US1553571A

US1553571A - Watchcase

Info

Publication number: US1553571A
Application number: US738762A
Authority: US
Inventors: Strasser Leopold
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1924-09-20
Filing date: 1924-09-20
Publication date: 1925-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 1942-09-15

Description

Sept. 15, 1925. l 4 v 1,553,5'1Y

L. STRASSER WATCHCASE Filed Sept. 20. 1924 INVENTOR gono/.o 'Svwnsssk i A/gonmavs liatented Sept. l5, 1925.

LEOPOLD STRASSER,

0F NEVI YORK, N. Y.

Application filed September 20, 1924. Serial No. 738,762.

To all whomy t may concern Be it known that l, Licoronn 'runssna, a citizen` of the United States, residing at New York city, county of New York, and lState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lNatchcases, of which the following is a specification.

.lf'his invention relates to improvements in watches, and has particular reference to a wrist watch.

It has been customary to malte wrist watches of the more precious metals, such as gold, platinum, silver and the like, which materials increase the cost of production to such an extent that the purchasing price to the public is oftentime prohibitive. In order to reduce the cost of wrist watches the manufacture thereof with base metals has also been attempted. Heretofore in maliing watches of the more precious metals the top bezel for the upper section of the watch is usually mounted upon the upper edge of said section and soldered thereto along the meeting edges. rFhis soldering operation leaves a clear unmarked outer surface for the watch easing due to the inherent fusin qualities of the higher metals. In attempting to employ this same method of mount* ing the bezel when using base metals, which have a considerable lesser degree of fusion, it has been found to be practically impossible to entirely obliterate the line formed by the meeting edges of the section of the top bezel, thereby marring the appearance of the watch case when completed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a. simple and improved construction of watch case wherein the top bezel of the upper section is so mounted and secured in position that the edge of the bezel, which is usually engaged with the supporting section, will be invisible.

Another object is to mount the bezel within the supporting` section so that only part of the bezel which is employed to form a setting for stones will be visible above said section.

A further object is to provide an improved mounting for a crystal by forming the top bezel with a groove for receiving the crystal and a flange which is capable of being bent over the edge of the crystal and then milled or beaded to force the flange into secure engagement with the face of the crystal to maintain the latter in position.`

'lhe above and other objects will appear more clearly from the following detailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanying' drawing, 'which illus trates a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

Figure l is a top plan View of the watch case before the crystal is mounted in position;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, partly broken away and shown in section, the dotted lines indicating the bottom Sectio-11 of the case;

Figure 8 is a transverse section on the line 3 3 of Figure l with the crystal in position and the dotted lines indicating the bottom sect-ion of the case; and

Figure 4c is a detail pla-n view of the upper section of the watch case.

Inasmuch as the invention has only to do with the construction of the upper section of the watch case, the other elements of said case are omitted from the illustration for purposes of clearness and simplicity.

The upper section 5 of the case, which is connected to the bottom section by a hinge 6, is of substantially rectangular formation and made of any suitable base metal, said section being provided at each end thereof with the handles 7 utilized for connecting the watch to a wrist band in the usual manner.

Heretofore it has been customary to mount the top bezel on the upper edge of the section 5 and secure the two elements together by means of solder. Vith watches made of precious metals, this construction has proved satisfactory because of the fact that the metals forming the section and bezel are easily fused so that the meeting edges will be invisible when the case is completed. However, with base metals, the elimination of the line formed by the meeting edges of the two elements has not been easy of attainment and in fact it has been found practically impossible to render this line invisible. It is, therefore, proposed to so mount the bezel 8, which may also be of a base metal, in position on the section 5 that the edge of the bezel engaging the section will be entirely invisible. To this end, the bezel is constructed so that its exterior dimension will be small enough to permit of the. bezel being inserted into the upper end ofthe section, as' clearly shown in Fignre 3, with a majorl portion of the bezel recessed within? the-section and only such portion thereof projecting ybeyond the section as is utilized for the setting of stones 9 or the like. The surface in which said stones are set may contain any desired design, such as, for example, the one shown in Figure l, although it is to be expressly understood that the invention is in no Way limited to the design shown.

After the bezel 8 has been properly positioned a small quantity of solder l() is applied to the outer edge of the inner surface of the bezel and theadjacent surface of the section 5 so as to secure 'the bezel in its proper position. This solder may be applied through the bottom of the section 5 in any well known manner.

By thus mounting the bezel 8 Within the section 5 it will be apparent that the v-,atch case can be made of less depth than in the ordinary method of `manufacturing the case with the bezel mounted upon the upper edge of the section. Also the extension of the upper portion of the section 5 to the surface of the bezel containing the design and in which the stones 9 are mounted affords considerable protection to the outer edge of the bezel, the material of which is generally softer than that of which ,the section 5 is formed.

Vit-h the particular' design shown in Figures l and 2 having the extensions 11, which overhang the handles 7, the ends of the section '5 are reduced, as indicated at l2, to form recesses for receiving said extensions l1, as shown at the right of Figure 2.

The invention also provides improved means for mounting the crystal 13 in position. Usually `these crystals are sprung or snapped into the bezel and this method of mounting the crystals oftentimes results in the same being chipped or broken due to the force necessary to mount the saine. rl`he present invention overcomes this diliiculty by forming an annular' groove M around the inner edge of the bezel 8 into which the crystal 13 is fitted. The bezel is further provided with a flange l5 surrounding said groove which, in its initial state, is bent to provide for Athe insertion of the crystal into the groove and which is capable of being folded or bent over upon the outer ace of the crystal, as shown in Figure 3, aiter the latter is in position. A suitable tool is then employed to mill the upper edoe of the flange 14, as indicated at 16, so as to compress the material of the flange and force the same into tight engagement with the crystal, thereby securely mounting the same in place.

lVhat is claimed is:

l. In a watch, an upper section, a bezel mounted Within said section so that a portion thereof including its lower edge is invisible When the bezel is in place, and moans applied to the lower edge of Athe bezel and the inner edge of said section for securing said parts together.

2. In a Watch, an upper section, a bezel having an upper surface capable of having stones mounted therein, said bezel being adapted to be fitted Within said upper section with an edge rof the upper section extending to the outer edge of said surface, and means for securing said bezel to said section.

LEOPOLD STRASSER