System & process for precious metal lamination to an alternative material

Abstract

An article of manufacture having an alternative material and a precious material making this unique in bonding materials that are significantly dissimilar having an alternative material having an integral securing area and a laminate of precious material connected at the securing area of the alternative material having a contoured shape substantially matching a shape of the first alternative material.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 766,093 filed Feb. 18, 2013, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention is related to improvements in the attachment of one type of material to another. More particularly, the present invention provides a process and system whereby a precious metal can be attached to another material that is not as valuable as the first; this less valuable material defined by the jewelry industry as “alternative,”“contemporary,” or “non-traditional.”BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Just prior to the formation of Spectore Corp in 1983, Edward Rosenberg (Spectore's founder) was one of, if not the only American to pioneer and introduce refractory metals to the jewelry industry. Through the last 30 years contemporary materials (including but not limited to: the entire family of refractory metals titanium, niobium, zirconium,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a process for attaching precious metals to alternative materials using a laminate of precious metal on a securing area of the alternative material. The securing area can have a matching shape to the precious metal. The precious metal can be attached using various methods such as flame, oven, induction, convection, friction, heat pressure, or drawing and extruding. The attachment can be used in various applications such as woodworking adhesive, screws, bolt nuts, welding, heat treatment, plastic or similar protrusion, and slot insertion. The invention provides a unique way to combine dissimilar materials that allows for the use of precious metals on alternative materials.

Problems solved by technology

The onset of inflation, the meteoric rise in precious metal prices for such as gold, platinum, silver, palladium have further increased in cost to such an extent that the average consumer finds it difficult to purchase items made purely of the aforementioned.

As a consequence, jewelry retailers and customers have been forced by current market trends to cut back on their purchasing of now highly expensive items; thus, articles having precious metals such as rings, bracelets, jewelry, consumer products, giftware, personal and table top accessories, watches, and any form of decorative encasements have experienced a general decline in their respective market shares.

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