GB2055550A - Bracelet - Google Patents

Abstract

A bracelet comprises a strip of resilient metal having one end portion 13 which carries a hook 14 or stud and another end portion 15 having a plurality of apertures 16 or recesses. The hook is engaged with one of the apertures to hold the bracelet retained against its own resilience and the outer of the end portions 15 may spring slightly outwardly from the portion of the band it overlaps. A loop 12 which is freely slidable on the bracelet is forced over the overlapped end portions (14 and 15) as a tight push-fit, to hold the bracelet securely closed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to bracelets This invention relates to bracelets of a type comprising a single strip of resilient metal which may be a precious metal such as gold or silver.

Such bracelets, as previously proposed, have had the two end portions of the strip held captive but have had means for allowing relative sliding movement between these two end portions, to enable the bracelet to be enlarged sufficiently to be slid onto the wearer's arm. The resilience of the material then assists in contracting the bracelet to a normal size for being worn without undue danger of the bracelet slipping off the wearer's arm.

This arrangement has been achieved by securing a loop or slider to each extreme free end of the band, with each end portion of the band being slidable within the loop fixed to the other end.

An alternative which has been proposed is to form an inwardly bowed end portion at one end, pressing on the outside of the band at the other end portion, said other end having a conventional fixed loop slidable on the bowed end portion and a further, freely slidably movable loop being provided surrounding both end portions of the band and effectively held captive since it is unable to pass either the fixed loop on one side or the bowed end portion on the other side. The arrangement is such that the bracelet can be enlarged to insertthe wearer's hand only when the two loops are pushed together into abutment but, when it is desired to retain the bracelet in a contracted condition, the slidably movable loop is pushed towards the bowed end portion and away from the fixed loop, so that the bowed end portion is held in firm resilient abutment with the outside of the band.

Such prior bracelets have had the disadvantage that only a limited range of enlargement and contraction can be permitted if the bracelet is to be retained on the wearer's wrist with security. This means that, to fit all sizes from the traditional Christening bracelet upwards, requires a large stock of different sized bracelets to be held.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new or improved single band bracelet.

According to the invention there is provided a bracelet comprising a single resilient metal band formed to an arcuate shape and having a pair of end portions, one end portion being provided with an abutment on its face presented outwardly of the arc of the band, the other end portion having a plurality of abutment receiving means, and a freely slidable loop being provided on the band and having a size such as to be a close push fit onto overlapped portions of the band, the arrangement being such that, to bring the bracelet into a closed condition, the end portions are overlapped and the abutment is entered into a selected one of the abutment receiving means to define the closed size of the bracelet, and the loop is then slid to the overlapping end portions of the band and push fitted thereon, to retain the bracelet closed.

The abutment may comprise a hook or may comprise a stud.

The abutment receiving means may comprise an aperture through said other end portion of the band.

Alternatively it may comprise a recess in the metal of said other end portion of the band.

The metal ofthe band may have an inherent resilience such that, when the abutment is engaged with the abutment receiving means, said other end portion of the band tends to be resiliently urged outwardly away from said one end portion.

The invention will now be described in more detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE lisa perspective view of a bracelet embodying the invention, shown in an open condition; FIGURE 2 is a scrap perspective view ofthe bracelet of Figure 1 shown in a retained but not closed condition; FIGURE 3 is a view similar two Figure 2 but showing the bracelet in a closed condition.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 of the drawings, a bracelet is indicated generally at 10 and comprises a single metal band 11 which may be of precious metal or may be plated or coated with a precious metal or may be decorated in any chosen manner. A closed loop 12 of generally box-like shape is slidably mounted on the band. The dimensions of the loop are such that two thicknesses of the band 11 can be inserted in the loop as a tight push-fit.

One free end portion 13 is provided with an abutment, in the form of a hook 14 which is pressed out of the metal of the band 11. The other free end portion 15 is provided with a series of apertures 16, three such apertures being shown in the drawing, and each aperture being of a size to receive the hook abutment 14.

Figure 1 of the drawings shows the bracelet in an open condition, ready to be placed over the wrist of the wearer. It will be appreciated that, owing to the resilience of the material of the band 11,the bracelet can be opened quite considerably to make it easy to put on.

Figure 2 shows the end portions of the bracelet in a retained but not closed condition. The free end portion 15 now overlaps the free end portion 13 in such a way that the hook 14 passes into the central aperture 16 in the band. The free end portion 15 projects somewhat, owing to the resilience of the material of the band.

It will be appreciated that, in order to adjust the size of the bracelet to the size of the wearer's wrist, the appropriate aperture 16 will be used to receive the hook 14.

The engagement of the hook in the aperture serves to retain the bracelet at the correct size for the wearer. However, in orderto ensure that the bracelet remains secure on the wearer's wrist, the loop 12 is slid, as shown in Figure 2, over the free end portion 15 of the band, to bring the braceletto the condition shown in Figure 3, where it is securely fastened. The sliding loop 12 actually holds the free end portion 15 against the outer face of the band at the region where the two free ends 15 and 13 overlap, against the tendency of the free end portion 15 to project outwardly.Because the loop 12 is a close push-fit on the two overlapped thicknesses of the band, and because of the resilient forces exerted by the free end portion 15, there is little or no tendency for the loop 12to slide off the free end portion 15 of the band.

The bracelet has an advantage over a conventional expander bracelet that the ends of the band can be separated to enable the bracelet to be put on and taken off very readily. Additionally, by the provision of several apertures, for example the three apertures shown in the drawings, any particular size of band can be made to fit a range of sizes of wrist. We have found that the complete range of normal sizes of expander bracelet, from the traditional infant's Christening bracelet to a large size adult bracelet can be accommodated, using only two stock lengths of band with three apertures provided in each of these stock length bracelets. This means that tooling costs are reduced and the amount of stock which needs to be held by a jeweller to cover the whole range is drastically reduced.

For example, the smaller of the two stock lengths can be arranged to provide a bracelet having an internal diameter of 13/4 inches; 17/G inches; or 2 inches. A larger size can be arranged to provide internal diameters of 21/8 inches; 2'14 inches; or 2% inches.

Although we have described a particular example in which a hook 14 is used to engage in a selected aperture of the band, the hook could be replaced by a suitable alternative form of abutment, for example an externally projecting stud. This could be arranged to engage in an aperture similar to the aperture 16 or alternatively a set of recesses could be provided on the inner face of the free end portion 15, these recesses being engageable by a stud. In each case a single slider, as distinct from the two sliders used in a conventional single band expander bracelet, will be used.

The bracelet can be provided in a range of widths, namely4 millimetre, 6 millimetre, 8 millimetre, 10 millimetre and 12 millimetre.

Claims (8)

1. A bracelet comprising a single resilient metal band formed to an arcuate shape and having a pair of end portions, one end portion being provided with an abutment on its face presented outwardly of the arc of the band, the other end portion having a plurality of abutment receiving means, and a freely slidable loop being provided on the band and having a size such as to be a close push fit onto overlapped portions of the band, the arrangement being such that, to bring the bracelet into a closed condition, the end portions are overlapped and the abutment is entered into a selected one of the abutment receiving means to define the closed size of the bracelet, and the loop is then slid to the overlapping end portions of the band and push fitted thereon, to retain the bracelet closed.

2. A bracelet according to claim 1 wherein the abutment comprises a hook.

3. A bracelet according to claim 1 wherein the abutment comprises a stud.

4. A bracelet according to any preceding claim wherein the abutment receiving means comprises an aperture through said other end portion of the band.

5. A bracelet according to claim 1 or claim 3 wherein the abutment receiving means comprises a recess in the metal of said other end portion of the band.

6. A bracelet according to any preceding claim wherein the metal of the band has an inherent resilience such that, when the abutment is engaged with the abutment receiving means, said other end portion of the band tends to be resiliently urged outwardly away from said one end portion.

7. A bracelet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the ç accompanying drawings.

8. A bracelet having any novel feature or combination of features set out in the foregoing description.