HK1230890B - Watch intended to be mounted on a removable support - Google Patents

Description

Watch designed to be mounted on a removable support

Technical Field

The invention relates to a watch designed to be removably mounted on a support, comprising a watch case and a separate removable attachment device arranged to hold the watch case in an opening provided in the support, the watch case comprising an upper part on the dial side and a lower part comprising a back cover, said lower part being arranged to be received in the opening in the support and having a smaller size than the upper part to form a flat peripheral shoulder.

Background

Such a watch is disclosed, for example, in french patent 1557197. The attachment of the watch case to the bracelet or bracelet is achieved using a ring whose inner surface is adjusted to the diameter of the cylindrical side of the back cover (calotte) forming the main element of the case. The ring is driven into the back cover plate. A disadvantage of driving into the loop is that it makes it difficult for the user to remove the loop to separate the strap or bracelet from the case, particularly for users who are not as powerful. It is difficult to replace the band. Furthermore, if the loop is not adjusted correctly, there is a risk that it will not remain fixed to the case and hold the bracelet. Thus, the possibility that the components are easily scattered is high.

Us 4742503 and european 0379540 disclose devices for removably assembling a watch band on the watch band by means of a bezel or ring that allows the band to be easily replaced. However, in these devices, the bezel or ring appears visibly around the case, which detracts from the aesthetic appearance of the watch.

European patent 0758767 discloses a device for removably assembling a wristband on a watch case by means of a ring integral with the wristband. Each bracelet that the user possesses in order to change the appearance of his watch must therefore cooperate with the mounting ring, which increases the cost of the assembly. Furthermore, the ring is mounted around the case on the dial side, so that it appears visible around the dial, which impairs the aesthetic appearance of the watch.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to remedy the various drawbacks of the known devices for removably attaching a bracelet to a watch case.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for attaching a watch on a support which allows a simple and quick replacement of the support or the watch, respectively, without having to use any tools or forces.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for attaching a watch on a support which provides sufficient retention of the support on the watch case to prevent the latter from falling out in case of shocks, but allows easy disassembly of the support without any damage thereto.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for attaching a watch to a support that does not change the shape or appearance of the watch.

To this end, the invention relates to a watch designed to be removably mounted on a support, comprising a case and a separate removable attachment means arranged to retain the case in an opening provided in the support, the case comprising an upper portion located on the dial side and a lower portion comprising a back cover, said lower portion being arranged to be received in the opening in the support and having a smaller size than the upper portion so as to form a flat peripheral shoulder.

According to the invention, the attachment means comprise a flange having a central opening arranged for receiving the lower case part and an inner rim delimiting said central opening, said inner rim being arranged to be received in the opening in the support and having locking means on the inner wall for locking the attachment means on the lower case part, said locking means being arranged to allow the attachment means to be locked on the watch case so as to hold the support between the flange and the flat shoulder of the case and to allow the attachment means to be unlocked from the watch case by applying an outwardly directed force on the flange substantially perpendicular to the flange so as to release the support.

Thus, the means for attaching the watch on the support are not visible from the dial side of the watch and provide sufficient retention of the support on the watch case to prevent the latter from falling out in case of shocks, but allow easy disassembly of the support without any damage thereto.

Preferably, the locking means may comprise at least one rib provided on the inner wall of the inner rim, said rib being arranged to cooperate with at least one correspondingly provided groove on all or part of the periphery of the lower housing part.

Advantageously, the locking means may comprise at least two ribs provided on the inner wall of the inner rim, the at least two ribs being symmetrically arranged about the transverse axis of the attachment means and separated by a rib-free region. This increases the flexibility of the attachment device and facilitates its assembly/disassembly.

Preferably, the inner rim may have at least one cut-out portion along its free edge.

Advantageously, the inner rim may have, along its free edge, at least two cut-out portions arranged symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of the attachment means, the at least two cut-out portions being substantially arranged in the rib-free region. At least one rib-free region may also be provided on the inner wall of the inner rim between the rib and the cut-out portion. This further increases the flexibility of the attachment device and facilitates its assembly/disassembly.

Advantageously, the flange may be expanded by at least one outer rim projecting towards the casing and forming, together with the flange, a housing for receiving the support. To further increase the flexibility of the attachment means and facilitate its assembly/disassembly, a cut-out portion may be provided between the flange and the outer rim.

According to a preferred embodiment, the support can be a bracelet or a strap. In this case, the force exerted on the flange to unlock the attachment is exerted by pulling the strap with an outwardly directed force substantially perpendicular to the flange, allowing the attachment to be easily separated from the watch case.

Drawings

The objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear more clearly in the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, given by way of non-limiting example only and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a bottom perspective view of the watch according to the invention,

figure 2 is an exploded view of the watch of figure 1,

figure 3 is a top perspective view of an attachment device used in the invention,

figure 4 is a bottom perspective view of the attachment device used in the invention,

figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the watch of the invention, an

Figure 6 is a transverse section of the watch of the invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, a wristwatch 1 is shown removably mounted on a bracelet or strap 2. As shown more clearly in fig. 2, the bracelet 2 has an oblong central opening 3 defining two longitudinal zones 2a, 2b and two transverse zones 2c, 2 d. The wristband may be made of any material, such as leather, silicone, fabric, which may contain internal reinforcements.

The watch comprises a watch case 4, the watch case 4 comprising an upper part 4a on the dial side and a lower part 4b comprising a back cover 5 of the case 4. The upper part 4a houses, for example, a timepiece movement, in which an aperture is provided for the insertion of a winding stem terminating in a crown 6. In the case of an electronic watch, the lower portion 4b may have a case 7 for housing a battery. The lower portion 4b has a smaller dimension than the upper portion 4a to form a flat annular peripheral shoulder 8, the function of which will be described below. The dimensions of the upper and lower portions 4a, 4b of the case 4 are such that only the lower portion 4b is received within the interior opening 3 in the band 2. The thickness of the lower portion 4b is greater than the thickness of the bracelet 2.

The watch 1 further comprises separate removable attachment means 10 provided for removably attaching the watch case 4 to the bracelet 2.

According to the invention, the attachment means 10 comprise a flange 12, the flange 12 having a central opening 14 and an inner rim 16 projecting substantially perpendicular to the flange 12 in the direction of the casing 4 and delimiting said central opening 14. As shown in fig. 5 and 6, the dimensions ("diameter") of the central opening 14 and the heights of the flange 12 and the inner rim 16 are selected such that the lower portion 4a of the outer shell 14 is received within said central opening 14. Furthermore, the dimensions ("diameters") of the flange 12 and the inner rim 14 are chosen such that, on the one hand, the inner rim 16 is housed inside the opening 3 in the bracelet, while, on the other hand, the inner surface of the flange 12 is in contact with the bracelet 2 over a sufficient distance to ensure that said bracelet 2 is held between the inner surface of the flange 12 and the shoulder 8 in the space formed between the flange 12 and the shoulder 8.

Furthermore, the inner wall of the inner rim 16 facing the central opening 14 comprises locking means for locking the attachment means on the lower portion 4b of the housing 4. With reference more particularly to figures 3 and 4, said locking means comprise two ribs 18 provided on the inner wall of the inner rim 16 and arranged symmetrically to each other with respect to the transversal axis Y of the attachment means. The two ribs 18 are separated by two rib-free regions 16a, 16b of the inner rim 16 to ensure a certain flexibility. The ribs 18 are arranged to cooperate with and engage in grooves 20 correspondingly arranged on the outer periphery of the lower portion 4b of the casing 4. Two grooves or one continuous groove may be provided substantially on the entire periphery of the lower portion 4 b.

To increase the flexibility of the attachment device 10, the inner rim 16 has two cut-out portions 22 along its free edges, which are generally provided in the rib-free regions 16a, 16 b. The cut-out 22 reduces the height of the inner rim 16. The two cut-out portions are arranged symmetrically to each other about the longitudinal axis X of the attachment device 10. Further, a rib-free space 24 is provided on the inner wall of the inner rim 16 between the rib 18 and the cutout portion 22.

The dimensions of the inner rim 16 and the ribs 18 are optimized to ensure that the attachment device 10 is locked on the housing 4, while allowing the ribs 18 to be easily released from the grooves 20 to separate the attachment device 10 from the housing simply by bending the flange 12 along the axis Y when a user applies an outwardly directed force to the flange 12 that is substantially perpendicular to the flange 12.

In the variant shown, the flange 12 is expanded by two outer rims 26 projecting in a direction substantially perpendicular to the casing 4 of the flange 12 and arranged symmetrically to each other with respect to the longitudinal axis X of the attachment device 10. The outer rim 26 is positioned substantially opposite the cut-out 22 and forms, together with the flange 12 and the interior of the case 4, a closed housing for housing the lateral zones 2c, 2d of the bracelet 2.

To increase the flexibility of the attachment device 10, four cut-out portions 28 are provided between the flange 12 and the two outer rims 26.

The attachment means 10 is made of a plastic material; any suitable plastic material may be used.

When the user wishes to assemble strap 2 on case 4, he positions opening 3 of strap 2 in alignment with lower portion 4b of case 4 and central opening 14 of attachment device 10. He locks the attachment means 10 to the housing 4 by snapping the ribs 18 into the grooves 20. As shown in fig. 5 and 6, the longitudinal zones 2a, 2b of the bracelet 2 are held in the space formed between the shoulder 8 and the flange 12 of the case 4, and the transverse zones 2c, 2d of the bracelet 2 are held in the closed case formed by the case 4, the flange 12 and the outer rim 26. When the watch is worn, the attachment means 10 are arranged below the longitudinal region of the case 4 and of the bracelet 2, so that it is not visible to the user and does not alter the appearance of the watch. When the user wishes to change the bracelet, he exerts a slight force F (see fig. 5) on the longitudinal regions 2a, 2b of the bracelet 2, perpendicular to the bracelet 2, so as to bend the attachment means 10 about the axis Y by pressing the longitudinal regions 2a, 2b onto the flange 12. The attachment means 10 is bent about the axis Y, the ribs 18 moving apart and being released from the grooves 20, thereby unlocking the attachment means 10 from the housing 4. The user can then detach the attachment means from the case 4 and remove the bracelet 2. The attachment device 10 is autonomous and can be reused independently of the bracelet 2.

In the present description, the support is a watch strap or bracelet, but it is clear that the support can be any other suitable support.

Claims (10)

1. Watch (1) designed to be removably mounted on a support (2), comprising a case (4) and a separate removable attachment device (10), said attachment device (10) being arranged to hold said case (4) within an opening (3) provided in said support (2), said case (4) comprising an upper portion (4a) on the dial side and a lower portion (4b) comprising a back cover (5), said lower portion (4b) being arranged to be received within said opening (3) in said support (2) and having a smaller size than said upper portion (4a) so as to form a flat peripheral shoulder (8), characterized in that said attachment device (10) comprises a flange (12) having a central opening (14) arranged to receive said lower portion (4b) of said case (4) and an inner rim (16) delimiting said central opening (14), the inner rim (16) is arranged to be received in the opening (3) in the support (2) and the inner rim (16) comprises on its inner wall locking means for locking the attachment means (10) on the lower part (4b) of the watch case (4), the locking means being arranged to allow the attachment means (10) to be locked on the watch case (4) so as to hold the support (2) between the flange (12) and the flat shoulder (8) of the watch case (4) and arranged to allow the support (2) to be pulled by applying an outwardly directed force (F) on the flange (12) substantially perpendicular to the flange (12) so as to unlock the attachment means (10) from the watch case (4) so as to release the support (2).

2. Watch according to claim 1, characterised in that said locking means comprise at least one rib (18) provided on the inner wall of said inner rim (16), said rib (18) being arranged to cooperate with at least one correspondingly provided groove (20) on all or part of the periphery of the lower portion (4b) of said case (4).

3. Watch according to claim 2, characterized in that said locking means comprise at least two ribs (18) provided on the inner wall of said inner rim (16), at least two ribs being symmetrically arranged with respect to the transverse axis (Y) of said attachment means (10) and separated by a rib-free zone (16a, 16 b).

4. The watch according to claim 1, characterized in that said inner rim (16) has at least one cut-out portion (22) along its free edge.

5. A watch according to claim 3, characterized in that said inner rim (16) has, along its free edge, at least two cut-out portions (22) arranged symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis (X) of said attachment device (10), said cut-out portions (22) being substantially provided in said rib-free areas (16a, 16 b).

6. The watch according to claim 5, characterized in that at least one rib-free space (24) is provided on the inner wall of the inner rim (16) between the rib (18) and the cutout (22).

7. Watch according to claim 1, characterised in that said flange (12) is extended by at least one outer rim (26), said outer rim (26) projecting in the direction of said watch case (4) and being arranged to form, together with said flange (12), a housing for receiving said support (2).

8. The watch according to claim 7, characterized in that a cut-out (28) is provided between said flange (12) and said outer rim (26).

9. Watch according to claim 1, characterised in that said support (2) is a watch band or bracelet.

10. The watch according to claim 9, characterized in that the force (F) exerted on the flange (12) in order to unlock the attachment device (10) is exerted by pulling the strap with an outwardly directed force substantially perpendicular to the flange (12).