Patent Grant
7628530
The present invention relates to a watch construction for attaching a watch band lug to a watch. Various examples of the invention may be particularly applicable to a watch band case that incorporates a watch band lug into its construction.
The watch industry is continuously seeking to improve the durability of watch bands. Originally, watch bands were formed from leather or fabric. While these materials were relatively flexible and comfortable, bands made from these materials were not very durable. Exposure to water and continuous wear, for example, will quickly degrade leather and fabric watch bands. To address these deficiencies, some watch makers have created watch bands out of metal links. Metal link watch bands are more resilient than leather and fabric watch bands, but they are relatively heavy and expensive.
Recently, inexpensive and rugged watches have become popular, particularly for various sporting activities such as running, boating, diving, and climbing. In order to keep the cost of these watches low while still providing an environmentally-resistant band, some watch makers have begun using watch bands formed from plastic or rubber.
These bands conventionally will have an attachment portion on each end that defines some type of a springbar passage for receiving a springbar. As known in the art, a springbar has a hollow cylinder containing two pins at either end. The pins are forced outward by a spring within the cylinder. The watch, in turn, will have two extensions or “lugs” that extend from each side of the watch (i.e., the watch will have a pair of opposing lugs on either side). Usually, these lugs are integrally formed with the watch casing. Also, each lug defines a pin recess facing a corresponding pin recess on the opposite lug.
To attach the band to a watch, a springbar is inserted into the springbar passage of an attachment portion at one end of the band, and the pins are pressed into the hollow cylinder. With the pins thus compressed, the attachment portion of the band is inserted between two opposing lugs of a watch casing. When the attachment portion is positioned so that the springbar is aligned between the lug recesses, the spring in the springbar forces the pins into the lug recesses to secure the attachment portion between the lugs. This process is then repeated with the attachment portion on the other end of the watch band and the remaining pair of opposing lugs.
While this configuration allows a watch band to be quickly replaced, the entire strength of the attachment is based upon the springbar. If enough force is placed on the band or watch to bend the springbar or to compress even one of the pins in the springbar, then the band will come away from the watch. Because conventional springbars are very thin (typically not more than 1-1.5 millimeters in diameter), this type of separation is not an uncommon occurrence. Accordingly, watch makers are continuously seeking improved techniques and structures to securely attach a watch band to a watch.
Various embodiments of the invention provide a watch case construction incorporating a pair of watch band lugs. With some implementations of the invention, for example, a watch case will include an upper casing portion defining two opposing pairs of upper casing apertures and a lower casing portion defining two opposing pairs of lower casing apertures, with the upper casing portion being mated to the lower casing portion so that each upper casing aperture overlaps a lower casing aperture. The watch case also has a pair of opposing band lugs, with each band lug having a band portion for affixing a band thereto and a pair of attachment portions each defining a lug aperture. The attachment portions are interposed between the upper casing portion and the lower portion so that each lug aperture overlaps an upper casing aperture and a lower casing aperture. Still further, the case will include a plurality of fasteners, with a fastener extending through each of the upper casing apertures, the lug apertures, and the lower casing apertures to secure the band lug to the watch casing.
Double Casing Construction
With various embodiments of the invention, the case portions may be formed of any desired material or combinations of materials. Typically however, the case portions will be formed of a relatively hard and durable material, such as hard plastics, hard rubbers, hard resins, metals or metal alloys, or some combination thereof to protect the more sensitive components of the watch from damage and environmental hazards. With some implementations of the invention, for example, the lower inner case watch portion 103B may be formed of stainless steel or some other metal or metal alloy, while the upper inner watch case portion 103A, the upper outer watch case portion 105A and the lower outer watch case portion 105B are formed of a polycarbonate material, such as a polycarbonate material with a 15% glass fill.
The inner watch case 103 encases a watch movement module 107. With various implementations of the invention, the watch movement module 107 may include mechanical components, electrical components, or some combination thereof. The watch movement module 107 may include, e.g.; the components to perform any desired function associated with a watch. For example, the watch movement module 107 may provide a chronometer function, a stopwatch function, a timer function, an altimeter function, a thermometer function, a barometer function, or a remote control function for another electronic device. Similarly, if the watch movement module 107 implements one or more functions (e.g., a chronometer, stopwatch, or timer function) using mechanical components, then these mechanical components may be housed within the watch movement module 107 as well.
Alternately or additionally, the watch movement module 107 may contain components to perform any other function or functions associated with a portable mechanical or electrical device. For example, with various embodiments of the invention, the watch movement module 107 can include the components to serve as a hand-held digital music player, a radio, a wireless telephone, a compass, a radio-frequency navigation device (e.g., a GPS navigation device), a calculator, a digital memory storage device, or the like. A plurality of control buttons 109 (or other type of control mechanism) is then provided to control the operation of the watch movement module 107.
The outer watch case 105 encases the inner watch case 103. As seen in
As seen in
The upper outer watch case apertures 117A-117D and the lower outer watch case apertures 121A-121D are arranged so that each upper outer watch case aperture 117 overlaps a corresponding lower outer watch case aperture 121. With various examples of the invention, each upper outer watch case aperture 117 and each lower outer watch case aperture 121 is approximately the same size.
The watch 101 also includes a pair of watch band lugs 123A and 123B. Each watch band lug 123 includes a band portion 125, and two attachment portions 127A and 127B at either end of the band portion 125. The band portion 125 may have, for example, a diameter of approximately 3 millimeters. With various examples of the invention, the band lugs 123 may be formed of a durable material, such as a metal, a metal alloy, a hard plastic, a hard resin, or a hard rubber. With some implementations of the invention, the band lugs 123 may be formed of a rigid material. For still other implementations of the invention, however, the band lugs 123 or the band portion 125 of the band lugs may be formed of a flexible material, such as a metal wire.
The attachment portion 127 of each lug 123 defines a lug aperture 129. With various examples of the invention, each lug aperture 129 is approximately the same size as the upper outer watch case apertures 117A-117D and the lower outer watch case apertures 121A-121D. The band portion 125 is configured so that a watch band can be wrapped around the band portion 125, molded around the band portion 125, or alternately, so that the band portion 125 can be inserted through a passage formed in an end of a watch band (similar to a springbar passage formed in many conventional watch bands). In this manner, a watch band can be securely affixed to the band portion 125 of a band lug 123.
As seen in
With the case construction shown in
Because the attachment portion 127 of each band lug 123 is securely sandwiched between the upper outer watch case portion 105A and the lower outer watch case portion 105B, rather than by the expansive force of a spring in a conventional springbar, a watch band attached to the band lugs 123 will be more securely attached to the watch 101 than with a conventional springbar. Further, because the band lugs 123 are incorporated directly into the case construction, the band lugs 123 can be substantially thicker, and thus stronger, than a conventional springbar.
Single Casing Construction
With various embodiments of the invention, the case portions may be formed of any desired material or combinations of materials. Typically however, the case portions will be formed of a relatively hard and durable material, such as hard plastics, hard rubbers, hard resins, metals or metal alloys, or some combination thereof to protect the more sensitive components of the watch from damage and environmental hazards. With some implementations of the invention, for example, the upper watch case portion 205A and the lower watch case portion 205B are formed of a polycarbonate material, such as a polycarbonate material with a 25% glass fill.
The watch case 205 encases a watch movement module (not shown) positioned in the upper watch case portion 205A. As shown in
As with the examples of the invention illustrated in
Alternately or additionally, the watch movement module may contain components to perform any other function or functions associated with a portable mechanical or electrical device. For example, with various embodiments of the invention, the watch movement module can include the components to serve as a hand-held digital music player, a radio, a wireless telephone, a compass, a radio-frequency navigation device (e.g., a GPS navigation device), a calculator, a digital memory storage device, or the like. A plurality of control buttons 209 (or other type of control mechanism) is then provided to control the operation of the watch movement module.
In addition to the watch movement, the watch case 205 encases a lens 215 over the watch movement module. As well known in the art, the lens 215 allows a user to view information displayed by the watch movement module. The watch movement module may display information measured or otherwise produced by its functional components using, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light emitting (OLE) display, one or more analog rotating hands or dials, or another type of display using any other desired technology. Of course, the watch case 205 may additionally encase any other desired watch parts, such as a lens ring or a dust ring.
As seen in
The watch 201 also includes a pair of watch band lugs 123A and 123B. As previously described, each watch band lug 123 includes a band portion 125 and two attachment portions 127A and 127B at either end of the band portion 125. Each attachment portion 127 defines a lug aperture 129. With various examples of the invention, each lug aperture 129 is approximately the same size as the upper outer watch case apertures 217 and the lower outer watch case apertures 221. The band portion 125 is configured so that a watch band can be wrapped around the band portion 125, molded around the band portion 125, or alternately, so that the band portion 125 can be positioned in a passage formed in an end of a watch band (similar to a springbar passage formed in many conventional watch bands). In this manner, a watch band can be securely affixed to the band portion 125 of a band lug 123.
As seen in
With the case construction shown in
Again, because the attachment portion 127 of each band lug 123 is securely sandwiched between the upper outer watch case portion 205A and the lower outer watch case portion 205B, rather than by the expansive force of a spring in a conventional springbar, a watch band attached to the band lugs 123 will be more securely attached to the watch 201 than with a conventional springbar. Further, because the band lugs 123 are incorporated directly into the case construction, the band lugs 123 can be substantially thicker, and thus stronger, than a conventional springbar.
Band Lug Configurations
With various examples of the invention, the band lugs 123 may be formed of a single piece of material, such as a metal, a metal alloy, a hard plastic, a hard resin, or a hard rubber. For still other examples of the invention, however, it may be useful to be able to change the length of the band portion 125 to accommodate differently sized watches. Also, it may be desirable to be able to separate sections of the band portion 125 so that it can be inserted into a springbar passage of a watch band. Accordingly,
For example, as shown in
Alternately, as shown in
The implementation of the band lug 123 shown in
Alternate Implementations
While various implementations of embodiments of the invention have been described in detail above, it should be appreciated that there are a variety of alternate configurations that also may implement various embodiments of the invention. For example, some implementations of the invention may omit the threaded cylinders described above. Instead, a fastener, such as a bolt, may pass through an upper casing aperture, a lug aperture, and a lower casing aperture. The nut can then be screwed onto the end of the bolt to secure the upper casing to the lower casing, and thereby secure the band lug to the casing. Likewise, rivets or other such fastening devices can similarly be employed without using the threaded cylinders described above.
Also, while various examples described above employ a pair of band lugs, some implementations of the invention may employ only a single band lug. For example, a watch, such as a pocket watch or stopwatch, may have only a single band lug for attaching the watch to a watch band.
While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
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