US1313644A - Adolph simon - Google Patents

Description

A. SIMON.

. WATCH AND OTHER BRACELET.

APPLICATION FILEDMAR. 21. 1918.

1,313,644. Patented Aug. 19,1919.

I It has also been proposed to form the slack ADOLPH SIMON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

WATCH AN D OTHER BRACELET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

Application filed March 27, 1918. Serial No. 224,993.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADoLPH SIMON, a subject of the King of England, residing in London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Watch and other Bracelets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to watch and other bracelets of the type wherein the slack of the bracelet is wound up on a suitably mounted roller which constitutes a slack-absorber and in some cases is spring-controlled. In some bracelets of this type as heretofore constructed, the bracelet-band has been divided and the ends have been operatively connected by thin flexible cords or chains to a;

roller, thus interrupting the continuity of the. wrist-encircling portion of the bracelet. This roller was placed with its axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis of the wearers wrist, that is, in such way as to project away from the wrist of the wearer and the flexible end pieces entered the casing at points approximately opposite each other.

absorber as a roller inclosed in a casing which constitutes a pendent to a divided bracelet. In this case the ends of the chains, bands or cords proposed to be used are secured to the slack-a'bsorber at points close to. each other, one being fastened to the casing and the other passing through an orifice in the casing close to this fastening and being attached to the roller within the absorber would be pendent from the bracelet and could not lie snugly against the wrist.

According to the invention, a slack absorber for an expansible watch or other bracelet has a. frame open on one side to admit a flat flexible wrist-encircling band (for example of silk ribbon) the other side ,tion shall lie parallel with the face of the said wrist-encircling band when admitted by such open side but transverse to the longitudinal direction of the same, the frame being provided with guiding means to guide the band in at the open side and present it to the roller in such manner that it can wind evenly thereon in superposed layers, the arrangement of the parts being such that the frame is held by the band in fixed lateral relation thereto and the roller is made to lie snugly against the wrist of the wearer, and means for rotating the roller to absorb the slack of the wrist-encircling band.

The invention further relates to an expansible watch or other bracelet having a flat flexible wrist-encircling band provided with a slack-absorber in the manner stated above.

If desired, the roller may be tubular and have a spiral spring situated within it, the said sprlng being connected operatively to it at one end and to a part stationary with the roller-carrier at the other end, so that when the band is partly run off the roller, the spring is loaded by the rotation of the roller and thus causes the roller to take up the slack directly the tension on the band is released.

Instead of the sprin within the roller, the roller may be provi ed with one or more barrels secured to the carrier or the roller, each containing a flat spiral spring for returning the roller after it has been rotated in one direction by the drawing off of the band.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one method of carrying out this invention Figur 1 i a perspective view of a bracelet with the slack-absorber in place;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the slackabsorber on a lar or scale than Fig. 1 and with the braceletand removed;

Fig. 3 shows the roller separated from the rest of the device;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the slack-absorber with the covering-plate detached;

Fig. 5 is a dia am showing the method of winding the. and upon the roller;

Fig. 6 is a plan of a modified form of slack-absorber according to this invention;

Fi 7 is a perspective view of the slackabsor ber shown in Fig. 6 with the parts partially detached; I

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of yet another form of slack-absorber according to the present invention.

The same letters indicatethe sameparts throughout the drawings.

The bracelet-band A is preferably of silk ribbon though it may be of any material which allows of sufficient flexibility and can be made in the form of a flat band.

The slack-absorber comprises a roller B which is slotted at B and is reduced at B to enter. bearing-plates C of a carrier. The

one inv each recess. vide barrels for the sprlngs and cover-plates plates are held together by bars C which provide a slot O between them on each side in line with the slot B and each, plate is recessed from the outer side as shown at C Fig. 4:,to receive a flat spiral spring D,

' The recesses thus pro- E are secured one over each recess, each cover-plate convenlently having an orlfice E at the center to receive the st1ll further reduced end B of the roller 13.

The roller is provided with. hooks 13 on the parts B which engage the centers of the springs D and the outer ends of the springs are engaged with the barrel.

To place the band A in position, it is threaded in a straight line through the slot the proper position and the roller is released, the latter immediately releases the central portion of the band on .to it ina double thickness, as shown in Fig. '5. It follows therefore that if the band is pulled upon on opposite sides of the carrier as when expanding it to pass it over the hand,

that portion whichis wound upon the roller is pulled off and the roller is thereby rotated against the action of its springs, but as soon as the band is again relievedof tension, the springs cause theroller to turn and draw. up the slack, with the result that the bracelet always fits the arm of thewearer and yet can beeasily passed over the hand.

An important feature of this invention is the direct engagementiof a flat flexible bracelet-band with' the roller andv the placing of the roller transverse to the longitudinal direction of the band but parallel, to the face of it, so that the band can roll direct on to it withoutdifliculty and the whole device can lie close to the" arni of the wearer. In another form of slacleabsorber, the

carrier Gr, Fig. 6, is rectangular and curved to the arm, the roller H being mounted to lie across the carrier at a point midway along its length.- The carrier is provided with jaws G on its under-side to receive the ends of a fixed pin or spindle H Free to rotate on this spindle is the roller H which is tubular and has one end permanently closed but receives at the other end a detachable-plug H The plug is grooved at H so that a flange H is formed whichis slotted at H cylindrical spring J is mounted. One end of this spring enters a hole in the fixed spindle H and the other end is hooked'to lie inthe slot H in the flange H, its free Within the barrel a spiral end lying in the groove H The parts can be put together as shown in Fig.7. One

'end of thespindle H is fixed in its jaw by apin G which passes through the elements of the jaw and the pin, the spring is hooked on to the spindle before'this is introduced into the barrel and then the other end of the spring is hooked onto the plug H The plug has a peripheral pin H which engages a bayonetslot H in the end of the barrel H and thus' by pushing the plug home this pin can be brought around to the end of the bayonet-slot and the plug is thus prevented from endwise displacement; the tension of the spring in use is in such direction as to keep thepin H at the end of the bayon'et-slot'I-I. When the plug is in place, the barrelcan be swung down so that the free end of the spindle H enters the other jaw G and it can then be pinned in place in the same manner as the end which is shown already secured.

On the underside of the carrier G' are loops G for the band which serve to guide it on to and off the roller, and ther'oller itself has a loop H on it so that the band canbe passed through this loop to engage it with the roller. This form of slack-absorber is easy to'manufacture and can be readilydismantled for inspection or repair and the parts are easily reassembled. Another form of spring-control for the roller is shown in Fig. 8, where the roller K is mounted at the meeting ends of'two semicirculartubular' guides K K In the guide K two spiral springs K are. mounted. Through each spring 'a thin cord 'K .extends. One end of the cord is attached to the roller and the other end is attached to the far end of the spring. It thus follows that when the roller is rotated in one direction, it. winds the cords K uponit and thus puts the springsK? in compression so that they will return it when it is freed. Similar springs K could bemountedin the tubular guide "K or only one tubular guide may be employed, but in the drawing ajsingle spiral -spring K f is shown whose ends are connected by cords K to the roller. With this form of device the cords operate to extend the spring K when they are wound up upon the roller and the spring draws them in to return the roller. Obviously two springs could be used intsead of one, each controlling a cord secured to the end of it. The attachment of the ribbon or other band to the roller may be the same as that described with reference to the roller B shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

For convenience, the band is brought out at each side of the carrier between two guide-pins or uide-bars as shown in the drawings, but it is particularly desirable to have a guide-pin situated on the outer side of the outer coil of ribbon where it leaves the roller and one on the inner side of the inner coil where it leaves the roller, as will be readily seen from an inspection of Fig. 5.

As will be observed, the roller requlres to turn about three times to take up sufiicient slack for practicable purposes and instead of connectlng springs such as C Fig. 4, direct to the roller it may be preferred in some cases to connect them to arbors which are geared to the roller in such way as to (topics of this patent may be obtained for decrease the degree of movement necessary for the springs, thus with a 2:1 reduction gear from the roller, the arbors of the springs would only have to do 1?} turns instead of 3.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is An expansible and contractile bracelet for a wrist watch, comprising a thin substantially flat wrist-encircling band of flexible material that will snugly conform to the wrist of the wearer, with means for connecting the ends of the same to opposite sides of a watch, a frame having opposite guides through which the band slidably passes and from which it is freely removable when detached from a watch, a roller journaled in the frame between the guides and engaged with the band to cause the latter to wrap thereon, said roller extending parallel to the flat sides of the band and transversely of said band, and spring means engaged with the roller and the frame to rotate the roller and cause the band to wrap thereon to take u the slack of said band when applied to the wrist of the wearer.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ADOLPH SIMON.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0."

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