Hand held punches for use in making individual jewelry display cards and kit encompassing same

Abstract

Personal cutting devices in the form of hand held punches for producing jewelry display cards include two aligned templates having identical patterns of apertures and being securely mounted in a frame such that a space between the templates accommodates a piece of cardstock. There is a spring biased movable member having elongate cutting elements designed to pass through the apertures in both templates, and an activation lever on which indicia is printed to show the aperture patterns produced by the punches. A housing protects the mechanism. Each punch is specifically designed to produce a display card that can hold and display a single article of jewelry such as a pair of earrings, a necklace or a brooch. The punches vary in size according to the template patterns. The punches enable the jewelry designer to use any card stock, including a business card, to display an article of jewelry.

I claim: 
     
       1. A personal hand held punch for making a jewelry display card on which to mount a single at least one article of jewelry, the hand held punch comprising:
 a housing having a base and an upper housing; 
 a U-shaped frame mounted having an upper member and a lower member, said lower member being disposed on the base of the housing; 
 an upper template and a lower template, said upper template being mounted on the upper member of the U-shaped frame and said lower template being mounted on the lower member of the U-shaped frame, said upper template disposed directly above said lower template, said upper and lower templates being spaced apart sufficiently to admit a piece of cardstock therebetween and having at least two apertures therethrough, the at least two apertures in the upper template being identical to and in substantial registry with the at least two apertures in the lower template, said at least two apertures configured to yield the same at least two apertures in the piece of cardstock thereby enabling said piece of cardstock to be usable to mount and display the single at least one article of jewelry; 
 a spring biased movable member disposed above the upper and lower templates, at least two elongate cutting elements extending from the spring biased moveable member and corresponding to and configured to pass through the at least two apertures in said upper and lower templates with minimal tolerances thereby producing the at least two apertures in the piece of cardstock and simultaneously generating waste pieces of cardstock; 
 means for biasing said movable member away from the upper and lower templates, the means for biasing said movable member being in contact with the spring biased moveable member and an upper surface of the upper member of the U-shaped frame; 
 an activation lever hingedly mounted on said upper member of the U-shaped frame and extending above said movable member such that when said activation lever is depressed, the activation lever displaces the movable member downward which causes the at least two elongate cutting elements to pass through the at least two apertures in the upper and lower templates and cut through the cardstock placed between the upper and lower templates, the activation lever having a hinged portion and an actuation portion; 
 wherein the upper housing contains the upper member of the U-shaped frame, the movable member, the biasing means, and the hinged portion of the activation lever, and the actuation portion extends outward and beyond the upper housing; and 
 means for collecting the waste pieces of cardstock. 
 
     
     
       2. A device to make The hand held punch for making a jewelry display card as described in  claim 1  wherein the apertures in the templates are designed to produce a jewelry display card for a single at least one article of jewelry selected from the group consisting of: a pair of post-type earrings, a pair of hook-type earrings, a necklace, a bracelet, a brooch, and a barrette. 
     
     
       3. A device to make The hand held punch for making a jewelry display card as described in  claim 1  wherein the templates and elongate cutting elements produce two horizontally aligned circular openings in the piece of cardstock such that a pair of post-type earrings can be mounted thereon. 
     
     
       4. A device to make The hand held punch for making a jewelry display card as described in  claim 1  wherein the templates and elongate cutting elements produce two horizontally oriented opposing U-shaped openings forming U-shaped tabs, each tab with a centered circular opening, in the piece of cardstock such that a pair of hook-type earrings can be mounted thereon. 
     
     
       5. A device to make The hand held punch for making a jewelry display card as described in  claim 1  wherein the templates and elongate cutting elements produce two diagonal slots beginning at opposing upper corners of the piece of cardstock and terminating in circular end portions such that a necklace can be mounted and hung from the two circular end portions. 
     
     
       6. A device to make The hand held punch for making a jewelry display card as described in  claim 1  wherein the templates and elongate cutting elements produce two horizontal slots beginning substantially midway on opposing sides of the piece of cardstock and terminating in circular end portions such that a bracelet can be mounted and hung from the two circular end portions. 
     
     
       7. A device to make The hand held punch for making a jewelry display card as described in  claim 1  wherein the templates and elongate cutting elements produce a ring of circular apertures substantially centered in the piece of cardstock such that a brooch can be mounted thereon by inserting a pin element of said brooch into one circular aperture and having the pin element exit through an opposing circular aperture. 
     
     
       8. A device to make The hand held punch for making a jewelry display card as described in  claim 1  wherein the templates and elongate cutting elements produce a horizontal array of vertical slots substantially centered in the piece of cardstock such that a barrette can be mounted thereon by inserting a clasp element of said barrette into one vertical slot and having the clasp element exit through another vertical slot. 
     
     
       9. A personal hand held punch for making a jewelry display card on which to mount at least one article of jewelry, the hand held punch comprising:
 a housing having a base and an upper housing;   a U-shaped frame having an upper member and a lower member, said lower member being disposed on the base of the housing;   an upper template and a lower template, said upper template being mounted on the upper member of the U-shaped frame and said lower template being mounted on the lower member of the U-shaped frame such that said upper template is disposed directly above said lower template, said upper and lower templates being spaced apart sufficiently to admit a piece of cardstock therebetween and having at least two apertures therethrough, the at least two apertures in the upper template being identical to and in substantial registry with the at least two apertures in the lower template, said at least two apertures configured to yield the same at least two apertures in the piece of cardstock thereby enabling said piece of cardstock to be usable to mount and display the at least one article of jewelry;   a spring biased movable member disposed above the upper and lower templates, at least two elongate cutting elements extending from the spring biased movable member and corresponding to and configured to pass through the at least two apertures in said upper and lower templates with minimal tolerances thereby producing the at least two apertures in the piece of cardstock and simultaneously generating waste pieces of cardstock;   means for biasing said movable member away from the upper and lower templates, the means for biasing said movable member being in contact with the spring biased movable member and an upper surface of the upper member of the U-shaped frame;   an activation lever hingedly mounted on said upper member of the U-shaped frame and extending above said movable member such that when said activation lever is depressed, the activation lever displaces the movable member downward which causes the at least two elongate cutting elements to pass through the at least two apertures in the upper and lower templates and cut through the cardstock placed between the upper and lower templates, the activation lever having a hinged portion and an activation portion;   wherein the upper housing contains the upper member of the U-shaped frame, the movable member, the biasing means, and the hinged portion of the activation lever, and the actuation portion extends outward and beyond the upper housing; and   a waste reservoir in the housing base beneath the lower template.