WO2015114555A1

WO2015114555A1 - Adjustable cufflinks

Info

Publication number: WO2015114555A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/050676
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roland Iten
Original assignee: Roland Iten Mechanical Luxury Sa
Priority date: 2014-01-29
Filing date: 2015-01-29
Publication date: 2015-08-06

Abstract

The cufflink comprises at least a base (130), a shaft (120) to be inserted into a cuffhole (3) of a sleeve cuff (2a, 2b) and a wing (100) fixed to said shaft (120). The base (130) is rotatable on the shaft (120) to take at least a first position away from the wing (100) and a second position close to the wing (100) thereby varying the length of the shaft in the cuffhole (3).

Description

ADJUSTABLE CUFFLINKS

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention concerns the field of cufflinks and specifically the field of adjustable cufflinks.

BACKGROUND ART Cufflinks have already been described in different publications of the prior art. US D479.488 discloses an ornamental design for a cufflink which comprises an elongated part rotatably connected to both ends of a central part. Said central part is intended to be inserted in a cuff-hole while the elongated parts are rotated 90 degrees to hold the cuff.

Another example of the prior art is disclosed in WO 2006/1 1 1800. In this document, the cufflink comprises an elongated central part, adapted for being inserted in a cuff-hole, a first end part extending from a first extremity of said central part in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of said central part, a second end part extending from a second extremity of said central part in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of said central part. At least one of said first and second end parts comprises a mobile locking element connected to it, and having an extended locked position and a retracted unlocked position, said locking element protruding or rotating from said end part beyond the corresponding extremity of said central part in the locked position.

Another example is given in WO2012/059893 which discloses a cufflink comprising at least an end part containing a movable part, a shaft to be inserted into a cuffhole of a sleeve and a wing attached to said shaft, wherein the shaft comprises releasing means cooperating with said moving part to allow displacement of said moving part in a protruding position. A major drawback of the prior art devices resides in the fact that the known cufflinks are difficult to put on and to remove. They may also be difficult to attach without using both hands and they do not adapt easily to the shirt being worn and in particular to the thickness of the cuffs.

An aim of the present invention is to propose an improved cufflink which overcomes the above mentioned defects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The cufflink according to the present invention is defined in the appended claims and it comprises different moving parts allowing fulfilling the intended aim. The cufflink according to the invention comprises at least a base, a shaft to be inserted into a cuffhole of a sleeve cuff and a wing fixed to said shaft, wherein the base is rotatable on the shaft to take at least a first position away from the wing and a second position close to the wing thereby varying the length of the shaft in the cuffhole.

The shaft may comprise at least a groove which receives an axis of the base to hold the base in the second position.

The shaft may comprise a hole and the base a ball spring arrangement which cooperate together in the second position of the base.

The shaft may comprise a locking part to maintain the cufflink on the cuff.

The locking part may comprise a plate that is rotatable with respect to the shaft.

The base may rotate on the shaft by means of an axis attached to said shaft. The wing is preferably fixed with respect to the shaft.

The cufflink and parts therefrom may be made of metals, alloys, and/or precious materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood from a detailed description and from the annexed drawings in which

Figures 1 A to 11 illustrate different views of a cufflink according to the prior art;

Figures 2A to 2F illustrate an embodiment of a cufflink according to the invention;

Figures 3A to 3F illustrates the principle of an embodiment of a cufflink of the present invention;

Figures 4A to 4F illustrates the method of using an embodiment of the cufflink according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, identical parts will be identified with the same reference numbers for the sake of clarity.

Figures 1 A to 11 illustrate a cufflink according to the prior art.

Figure 1A illustrates a button 1 seen from the front side, figure 1 B a button mounted on a cuff 2a, 2b of a shirt and figure C shows the button hole 3 of the cuff. This is the simplest embodiment to attach a cuff where no cufflink is used. A cufflink of the art comprises a base 13 with a decoration, a shaft 12, and a swivel bar 10 mounted on the shaft 12 via an axis 1.

Figures 1 D and 1 E illustrate a cufflink seen from the side and the rotation of the swivel bar 10 in a locking position (figure 1 D) and in an unlocked position (figure 1 E) in which the cufflink may be attached to a cuff. This is illustrated in figure F showing a cufflink in position in a cuff and the different positions of the swivel bar 10. Figure 1 G illustrate a closed position of the cufflink with the swivel bar perpendicular to the button hole 3 of the cuff 2a, 2b.

Figures 1 H and 11 illustrate a problem of the cufflinks of the prior art.

In figure 1 H, the cufflink is in closed position but there is some remaining space between the parts 2a, 2b of the cuff. Figure 1 illustrates the play that the cufflink may have because of the remaining space. The cufflink may move to the left or the right and be in a non-stable position.

An embodiment of a cufflink according to the present invention is illustrated in figures 2A to 2F. Specifically, the cufflink comprises a wing 100 that is attached to a shaft 120 via axis 101 , a locking part 102 the functioning of which will be explained later, and a rotating base 130 which rotates on the shaft 120 via axis 132. The base 130 also comprises a locking element 13 .

Figure 2A illustrate the cufflink in an open state and figure 2B in a tight state. Figure 2C illustrates the attachment procedure of the cufflink to a cuff 2a, 2b for example of a shirt. The wing 100 is introduced in the button hole 3 and then by rotation it allows the button hole to move down on the shaft 120 to reach an attached position. Figure 2D illustrates this position with the locking part 102 extended to prevent the wing 100 to go back into the button hole 3. Figures 2E and 2F illustrate the functioning of this embodiment of the cufflink according to the present invention. In figure 2E, the base is in its open state (as in figure 2A) and this allows a certain space between the two parts 2a, 2b of the cuff. As illustrated in figure 2F, there the base 130 is in its tight position which reduces and/or suppresses the space between parts 2a, 2b to form a tightly closed cuff. The interest of having the two positions of figures 2E and 2F is to allow an easy change in two positions, one being with larger cuffs (figure 2E) allowing the wearer to pull back his sleeves for example to wash his hands without risking to wet his shirt/cuffs and the second tight position which is the way cuffs are usually worn.

Figures 3A to 3F illustrates the principle of an embodiment of a cufflink of the present invention and details therefrom. In figure 3A, the base is in extended position, as in figures 2A and 2E, for example. In figure 3B, a front cut view of the same position is illustrated, showing the axis 132 on which the base rotates with respect to the shaft 120. The shaft comprises a groove 124 in which a locking element 131 (for example an axis 131 ) of the base 130 penetrates when the base 130 is moved to the tight position illustrated in figures 3C and 3D (and 2B/2F). The movement in this tight position is realized by a rotation around axis 132 which displaces the base 130 upwards (i.e. closer to the wing 100). An additional locking ("clicking") element may be a hole 123 in the shaft 120 cooperating with a corresponding element 133 on the base, this may be for example a ball mounted on a spring. This allows the user to feel by a "click" that the proper locked position is reached while rotating the base 130 around axis 132.

Figures 3E and 3F illustrate the different distances (A-C and A-B) between the base 130 and the wing 100 that may be obtained with the principles of the present invention, A-C being the longer distance and A-B the shorter one.

Figures 4A to 4F illustrates the method of using an embodiment of the cufflink according to the present invention and details therefrom. Figure 4A shows the cufflink seen from the top.

Figure 4B shows the cufflink seen from the top but after it has been introduced in a button hole 3 of a cuff of a shirt.

Figure 4C illustrates the introduction procedure of the wing 100 into a button hole 3 in the cuff 2a, 2b. Accordingly, the wing 100 is pushed upwards (direction of the arrow in figure 4C) and then it is turned to the right as in figure 4D to pass the corner between wing 100 and shaft 120 through the hole 3. At the stage, the locking part 102 is moved towards the shaft 120 to allow the corner to pass.

In figure 4E, the shaft 120 is now in the cuffhole 3 and the wing 100 extends parallel the cuff 2a, 2b.

Finally, in figure 4F, the cufflink is pulled downwards (see the arrow in figure 4F) and the locking part 02 is moved upwards to a position parallel to the wing 00 preventing the cufflink to be easily removed. This may be defined as a locking position.

The base 130 may now be rotated as illustrated in figure 2F for example to "close" the cuff in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

Of course, the different elements and shapes are given above as illustrative examples not to be construed in a limiting manner and modifications are possible in the frame and scope of the present invention. For example, equivalent means may be used.

Any suitable material may be used for the different parts of the cufflink. Preferably, they are in metal or precious metal. The relative sizes/proportions of the elements are also only given as examples and they may vary. Also different embodiments may be combined together.

Claims

CLAIM

1 . A cufflink comprising at least a base (130), a shaft (120) to be inserted into a cuffhole (3) of a sleeve cuff (2a, 2b) and a wing (100) fixed to said shaft (120), wherein the base (130) is rotatable on the shaft (120) to take at least a first position away from the wing (100) and a second position close to the wing (100) thereby varying the length of the shaft in the cuffhole (3).

2. The cufflink as defined in claim 1 , wherein the shaft comprises at least a groove (124) which receives an axis (131 ) of the base (130) to hold the base

(130) in the second position.

3. The cufflink as defined in claim 1 or 2, wherein the shaft ( 20) comprises a hole (123) and the base (130) a ball spring arrangement (133) which cooperate together in the second position of the base (130).

4. The cufflink as defined in one of the preceding claims, wherein the shaft (120) comprises a locking part (102) to maintain the cufflink on the cuff (2a,2b).

5. The cufflink as defined in claim 4, wherein the locking part comprises a plate ( 02) that is rotatable with respect to the shaft (120).

6. The cufflink as defined in one of the preceding claims, wherein the base ( 30) is rotated on the shaft (120) by means of an axis (132) attached to said shaft (120).

7. The cufflink as defined in one of the preceding claims, wherein the wing (100) is fixed with respect to the shaft (120).

8. The cufflink as defined in one of the preceding claims, wherein it made of metals, alloys, and/or precious materials.