HK1186360B - Anti-rotation link - Google Patents

Description

Anti-rotation chain link

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a special link for a wristwatch. The invention also relates to a system for attaching a bracelet strand to a closure comprising such links.

Background

So-called unfolding clasp closures (unfolding clasp closures) are known in the prior art, which allow a user to easily put on a watch when opening the clasp and then tighten the bracelet into a closed position. This type of closure usually comprises a metal cover covering a folding tab, one end of which is attached to the end of one of the links of the bracelet, while the end of the other link is fixed to the end of said cover. The securing element can be unlocked by means of a push-button mechanism acting in the transverse direction.

Such closures are commonly used in conjunction with watchbands having a chain formed from articulated metal links. In this case, the adjustment of the length of the wristband is achieved by removing one or more links at the end of one or more of the links of the bracelet before attaching the end of the bracelet to the closure.

In the case of rubber watchbands, the length is usually adjusted by simply cutting off the desired watchband length at the attached end of the bracelet, before joining the end of the bracelet to the closure or to the connecting piece of the closure. However, this simple solution requires modifying the closure or at least the attachment tabs that attach the closure to the chain, to hide the visible cut edge of the chain and also to prevent the end of the chain from rotating with respect to the closure, in order to prevent the cut edge of the chain from protruding onto the user's skin and making the use of such a bracelet particularly uncomfortable. Therefore, in the case of plastic watchbands, the above-mentioned length adjustment cannot be made by simple cutting without modifying the structure of the closure, which makes it impossible to use a watchband made of plastic or leather or even metal or ceramic with the same closure, thus causing a great loss in terms of productivity.

Closure systems are also known which are suitable for various types of watchbands (i.e. watchbands made of leather, fabric, plastic or metal), such as the closure described in document EP 0081616. In this type of closure, the ends of the links 9, 13 of the bracelet can be fixed by means of the connecting rods 10, 14 to define the nominal length of the bracelet, with the connecting rods 10, 14 being located in the different pairs of holes 7, 11 of the circular arc-shaped tubular elements 1, 2 engaged with each other, while the locking ensured by the cooperation of the rack 6 and the elastic element 23 allows a quick and easy fine adjustment of the length of the bracelet. However, this type of closure has a complex structure that is difficult to machine and has reliability issues with respect to the locking system compared to classical unfolding clasp closures.

Special devices for attaching the bracelet strands to the unfolding clasp closure are also known, such as the system described in swiss patent CH689534, according to which the posts 13, 14 are respectively provided in front of the ring 19 of the closure and on one of the tabs of the unfolding clasp to cooperate with the perforations 21, 26 of the strand 6 of the bracelet. However, this type of device is only suitable for watchbands with perforated links and requires modification of the structure of the unfolding clasp of the closure, which considerably limits the possible uses of this type of device.

Therefore, there is a need for a watch band that: there are no prior art limitations in structural shortcomings and/or locking reliability.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is in particular to provide a solution as follows: this solution allows to simply adjust the length of any type of bracelet, in particular a rubber bracelet, without requiring significant structural changes to the closure or to the attachment system attached to the closure.

These objects are achieved by means of a link for a watch band, such as claimed in the independent claim, characterized in that: it includes a central core connecting a lower wing portion and an upper wing portion.

These objects are also achieved by means of a device for fixing a closure to a bracelet strand as follows: the device comprises an attachment piece (attachment piece) and the above-mentioned chain link arranged between the attachment piece and the end of the chain, characterized in that the first inner side of the upper wing, the first inner side of the lower wing and the first side of the core of the chain link form a first receptacle for the end of the chain (strand), and the second inner side of the upper wing, the second inner side of the lower wing and the second side of the core of the chain link form a second receptacle for the central part of the attachment piece, wherein the upper wing of the chain link covers the end of the chain and the central part of the attachment piece.

One advantage offered by the links according to the invention is: the overall aesthetic appearance of the watch and the wearing comfort of the user of the watch are improved.

Another advantage of the proposed solution is: an inexpensive and simple sheet is provided which is easy to manufacture and which can be adapted to different types of watchbands and closures.

Another advantage of the proposed solution is: instead of acting on one or the other sheet, a very simple intermediate sheet is introduced between the end of the bracelet strand and the attachment sheet of the closure, to provide advantages in terms of aesthetic appearance and comfort. The fact that no changes need to be made to the chains or to the closure elements greatly increases the modularity of the proposed solution and offers significant advantages in terms of productivity when producing watches with different types of watchband at the same time.

Drawings

Other features and advantages will become more apparent from the detailed description of the various preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a modified closure attachment link known from the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an intermediate link according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the position of the intermediate link relative to the band and closure;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an intermediate link between an attachment link of a closure member and a chain in an assembled position in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an intermediate link according to the same preferred embodiment of the present invention taken along axis A-A of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the middle link of FIG. 4A taken along axis A-A of FIG. 3 according to the same preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows an example of a modified attachment tab 2 known from the prior art, which attachment tab 2 is used for an unfolding clasp closure and is to be used with a rubber watch strap. The closure 3 shown classically comprises two folding tabs occupying only a single thickness in the folded position, in which case the shaft 31 is formed by two arms between which a central tab (not shown, since the closure shown is in the unfolded position) rests. The shaft 31 is mounted so as to be movable around the connecting pin of the piece of the closure which is itself hinged to the attachment piece 2 of the chain. The axis of rotation between the closing member 3 and the attachment piece 2 of the chain is indicated in the figure by the reference numeral 21. The ends of the links 1 of the bracelet are connected to the attachment pieces 2 by means of connecting rods 22. In order to conceal the cut edges of the end portions of the chain 1, a masking surface 20 is provided on the upper surface of the attachment piece 2. Further, in order to prevent the cut edge of the end of the chain from coming into contact with the skin of the user, another masking surface (not shown in the figure) is similarly provided on the lower surface of the attachment piece. These two masking surfaces prevent the ends of the links from rotating around the connecting bar 22, thus improving the wearing comfort of the user of the watch with the strap and such an attachment piece, while improving the aesthetic appearance of the strap by hiding the cut sections of the ends of the strap that do not need to be perfectly flush.

However, this modified attachment piece 2 requires a careful production method: thus, the modified attachment piece 2 may be formed, for example, from a homogeneous metal plate which is stamped and then folded to form the upper screening surface 20 and the side surfaces, respectively, and then holes are made in the side surfaces to receive the ends of the connecting rods 22, while the plate forming the bottom cover is fixed, for example by welding, to form the lower screening surface. It is also possible to cut and then fold the attachment piece in one operation and to form the lower part so that the underside of the chain can be concealed by two folded ends which are welded together at their joining point. In both cases, the stamping requires a very complex apparatus, which makes the production cost high. In addition, welding operations that increase overall and unit costs slow the production process. It is also conceivable to directly machine the attachment tabs, including the upper and lower mask surfaces and the side surfaces, from solid blocks, but this production method would be more costly because much material would be lost. Whatever the processing method used, such attachment tabs cannot be reused for other types of watchbands, for example leather or even ceramic or metal watchbands, for which conventional open attachment tabs are generally required, i.e. not comprising upper and lower masking surfaces, to prevent blocking of the last link or blocking of the leather winding at the attachment axis (i.e. the connecting bar 22 in the example shown).

The following links will be described below: the link achieves the same advantages in terms of comfort and aesthetics as the known prior art solution of figure 1, without requiring modifications to the structure of the closure and to the structure of the usual attachment tabs.

The link according to the invention is preferably interposed between the attachment piece 2 and the end of the chain 1, so that no further modification of the attachment piece 2 is necessary. Fig. 2 shows an example of a preferred variant of such an intermediate link 4, wherein this intermediate link 4 is interposed between the end of the chain 1 of the rubber watch band and the attachment piece 2 of the closure 3. The link comprises a central core 41, which central core 41 connects a lower wing 42 and an upper wing 43, the function of lower wing 42 and upper wing 43 respectively being the same as that of the masking surface of the modified attachment piece of fig. 1: since the user's eyes can only see the upper surface 431 of the upper wing 43, the upper wing 43 conceals the cut edge 111 of the end of the chain 1, while the lower wing 42 prevents the chain from rotating around the connecting rod 22 in a direction that brings the cut edge 111 of the end of the chain 1 into contact with the user's skin. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the wings are two pieces having a dimension substantially greater than the third dimension, as the case may be herein relates to the ratio between their length, width and thickness. Most of the different parameters determining the shape of the link 4 according to the invention will be explained in more detail on the basis of fig. 4B.

As can be seen in fig. 2, unlike the links of a traditional bracelet forming part of an articulated chain, the intermediate link 4 does not itself have a fixing element around an axis, but is instead held between the connecting bar 22 of the link 1 for fixing the bracelet and the central portion 23 of the attachment piece 2 by means of its own particular shape with a section in the shape of a truncated H, wherein the lateral surface 232 and the upper surface 231 of the central portion 23 can be seen. The link 4 is assembled by inserting the first side face 413 of the central core 41 between the side faces 24, with the inner side face 241 of the side face 24 as a guide face. The link 4 is thus caused to slide along the parallel side 24 of the attachment piece 2 until reaching the side 232 of the attachment piece 2, against which side 232 the right side wall 412 of the core 41 of the link comes to rest. In order to prevent the chain link from translating in the opposite direction to the direction in which it is inserted between the lateral faces 24 of the attachment piece 2, the cut edge 111 of the end of the chain 1 is brought into abutment against the left lateral wall 411 of the core 41 of the chain link. The connecting bar 22 is then fitted into the last of the through holes 116, wherein a plurality of through holes 116 are provided on the bracelet strand 1 up to the cut edge 111 of the end 11 of the bracelet strand 1, wherein the length of the bracelet strand is determined, for example, by cutting, and the connecting bar 22 is then inserted into a pair of holes 221 of the attachment piece 2. The insertion of the connecting rods 22 enables the links 1 of the bracelet to be fixed to the attachment piece 2 and therefore indirectly to the closure 3, while enabling the closing of the space in which the links 4 are inserted. The links 4 are thus held between the central portion 23 of the attachment plate 2 and the end 11 of the chain fixed around the connecting rod 22, without any additional fixing elements. To facilitate the manufacture of the link 4, the second flank 423 of the lower wing 42 and the third flank 433 of the upper wing 43 are arranged in the same plane as the first flank 413 of the core 41 of the link 4.

The closure 3 used in the frame structure of the present invention may be a classic unfolding clasp closure as shown in fig. 2, comprising an elongated cover 30, which cover 30 hides the folding tabs hinged around a common connecting pin 35 in the locked position. A button 34 for unlocking is provided on the side 33 of the cover, and a hole 36 is also provided on the side 33 of the closure for inserting therein a connecting rod for fixing the closure to a second bracelet strand, the length of which does not have to be adjusted. According to the illustrated embodiment of the closure of fig. 3, the folding tabs are constituted by a shaft 31 comprising two arms and a central tab 32 inside the two arms of the shaft 31 in the folded position, respectively. Other structures with folded tabs, such as butterfly-type structures, are also contemplated without affecting the attachment tabs or links 4 of the present invention. Here the attachment tab 2 is connected to the shaft 31 by means of the attachment pin 21 of the closure, while the central tab 32 is connected to the lid 30 of the closure 3 by means of the connecting pin 37. According to a variant, the central tab 32 and the shaft 31 can also be exchanged by connecting the central tab 32 to the attachment pin 21 of the closure and fixing the shaft to the cover 30 by means of the connecting pin 37.

As can be seen in fig. 2, the lid 30 of the closure 3 comprises a projection 301 extending to the left (i.e. towards the attachment tab 2). The upper wing 43 of the link 4 comprises a cut 434 with a corresponding shape so that there is no overlap between the link 4 and the closure 3. The corresponding shape of the cutout 434 and the shape of the projection of the upper wing 43 of the link are particularly clear in fig. 3, wherein fig. 3 shows a plan view of the bracelet strand 1, the intermediate link 4 of the invention, the attachment piece 2 and the closure 3 in the assembled and locked position. The link 4, in which only the upper surface 431 of the upper wing 43 is visible, is moulded in a shape perfectly adapted to the cover 3 in the following way: no gap is formed between the attachment tab 2 and the closure 3 regardless of the angle of orientation of the attachment tab 2 and the closure 3 relative to each other about the attachment pin 21. Thus, the visible gap between the attachment tab 2 and the closure 3 is always at least partially concealed, which is aesthetically advantageous. Furthermore, the non-linear shape fit of the upper wing 43 of the link 4 and the cover 30 around the attachment pin 21 has the advantage, for example, of being more difficult to hook an external element, such as a fabric of a garment worn by a user of a watch, compared to the linear shape of the left-hand part of the upper wing 43 of the link 4, for example, because the curved joining area between the gripping faces tends to exert a rotational movement and thus to release again an object that has been hooked. The cut-outs 434 may also create an asymmetry between the left and right portions of the upper wing portion 43, which allows the links to be correctly oriented during assembly and thus simplifies the assembly operation, especially when manual assembly is performed.

The links 4 are preferably made of injection-moulded plastic or moulded plastic material, since the tools required and the materials used are simple, allowing the links 4 to be produced more easily and at lower cost, and, if necessary, allowing the colour of the links 4 to be easily matched to the colour of the bracelet. Furthermore, as can be seen below with reference to fig. 4A and 4B, the flexible nature of the plastic material is advantageous for inserting the end of the chain 1 into the attachment plate 2 and therefore for assembling the links, which do not require great forces to be assembled that would be difficult to reach without the use of tools, for example in the case of sheet metal. According to an alternative embodiment, the plastic material can be replaced by a more flexible elastomer, which allows the wing to better grip on the end of the chain 1.

Also clearly visible from fig. 3 are the arms of the shaft 31 and the central tab 32 in a position folded towards the inside of the shaft, as well as the side walls 33 and the button 34 of the lid, where the button traditionally has to be pressed inwards perpendicular to the sides to unlock the closure and release the folded tab. The axis a-a in the figure shows the section plane of fig. 4A and the section plane of fig. 4B, and fig. 4B is an enlarged view of the link 4 shown in fig. 4A. Fig. 4A and 4B will be described together, with all reference numerals relating to the links being added in fig. 4B and all reference numerals relating to the plates other than the links 4 being added in fig. 4A for ease of recognition that supplementary reference numerals have been added.

Fig. 4A shows a chain link 4, which chain link 4 is arranged between the attachment plate 2 and the end 11 of the chain 1, on which chain 1 different holes 116 for its length adjustment and different pre-cuts of the chain 1 are arranged. A cutting operation is performed at these pre-cuts 115 to ensure that the length of the portion of the end 11 of the chain that is located above the hole 116 where the connecting rod 22 (visible in fig. 2) is to be inserted is not excessively long and to leave sufficient space for the insertion of the link 4, or more precisely the core 41 of the link 4 with thickness a, between the cut edge 111 of the end of the chain and the attachment piece 2. Fig. 4B shows the first inner side surface 4321 of the upper wing, the first inner side surface 4221 of the lower wing and the first side wall 411 on the left side of the core of the link 4. The space in these surfaces forms a first receptacle for the end 11 of the chain, in the assembled position the upper surface 113 of the end 11 of the chain is in contact with the first inner side surface 4321 of the upper wing, the lower surface 112 of the end 11 of the chain is in contact with the first inner side surface 4221 of the lower wing, and the cut edge 111 of the end 11 of the chain preferably abuts against the left side wall 411 of the core 41. Similarly, on the right side of the link, the second inner side surface 4322 of the upper wing, the second inner side surface 4222 of the lower wing and the right side wall 412 of the core 41 of the link 4 leave room for forming a second receptacle for attaching the central portion 23 of the plate 2. During the assembly of the links 4 onto the attachment piece 2, the right side wall 412 of the core is preferably moved until this right side wall 412 rests on the side 232 of the central portion 23 of the attachment piece 2, to ensure that the links 4 are held as good as possible, preventing any degree of translational movement from occurring.

As can be seen in fig. 4A, and also in fig. 3 described above, the upper wing 43 of the link 4 completely covers the end 11 of the bracelet strand and the central portion 23 of the attachment piece with its left and right side portions, respectively. The lower wing 42 of the link 4 itself is in contact with the user's skin and the gripping of the end 11 of the chain by the respective left portions of the upper and lower wings 43, 42 prevents the cutting edges 111 of the end 11 of the chain 1 from coming into contact with the user's skin. As a result, the comfort of the user can be improved, since only a flat surface, and not a ridged surface, is in contact with the user's skin, even at the location of the end of the strand where the closure is attached to the wristband. The proposed arrangement of the intermediate link 4 between the end 11 of the bracelet strand 1 and the attachment piece 2 thus enables the same advantages that the previously proposed modified attachment pieces have, namely, hiding the end of the strand 1 and preventing the cut edges of the strand from coming into contact with the user's skin, without requiring any modification of the pieces forming the closure element of the traditional unfolding clasp bracelet strand from now on. On the right side of fig. 4A, the attachment axis 21 of the closure clearly visible in fig. 2 and the connecting pin 37 connecting the closure 3 to the central tab 32 and the cover 30 visible in fig. 3 are shown.

Since the intermediate link 4 prevents the cut edges 111 of the end 11 of the chain 1 from coming into contact with the user's skin, this link is sometimes called an "anti-rotation link" since it considerably limits the rotation of the aforementioned end about its axis of rotation (i.e. the connecting rod 22 visible in fig. 2). In fact, all rotation in one direction or the other is prevented by the left side portion of the upper wing 43 and the left side portion of the lower wing 42. As shown in fig. 4B, the link 4 preferably comprises an upper wing 43 of length L equal to the sum of the length L1 of its left part, the length L2 of its right part and the thickness a of the core, and a lower wing 42 of length L, similarly equal to the sum of the length L1 of its left part, the length L2 of its right part and the thickness a of the core, respectively denoted L and L for the different lengths of the upper wing 43 and of the lower wing 42. According to a preferred variant, as shown in fig. 4A and 4B, the length L of the lower wing 42 is smaller than the length L of the upper wing 43, which covers the ends of the chain to the maximum extent while making the space under the chain as small as possible. More precisely, the lengths of the left portions of the respective wings are different, the length L1 of the left portion of the lower wing being shorter than the length L1 of the left portion of the upper wing. At the same time, this arrangement controls the rotation of the end 11 of the bracelet about the connecting bar 22 in the direction in which the bracelet is wrapped around the wrist of the user, or else the rotation, if it occurs, is very limited, since the end 11 of the bracelet is caught by the left-hand portions of the upper wing 43 and of the lower wing 42, which further increases the wearing comfort, since no particular force needs to be applied to close the bracelet around the wrist. Furthermore, the asymmetry of the lengths L1, L1 allows to easily determine the positioning of the upper wing 43 above the lower wing 42 during the assembly of the bracelet to the closure element and to avoid any confusion.

The length L2 of the right part of the lower wing and the length L2 of the right part of the upper wing may also be different, so as to have the advantages of asymmetry described above, but as in the shown preferred embodiment these two lengths have a smaller length difference and may even have the same length when there is no need to control the rotation of the attachment piece 2 relative to the closure in the direction of winding around the wrist. When the link 4 is mounted on the central portion 23 of the attachment piece 2, the upper surface 231 and the lower surface 233 of the central portion 23 of the attachment piece 2 serve as guide surfaces for the second inner side surface 4322 of the upper wing of the link 4 and the second inner side surface 4222 of the lower wing of the link 4, respectively. Similarly, the first inner side surface 4321 of the upper wing of the link 4 and the first inner side surface 4221 of the lower wing of the link 4 serve as guide surfaces for the upper surface 113 of the end of the chain and the lower surface 112 of the end of the chain, respectively, except this time that the end 11 of the chain is mounted to the left side portion of the link 4 and the right side portion of the link 4 has been mounted to the central portion 23 of the attachment piece 2. As a result, this arrangement allows a particularly simple installation and assembly of the links 4, the links 4 being assembled first to the attachment piece 2 and then to the end of the end 11 of the chain 1.

In the preferred embodiment shown in fig. 4A, the side walls of the core of the link 4 (first side wall 411 and second side wall 412) serve as the abutment faces of the cut edge 111 of the end of the chain of the watch band and the side wall 232 of the central portion of the attachment piece 2, respectively, wherein the retention of the link between the end 11 of the chain and the attachment piece 2 is enhanced, since once the link 4 is disposed between the end 11 of the chain and the attachment piece 2, no lateral displacement of the link 4 can occur. In order to make the insertion easier and to reinforce the retention of the links 4 in the assembled position, profiled (shaped) wings can be used, i.e. having a thickness that decreases slightly from the core 41 towards the outside of the wings. This profiled structure may prevent the expansion of the wings when inserting material between them and thus be able to maintain in an optimal way the grip and contact between the inner surfaces of the wings and the end portions 11 of the chain 1 and the central portion 23 of the attachment piece 2.

According to the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4B, the left portion of the upper wing 43 has a first thickness E1, the right portion of the upper wing 43 has a second thickness E2, the left portion of the lower wing 42 has a third thickness E1, and the right portion of the lower wing 42 has a fourth thickness E2. The respective thicknesses remain substantially constant along the length of the wings or, as mentioned above, preferably decrease from the core to the ends of the wings. The third thickness E1 is preferably less than the first thickness E1, but they may be equal, as is the fourth thickness E2 which is preferably less than or equal to the second thickness E2. As a result, when the link 4 is made of a very flexible material, such as an elastomer or the like, this arrangement of the upper wing 43 with a greater thickness than the lower wing 42 ensures that no deformation is visible on the outer lateral surface 431 of the upper wing of the link. Furthermore, the sum of the first thickness E1 and the third thickness E1 of the left side of the wing is preferably selected to be smaller than the sum of the second thickness E2 and the fourth thickness E2 of the right side of the wing, since the other sheet to be gripped by the left side of the wing is thicker than the sheet gripped by the right side of the wing: in this case the end 11 of the chain and the attachment piece 2, respectively. For various types of chains 1 having a given thickness, the first thickness E1 and the third thickness E1 can be adjusted without modifying the second thickness E2 and the fourth thickness E2 on the right side of the wing portions. The following links 4 can thus be produced: the first thickness E1 and the third thickness E1 are variable, while the second thickness E2 and the fourth thickness E2 are always constant. The difference in thickness of the two sides of the core 41 of the link increases the asymmetry in the length of the left part of the wing (length L1 for the left part of the upper wing and L1 for the left part of the lower wing), so that there is no confusion in the direction of insertion of the link 4 in terms of assembly of the link 4 as well. The above-described given assembly reliability is redundant with respect to the asymmetry of the left (linear) and right (curved due to the cut-outs 434) ends of the upper wing portion. However, this asymmetry in thickness is useful for automatic assembly or in any case as a double inspection system to prevent any confusion.

The link 4 according to the invention has been described in connection with an unfolding clasp-type closure. It should be understood, however, that the link 4 may also be used with any other type of closure using an attachment tab 2 similar to that described above. It should also be understood that the particular shape of the link 4 more generally makes it suitable for mounting other types of connecting pieces, not necessarily watchband chains or closures, wherein it is equally possible to realise a hiding function and a function of hindering the rotation to prevent the components inserted between the wings of the link from falling out.

Claims (11)

1. A link (4) for a wristwatch, characterized in that said link (4) comprises a central core (41) connecting a lower wing (42) and an upper wing (43), said lower wing (42) and said upper wing (43) both comprising a left portion and a right portion, wherein the length (L1) of the left portion of the lower wing (42) is different from the length (L1) of the left portion of the upper wing (43).

2. Chain link (4) according to claim 1, characterized in that the length (L) of the upper wing (43) is different from the length (L) of the lower wing (42).

3. The link (4) according to claim 2, characterized in that the link (4) is made of plastic material.

4. Link (4) according to claim 1, characterized in that the left part of the upper wing (43) has a first thickness (E1), the right part of the upper wing (43) has a second thickness (E2), the left part of the lower wing (42) has a third thickness (E1), the right part of the lower wing (42) has a fourth thickness (E2), wherein the sum of the first thickness (E1) and the third thickness (E1) is smaller than the sum of the second thickness (E2) and the fourth thickness (E2).

5. Chain link (4) according to claim 4, characterized in, that the upper wing part and the lower wing part are profiled.

6. Chain link (4) according to claim 5, characterized in that the core (41) comprises a first side face (413), the lower wing (42) comprises a second side face (423), the upper wing (43) comprises a third side face (433), wherein the first side face (413), the second side face (423) and the third side face (433) lie in the same plane.

7. Device for fixing a closure (3) to a bracelet strand (1), comprising an attachment piece (2) and a link (4) according to any one of the preceding claims, the link (4) being arranged between the attachment piece (2) and an end (11) of the strand (1), characterized in that a first inner side surface (4321) of the upper wing, a first inner side surface (4221) of the lower wing and a first side wall (411) of the core of the link (4) form a first receptacle for the end (11) of the strand, a second inner side surface (4322) of the upper wing, a second inner side surface (4222) of the lower wing and a second side wall (412) of the core of the link (4) form a second receptacle for a central portion (23) of the attachment piece (2), wherein the upper wing (43) covers the end (11) of the strand and the central portion (23) of the attachment piece And (23).

8. Device for fixing a closure (3) to a bracelet strand (1) according to claim 7, characterised in that the first inner side surface (4321) of the upper wing and the first inner side surface (4221) of the lower wing of the link (4) act as guide surfaces of the upper surface (113) of the end of the strand and of the lower surface (112) of the end of the strand, respectively.

9. Device for fixing a closure (3) to a bracelet strand (1) according to claim 8, characterised in that said first side wall (411) and said second side wall (412) of the core of the link serve respectively as abutment faces for the cut edges (111) of the ends of the strand of the bracelet and for the side wall (232) of the central portion of the attachment piece (2).

10. Device for fixing a closure (3) to a bracelet strand (1) according to claim 9, wherein the core (41) of the link (4) has a first lateral face (413) and the attachment piece (2) has a lateral face (24) with an inner lateral face (241), wherein the inner lateral face (241) of the lateral face acts as a guide face for the first lateral face (413) of the core (41).

11. Device for fixing a closure (3) to a bracelet strand (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that it comprises a tab (301) and in that said upper wing (43) of said link (4) has a notch (434), the shape of said notch (434) corresponding to the shape of said tab (301) of a cover (30) of said closure (3).