REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims priority to earlier Swiss application N°01314/13 filed on Jul. 26, 2013 in the name of ROLAND ITEN MECHANICAL LUXURY SA, the content of this earlier application being incorporated by reference in its entirety in the present application.
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention concerns the field of buckles for belts or straps, such as watch straps.
More specifically, the present invention concerns a buckle that makes it easy to adjust the length of the belt or strap when in use and also to open or close the buckle.
BACKGROUND ART Belt buckles are well known in the art and have been made for ages. Some are very simple and only allows definite size of the belt. Other are a little more complicated and allow, for example, a continuous adjustment of the size of the belt.
A belt or watch strap generally comprises two parts: a buckle and a leather belt. The belt itself may also be made out of materials other than leather. In the case of a watch strap, this comprises a leather strap rather than a leather belt. Both belts and watch straps may also be made out of materials other than leather suitable for the intended use, for example synthetic materials or a mix therefrom.
FIGS. 1A-1C shows an example of a buckle 1 with an arm 3 and a belt stud 2 articulated via an axis 4 on a belt end 5. The other end of the belt 5 comprises holes 6 to allow the adjustment of the belt length by insertion of the stud 2 in the appropriate hole 6.
An example of such a buckle is disclosed in publication WO 2012/117326, the content of which is incorporated by reference in the present application in its entirety.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aim of the present invention is to improve the buckles from the prior art when used with a belt or a watch strap.
In particular, an aim of the present invention is to provide a buckle that is simple and convenient to use and allows continuous adjustment of the belt length also when worn by a wearer.
The different embodiments of the present invention are defined by the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A to 1C illustrate a buckle of the prior art;
FIGS. 2A to 2E illustrate side cut views and top views of an embodiment of the invention;
FIGS. 3A to 3D illustrate top views of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate a part of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 5A to 5F illustrate top views of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 6A to 6C illustrate top views of an embodiment of the present invention as manipulated by a user;
FIGS. 7A to 7I illustrate top views of embodiments of the present invention;
FIGS. 8A to 8D illustrate top views of embodiments of the present invention:
FIGS. 9A to 9G illustrate top views of embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 10A to 10F illustrate top views of embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention will be explained now in more detail by reference to the figures. In the following description, reference is made mainly to a belt but it is clear that the present invention equally applies to a strap for a watch or to any adjustable strap/belt for any other use. Also, same or equivalent parts will be identified in the present description by the same references for the sake of simplicity.
FIGS. 2A to 2E illustrate the principle of the invention. Specifically, in FIGS. 2A to 2C, one has illustrated a buckle base 10 which comprises a groove 11 in which a stud platform 20′ may move longitudinally. As in the prior art, the stud 20 itself is introduced in a hole 6 of the belt or strap 5, but here the platform 20′ may move longitudinally thus giving an additional degree of freedom to the stud 20 and thereby provide a fine adjustment mechanism. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate two extreme positions of the platform (to the left and to the right). FIG. 2C is the buckle of FIG. 1C but with the movable platform of the stud 20.
FIGS. 2D (bottom view) and 2E (top view) illustrate a buckle base 10 with base cogs 14, base groove 15, the stud groove 11, base springs 12, base springs axles 13 and a base axle 16. In FIG. 2D (bottom view) one sees the stud base or platform 20′ in the groove 11 and a stud platform axle 21. In the top view of FIG. 2E, one cannot see the stud 20 which is on the other side.
FIGS. 3A to 3D illustrate the functioning of the adjustment mechanism according to the present invention. On the platform 20′ of FIG. 2E, there are mounted two pincher levers 70 which are connected to base axle 16 and are connected via axis 71 to stud levers 90, said levers being connected to the stud platform 20 via stud platform axle 21. As illustrated in these figures, the pinching by fingers (see FIG. 30, arrows next to the fingers) of the levers 90 moves the stud platform 20′ longitudinally thus allowing a fine adjustment of the position of the stud 20, and therefore of the length of the belt 5 with which the adjustment mechanism is used.
FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate different positions of the base spring 12 which allow the locking of the levers 70 into position.
FIGS. 5A to 5F illustrate another embodiment of the present invention with cog wheels 9 moving onto the cog base 14. The wheels 9 are mounted on the levers 70 and there are cog blocking springs 80 mounted on the levers 70. The springs 80 comprise a cog blockage 81 to block the rotation of the cog wheels 9 (see FIG. 5C and the detail of this figure) and a spring actuation zone 82 and a stabilization wing 83. When pushed towards the inside (as in FIG. 3D) by a user (see the arrows in FIGS. 5B and 5D), the springs 82 move towards the inside and the blockage 81 moves away from the wheels 9 (compare FIGS. 5A and 5B or 5C and 5D) such that the wheel 9 are free to rotate thereby allowing the adjustment. When not pressed by a user and when the user presses on levers 70 at the pressing zone 72, the springs 80 remain in the blocking position (FIGS. 5A and 5C). This is illustrated by the different relative positions of lever 70 with respect to spring 80 is FIGS. 5A and 5B for example. In FIG. 5A, the lever 70 is moved to the right in this figure relatively to spring 80 (blocking position) whereas in FIG. 58, the lever 70 is moved to the left (unblocked position). Reference 74 illustrate a spring blockage element to hold spring 80 in a stable position.
FIGS. 6A to 6C illustrate the actuation of the adjustment system by pinching and the blocking/unblocking operation. FIG. 6A: the user pinches the levers 70 with the springs 80 on the actuation zones 82 of each spring 80 to move the levers 70 toward each other (see the double arrows on the fingers), thus displacing longitudinally the axle 21 (see the arrow pointing towards the hand of the user) which has an effect on the length of the belt/strap 5 as explained herein. To block the system in a chosen position, the rotation of the cog wheels 9 is blocked via cog blockage 81 as explained above, and the relative movement of the springs 80 on the levers 70.
This blocking action is illustrated by the thumb of a user on FIGS. 6B and 6C which has moved downwards and now presses on zone 72 (and not on zone 82 anymore).
In FIG. 6C, half the system is in locked position when the lever 70 has been pushed by the thumb of the user. This corresponds for example to FIG. 5A.
FIGS. 7A to 7I illustrate further embodiment of the invention. Specifically, FIGS. 7A to 7C illustrate a variant with a single pincher lever 70 that can be moved (see the arrow in FIGS. 7A-7C) for the adjustment.
FIGS. 7D to 7I a variant with two pincher levers 70 and one single axle 16 or two axels 16.
FIGS. 8A to 8D illustrate other variants of the invention. Specifically, the embodiments of FIGS. 8B, 8C and 8D use springs 120, 900 or 700 in addition to the previously described elements to help the actuation of the mechanism.
FIGS. 9A to 9G illustrate another embodiment of the invention using different blocking means, that is a friction control system 73, for example a nylon stud, that cooperates with a friction pattern 102 thereby creating a “click” effect when the levers are moved (for example pinched) and a blockage element 23 comprising a blockage lever 24 cooperating with a blockage pattern 101, the lever 24 being mounted on a platform, such as stud platform 20′. The friction control system 73 may use different means for fulfilling its aim, for example a ball mounted on a spring. This system may of course be mounted on any embodiment described herein.
As regard the blocking system, when the lever 24 is in an upright position (FIGS. 9D-9G), the system may be adjusted by pinching the levers 70. IN a variant, one direction of the adjustment may be carried out by pinching the touch zone 72 which are on the other side of the levers 70 with respect to axis 71, as illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 9F. By pinching the top of levers 70 as in FIG. 9D, the platform 20′ and the stud 20 moved downward in FIG. 9D, see the arrow ending in groove 11. Then to actuate the system in the other direction, the bottom of the levers 70 is pinched, that is the touch zones 72, and the platform 20′ and stud 20 moves upwards, see the arrow pointing upwards in the groove 11 in FIG. 9F.
Once the proper position has been reached, the lever 24 may be moved downwards and thereby block the system in position (see FIG. 9B-9C) by the cooperation of element 23 (such as an extension) with (in) pattern 101. Of course, other equivalent blocking systems may be envisaged in the scope of the present invention as described herein.
In FIGS. 10A to 10F another embodiment of the invention is represented. In this embodiment, a different blocking mechanism is used. It comprises a movable frame 100 rotating on axis 16, as the lever 70 and the lever 70 comprises at its end a blacking mechanism with spring head 80. For the ease of understanding, only one lever 70 is illustrated but of course this embodiment applies to a construction with one or two levers 70. In FIG. 10A, the system is in a blocking position and by pinching (see the description above) the lever 70 is moved to the right of the figure (see the arrow pointing to the right) with the spring head 80 working as a ratchet to prevent a backwards movement (to the left of the figure) of the lever 70. FIG. 10B illustrates a back view of FIG. 10A.
In FIG. 10C, the system is unlocked to allow the lever to move back from the right to the left of the figure, see the arrow pointing to the left. The unlocking is produced by moving the frame 100 to the right (compare its position in FIGS. 10A/B with respect to FIGS. 10C/D). The moving of the frame 100 allows “filling” of the teeth 14 of the ratchet so that a smooth surface is provided on which the spring head may glide towards the left, the “ratchet effect” being removed. In a locking configuration, the teeth 14 and 140 (of the frame 100) are aligned, as illustrated in FIG. 10A or 10E.
In order to allow the unlocking, the teeth 140 of the frame are in mirror with respect to the teeth 14.
This is illustrated in more detail in FIGS. 10E and 10F which are detailed view in a locking configuration (FIG. 10E) and unlocked configuration (FIG. 10F) where the spring head is rotated around axis 71 to free the locking mechanism.
The examples given in the present specification are only for illustrative purposes and should not be construed in a limiting manner. Other constructions are possible using equivalent means and within the spirit and scope of the present invention. The different embodiments and their technical features may be combined between them according to circumstances.
As mentioned, the buckle of the present invention may be used for a belt or for a strap such as a watch strap. Other uses are of course possible.
The parts of the present invention may be made in any suitable materials: metals, alloys, precious metals or alloys, plastic and synthetic materials etc. and the different embodiments disclosed herein may be combined together with different materials.
