EP3711622A1 - Bracelet with links - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a link bracelet (100) comprising two rows of lateral links (1) forming the edges of the bracelet and at least one row of central links (2) arranged between the lateral links, the lateral links each comprising at at least two holes (3) opening on their internal face (4) directed towards the central links and the central links being crossed by at least two housings (6). According to the invention, the bracelet comprises pins (7) inserted into each of said holes of the side links, the head of the pins being housed in the housings of the side links (1) and each having a groove (71) near their end, and in that the central links comprise an opening giving access to the grooves which are arranged to cooperate with a locking member (8) intended to be inserted into the openings of the central links to keep the bracelet assembled.

Description

Field of the invention

The invention relates to the field of link bracelets, in particular watch bracelets, in steel, in precious metal, in a metal alloy, in a composite material, or in another material. In such bracelets, the links are held together and articulated on pins which can be either driven out or screwed in, or free. The present invention relates to bracelets with links held together and articulated with respect to each other by means of screws.

Background of the invention

We know such a bracelet from the document FR 2 688 984 which discloses a bracelet with links assembled using free pins, the ends of which have grooves cooperating with housings provided by jumpers intended to be fixed in the service position in a recess formed by the external links, recess opening onto the face internal side of these links. The jumpers are fixed in the external links using screws.

We also know from the document EP 1 186 252 a link bracelet which comprises two rows of side links and at least one row of central links arranged between the side links, free pins arranged in the side and central links freely but without play. The pins have a groove at each of their ends arranged to cooperate with blocking jumpers intended to be clipped into recesses formed in the side links to hold the assembly.

Link bracelets of this type have drawbacks associated with the placement and / or removal of these jumpers in the outer links.

Indeed, the installation and / or the removal requires the use of a tool, such as a screwdriver, for the assembly and / or the dismantling of the bracelet or the adjustment of the length of the bracelet.

Finally, the reliability of the assembly is not certain in the case of clip-on jumpers, the latter may no longer offer sufficient support over time, or even break, or even be partially dislodged in the event of an impact.

Summary of the invention

An object of the present invention is to overcome all or part of the drawbacks mentioned above by providing a bracelet that is easily removable and / or adjustable by the wearer.

The object of the invention is also, at least in one particular embodiment, to provide a bracelet whose assembly is simple to use and inexpensive.

To this end, the invention relates to a link bracelet comprising two rows of lateral links forming the edges of the bracelet and at least one row of central links arranged between the lateral links, the lateral links each comprising two holes opening out at least on their face. internal side and the central links being crossed at least partially by two housings.

According to the invention, the bracelet comprises pins inserted into each of the holes of the side links, the pins being housed in the housings of the side links and each having a groove near their end, and in that the central links include an opening giving access to the grooves which are arranged to cooperate with an organ locking device intended to be inserted into the recesses of the central links and to keep the bracelet assembled.

• Les moyens de verrouillage comprennent des moyens de blocage des axes, les moyens de blocage étant agencés pour coopérer avec les gorges des axes lorsque ces derniers sont logés dans les logement ;
• chaque moyen de verrouillage est maintenu en position dans chaque évidement au moyen d'une vis ;
• les moyens de blocages sont solidaires des moyens de verrouillage ;
• les logements sont accessibles par ledit évidement ;
• lesdits moyens de verrouillage comprennent un capot et deux ailes s'étendant verticalement depuis la face intérieure dudit capot, lesdites ailes étant agencées pour coopérer avec les gorges des axes ;
• ledit capot de l'organe de verrouillage est agencé pour reposer sur un rebord formé dans l'évidement ;
• les axes et les logements correspondants ont une forme cylindrique prévenant tout mouvement angulaire relatif entre les maillons latéraux et les maillons centraux.
• un joint torique est disposé entre le maillon central et les moyens de verrouillage.

In accordance with other advantageous variants of the invention:

• The locking means comprise means for locking the pins, the locking means being arranged to cooperate with the grooves of the pins when the latter are housed in the housings;
• each locking means is held in position in each recess by means of a screw;
• the locking means are integral with the locking means;
• the housings are accessible through said recess;
• said locking means comprise a cover and two wings extending vertically from the inner face of said cover, said wings being arranged to cooperate with the grooves of the pins;
• said cover of the locking member is arranged to rest on a rim formed in the recess;
• the pins and the corresponding housings have a cylindrical shape preventing any relative angular movement between the lateral links and the central links.
• an O-ring is disposed between the central link and the locking means.

The invention also relates to a watch equipped with a link bracelet according to the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

• la figure 1 est une vue éclatée en perspective d'un bracelet à maillons conforme à l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue partiellement éclatée d'un bracelet à maillons conforme à l'invention ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective de dessous d'un bracelet à maillons conforme à l'invention ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en coupe selon le plan médian horizontal d'un bracelet à maillons conforme à l'invention.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description of an embodiment. particular of the invention, given by way of simple illustrative and non-limiting example, and the appended figures, among which:

• the figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a link bracelet according to the invention;
• the figure 2 is a partially exploded view of a link bracelet according to the invention;
• the figure 3 is a perspective view from below of a link bracelet according to the invention;
• the figure 4 is a sectional view along the horizontal median plane of a link bracelet according to the invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

A link bracelet according to the invention will now be described in the following, with reference in conjunction to figures 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 .

Such a bracelet is generally made of steel, of precious metal, or of a metal alloy, and can equally well be made of a composite material, of ceramic, or even of plastic.

As illustrated in figures 1 to 4 , the bracelet is formed by a set of links 1, 2 arranged in several rows, in the illustrated case the bracelet comprises three rows. A person skilled in the art would not have any particular difficulty in adapting the invention to a bracelet with five rows, for example. The bracelet 100 is completed by one or more connecting links 10 conventionally assembled on the bracelet 100 by means of pins 12 through through holes 11 in order to be able to mount a pin buckle or a clasp for example.

The bracelet 100 according to the invention comprises lateral links 1 forming the edges of the bracelet and central links 2 placed between the two rows of lateral links 1.

As can be seen from figure 1 , the side links 1 each have two holes 3 opening onto their internal side faces 4. The holes 3 can be provided blind or through.

The central links 2 are at least partially crossed by two housings 6 which open into a recess 5 formed in the body of each central link 2, the recess 5 opening onto the underside of the central link. By lower face is meant the face intended to come into contact with the wrist of the wearer of the bracelet, in this way the assembly of the bracelet is not visible when worn on the wrist. The housings 6 can pass through and extend right through the central link.

The lateral 1 and central 2 links are articulated to each other by means of pins 7 arranged in the transverse direction of the bracelet, the pins being mounted in the holes 3 through their end 73. These pins 7 have a head 70 and a groove 71 each. from their end, the groove being delimited by the head 70 and the body 73 both of greater diameter than that of the groove. The grooves 71 are accessible from the recesses 5 of the side links 1 when they are inserted into the housings 6. The pins 7 can be screwed or driven into the holes 3.

The bracelet also comprises locking means 8 formed by a cover 80 having the shape and dimensions of the recess 5 and two locking members, or locking wings 81, integral with the cover 80 and extending vertically from the internal face. of the last. The blocking members 81 come to be housed in the grooves 71 of the pins and bear against them, between the body 72 and the head of the pin 70. Advantageously, the recess 5 has an opening provided with a rim 50 arranged to receive the cover 80 so that the latter is flush with the surface of the central link 2.

The locking means ensure that the links are held together and close the recesses 5 once the links are assembled to each other, the wearer only has to put in place a screw 9, passing through the cover and screwing into the central link 2, to hold the locking means in place in the recesses 5 of the lateral links. As can be seen at the figure 2 , the cover 80 has a housing designed to receive the head 91 of the screw 9, the body 90 of the screw passing through the cover 80 via an orifice and screwing into the bottom 20 of the central link 2.

This assembly makes it possible to axially block the pins 7 and to maintain the lateral 1 and central 2 links via the locking means 8 by means of a single piece, the installation and removal of which can be carried out easily by the wearer.

The positioning of the links is obtained by adjusting the pins 7 in the corresponding holes / housings 3,6 of the links 1,2 and limits the possible play between the links due to relatively simple machining operations. It is thus possible to make bracelets whose links are articulated to each other with little play.

The assembly of the link is carried out as follows. Initially, the pins 7 are inserted into the holes 3 of the side links 1. Then, the side links 1 are placed on the central links 2 by inserting the heads of the pins 70 in the housings 6 of the side links 1 until the central 2 and lateral 1 links are positioned against each other. Obviously, to facilitate assembly, the bracelet is assembled with the inner face of the latter positioned facing the wearer.

Once the links 1, 2 placed side by side so as to form a bracelet of at least three rows of links, the heads of the pins 70 and the grooves 71 are visible and accessible in the recesses 5 of the side links 1. We place then the locking means 8 in the recesses 5 by placing the cover 80 opposite the opening of the recess 5 so that the locking wings are inserted into the grooves 71 of the pins 7.

Once the locking means 8 have been positioned, it suffices to push on the latter to place the cover 80 on the rim 50 of the recess 5, the locking wings 81 then firmly holding the links assembled as shown in the sectional view of the figure 4 .

Finally, the wearer only has to insert the screws 9 into each central link 2 and screw them into the base 20 to fix the locking means 8 and finalize the assembly of the bracelet.

Advantageously, an O-ring 82 is placed in the recess 5 of the central link 2, at the level of the bottom 20, so as to eliminate any play between the locking means 8 and the central link. When screwing the screw 9, the seal is compressed between the bottom 20 and the cover 80, which eliminates possible play.

This assembly is thus easily removable by the wearer if he wishes to adjust the length of the latter or replace one of the links. For disassembly, it suffices to unscrew one or more screws 9, to dislodge one or more locking means 8 and to remove the desired link or links.

Such a bracelet makes it possible in particular to reduce the number of parts making up the bracelet and above all largely eliminates the pins driven out of traditional bracelets.

Assembly of the bracelet is easy due to the absence of screws and driven pins. It is common to a large number of models and can be easily automated. The assembly is reversible at any time, the bracelet can therefore be easily dismantled either for a lengthening or for the replacement of a damaged link.

The links can be replaced individually without disassembling the entire bracelet, and the length adjustment is easily done by the wearer.

Thanks to these different aspects of the invention, there is a bracelet with links of simple design allowing an adjustment of the length and a simple assembly to carry out.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the example illustrated and is susceptible of various variants and modifications which will appear to those skilled in the art.

NOMENCLATURE

1.

Side link,

2.

Central link,

20.

Bottom of the central link

3.

Hole,

4.

Internal side faces,

5.

Obviously,

50.

Flange,

6.

Housing,

7.

Axis,

70.

Axle head,

71.

Throat,

72.

Axis body,

73.

End of the axis,

8.

Locking means,

80.

Hood,

81.

Locking wing,

82.

O-ring,

9.

Screw,

90.

Screw head.

91.

Screw body,

10.

Liaison links,

11.

through hole,

12.

Pin,

100.

Bracelet.

Claims (9)

Bracelet with links (100), comprising two rows of side links (1) forming the edges of the bracelet and at least one row of central links (2) disposed between the side links, the side links (1) each comprising two holes (3 ) opening out at least on their internal lateral face (4) directed towards the central links (2) and the central links (2) being crossed at least partially by at least two housings (6), characterized in that the bracelet comprises axes (7) inserted into each of said holes (3) of the side links, the pins (7) being housed in the holes (6) of the side links and each having a groove (71) near their end (70), and in that the central links (2) comprise a recess (5) giving access to the grooves (71) which are arranged to cooperate with locking means (8) intended to be inserted into the recesses (5) of the central links (2) and keep the bracelet assembled Bracelet with links (100) according to Claim 1, characterized in that said locking means (8) comprise locking means (81) of the axes, said locking means (81) being arranged to cooperate with the grooves (71) axes when they are housed in the housings (6). Link bracelet (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each locking means (8) is held in position in each opening by means of a screw (9). Bracelet with links (100) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the locking means (81) are integral with the locking means (8). Link bracelet (100) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the housings (6) are accessible through the recess (5). Link bracelet (100) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said locking means (8) comprise a cover (80) and two locking wings (81) extending vertically from the inner face of said cover (80), said wings (81) being arranged to cooperate with the grooves (71) of the pins (7). Link bracelet (100) according to claim 6, characterized in that said cover (80) of the locking means (8) is arranged to rest on a ledge (50) formed in said recess (5). Link bracelet (100) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the pins (7) and the corresponding housings (6) have a cylindrical shape preventing any relative angular movement between the side links (1) and the central links (2). Link bracelet (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that an O-ring (82) is arranged between the central link (2) and the locking means (8).

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