JP2008517685A - Bracelet clasp with sliding latch - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a bracelet clasp having a longitudinal axis YY, said clasps being respectively designed to be arranged at the two ends of the connected bracelet and means for coupling (28 , 40, 42), two closing elements (18, 20),
-A strip (24, 60) that connects the two closure elements and is movable with respect to each of the two closure elements;
A member for connecting one end of the strip to one of the two closure elements to limit movement of the strip in relation to the closure element in the open position;
Have
According to the invention, a clasp is located on the strip and is located in the middle with respect to the longitudinal axis along which the closure element moves, the movement of the strip relative to the closure element in the closed position It also has a member that restricts.
[Selection] Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a clasp with a sliding latch designed to attach to a closed bracelet that can be used for both watches and jewelry, and more generally in a removable manner. The present invention relates to a clasp with a sliding latch that can also be used as an annulus designed to be disposed around.

  The bracelet is either an open type that allows the two bands to be completely separated, or a band with a clasp that allows the two bands to be tightly connected and increased in diameter so that they can be passed through. Are either closed type connected to each other.

  This second type of bracelet according to the present invention usually uses a latch, called a deployment latch, with a clasp having two strips connected by a hinge. Most often. In the closed position, the two strips are folded on top of each other. Unfold the strips by moving the clasp and enlarge the bracelet.

  In an embodiment of the closed bracelet that is less frequently used than the above embodiment, a latch called a slide latch as proposed in GB 680 368 is used. The latch has a flexible strip that is fixedly attached to one of the two bands by its first end, the strip having its second end. Slide in another band by part. This rather basic structure certainly eliminates the complexity of the deployment clasp, but there is a guarantee that the two bands will remain connected when significant force is applied to the bracelet. There is also a case where the bracelet opens unintentionally.

  GB 1 261 027 proposes a bracelet with a sliding latch with a flexible strip that slides only within one band by one of its ends. This end has two fingers that are Y-shaped, and these fingers prevent the strips from slipping out of the band to which the fingers are attached. If there is, there is no inconvenience described above.

  However, since the strip slides only in one band, it is difficult to make the state of sliding in the band suitable for sliding over a long distance. The reason is that the bending of the strip causes a large friction between the strip and the bracelet. Furthermore, bracelets that must necessarily be hollow and stiff to allow the strip to slide are not very comfortable for the wearer. In fact, such a mechanism cannot be applied to flexible bracelets made of leather, rubber, or metal with multiple articulations.

  The object of the present invention is therefore to propose an improved version of a bracelet clasp with a sliding latch which can be applied to any type of bracelet without the above drawbacks.

More precisely, the present invention relates to a bracelet clasp having a longitudinal axis Y-Y,
Two closure elements, each designed to be placed at the two ends of the bracelet to be connected and provided with means for connection;
A strip that connects the two closure elements and is movable with respect to each of the two closure elements;
A member for connecting one end of the strip to one of the two closure elements to limit movement of the strip in relation to the closure element in the open position;
Have

  According to the invention, a clasp is located on the strip and is located in the middle with respect to the longitudinal axis along which the closure element moves, the movement of the strip relative to the closure element in the closed position It also has a member that restricts.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, the clasp is characterized in that the clasp is mounted so that the strip slides within each of the two closure elements adapted to receive the strip. Attached.

  As a variant, the strip is formed in two parts formed to fit into each other, each part being fixedly attached to one of the closure elements, which part is not fixed Can slide in the closing element.

  In another aspect, the strip includes a first guide. The two closing elements each have a sliding body that interacts with this first guide and can allow relative movement of the closing element and the strip.

  In another particularly advantageous variant, the strip comprises a first guide, and the clasp moves in the first guide, the first and second slide blocks being in the closed position in the strip. It has on both sides of the member which restricts movement of the piece. The first and second slide blocks each form a second guide. Each of the two closing elements has a sliding body that interacts with a second guide by the first and second slide blocks, respectively, and allows relative movement between the closing element and the strip. To.

  The invention also relates to a flexible bracelet with a clasp as defined above, or a bracelet having a joint connection.

Detailed description of the invention

  Other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  A bracelet with a clasp with a sliding latch of the present invention in the open position is shown in FIG. FIG. 1 only shows that the bracelet has two bands 10 and 12. For use in a watch, each end 14 and 16 has two separate bands that are suitable for being connected to the watch case by any means known to those skilled in the art. And is understood to be effective. On the other hand, when used for jewelry, the bracelet may have a single band or two bands connected by a central joint member. The illustrated bracelet has a connecting portion, but it may be integrally cast or may be made of a synthesized material.

  The present invention substantially relates to a clasp that allows the two ends of the bracelet opposite the ends 14 and 16 to be connected.

  FIGS. 1 and 2 show that two bands 10 and 12 are attached at their ends to two elements 18 and 20 having the same generally parallelepiped profile that form the actual clasp of the bracelet. It shows that. The material can be selected by the manufacturer from all materials known in the art, such as titanium, steel, platinum, ceramic, or synthetic materials.

  Each of the elements 18 and 20 has a front designed to connect with the front of the other element, with a bracelet band attached to the rear of the element.

  Element 18 forms the active half of the clasp. Its front part 18a has a thin rectangular groove 22 in which a flexible or hard strip 24 can move freely. The strip is preferably made of steel, carbon, kevlar, plastic, gold or platinum, which will be described later. The rear portion 18b is formed with a recess to which one end of the bracelet can be attached by screws, rods, or any other means available to those skilled in the art.

  Element 20 forms a passive half of the clasp. The front portion 20a has a thin rectangular groove 26 which is exactly the same as the groove 22, and among these, the strip 24 can freely move. The rear portion 20b is formed with a recess to which the other end of the bracelet can be attached in the same manner as described above.

  The strip 24 enters the inside of the two bands 10 and 12 of the bracelet from its end. Therefore, the two bands must have a structure for receiving the strip and allowing it to slide freely therein.

  In order to connect the two elements of the clasp, the active element 18 is arranged at its front 18a oppositely along a transverse axis XX perpendicular to the longitudinal axis YY of the bracelet and It accepts two push buttons 28 that are embedded in holes provided in the sides of the element body 18. O-ring 30 prevents dust from accumulating in element 18.

  As also shown in FIG. 3, each of the two push buttons 28 is a semi-tube 34 that can move along an axis XX in a cylindrical cavity 36 whose axis is parallel to the axis YY. The formed nail 32 is operated. The push button 28 acts on the central portion of the outer surface of the semi-tubular body 34. The semi-tubular body acts as a support for a circular leaf spring 38 that opens to the opposite face of the push button and is outside the cavity 36 via a hook 40 protruding from the front of the element 18. It is extended.

  The clasp passive element 20 next to the active element has two cavities 42 in its front face that are shaped and sized to receive the two hooks 40 of the active element 18.

  In order to facilitate the connection of the two halves of the clasp, the element 18 has on its front surface two guide pins 44 that fit within a recess provided in the front surface of the element 20.

  Thus, in order to connect the two halves of the clasp, the surfaces of the halves may be aligned with the help of the guide pin 44. Next, by operating the two push buttons 28 at the same time, the two leaf springs 38 are pressed against the wall surface of the cavity 36 to move the two claws 32 inward, and the hooks 40 of the claws enter the cavity 42. Enable. By releasing the two push buttons 28, the two leaf springs 38 return to their rest position and the pawl 32 moves outwards and the two hooks 40 are secured to the element 20 in the cavity 42. In this way, the bracelet is closed and locked.

  Conversely, to open the bracelet, the two push buttons 28 may be depressed again to squeeze the leaf spring 38 to allow the two hooks 40 to be released from the respective cavities 42. In this way, the two halves of the clasp can be separated.

  Reference is now made to FIG. This figure shows a first embodiment of the clasp according to the invention. The bracelet band is not shown. The following figures are similar, but this figure contains the elements already described and are given the same reference numerals.

  The strip 24 shown over its entire length is flat and its two ends are curved portions 46 which abut the inlets of the grooves 22 and 26 of the elements 18 and 20, respectively. Cannot get into the groove. This restricts the movement of the two halves of the clasp (i.e., how the bracelet opens) and prevents the strip from coming out of the bracelet. The strip has a collar 48 (also shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) at its center, which, like the two curved ends 46, can also enter the grooves 22 and 26. Can not. In this way, each half of the clasp moves the same distance.

  The two curved portions 46 and the one ridge 48 are merely examples of means for limiting the movement of the two halves of the clasp with respect to the strip 24. In the context of the present invention, any other mechanism having the same effect can of course be used.

  The strip 24 shown in the previously described figures is flat, but any such as shown in FIG. 5 that makes the strip somewhat more robust and / or somewhat lighter. In the method, the shape in the length direction and the width direction can also be determined, in particular by the cutout 50 and the side aid 52.

  Finally, in the clasp of FIG. 6, the strip 24 can be formed into two parts 24a and 24b that are shaped to fit together. In this case, the strip half 24a is fixedly attached to the element 18 but can slide inside the element 20 and is shown in broken lines when the bracelet is fully closed at the end of the movement. Occupy position. In contrast, the other half 24b of the strip is fixedly attached to the element 20, but can slide inside the element 18 and at the end of the movement is indicated by a dashed line. Occupies the indicated position.

  The embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 10 employs the principle of a strip formed of a plurality of fitting-type elements. This clasp with a sliding latch not only has the advantages of the embodiments described above, but also in all types of metals made of metal with leather, rubber or joint connections in a very effective way. It can be applied to flexible bracelets. Specifically, as will be better understood from the following description, the bracelet does not have a structure that specifically receives the flexible strip.

  Thus, more particularly, the clasp strip according to this embodiment has the shape of the central plate 60, the longitudinal direction, i.e. the edge parallel to the axis Y-Y forms the first guide 62. Yes.

  Also in this aspect, the mechanism includes a member that limits the movement of the strip, which defines the closing position or the opening position of the clasp. The first collar 64 that restricts the movement of the strip in the closed position is disposed at the center of the center plate 62. It is preferred that the center plate is in the center with respect to the length of the center plate. A second collar 65 that restricts the movement of the strip in the open position is disposed at the first end of the central plate. This wrinkle is shown in FIGS.

  The first slide block 66 is formed of an element shaped similar to the strip 24 previously described with respect to the embodiment of FIG. The slide block 66 has a longitudinal edge portion 66a that slides in the first guide 62 without a gap, and has a frame shape having such a size.

  The height of the first flange 64 is adjusted so as to interact with the outer wall on the side of the flange 64 of the lateral edge 66b of the frame. This outer wall is provided with a semicircular recess 68 so that about half of the ridge 64 can be received.

  The flange 65 is inside the frame body 66. In practice, after the frame is correctly placed, the fold is folded. The height of the ridge is also adjusted so as to interact with the inner wall of the lateral edge 66b of the frame 66.

  Furthermore, the edge 66a in the longitudinal direction of the frame is sized to form the second guide.

  Finally, as described above, the clasp has a first element 18 and a second element 20 that form the actual clasp. The first element 18 has a substantially parallelepiped shape and has two push buttons 28 that actuate two fixing hooks 40. In addition, at the base, the element 18 is provided with a sliding body 70 (seen more easily in FIGS. 9 and 10) sized and shaped to slide in the second guide without gaps. The sliding body 70 is provided with a pin 72 shown in FIG. 10 at its lower part, and this pin interacts with the inner wall of the lateral side 66b of the frame without blocking the sliding of the sliding body. It is the size to do.

  The height of the collar 64 is adjusted to interact with the element 18 to limit movement of the element 18 in the closed position. Therefore, the sliding body 70 has a recess located on the side of the flange 64, and when the clasp is in the closed position, the flange enters the recess and abuts against the wall.

  Since pins 65 and 72 are both designed to interact with wall 66b, they are in the same plane XY. However, since these two pins are offset with respect to the lateral axis XX, both pins cannot collide during relative movement of the slide block 66 and the element 18.

  Symmetrically with respect to the central part of the central plate 60 and the collar 64, the clasp has another slide block 80 which is similar to the frame 66 described above. The element 20 having the cavity 42 that receives the two hooks 40 of the element 18 slides in this slide block 80 by its sliding body 82 similar to the sliding body 70. In the closed position, the collar 64 also functions as a movement limiter, and can fit in a recess provided in the outer wall of the edge 66b in the lateral direction of the frame forming the slide block 80.

  These two symmetrically arranged elements also have members that limit the movement of the strips similar to those previously described.

  Thus, in the closed position, the element 18 and the element 20 are pressed against the flange 64 and are in contact with each other, and the two hooks 40 are fitted in the respective recesses 42. The outer walls of the lateral edges of the slide blocks 66 and 80 are also pressed against the collar 64, and the pin 72 of the sliding body 70 of the element 18 and the pin 72 of the sliding body 82 of the element 20 are And 80, respectively, against the inner wall of the lateral edge.

  In the open position, the slide blocks 66 and 80 are pressed against the flange 65 by the inner walls of the lateral edges 66b and 80b. On the other hand, the element 18 and the element 20 are pressed against the inner walls of the lateral edges facing the lateral edges 66 and 80b, respectively, by the pins 72 of the sliding bodies.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the clasp of this embodiment can be attached to a flexible bracelet made of, for example, leather or rubber. One of the ends of the first band 10 of the bracelet is attached to the element 18 by a screw 84 or bar.

  In order to receive and attach the second band of the bracelet, the element 20 is provided with a latch 86 in the shape of a frame, which has two screws for pivoting relative to the element 20. Mounted by 88. The latch is sized so that the bracelet moves without tilting within the frame.

  This frame has a collar 89 designed to be inserted through one of the holes normally provided in the bracelet, allowing the length of the bracelet to be adjusted completely in a conventional manner. It can be done. When the hook 89 is disposed in an appropriate hole of the bracelet, the latch 86 does not pivotally support the latch even if the bracelet is pulled.

  FIG. 9 shows a clasp according to this embodiment for use in a metal bracelet having a plurality of articulations, the two ends of which are directly connected in a conventional manner to elements 18 and 20. And is attached to. All of the clasp snap-in elements are below the bracelet and the bracelet need not be specifically designed to receive the clasp slide.

  In one simplified variation, one skilled in the art will recognize that each element 18 and 20 has a clasp with a single slide element, i.e. a clasp with slide blocks 66 and 80 removed. Can be manufactured. In this case, the sliding bodies 70 and 82 slide directly in the guide 62 of the central plate 60. Both ends of the central plate 60 are edges that form stop members and limit movement of the elements 18 and 20 in the open position.

  In this way, bracelet clasps with sliding latches without the complexity of clasps with open latches have been proposed. The clasp according to the invention has a simple structure and has a latch that is completely invisible from the outside.

  The saddles 64 and 48 function as a mechanism to limit movement in the closed position, allowing the length of the sliding element to be distributed on both sides of the elements 18 and 20. Thus, although these ridges may not be at the perfect center of the clasp, the distribution of the two sliding elements in the closed position is satisfactory.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bracelet fitted with a clasp of the present invention in an open position. FIG. 2 is a top view of a cross section along line AA of the clasp in the closed position. FIG. 3a is an enlarged plan view of the operating mechanism. FIG. 3b is a top view of the operating mechanism of FIG. 3a. FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the clasp. FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the clasp. FIG. 6 shows yet another embodiment of the clasp. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a particularly effective aspect of the present invention. FIG. 8 is another diagram showing a particularly effective aspect of the present invention. FIG. 9 is another view showing a particularly effective aspect of the present invention. FIG. 10 is still another view showing a particularly effective aspect of the present invention.

Claims (10)

-Two closure elements (18, 20), each designed to be placed at the two ends of the bracelet to be connected and provided with means for connection (28, 40, 42);
-A strip (24, 60) that connects the two closure elements and is movable with respect to each of the two closure elements;
A member for connecting one end of the strip to one of the two closure elements to limit movement of the strip in relation to the closure element in the open position;
In a bracelet clasp having a longitudinal axis YY with
Further comprising a member on the strip, wherein the closure element is disposed at a central portion thereof with respect to a longitudinal axis along which the closure element moves to restrict the movement of the strip relative to the closure element in the closed position. Features a clasp.   The clasp according to claim 1, characterized in that the strip is mounted so that the strip slides inside each of the two closure elements adapted to receive the strip.   The strip (24) is formed into two parts (24a, 24b) formed to fit into each other and each part is fixedly attached to one of the closure elements (18, 20) 3. Fastener according to claim 2, characterized in that it can slide in the other closing element.   The strip (60) is provided with a first guide (62), and the two closing elements (18, 20) interact with the first guide to provide a relative relationship between the closure element and the strip. The clasp according to claim 1, characterized in that each has a sliding body (70, 82) that allows a general movement. The strip (60) comprises a first guide (62);
The clasps move the first slide block (66) and the second slide block (80) moving in the first guide to both sides of the member (64) that restricts movement of the strip in the closed position. The first slide block (66) and the second slide block (80) each form a second guide (66a, 80a),
Each of the two closing elements has a sliding body (70, 82) that interacts with the first slide block (66) and the second slide block (80), respectively. The clasp according to claim 1, characterized in that it allows relative movement with the strip.   In the closed position, the movement of the first slide block (66) and the second slide block (80) is limited by a member (64) that limits the movement of the strip in the closed position. The clasp according to claim 5.   The first slide block (66) and the second slide block (80) have a frame shape, and their movement in the open position is arranged inside the frame body of the strip (60). The clasp according to any one of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the clasp is restricted by a movement restricting member (65) in the movement of the first and second slide blocks.   The closure element (18, 20) has a recess, and the position of the recess is such that a member that restricts movement of the strip in the closed position partially enters and abuts the recess. The clasp according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the size is defined.   When the closing element (18, 20) moves the slide block (66, 80), the sliding element (70, 82) moves the strip at the closed position arranged inside the frame. The clasp according to any one of claims 7 and 8, further comprising a member for restricting the movement.   A bracelet with a clasp according to any one of claims 3 to 9, which is flexible or has a joint connection.

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