Hidden hinges are
sometimes used on bracelets and jewelry pieces. I saw one on a Vietnamese
bracelet once and have seen several on Diamonds International pieces. The
place they pop up most frequently is in kitchen cabinets and doors on smooth
surfaces like one sees on jet planes and sometimes on the sides of ships-hatches
of various kinds. Look at these models because they are usually built to
last and to be very sturdy. Kitchen cabinet hinges are a particularly fruitful
resource.
The Vietnamese bracelet's hidden hinge can serve as a generic model
for jewelry. It should be noted that as with many fine mechanics one designs
the piece first without regard as to how it will function and then one
deals with the actual solution for the specific problem, so that every
complex hinge and most fine catches differ in their details depending
upon the actual piece itself. On fine jewelry every mechanic can be different
a specific to the piece. This is why looking at models is so useful. You
never know where an idea you saw somewhere will provide a solution to
a technical and design problem you have.
The bracelet had a box catch on one side and on the opposite side where
one expected to see the tubing ends of a hinge in only a single line or
crack was visible. To use it one opened the catch, pulled slightly on
the bracelet so that the hinge part slid out to the point that it could
rotate, then it rotates open to allow one to insert the wrist and close
it again.
Hidden hinges need to bend out of the way and usually withdraw into
the body of the piece. They often involve the use of slides or double
hinging in some manner. This one is constructed with a piece of thick
sheet on one side. Through the end of the thick sheet is soldered a square
hinge pin. On the other side are two pieces of strong sheet. They have
slots in them and end in a round hole. When assembled the square hinge
pin just fits in the slots and slides in and out of the body of the bracelet.
When the square hinge pin reaches the round hole it can now rotate and
so the hinge operates to swing the bracelet open. To close it one closes
the bracelet and engages the box catch while at the same time the hinge
slides back out of sight into the bracelet.
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