EP3246765B1 - Intermediate bracelet link for wrist watch - Google Patents

Description

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a device for connecting a bracelet to a watch case comprising dressing elements made of a hard material such as metal. More specifically, the present invention relates to a connecting link provided for connecting a bracelet to a watch case.

Background of the invention

It is known in the prior art watches that are held on the wrist of the user by means of a bracelet. This bracelet can be leather, fabric, rubber, ceramic or metal and is connected to the pairs of horns of the watch via bars fixed between the horns for example.

Depending on the bracelet used by the wearer, the case of the watch may be visible at the entrecorne. Indeed, if the user wants to change his metal bracelet that is usually inserted in the entrecorne, by a rubber strap, leather or fabric, the case becomes visible.

A disadvantage is that the metal link or ceramic link between the case and the bracelet can rotate around the bar now the link in the entrecorne, which can damage the case and night the aesthetics of the watch when a change of bracelet other than a similar bracelet. Current fastening modes are therefore not satisfactory, once made visible, from an aesthetic point of view, this in addition to giving the impression of poor integration, or realization of bad bill.

The documents CH 707 071 A2 and US 2,775,861 , disclose watches having a link connecting the case to the bracelet.

Summary of the invention

The invention particularly aims to overcome the various disadvantages of these known techniques.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to block, or at least to contain the movement of the connecting link between the case and the bracelet so, in particular to preserve the case from any wear or degradation.

These objectives, as well as others which will appear more clearly later, are achieved according to the invention with the aid of a connecting link for a watch strap arranged to connect the bracelet to a watch case between horns, a first end of the connecting link being attached to a bracelet strand and the second end of the connecting link being fixed to the housing by means for example of a bar, the link being between the horns and against the housing, or to all the less as close as possible to the case.

The invention is defined according to claim 1.

• au moins un élément de blocage est réalisé en caoutchouc ;
• l'au moins un élément de blocage est intégré dans le maillon ;
• l'au moins un élément de blocage est surmoulé sur le maillon ;
• le maillon est réalisé à partir d'un matériau métallique, céramique, composite ou encore plastique ;
• le brin de bracelet est en cuir, en caoutchouc, en matériau synthétique, en tissu, en céramique ou en métal.

According to other advantageous variants of the invention:

• at least one blocking element is made of rubber;
• the at least one locking element is integrated in the link;
• the at least one locking element is overmolded on the link;
• the link is made from a metal material, ceramic, composite or plastic;
• the bracelet strand is made of leather, rubber, synthetic material, fabric, ceramic or metal.

The invention also relates and in particular any timepiece comprising at least one link link according to the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'une montre équipée d'un maillon de liaison conforme à l'invention ;
• la figure 2 illustre une vue en coupe selon la ligne A-A de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective d'un maillon de liaison conforme à l'invention ;
• la figure 4 illustre les différentes variantes possibles d'un maillon de liaison conforme à l'invention.
• La figure 5 est une vue en perspective d'une carrure présentant des moyens de blocage du maillon selon un autre mode de réalisation.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention, given as a simple illustrative and nonlimiting example, and the appended figures, among which: :

• the figure 1 is a perspective view of a watch equipped with a link link according to the invention;
• the figure 2 illustrates a sectional view along line AA of the figure 1 ;
• the figure 3 is a perspective view of a link link according to the invention;
• the figure 4 illustrates the different possible variants of a link link according to the invention.
• The figure 5 is a perspective view of a middle part having locking means of the link according to another embodiment.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The invention relates to a connecting link for a watch strap arranged to connect the bracelet to a watch case between horns, a first end of the connecting link being attached to a strap strand and the second end of the link link being fixed. to the box by means a bar for example, the link being between the two horns and against the housing,

According to the invention, the connecting link comprises pivotally locking means so as to firmly hold the connecting link between the horns.

We have shown on Figures 1 and 2 a wristwatch 1 comprising a bracelet portion 2 link connected to a watch case 3. The watch case 3 comprises a middle 4 extended in the longitudinal direction of the bracelet by horns 5 pierced with a hole 50. The box watch 3 is classically bounded downwards by a bottom 6, and upwards by a bezel 7 and an ice-cream 8.

The connecting link 10 according to the invention is in the form of a one-piece body having a front face said first end 101, a rear face said second end 100, two side faces 102, an upper face and a lower face.

The connecting link 10 comprises a first hollow element, such as a bore 11, arranged to receive a bar 12 so as to be able to fix the connecting link 10 between the two horns 5. This connecting link 10 is intended to connect a strand bracelet at the middle 4 of the watch case 3. According to the illustrated embodiment, the bar 12 fixes the bracelet strand to the connecting link 10, and the link link 10 to the horns 5. According to a variant, a first bar can fix the connecting link 10 to the horns 5, and a second bar can come connect the bracelet strand to the connecting link 10.

According to the invention, the connecting link 10 comprises means of locking pivotally about the axis formed by the bar 12, so as to firmly hold the connecting link 10 between the horns 5 and against the middle part 4.

The pivotally locking means comprise at least one first locking element 13 projecting from the rear face 100 of the connecting link 10, the at least one locking element 13 being in contact with the middle part 4 when the link 10 is disposed between the horns 5 and eliminating any play between the link 10 and the housing 3 after assembly.

The pivotally locking means also comprise at least one second locking element 14 projecting at the side faces 102 of the connecting link 10, the second locking element 14 being in contact with the horns 5 when the link 10 is arranged between the horns 5 and eliminating any play between the link 10 and the housing 3 after assembly.

As illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 , the first and second locking elements 13 and 14 may be in the form of an insert of an elastically deformable material such as an elastomeric material such as rubber. The inserts can be made directly with the link, or overmolded on the latter. Negative machining can also be provided in the link to receive the inserts, the latter then being inserted into force in the machining or negative machining.

The link may have one or more inserts of generally rectangular shape and arranged along the length or the depth of the link 10, the length of the insert or inserts being slightly less than the length and / or depth of the link. By length of the link, it is understood that this is the length of the rear face 100, and by the depth of the link, it is understood that it is the length of the side face 102.

Advantageously, the locking elements can be made of a single holding with the connecting link 10 and in the same material.

One can also imagine that the locking elements are in the form of a letter or a logo, for example a "T" or "Ω".

In order to be able to fix the bracelet strand to the connecting link 10, the latter may comprise a clearance through which the bar passes, the recess being able to receive a bracelet strand or a link.

For the assembly of the connecting link 10 on the watch case 3, we first start by inserting the bracelet strand in the clearance of the link 10, then slide the bar through the bore 11 pierced in the link. Then we insert the connecting link between the horns 5 so that a first end of the bar is housed in a hole 50 of a horn 5. After that, we slide the link 10 between the horns 5 of the watch case 3 taking care that the second end of the bar engages in the hole 50 of the opposite horn 5. When this step of the assembly is completed, the blocking elements 13 and / or 14 are pressed between the housing 3 and the link 10, which makes it possible to compensate for possible gaps between these two elements and thus to limit or even eliminate the movement of the link 10.

The bracelet may be composed of bracelet strands made, for example, in a flexible material such as rubber or silicone, or leather, but also metal, ceramic or composite. Such a connecting link 10 allows, on the one hand a better maintenance between the horns 5, and on the other hand a better implementation of the bracelet strand without having to modify its maintenance in the case 3. It also allows an aesthetic very pure between the strap attachment and the box, without unsightly play and variable from one room to another according to the tolerances of machining and assembly.

Of course, the skilled person may consider placing the locking means at the middle, on the band between the horns 5, so as to block the connecting link 10, the middle can receive the same locking means as the link link. As illustrated in figure 5 , the watch comprises a locking element 15 in the form "Ω", the locking element can be machined at the same time as the middle or attached to the middle part later in the case of an insert.

Such an embodiment thus makes it possible, when changing the type of bracelet, for example a metal bracelet changed by traditional leather strap, to have the vision of the middle band and therefore the vision of the locking means. This is particularly advantageous when the locking means are in the form of a decorative element such as a logo.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment which has just been described and that various modifications and simple variants can be envisaged by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended to this patent application. In particular, it will be understood that although it has been described in connection with a bracelet link and a watch case made of metallic material, the present invention can be applied identically to links and housings made in another hard material such as ceramic, a composite or plastics.

Claims (8)

1. Attachment link (10) for a watch band arranged to attach the band to a watch case (3) between horns (5), wherein a first end (101) of the attachment link (10) is arranged such that it receives a watch band strand and a second end (100) of the attachment link (10) is arranged to be against the case (3), wherein the attachment link (10) is positioned between the horns (5) against the case (3) and held by means of a bar (12), the attachment link (10) comprising means for blocking pivoting in order to firmly hold the attachment link between the horns (5) and against the case (3), in which the blocking means comprise at least a first blocking element (13) projecting at the level of the second end (100) in contact with the case (3), and at least a second blocking element (14) projecting at the level of the end (102) in contact with the horns (5), characterised in that the first and/or the second blocking element (13, 14) are made from an elastically deformable material such as an elastomeric material.
2. Attachment link (10) according to claim 1, in which the first and/or the second blocking element (13, 14) are integrated into the attachment link (10).
3. Attachment link (10) according to either claim 1 or claim 2, in which the first and/or the second blocking element (13, 14) are moulded onto the attachment link (10).
4. Attachment link (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the first and/or the second blocking element (13, 14) are made in the form of a logo.
5. Attachment link (10) according to one of claims 1 to 4, in which the attachment link (10) is made from a hard material such as a metal, ceramic, composite or also plastic material.
6. Watch (1) comprising a case (3) formed by a middle part (4) having two pairs of horns (5) defining a space for attachment to the middle part (4) and comprising at least one attachment link (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the attachment link (10) is accommodated in the attachment space.
7. Watch (1) according to claim 6, in which between the horns (5) the middle part (4) comprises means (13, 14) for blocking the pivoting movement of the attachment link (10).
8. Watch (1) according to claim 6, in which the watch band strand (2) is made from leather, rubber, fabric, synthetic material, ceramic, composite or metal.

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