Patent Application
20240407504
The present invention relates to the horological or jewellery field. More specifically, it relates to an interchangeable buckle device.
Bracelets are typically made of leather or metal and have a buckle attached to them by means of a bar.
In the watchmaking industry, solutions have been proposed to allow users to easily change the bracelet on their watch, particularly in the case of replacement when it has become too worn, or to interchange a leather bracelet and a metal bracelet, for example. A great deal of effort has been devoted in recent years to improving these systems for disconnecting the bracelet from the case, and many solutions have been proposed.
However, the same effort has not been devoted to detaching the buckle, resulting in a lack of advantageous solutions. The value of a precious metal buckle or clasp is such that the wearer would like to be able to swap a bracelet without changing the buckle and in a simple, quick and safe manner, without the use of tools.
Another need that the invention addresses is that of allowing this bracelet to be replaced by bracelets that have not been modified in any way, i.e. standard bracelets, which is not the case with most of the solutions proposed to date.
More specifically, since the bracelet touches the wearer's wrist on this side of the strand, whereas it is most often at a distance therefrom on the side nearest the case because of the height of its assembly in relation to the watch, the latch piece of the bar rubs against the skin, which, apart from the resulting discomfort, exposes the pump bar system (made of a plurality of different metals) to the wearer's perspiration. The result is not only problems with product deterioration (oxidation or the like) but also increased allergy risks for the wearer, as materials containing nickel or other allergens are most often used.
Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,193 describes a method for assembling a buckle on a strand in which the bar cooperates with two resilient elements assembled in the bracelet, allowing the bar to be attached by sliding it into an elongated opening in the bracelet. This solution has a number of drawbacks when used to achieve universal interchangeability, since it requires a bracelet that has been modified in order to incorporate these assembly elements. This solution thus does not allow a buckle to be assembled on a standard bracelet, and thus limits interchangeability with commercially-available bracelets. Moreover, as the positions for assembling and removing the buckle in relation to the attachment element are in the direction of the bracelet's operating position, the buckle could come off when the watch is worn, particularly if it is worn fairly loosely or, in the case of a watch worn while diving over a neoprene-type wetsuit, when the thickness thereof shrinks and the bracelet becomes loose. Finally, the width of the hole receiving the bar is such that part of the hole remains visible after assembly, which is not only unsightly, but can also form a recess in which detritus can collect and disrupt the operation of the system.
Patent document CH714409 describes an interchangeable buckle and its assembly method in which the tongue must be moved along the axis of the bar in order to remove it, which requires the bracelet to be modified so that the opening intended to receive the tongue is wide enough to allow this movement. This solution is thus not universal, as it is only compatible with bracelets whose opening is wider than usual. Moreover, when the buckle is assembled and removed, the force exerted by the user on the tongue to compress the pump bar, which force is always exerted on the same side of the bracelet strand, results in deformation of the strand part, which increases the radial movement play of the tongue to the detriment of the security of the buckle and the aesthetics of the bracelet. Lastly, the buckle assembly/removal process does not provide a signal informing the user of correct assembly, such as a haptic and/or audible signal, which can present risks of incorrect assembly and thus unintentional detachment.
Patent document CH713108 describes a buckle device intended to be easily assembled and removed by clipping according to a rotation of a first element of the buckle relative to a second element of the buckle. This document presents an application for a folding clasp buckle, no embodiment for a tongue buckle being described or illustrated. However, it is advantageous to propose a device that can be applied to both a tongue buckle and a folding clasp buckle.
The fastening devices described are typically used for interchangeable bracelets, which can be replaced at the wearer's discretion. However, they are not without their drawbacks. In particular, they require major structural modifications to the bar, such as, for example, making an opening in the tube, or transforming the pistons. These changes lead to significant additional manufacturing costs.
The main aim of the invention is to overcome the various drawbacks of prior art devices.
More specifically, the aim of the invention is to provide a buckle that is easy to remove, easy to handle and applicable to new products, while remaining retro-compatible with existing products in order to adapt to standard, commercially-available bracelets.
To this end, the invention relates to an interchangeable buckle device comprising a buckle provided with a bar around which a tongue is articulated, the device comprising an insert provided with a channel arranged to receive the bar, and a lever arranged to cooperate with the insert so as to hold the bar in the channel, the lever being assembled so as to pivot relative to the insert and arranged to move from a locked position in which the bar is held in the channel to an open position in which the bar is free to leave the channel, the device comprising means for holding the lever in the locked position.
According to other advantageous alternative embodiments of the invention:
The invention further relates to a watch equipped with an interchangeable buckle device in accordance with the invention.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which is given by way of example and is by no means limiting, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The interchangeable buckle device 1 is intended to attach and detach the end of a first bracelet strand to a watch buckle 3 fitted with a tongue 4 for attachment to a second bracelet strand.
Although only the example of a tongue buckle is described, such a device is also adaptable to stud buckles. A stud buckle is a buckle which resembles a tongue buckle but has no tongue, in which case a stud is used to secure the strand with which the tongue typically interacts.
The bracelet is fastened to the buckle by means of an interchangeable fastening device comprising a buckle 2 and a bar 3 around which a tongue 4 is articulated, the device comprising an insert 5 provided with a channel 50 arranged to receive the bar 3 by guiding it in the direction of its own axis (X). The “axis” of the bar is understood to refer to its own axis (X) of revolution or, if the body is not a perfect axisymmetric body, the axis along which the bar extends.
The device further comprises a lever 6 arranged to cooperate with the insert 5 so as to close off the channel 50. The lever 6 is arranged to pivot, relative to the insert 5, from a locked position in which the bar 3 is held in the channel 50 to an open position in which the bar 3 is free to leave the channel.
The latch 6 is held in its locked position by a pair of ball catches 66 integral with the lever 6, each ball catch 66 co-operating with a blind hole 56 formed in the recess 51 of the insert 5, the co-operation forming a pivot axis for the lever 6.
As can be seen in
The insert 5 comprises a recess 51 arranged to receive the lever 6, the lever pivoting from the locked position to the open position in the recess 51. The recess 51 is substantially parallelepipedic in shape and has two inner side walls 52, 53, a rear wall and a back.
The recess 51 also opens into the channel 50 so that the lever 6 can hold the bar 3 in the channel 50 when the device is in the locked position.
The rear wall has a shoulder 57 so as to create a difference in height relative to the bottom of the recess 51 and thus form a space so that the wearer can grasp the end of the lever 6, referred to as the handling tab 62, to move the lever 6 from the locked position to the open position.
As can be seen in
The lever 6 has a first end comprising a holding member 60 arranged to hold the bar 3 in the channel 50, and a second end formed by the handling tab 62. Advantageously, the holding member 60 has the shape of a concave beak so as to facilitate passage of the bar 3, and comprises a passage 61 for the tongue 4 so that it can pivot when the device is in the locked position.
When the device is in the locked position, i.e. a position in which the bar 3 rests in the channel 50 and is held in the channel 50 by means of the lever 6, the bar 3 is held by the holding member 60 of the lever as illustrated in
When moving to the open position, the lever 6 is moved and pivots to its open position as shown in
Once the channel 50 is open, or free, the bar 3 can be unhooked from the device as shown in
In the embodiment described above, the device is described for a so-called flexible bracelet made of leather, synthetic fabric or an elastomer material.
Thanks to these various aspects of the invention, a safe, interchangeable buckle device is obtained, which device allows bracelets to be changed easily and quickly without the need for tools.
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the example illustrated and that various alternative embodiments and modifications which will become apparent to those skilled in the art may also be conceived.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23177456.3 | Jun 2023 | EP | regional |
