EP0080973B1 - Watch case - Google Patents

Abstract

The watch case contains a crystal (1) and a casing (3), on an upper peripheral surface (2) of which the crystal (1) is detachably mounted by means of connecting members or straps (10). These connecting members may consist of a U-shaped clamps (10) having arms (11, 12) to which the edges of the crystal (1) and the casing (3) are tightened and which are capable of being set in place by being laterally engaged on the edges of the case.

Description

The present invention relates more particularly to watch cases comprising a crystal and a middle, the crystal being removably mounted on an upper peripheral surface of the middle by means of connecting members.

In known watch cases, and in particular when the crystal extends over almost its entire periphery as far as the lateral edges of the middle part, use is made of connecting members of the type of screws, pins, dovetail slides , claws mounted on the edges of the middle, etc.

Most of these solutions involve a particular machining of the ice, such as for example their drilling, or the formation of bevelled edges. Such machining is delicate and costly, especially for the sapphire crystal which equips quality watches. In addition, to ensure the anchoring of the connecting members on the middle part, it is most often necessary to provide threads or other means which can only be applied to boxes of a certain thickness. There are also known constructions in which claws for holding the glass form an integral part of the middle part, but it is clear that the manufacture of such a middle part is largely complicated.

Another disadvantage of the constructions of the prior art, especially those which incorporate slides or claws in which the glass is engaged laterally results from a non-negligible risk of deterioration, wear or displacement of the seal at the time. of its placement of ice. These same constructions also lead to an increase in the general line of the watch.

A solution of this type is described in document CH-A-581/75.

The document FR-A-908 125 describes a watch comprising bars extending above the glass. Reading the document suggests that the glass is placed by the bottom of the box.

Document CH-A-447 047 describes a box in which the glass is fixed to the box by claws retained by means of keys.

Document CH-A-206 230 describes several boxes, without a gasket, one of which has wires fixed to the middle part and passing over the glass to fix them one to the other.

The present invention, as defined in claim 1, proposes a new construction which avoids the drawbacks described above, in particular by using space-saving connecting members, and which, surprisingly, are neither integral nor ice or middle, but simply engaged on the edges of the box. These connecting members do not require any particular machining of the crystal, and the latter may further extend over its entire periphery as far as the lateral edges of the middle, which could not have been done before, in a removable manner, only '' by means of screws or pins.

• - la figure 1 est une vue de dessus d'une boîte de montre selon un mode de réalisation de l'invention;
• - la figure 2 est une vue de coupe partielle selon la ligne II-II de la boîte de montre de la figure 1.

The invention will be clearly understood on reading the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• - Figure 1 is a top view of a watch case according to an embodiment of the invention;
• - Figure 2 is a partial sectional view along line II-II of the watch case of Figure 1.

The watch case of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises in particular a crystal 1 removably mounted on the upper surface 2 of a middle part 3 in which a movement 4 fitted with a dial 5 is conventionally mounted. A seal 6, masked by a metallized peripheral zone 7 of the crystal and a flange 8 placed on the dial 5, is housed in a groove 9 of the middle part 3. According to the invention, the glass 1 and the middle part 3 are kept assembled by means connecting members constituted by clamps 10, U-shaped. Each clamp 10 has branches 11, 12 between which are clamped the edges of the crystal 1 and the middle part 3. The clamps 10 are neither integral nor glass 1, or middle 3, but their retention is improved by the friction resulting from the separation force exerted on the glass and the middle by the seal 6. They are of course put in place by a lateral engagement, in the direction of the arrows 13 in FIG. 1, on the edges of the watch case. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the middle part 3 carries at its lower part recesses 14 in which the branches 12 of the clamps 10 are retracted.

In the same way, and although the invention is particularly well suited to mounting a lens extending over its entire periphery as far as the lateral edges of the middle as indicated in the figures, this arrangement is only necessary in the vicinity of the collets. It is also clear that the invention can be applied as well to the assembly of other elements of a watch case as the crystal and the middle part, in particular to the simultaneous fixing of a crystal and a base on a middle.

Although it has been described in relation to a particular embodiment, the present invention is in no way limited thereto, but it is on the contrary liable to numerous modifications and variants which will appear to those skilled in the art.

Claims (2)

1. Watch case especially including a crystal (1) provided with lower and upper faces, a caseband (3) which comprises an upper peripheral surface serving as support surface for the crystal, a sealing gasket (6) interposed between the crystal and the caseband in a groove included in the caseband and coupling members (10) each comprising three integrally formed branches arranged in U form for fixing the crystal and the case to one another, the central branch of each member extending in the direction of the thickness of the caseband and the side branches respectively extending over the upper face of the watch and the lower peripheral surface of the caseband, characterized in that the branches extending over the upper face of the watch are supported on the upper face of the crystal and that the free end of the side branches of each of said members (10) extends at least to be aligned over the sealing gasket and exerts a pressure respectively onto said upper face and said peripheral surface which compresses the gasket (6) and assures clamping of the crystal against the case.

2. Watch case according to claim 1 characterized in that the crystal over its entire periphery extends to the lateral edges of the caseband (3).

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