HK1235111A1 - Watch casing with a cladding element - Google Patents

Description

Watch case provided with an external element

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a watch case comprising an external element which gives the watch a particular aesthetic appearance.

Background

From swiss patent CH 640690 a watch case is known, which comprises a case middle provided with a decorative piece in the form of a ring, which engages in a groove provided in the visible surface of said case middle and is partially covered by a bridge integral with a bezel mounted on the case middle.

From european patent EP 1098233, a watch case is also known which comprises a rotating metal bezel comprising a projecting insert made of synthetic material on all or part of its surface.

The watch case described above has several drawbacks. It may first be mentioned that the (machining) and/or manufacturing operations are complicated, which leads to an increase in the manufacturing costs. In addition, the assembly process requires several steps, which results in an increase in manufacturing time. Finally, it can be observed that the decorative element requires a specific finishing according to the desired aesthetic effect, which means that several reference signs must be stored.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to overcome various deficiencies of these prior art techniques.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a single external element which allows to obtain a plurality of aesthetic designs in combination with a bezel having one or more indentations of different sizes and different shapes.

It is a further object of the present invention, at least in one particular embodiment, to provide an external element that is simple to implement, easy to assemble and inexpensive.

These objects, together with others which will appear more clearly hereinafter, are achieved according to the invention by a watch case comprising a case middle, a bezel and an external element at least partially arranged between said case middle and said bezel, said bezel comprising at least one indentation configured to expose said external element.

According to the invention, the external element is directly attached to the case middle independently of the attachment of the bezel to the case middle.

According to other advantageous variants of the invention:

-the external element comprises a ring at least partially covering the middle part, the ring being housed between the middle part and the bezel so that a decorative surface is formed at the bottom of the at least one notch;

-the watch case comprises two areas for attachment of a bracelet to the case middle, wherein the external element comprises two covering elements covering each attachment area respectively;

-the ring of the outer element and the two covering elements form a one-piece member;

-the external element is snap-mounted on the case middle at an attachment area by the cover element;

-the ring of the outer element has a substantially semi-toroidal (semi-toroidal) cross-section;

-the ring is disposed substantially flush across all or part of the peripheral surface of the case middle;

-the outer element is made of a plastic material, such as polycarbonate, PMMA or MABS;

-the bezel comprises at least two indentations arranged symmetrically around the bezel;

-the outer element is made of a transparent or opaque material having a non-smooth or polished surface.

The aim of the present invention is therefore to obtain a watch case that is easy to have different aesthetic appearances, thanks to the different functional and structural aspects described above.

Drawings

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention, given only as an illustrative and non-limiting example, and the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is an exploded view of a watch case according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a watch case according to the invention.

Figure 3 is a cross-section along the line III-III of figure 2 of a watch case according to the invention.

Detailed Description

A watch case 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to fig. 1, 2 and 3.

As mentioned above, the general principle of the invention is based on the use of a wristwatch case 100 comprising a case middle 1, a bezel 6 and an external element 5 arranged at least partially between said case middle 1 and bezel 6, bezel 6 comprising at least one indentation 60 exposing said external element 5.

According to the invention, the external element 5 and the bezel 6 are attached directly and independently of each other to the case middle 1, the shape of the bezel 6 being complementary to the shape of the external element 5. Thus, the external element 5 is firmly attached to the case middle 1 in such a manner as to be snapped between the case middle 1 and the bezel 6.

According to one non-limiting embodiment shown in fig. 2, bezel 6 comprises at least two indentations 60 arranged symmetrically around bezel 6. One or more indentations 60 may be semi-circular, semi-elliptical, or polygonal in shape, as the shape of the indentation 60 depends on the desired aesthetic appearance.

It should also be noted that the external element 5 may have different colours, depending on the model of the watch.

According to a variant of the invention, bezel 6 and case middle 1 are made of a metallic material, such as steel or aluminum. Of course, any other material known to those of ordinary skill in the art may be used.

As can be seen in the figures, the external element 5 comprises a ring 50 configured to cover all or part of the external surface of the middle 1 such that said ring 50 is disposed substantially flush across all or part of the peripheral surface of the middle 1, wherein said ring 50 rests on the peripheral edge 18 of the middle 1 and on the collar 16 of said middle 1. Advantageously, the external element 5 is guided by the peripheral edge 18 onto the collar 16 of the case middle 1.

Ring 50 covers case middle 1 at least partially on peripheral edge 18, ring 50 being accommodated between said case middle 1 and said bezel 6 to form a decorative surface at the bottom of said gap 60.

The watch case 100 also comprises two areas 12, 13 for attachment of the bracelet to the case middle 1. The case middle 1 is defined downwards by a back cover 19 integral with the case middle 1 and comprises a pair of external corners 10 and a pair of internal corners 11 at 6 o' clock for the attachment of a chain band (not shown), as in the example shown. Of course, at 12 o' clock, case middle 1 includes the same number of corners (not visible in the figures) for the attachment of the second strand.

As can be seen in fig. 1 and 2, the ring 50 comprises two covering elements 51, 52 which cover one of the two attachment areas 12, 13 at 6 o 'clock and 12 o' clock, respectively, on the middle 1 of the watch case. These covering elements 51, 52 are arranged to cover the attachment areas 12, 13, while the bracelet attached to the middle 1 of the watch case is shaped so as not to pry out external elements. These covering elements 51, 52 also have the function of improving the aesthetic appearance of the watch by hiding the attachment areas 12, 13 between the middle 1 of the watch case and the bracelet.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ring 50 of the outer element 5 and the two covering elements 51, 52 form a one-piece member. According to this embodiment, the outer element 5 is made of a plastic material, such as polycarbonate, PMMA or MABS, for example by injection moulding. It is understood that other materials that may occur to those of ordinary skill in the art are also within the scope of the present invention.

The external element 5 may have a matte or polished appearance, or may be transparent or opaque, depending on the end result desired for the watch. Combinations of these different appearances are also possible.

As can be seen in fig. 1, case middle 1 comprises two vertical ribs 14, 15 in each attachment area 12, 13 for holding said outer element 5 correctly in place between corners 10 at cover elements 51, 52, cover elements 51, 52 having on their inner surfaces two guide grooves 53, 54 configured to cooperate with vertical ribs 14, 15. Of course, a single rib and a single groove may be sufficient for retaining the outer element 5.

The outer element 5 comprises in each covering element 51, 52 two snap-fit mounting slots 55, 56 formed below said covering element 51, 52 and intended to cooperate with the inner corners 11. Thus, the external element 5 is snap-mounted to the case middle in the attachment areas 12, 13 by the cover elements 51, 52.

As shown in the figures, ring 50 has a flat outer surface, i.e. ring 50 does not have a projection that is housed in said at least one notch 60 of bezel 6. The outer element 5 thus has a simple geometry which allows a fast, easy and cost-effective manufacture.

According to a variant of the invention (not shown in the figures), the external element 5 has a portion projecting at the notch 60 of the bezel 6.

The external element 5/bezel 6 pairing makes it possible to obtain a plurality of aesthetic effects, according to the colour and/or appearance of the external element 5, and according to the number of notches 60 provided in the bezel 6, as well as their size and shape.

The assembly of the watch is carried out as follows:

the operator snap-mounts the external element 5 onto the case middle 1 in the attachment areas 12, 13. Next, the operator places the movement 2/dial 3 assembly on the back cover 19 of the case middle 1 and then inserts the stem with its crown into the case middle 1 and movement 2. Finally, the watch mirror 4 is press-fitted to the case middle 1, and then the bezel 6 is also attached to obtain the desired positioning of the notch 60.

As a result of these different aspects of the invention, an easily assembled watch case is provided, which allows various models to be realised, depending on the colour of the external element 5 and the shape of the bezel 6.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated examples, and there may be various variations and modifications that can occur to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Glossary

100 watch case

1 middle part of watch case

10 outer corner

11 inner corner

12. 13 attachment region

14. 15 guide rib

16 clasp

18 edge

19 rear cover

2 movement

3 Dial plate

4 watch mirror

5 outer element

50 ring

51. 52 cover element

53. 54 guide groove

55. 56 fastener mounting groove

6 bezel

60 gap

Claims (10)

1. A watch case (100) comprising a case middle (1), a bezel (6) and an external element (5) at least partially snapped between the case middle (1) and the bezel (6), the bezel (6) comprising at least one indentation (60) configured to reveal the external element (5),

characterized in that the external element (5) is directly attached to the case middle (1) independently of the attachment of the bezel to the case middle.

2. The watch case (100) of claim 1, wherein the external element (5) comprises a ring (50) at least partially covering the case middle (1), the ring being housed between the case middle and the bezel to form a decorative surface at the bottom of the at least one indentation.

3. The watch case (100) according to claim 1 or 2, comprising two areas (12, 13) for attachment of a bracelet to the case middle (1), wherein the outer element (5) comprises two covering elements (51, 52) covering each attachment area (12, 13) respectively.

4. The watch case (100) of claim 3 when dependent on claim 2, wherein the ring (50) of the outer element (5) and the two cover elements (51, 52) form a one-piece member.

5. The watch case (100) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the external element (5) is snap-mounted to the case middle (1) in an attachment area (12, 13) by the cover element (51, 52).

6. The watch case (100) according to claim 2 or 4, wherein the ring (50) of the external element (5) has a substantially semi-toroidal cross-section.

7. The watch case (100) of claim 2, 4 or 6 wherein the ring (50) is disposed substantially flush across all or part of the peripheral surface of the case middle (1).

8. Watch case (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the external element (5) is made of a plastic material, such as polycarbonate, PMMA or MABS.

9. The watch case (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the bezel (6) comprises at least two indentations (60) symmetrically arranged around the bezel (6).

10. The watch case (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the external element (5) is made of a transparent or opaque material having a non-smooth or polished surface.