GB2232870A - Wristwatch - Google Patents

Abstract

A wristwatch (1) comprises a substantially rigid bracelet (2) which has two mutually opposed ends (3) with a gap (4) between them and a timepiece (6) mounted to an end (3) of the bracelet (2) so as normally to be located in the gap (4), the timepiece (6) being movably mounted to the bracelet (2) so as to be movable to a position in which the said gap (4) is opened sufficiently to enable the bracelet (2) to be engaged on and removed from the user's wrist. <IMAGE>

Description

WRISTWATCH This invention relates to wristwatches and in particular to wristwatches of the kind having a substantially rigid bracelet.

Such wristwatches generally comprise a bracelet formed in two parts from a substantially rigid but pliable metal. The two parts are connected together by the timepiece of the watch to which one end of each bracelet part is immovably fixed at a point diametrically opposite the other on the circumference of the timepiece. The two "free" ends of the bracelet parts are provided with a gap between them to facilitate placement on and removal from the users wrist. The gap must be kept relatively small, both to prevent the wristwatch being inadvertently removed from the wrist and to maintain the bracelet in a snug fit on the wrist.

A disadvantage of such an arrangement is that the watch bracelet has to be pulled out of shape to enlarge the gap whenever the watch is removed from or placed on the wrist. Over a prolonged period of time, the stresses on the bracelet resulting from such activities can cause the bracelet to break, a likely point of breakage being the join of one of the bracelet parts to the timepiece, this being a weak point in the bracelet.

According to the present invention there is provided a wristwatch comprising a substantially rigid bracelet having two mutually opposed ends with a gap between them and a timepiece mounted to an end of the bracelet so as normally to be located in the said gap, the timepiece being movably mounted to the bracelet so as to be movable to a position in which the said gap is opened sufficiently to enable the bracelet to be engaged on and removed from the user's wrist.

Thus the wristwatch of the present invention has a rigid bracelet formed in one piece and a gap to facilitate placement of the watch on and removal from the users wrist, but which gap is closed by a movable timepiece once the wristwatch is on the wrist.

This arrangement provides the wristwatch of the present invention with a number of advantages over prior art wristwatches of the kind discussed hereinbefore.

For example, because the bracelet can be closed by a timepiece once the wristwatch is on the users wrist, the gap can be made large enough for the wristwatch to be easily removed from the wrist when desired, without risk of the wristwatch coming off accidently when not desired. Consequently, the stress applied to the rigid bracelet during placement on and removal from the user's wrist is kept to a minimum. Moreover, because the rigid bracelet is made in one piece, rather than from two parts joined together, there are no particularly "weak points" about which the bracelet is likely to break.

The wristwatch of the present invention is therefore more able to withstand the stresses of prolonged and continual use than are the aforementioned prior art wristwatches.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention each of said bracelet ends has a timepiece movably mounted to it. The provision of two timepieces enables the gap between the bracelet ends to be made even larger and is additionally more aesthetically appealing. It will thus be understood that the scope of the invention extends both to arrangements in which a single timepiece is provided and is movable to open a sufficient gap for the bracelet to be engaged on and removed from a user's wrist, and to arrangements in which the movability of at least one of a pair of timepieces, mounted on the respective ends of the bracelet, is sufficient to provide such a gap.

In a preferred embodiment the timepiece is pivotally mounted to the bracelet end, to facilitate movement of the timepiece from the position in which it is located in the said gap to the position in which the said gap is opened and vice versa.

In a preferred such embodiment the timepiece is provided with an arm having a bore in its distal end and the bracelet end is provided with timepiece mounting means including a spindle, the spindle being co-operable with said bore to enable the timepiece to be pivotally mounted on the bracelet end. Preferably, the distal end of the timepiece arm has a substantially curved outer surface; the bore in the distal end is offset relative to said curved outer surface, so that the pivotal axis of the arm is offset from the radial centre of said curved surface; and said mounting means includes a flexible plate arranged so that when the timepiece is mounted on the spindle of the bracelet end the plate surface can be maintained in contact with said curved outer surface of the distal end of the timepiece arm during pivotal movement of the timepiece.

Since the pivotal axis of the timepiece arm is offset from the radial centre of its curved surface, the flexible plate bends as the timepiece pivots from a position in which the relative displacement of the spindle and the plate is at a minimum to one in which it is at a maximum. Thus the flexible plate tends to resist movement in that direction.

It is further-preferred that the bore in the distal end of the arm of the timepiece be offset relative to its curved outer surface so that when the timepiece is mounted on the spindle of the bracelet end, the relative displacement of spindle and flexible plate is at a minimum when the timepiece is located in the gap between the bracelet ends and tends to a maximum when the timepiece is moved to a position in which the gap is opened sufficiently to enable the bracelet to be engaged on and removed from the user's wrist. With such an arrangement, movement of the timepiece in the direction which opens the gap in the bracelet is resisted by the flexible plate and a force sufficient to overcome this resistance must be applied to the timepiece to open the bracelet.This is a particularly advantageous arrangement wherein free movement of the timepiece is resisted thus reducing the possibility of accidental removal of the wristwatch from the user's wrist.

The said flexible plate is preferably "freely" mounted to the bracelet end, so that it can be easily removed and replaced if necessary.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a wristwatch in accordance with the invention in a first configuration; Figure 2 is the front perspsective view of a wristwatch in accordance with the invention in a second configuration; Figure 3 is a partially cross-sectional view of part of a wristwatch in accordance with the invention.

Referring firstly to Figure 1, a wristwatch 1 comprises a substantially rigid bracelet 2 having end 3 with a gap 4 between them. The gap 4 is spanned by two timepieces 6 which are pivotally mounted by arms 7 to bracelet ends 3, one timepiece to each bracelet end.

The timepieces 6 can be pivoted, as shown in Figure 2, so as to open the gap 4 and thus enable the wristwatch to be placed on and removed from the user's wrist.

The timepieces 6 are stiffly pivoted on the bracelet 2, rather than freely pivoted The user has therefore to apply a force to the timepieces to move them to the position shown in Figure 2. This reduces the possibility of the wristwatch being accidentally removed from the user's wrist without his or her knowledge.

In order to prevent the timepieces from moving freely, the wristwatch of the invention is provided with a novel timepiece mounting medhanism shown in detail in Figure 3, which is a partial cross-section of one of the bracelet ends 3.

Figure 3 shows an end portion 8 of the timepiece arm 7 pivotally mounted to the bracelet end 3 by a spindle 9 placed in a bore 10 of the end portion 8. The bore 10 is offset relative to the curved outer surface 11 of arm end 8, so that the pivotal axis of the arm 7 is offset from the radial centre of the curved surface 11. A flexible plate 12 is held in contact with curved surface 11 by plate support 13. Plate 12 has a raised flange 14 and is freely mounted on support 13. A movable block 15 is positioned between the flange 14 and arm end 8 thus preventing the plate 12 from moving in the direction of the arrow 16 when the timepiece is mounted as shown. Sideways movement of plate 12 is prevented by limbs 17, one of which is cut-away to show the internal workings of the mounting mechanism.

Because the pivotal axis of the timepiece arm end 8 is offset from the radial centre of its curved surface 11, the flexible plate 12 bends as the timepiece pivots from a position in which the relative displacement of the spindle 9 and the plate 12 is at a minimum, corresponding to the gap closed position, to one in which it is at a maximum, as shown in Figure 3 and corresponding to the gap open position. Movement of the timepieces 6 in the direction which opens gap 5 is therefore resisted by the plate 12.

Thus it can be seen that with the wristwatch of the invention the gap 5 between the ends 3 of the rigid bracelet can be made large enough for the watch to be place on and to remove from the wrist without undue stress having to be applied to the rigid bracelet, but accidental removal of the watch during wear is hindered by the timepieces 6 positioned firmly in the gap 5.

The plate 12 can easily be replaced if broken, by removal of the spindle 9 from timepiece arm end 8, which will allow block 15 to be removed.

Although the specific embodiment of the invention described hereinbefore shows a wristwatch with two timepieces attached, one to each end of the rigid bracelet, a wristwatch having only one timepiece pivotally attached to one of the bracelet ends could alternatively be provided.

It is to be clearly understood that there are no particular features of the foregoing specification, or of any claims appended hereto, which are at present regarded as being essential to the performance of the present invention, and that any one or more of such features or combinations thereof may therefore be included in, added to, omitted from or deleted from any of such claims if and when amended during the prosecution of this application or in the filing or prosecution of any divisional application based thereon.

Furthermore the manner in which any of such features of the specification or claims are described or defined may be amended, broadened or otherwise modified in any manner which falls within the knowledge of a person skilled in the relevant art, for example so as to encompass, either implicitly or explicitly, equivalents or generalisations thereof

Claims (8)

1. Claims 1. A wristwatch comprising a substantially rigid bracelet having two mutually opposed ends with a gap between them and a timepiece mounted to an end of the bracelet so as normally to be located in the said gap, the timepiece being movably mounted to the bracelet so as to be movable to a position in which the said gap is opened sufficiently to enable the bracelet to be engaged on and removed from the user's wrist.
2. 2. A wristwatch as claimed in claim 1 wherein the timepiece is pivotally mounted to the bracelet end.
3. 3. A wristwatch according to claim 2 wherein the timepiece is provided with an arm having a bore in its distal end and the bracelet end is provided with timepiece mounting means including a spindle, the spindle being co-operable with said bore to enable the timepiece to be pivotally mounted on the bracelet end.
4. 4. A wristwatch according to claim 3 wherein the distal end of the timepiece arm has substantially curved outer surface; the bore in the distal end relative to said curved outer surface, so that the pivotal axis of the arm is offset in the radial centre of said curved surface; and said mounting means includes a flexible plate arranged so that when the timepiece is mounted on the spindle bracelet end the plate surface can be maintained in contact with the said curved outer surface of the distal end on the timepiece arm during pivotal movement of the timepiece.
5. 5. A wristwatch according to claim 4 wherein the bore at the distal end of the arm of the timepiece is offset relative to its curved outer surface so that when the timepiece is mounted on the spindle of the bracelet end, the relative displacement of the spindle and flexible plate is at a minimum when the timepiece is located in the gap between the bracelet ends and tends to a maximum when the timepiece is moved to a position in which the gap is opened sufficiently to enable the bracelet to be engaged on or removed from the user's wrist.
6. 6. A wristwatch according to claim 5 wherein the flexible plate is freely mountable in the bracelet end.
7. 7. A wristwatch according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each of said bracelet ends has a timepiece movably mounted to it as aforesaid.
8. 8. A wristwatch, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.