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(11) | EP 0 835 618 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | A closing device for wristwatch straps |
| (57) On the basis of a leather wrist strap or similar article, and composed of two segments
(1) and (2), joined to each other by a metal fastener (3), as well as incorporating
two articulated arms (4) and (5), one of the said arms (4) being affixed in conventional
fashion to the corresponding segment (1) of the strap, while the other arm (5) is
finished at its free end by a flattened tubular head (8) making it able to penetrate
the other segment (2) of the strap, the latter being equipped with a nipple (10),
which may be selectively inserted into any one of the orifices (11) of the segment
(2) of the strap, in such a way that depending on the orifice (11) selected a maximum
effective length of the strap is set, this being applicable to open as well as closed
states of the strap. The arm (2) also incorporates lateral bent lugs (12) which form
a guide having a pinching mouth to hold the unused section of segment (2) of the strap,
as well as including a broad window (13) which coincides with the other arm (4) in
terms of shape and size, such that when the strap (4) is closed, it is completely
enclosed within the same plane as the centre of the arm (5) with minimum thickness
for the fastener. |
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention covers a closing device which has been especially conceived for wrist watches, and above all for straps made of leather or similar materials, and which use metal fastenings composed of two articulated arms, equipped with the means of fixing the two segments of the strap, in such a way that these arms fold one over the other when the strap is closed, thereby fitting it to the wrist of the user, while when the said arms are extended the effective diameter of the strap is substantially increased, to a degree that is sufficient to permit the same to pass over the hand of the user.
[0002] The object of the invention is to attain adjustable means of fixation between the metal fastening and the strap, with the purpose of making the entire set of parts suitable for substantially different wrists, while also providing fastenings of the greatest possible flatness when closed, with the subsequent and beneficial effects on the aesthetic appearance of the strap.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Classical watch straps formed of two segments are equipped in one of the said segments with a frog that, together with an alignment of perforations laid out in the other segment, permits the said strap, when closed, to adjust to fit the wrist of the user.
[0004] A totally different solution is employed in metal bracelets, such that when the two basic segments of the metal bracelet are connected by a fastener which is also made of metal, two articulated arms, joined at hinges to the two segments of the bracelet and which are able to fold down, one over the other when closed, they are equipped with the means of locking together in such a position.
[0005] This form of fastening metal bracelets has also been used within the context of leather straps, although subject to slight modifications. More specifically, the metal fastening is affixed at one end to one of the segments of the strap, in a way that renders it immobile, by means of a cross-wise pin, with the one on the other segment of the strap does so by means of a clamp which "bites" on the strap, generally with the aid of a toothed surface, and which has the purpose of ensuring the proper attachment of the same.
[0006] This solution is problematical in two different ways, as while on the one hand the closing mechanism is very bulky, as it involves the superimposition of the two articulated arms of the metal fastener over the strap itself, and, if the attempt is made to eliminate the latter by cutting it immediately after the point at which it is clamped, the strap only permits of limited adjustment, beyond which it may not be lengthened, due either to lack of material or because the mark left by the toothed surface on the strap means that the aesthetic appearance of the latter is damaged to a considerable extent.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The closing device proposed by this invention completely and satisfactorily resolves both of the above - mentioned problems.
[0008] To this end, and more specifically, on the basis of the conventional solution, according to which the two segments of the strap are joined by means of a metal clamp composed of two articulated arms, one of the characteristics of this invention centres on the fact that one of the ends of the said fastener is joined to the corresponding segment of the strap in a conventional fashion, specifically by means of a pin or similar device, and that at the free end of the other arm there is a tubular and flattened head, from the centre of the base of which a nipple with a slightly expanded free end emerges, such that through the said nipple the other segment of the strap may be joined to the metal fastener through one of the classic orifices which are aligned lengthwise, in such a way that, depending on which of the orifices has been selected, the length of the strap as a whole will be determined.
[0009] Obviously this tubular head will be of minimum thickness, and suitable for the thickness of the strap, thereby minimising the volume of the same.
[0010] Given that in this case it is not necessary to cut off the corresponding superfluous segment of the strap, it is planned that this arm of the metal fastener be equipped at a mid point with a couple of bent lugs, forming between them a pinching mouth channel, to guide and affix the above - mentioned superfluous segment of the also said segment of the strap.
[0011] Finally and according to another of the characteristics of the invention, one of the two articulated arms of the metal fastener, preferentially the arm equipped with the said tubular head, incorporates a lengthwise window which fits the other arm in terms of shape and size, such that when closed both arms fit together along the same plane, instead of folding one over the other, thereby attaining a substantial reduction in the overall thickness of the mechanism when closed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] As a complement to this description, and with the aim of helping towards a greater comprehension of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferential example of the practical embodiment of the same, it is accompanied by a set of drawings in which, as an illustration and not as a limitation, the following are shown:
[0013] Figure 1: this shows a perspective view of a closing device for watch straps manufactured according to the subject of this invention, in an extended position, suitably affixed to one of the segments of the strap and facing the other one, thereby making adjustment possible.
[0014] Figure 2: this shows another perspective view of the closing device shown in the previous figure, now exclusively illustrating the metal fastener, in an intermediate position of the swinging of its arms.
[0015] Figure 3: also shows a perspective view of the same fastener as that shown in the previous figure, in an extended position, although the face opposite to that shown in figure 1 is illustrated.
[0016] Figure 4: shows an inverse perspective of the set shown in figure 1, with the two segments of the strap duly connected to the metal fastener.
[0017] Figure 5: shows, finally, the set corresponding to figure 4 in a closed position, and also according to a perspective view.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0018] In the light of these figures, it may be observed that the closing device described is designed to join the two segments (1) and (2) of a strap which constitutes a watch bracelet, and is materially expressed in the form of a metal fastener (3) which is composed of two articulated arms (4) and (5), joined to each other by means of a crosswise pin (6), one of the said arms (4) holding, with the aid of a conventional fastener (7) one of the segments of the strap (1), while the other arm (5) of the metal fastener is finished by a flattened tubular head (8) which is rectangular in cross-section to fit the cross-section of segment (2) of the strap which it is to hold, and being equipped at the centre of its base or lower section (9) with a nipple (10) having a slightly expanded free end, destined to fit as selected in any of the orifices (11) with which, forming a lengthwise alignment, the said segment (2) of the strap is equipped.
[0019] In this way, the effective length of the strap is variable, depending on which of the orifices (11) of segment (2) of the strap is selected to hold the nipple (10) of the arm (5) of the metal fastener, without its being necessary in any case to adjust the said segment (2) of the strap to eliminate the superfluous sector of the same, which may be adjusted to the lower or internal face of the articulated arm (5) of the metal fastener (3), to which it is suitably affixed, with the aid of lower doubly bent lugs (12), these forming a guide for the said superfluous sector of segment (2) of the strap, as may be especially observed in figures 2 and 4.
[0020] As a complement to the structure as described, the articulated arm (5) of the metal fastener (3), this to be effected mainly by a broad window (13), opened lengthwise and which is open towards the end in which the hinge pin (6) is located, this window coinciding in shape and size with the other arm (4) of the metal fastener (3), in such a way that when closed as shown in figure 5, the arm (4) fits into the window (3) in the same plane as the arm (5), and offering a minimum thickness for the metal fastener for the metal fastener (3) as a whole.
[0021] Finally, and in a manner complementary to the structure as described, the window (13) made in the arm (5) of the metal fastener terminates in a teat (14) in which a crosswise pin (15) is pressure fitted, and which is linked to the free end of the other arm (4) of the repeatedly mentioned metal fastener (3).
1. A closing device for watch straps, specifically for bracelets which are composed of
two segments (1) and (2) of strap linked together by a metal fastener (3) composed
of two articulated arms (4) and (5) which are joined to the said segments of the strap,
and forming with the watch itself a ring that may be fitted to/taken off the wrist
of the user, and characterised by the fact that while one of the arms (4) of the said
metal fastener (3) is affixed immovably by a pin or similar device to the corresponding
segment (1) of the strap, while the other arm (5) terminates, at its free end, in
a tubular flattened head (8), the same in cross-section as the corresponding segment
(2) of the strap, the said head (8) being equipped with an internal nipple (10) which
is central and preferentially with an expanded free end, designed to be selectively
inserted into one of the orifices (11) which, aligned in a lengthwise manner, are
found within the end of the corresponding segment (2) of the strap, in such a way
that depending on the orifice (11) occupied by the nipple (10) a maximum size of the
ring formed by the bracelet as a whole is determined.
2. A closing device for watch straps, according to claim 1, characterised in that the
arm (5) of the metal fastener (3) which is equipped with the tubular head (8) also
incorporates a pair of lateral lugs (12), these being doubly bent inward, thereby
forming a channel with a pinching mouth for holding the superfluous sector of segment
(2) of the leather strap.
3. A closing device for watch straps, according to the above claims, characterised in
that one of the arms of the metal fastener (3), preferentially the arm (5) which is
equipped with the tubular head (8), contains a window (13) along most of its length,
which opens towards the end of the same and which contains a joining pin (6) articulating
it with the other arm (4), and this window (13) being the same as the other arm (4)
in both shape and size, and which it receives when the strap is closed, when both
arms occupy the same plane and are affixed with the aid of a teat (14) in the bottom
of the window (13) and on which a pin acts, the latter being linked to the free end
of the other arm (4).