rights and followed it with the pictures of other spinner rings, as if to offer evidence to the contrary. I just want to clarify that I’m not bragging about creating spinner rings, I’m bragging about the seamless, unbent spinner rings described in my patent.

[benedict (Ben)]

@jasongberger

@benedict you quoted my passage about my bragging rights and followed it with the pictures of other spinner rings, as if to offer evidence to the contrary. I just want to clarify that I’m not bragging about creating spinner rings, I’m bragging about the seamless, unbent spinner rings described in my patent.

I didn’t mean to offend you. You asked for feedback. You have the right to brag about your patent. But in this thread are several jewelry professionals telling you that you offer a solution for a non-existing problem, and you refuse to hear it. That’s your right as well, of course.