EP1244372B1

EP1244372B1 - Fastener, particularly for jewelry

Info

Publication number: EP1244372B1
Application number: EP00990807A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Lucio Zanandrea; Alberto Zanandrea; Vincenzo Linardi
Original assignee: Linardi Vincenzo
Current assignee: Linardi Vincenzo
Priority date: 1999-12-24
Filing date: 2000-12-21
Publication date: 2005-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 2020-12-21
Also published as: ATE305241T1; WO2001047389A1; AU3015201A; EP1244372A1; IT1307117B1; DE60022908D1; ITVI990266A1

Abstract

A fastener, particularly for jewelry and watches, as well as for belts, bags, rucksacks, shoes, etc. includes a first free end and a second free end, a protrusion associated with the first end and an elastic means associated with the second end. The elastic means can engage the protrusion, detachably joining the first and second ends. The fastener solves the problems found in conventional types, requiring no manual adjustment of any kind.

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to a fastener, particularly for jewelry and watches, as well as for belts, bags, rucksacks, shoes and the like.

Background Art

Conventional fasteners or catches and clasps generally comprise a pair of metallic members which are associated with the ends to be joined and can engage each other detachably. For example, catches of the snap-acting type are known for ornaments such as necklaces, bracelets et cetera. More specifically, the catches are constituted by a thin prism-shaped or cylindrical box which is joined to one of the ends of the ornament and forms a chamber which is adapted to accommodate, through an insertion slot, a V-shaped blade which is connected to the other end and engages with a snap action against the edge of the slot. The blade is disengaged by compressing, by virtue of an appropriately provided tooth which protrudes from the box, one of the portions of the blade against the other and by then separating the latter from the box. Another snap-acting catch is formed by an annular member in which the ends of the ornament are slidingly engaged by virtue of rings. A portion of the annular member is omitted so that it can accommodate a ball which is in tum joined to one end of a straight rod, which is arranged radially with respect to the ring and is hinged to the other end at the portion of the annular member that lies diametrically opposite the omitted portion. Accordingly, in order to move this catch from the open position to the closed position it is sufficient to insert the annular member in the ring which is not engaged and move the ball toward the omitted portion of the annular member by turning the rod in either direction, subsequently forcing the ball into its seat. Clearly, in order to move the catch from the closed position to the open position, the above-described operations should be performed in reverse. Other snap-acting catches for such items are based on a typical bayonet coupling of the type constituted by two members, respectively a male member and a female member, which can engage each other by virtue of the insertion and subsequent rotation of one member with respect to the other. Another conventional catch, which is not of the snap-acting type, is formed directly on the free ends of the ornament. For example, in the case of a necklace, one of its ends has a recess which is adapted to accommodate a complementarily shaped protrusion formed on its other end. In this case, the catch is completed by a thin rod to be inserted in a through hole formed in the two tabs which laterally delimit the recess and in the protrusion. In this manner, the rod acts as a hinge pivot for the ends thus connected. The rod has one of its two ends associated with a chain whose length is adequate to allow the normal maneuver for insertion and extraction.

A first drawback of the above-described snap-acting catches is the fact that the presence of parts having a certain complexity with mechanical interlocking can cause imperfect operation. Accordingly, in the industries that manufacture such items it is always necessary to resort to a further manual adjustment to be performed on the parts of the catch that are meant to interact. Clearly, this adjustment entails an increase in production costs which can sometimes be significant, not because of the amount of material removed but because of the time spent by a qualified worker to bring the members of the catch to the required tolerances.

A second drawback is that it is generally necessary to mutually solder the components of the catch, with an evident further increase in manufacturing costs.

FR-A-986061 on which is based the preamble of the new claim 1 both disclose a fastener comprising a first free end and a second free end, one protrusion associated with either one of said ends and at least one elastic means associated with other one of said ends and adapted to engage said at least one protrusion, detachably joining said first and second ends. The elastic means of this prior fastener is a catch associated to one end and formed by a U-shaped wire so conformed to present a loop for engaging a pin associated to the other end. However, this prior catch must have small tolerance in order to insure proper engagement with the pin thus increasing production costs and reducing the reliability of the closure.

FR-A-1128877 also discloses all the features mentioned in the preamble of claim 1 and having elastic means comprising a substantially rigid rectangular member having a pair of longitudinal links connected to a pair of transverse rods by means of spherical joints, one of such rods being slidably lodged in a groove against the elastic reaction of compression springs. The rectangular member of this prior fastener is rather complicate and requires qualified labour and high manufacturing costs. Moreover, in order to ensure free sliding of rod it is necessary to provide small tolerances with corresponding increase in the manufacturing costs.

Disclosure of the invention

The aim of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks noted above in conventional types of clasps for omaments, watch straps and so forth by providing a fastener, particularly for jewelry and watches, which requires no further adjustments during the production process.

An object of the invention is to provide a fastener whose components do riot have to be soldered.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fastener which is easy to open and close for the user, does not require maintenance and has a particular and appealing appearance.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fastener with manufacturing costs which are considerably lower than the costs of most conventional fasteners.

This aim, these objects and others which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a fastener, particularly for jewelry and watches, as defined in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment-thereof, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view of the fastener according to the invention, with the components in a disengaged configuration, applied to the ends of a watch strap;

Figure 2 is a view of the fastener of Figure 1, with the components in an engaged configuration;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fastener as shown in Figure 2.

With reference to the above figures, the fastener, generally designated by the reference numeral 4, particularly for jewelry and watches, for example for bracelets, necklaces, chokers, and so forth, is provided with a first free end 5 and with a second free end 6. The fastener comprises a protrusion 7, which is associated with the first end 5, and an elastic means 8, which is associated with the second end 6 and is adapted to engage the protrusion 7 in order to detachably join the first end 5 and the second end 6. In greater detail, the protrusion 7 is approximately cylindrical and protrudes at right angles from the centerline of the outer face of a first plate 9 which is joined to the first end 5. The upper circumferential edge of the protrusion 7 is preferably rounded. A first circumferential groove 10 is formed in the protrusion 7, at the region where it couples to the first plate 9, and is adapted to accommodate the elastic means 8 in the engaged position. A second groove 11 is formed on the protrusion 7 and is directed toward the second end 6. The second groove 11 protrudes vertically from the edge of the lower face of the plate 9, up to the top of the protrusion 7, and is adapted to partly accommodate a lug 12 which in turn is provided with the elastic means 8. The elastic means is formed by an elastically deformable ring which is made of rubber-like material. The lug 12 is a rounded projection which protrudes from the centerline of the upper and front lateral faces of a second plate 13 which is joined to the second end 6. The front portion of the lug 12 is accommodated in the second groove 11 during the connection of the catch, preventing the mutual sliding of the first plate 9 and of the second plate 13 on the mutually facing lateral faces. A transverse through hole 14 is formed in the lug 12, proximate to the tip and accommodates a small portion of the elastically deformable ring 8, with limited play. A substantially horizontal slit 15 is arranged proximate to the tip of the lug 12, on the front portion thereof, and reaches the hole 14 allowing to easily move the ring 8 into its active position by placing it on the slit 15 and then pulling it toward the region that lies opposite the engagement region. As already noted, the catch 4 can also be applied to other items. For example, the catch 4 can be applied directly to the ends of a belt for pants or skirts or to the ends of the cords adapted to close bags, rucksacks, suitcases and so forth.

The operation of the fastener is described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings where the parts that compose the fastener have already been applied to the ends to be joined, as shown in Figure 1. The

plates

9 and 13 can be moved mutually closer, taking care to accommodate the front portion of the lug 12 in the corresponding second groove 11. Then, by virtue of a simple pressure applied with one finger along the elastically deformable ring 8, the ring is accommodated in the first groove 10. In order to disconnect the catch 4 it is sufficient to stagger either one of the two

plates

9 and 13, with respect to the other, so as to disengage the ring 8 from the protrusion 7.

In practice, it has been observed that the described fastener achieves the intended aim and objects, since it does not require any manual adjustment, because the elastically deformable ring directly compensates for any size variations or manufacturing imperfections. Moreover, the fastener has proved particularly easy both in connecting the two component parts and in disconnecting them. The fastener has a particular shape and is adapted to be applied to a very wide range of items.

The fastener according to the invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, within the scope of the claims. The protrusions and the corresponding elastic engagement members may of course be more than one without thereby abandoning the scope of the invention.

All the details may be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the scope of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

A fastener, particularly for jewellery and watches comprising a first free end (5) and a second free end (6), at least one protrusion (7) associated with either one of said ends (5, 6) and at least one elastic means (8) associated with other one of said ends and adapted to engage said at least one protrusion, detachably joining said first and second ends, characterised in that said elastic means (8) comprises an elastically deformable ring which is made of rubber-like material.
The fastener according to claim 1, characterised in that said at least one protrusion (7) is cylindrical and protrudes at right angles from the centreline of an outer face of a first plate (9) which is joined to said first end (5).
The fastener according to claim 1, characterised in that said protrusion comprises a first circumferential groove (10) for accommodating said elastically deformable ring (8) in engaged positions and a second groove (11) for accommodating a lug (12) which supports said elastically deformable ring (8).
The fastener according to claims 2 and 3, characterised in that said first groove (10) is formed at the coupling of said at least one protrusion (7) to said outer face of said first plate (9) and is directed toward said second end (6), and said second groove extends from the edge of the inner face of said first plate (9) up to the tip of said protrusion (7).
The fastener according to claim 3, characterised in that said lug (12) comprises a rounded projection which protrudes from the centerline of the outer face and of the front lateral face of a second plate (13) which is joined to said second end (6),
The fastener according to claim 5, characterised in that said lug (12) has a transverse trough hole (14) proximate to its tip, said hole accommodating a short portion of said elastic deformable ring (8), a substantially horizontal slit being formed in its front portion and reaching said hole (14) for the insertion of said elastically deformable ring (8).
The fastener according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that said elastically deformable ring (8), in its engaged position, surrounds said protrusion (7) and his seated in said first groove (10).