METAL LINK BRACELET FOR WATCHMAKING OR JEWELRY

Abstract

This flexible bracelet is intended particularly for jewelry or watchmaking. It consists of juxtaposed links, particularly metallic ones, articulated together by means of transverse axes (8), in particular rods or pins, received within said links. Said links comprise a central part or at least one central element (1) and lateral parts (2, 3) or lateral elements. The axes (8) are received within blind recesses (4, 5) formed within the lateral parts (2, 3) or lateral elements of said links. The ends (6, 7) of said axes (8) are clipped into said blind recesses (4, 5), the latter being provided with a shoulder (12, 13) adapted to achieve this clipping. Figure for the abbreviation: Fig 1

Description

Description Title of the invention: METAL LINK BRACELET FOR WATCHMAKING OR JEWELRY Scope of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to bracelets made of links, particularly metallic ones, more specifically intended for the watchmaking and jewelry sectors. Such Bracelets can thus be associated with a watch or constitute a piece of jewelry.

[0002] It is aimed more specifically at bracelets with links articulated with each other others. Prior state of the art

[0003] Articulated bracelets are widely known. They are traditionally made of of links assembled using pins or free rods.

[0004] — Such metal bracelets include articulated links that can be each consisting of several link elements, respectively elements of central links and lateral link elements. Typically, the element of the central link is articulated to two lateral link elements of the immobilized link. immediately consecutive.

[0005] — The aforementioned rod or pin passes through the central link element, which is provided with a bored for this purpose, and is received in housings provided within the elements of side links.

[0006] — Traditionally, the rods or pins are inserted at the level of the elements of lateral links at the level of openings on the external lateral face of the aforementioned lateral elements. In doing so, once the pin is inserted, it is necessary to plug the through-hole by adding material, then polish said lateral face in order to to give the latter an aesthetic character. In other words, besides this The recovery operation is time-consuming and does not allow for proper control of the Bracelet width. Indeed, if too many alterations or repairs are required. are to be made, the width of the bracelet is no longer correct and results in rejection. We Therefore, such recovery operations encounter problems of repeatability. problems are even more exacerbated when the bracelet is intended to be attached to a watch, which requires even more precision.

[0007] — In order to overcome this difficulty, and in particular this aesthetic aspect, it was proposed to insert the rods or pins into blind holes made at the level of the side link elements, so that the articulation axes or rods are no longer visible on the lateral surfaces of the lateral link elements, thereby avoiding the aforementioned rework operations. However, this assembly method proves to be of a mechanical strength is quite relative and in any case insufficient given the requirements of manufacturers and other designers of such bracelets. It was indeed proposed in document FR 2 755 630 to introduce a soldering material into the bottom of the blind holes, the actual soldering being carried out after the insertion of the rod or pin into said blind hole. While this assembly method optimizes the integrity of the resulting bracelet, it requires the prior introduction of soldering material into the bottom of the blind holes, thus generating an additional and therefore time-consuming operation. The aim of the invention is therefore to overcome these various drawbacks. Description of the invention The invention thus aims at a flexible bracelet, in particular for jewelry or watchmaking articles, made up of links, in particular metallic, juxtaposed, articulated with each other by means of transverse axes, in particular rods or pins, received within said links. According to the invention: — said axes are received within blind housings provided within the lateral parts of said links: — the ends of said axes are clipped into said blind housings, the latter being provided with a shoulder suitable for making this clipping. In other words, the invention consists of: — on the one hand, to assemble the different links using rods or pins received in blind holes, i.e. not opening at the level of the lateral faces of the lateral elements of the links, thus guaranteeing the aesthetic appearance of the bracelet and strict adherence to the dimensions, particularly in terms of the width of said bracelet; — on the other hand, to confer mechanical resistance to the assembly thus produced, by clipping said rods or pins into the lateral elements of said links. To this end, both ends of each rod or pin are split, and the elasticity of the material from which they are made, typically metal, is used to force their insertion into the blind holes and then engage them with the shoulders formed within these holes. Since these rods or pins are of standardized dimensions, strict adherence to the lateral dimensions of the bracelets resulting from these assemblies is ensured. Furthermore, when it is desired to reduce the "flex," that is, the curvature of the bracelet, it is also possible to introduce a paste or solder material into the bottom of the blind holes. The bracelet is then subjected, after assembly, to a temperature increase in order to induce the brazing of the ends of the rods or pins at the blind holes. The quantity of brazing material is standardized, so that there is no risk of any overflow of said brazing material outside the blind hole during temperature rise. Brief description of the figures The manner in which the invention can be implemented and the resulting advantages will be better illustrated by the following implementation examples, given by way of example and not limitation, in support of the attached figures. Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of an assembly method for a bracelet of the invention illustrated in exploded view. [Fig.2] is a schematic view of [Fig.1] after assembly. Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of the invention of another type of bracelet. [Fig.4] is a subsequent step in assembling the intermediate links in relation to [Fig.3]. Fig. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the final assembly of a bracelet conforming to figures 3 and 4. Fig. 6 is a schematic sagittal section view illustrating one of the assembly steps of the embodiment of figures 3 to 5. Detailed description of the invention Figure 1 schematically illustrates the principle of assembling links or link elements that make up the bracelet according to the present invention. Specifically, Figure 1 illustrates the assembly of two consecutive links, and more precisely, the central element (1) of one link with the lateral elements (2, 3) of the subsequent link. As can be seen, these lateral elements (2, 3) are each provided with a blind recess (4, 5) designed to receive the two ends (6, 7) of a pin or shank (8), which passes through the bore (9) in the central element (1). As schematically represented, the two free ends of the rod (8) are slotted in such a way, and due to the material from which it is made, typically steel, or any other metallic material, and in particular work-hardened gold, that they exhibit a certain elasticity, allowing said ends to be forcefully inserted into the bores (10, 11) formed within the lateral elements (2, 3), until said ends can expand and cooperate with a shoulder (12, 13) formed within the blind recesses (4, 5). This cooperation results in the translational locking of the rod (8) within the blind recesses, as shown in [Fig. 2], this locking not affecting the articulation function of the rod (8) between the lateral elements (2, 3) and the central element (1). In so doing, firstly, the lateral faces (14, 15) of said lateral elements, that is to say, the faces substantially perpendicular to the general plane in which the bracelet resulting from the assembly of such elements is inscribed, are smooth and free, in particular, from any through-holes requiring rework. Furthermore, uniformity is achieved in terms of dimensions, particularly in terms of the width of said bracelet, an objective sought by the present invention due to the constraints of the designers. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is also possible to perform an additional brazing operation to reduce the bracelet's flexibility in terms of curvature. For this purpose, brazing paste (16) is introduced into the blind recesses (4, 5) prior to inserting the two ends (6, 7) of the stem or pin (8) into them. Following mechanical assembly, and in particular clipping the free ends of the stem into the blind recesses, the entire bracelet is heated to allow the brazing to take place and thus limit the bracelet's potential curvature. Another embodiment of the invention is shown in relation to Figures 3 to 6. In these figures, the bracelet consists of lateral elements (20), which are substantially rectangular in shape, between which a plurality of central elements (21), also rectangular in shape, are positioned. However, the bracelet can have any shape, both for the lateral and central elements, provided that said elements can cooperate with each other at their edges. The assembly principle remains the same. Thus, in [Fig. 3], two rods or pins (22) of the type previously described are first clipped onto one of the lateral elements (20). For this purpose, the lateral elements (20) are provided with two blind holes (23), each extended by a bore (24) (see [Fig. 6]), the bores extending parallel to each other. As in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the rods or pins (22) are slotted at both ends (27) to give them some flexibility to allow them to be clipped into the blind housings (23). These housings are provided with a shoulder (25), which can be seen in [Fig. 6]. In this case, these shoulders (25) simply result from a reduction in the diameter of the corresponding bore (24). Once the two rods (22) are clipped into one of the lateral elements (20), the central elements (21), provided for this purpose with bores (26), are slid along these rods, the positioning of the bores being such that they allow an overall alignment, to allow the insertion of the different central elements with each other, as illustrated in [Fig.4]. At the level of [Fig.5], the clipping of the opposing lateral element at the free ends of the rods or pins is shown, according to the principle described in relation to figures 1 and 2. In the event that brazing is inserted into the bottom of the blind housings, the assembly thus formed is then placed in the oven in order to solidify the brazing. We can therefore understand the full interest of the present invention which allows, in a simple way, to ensure the assembly of such bracelets, while respecting the aesthetics on the one hand, and the dimensions on the other hand, according to operations that are not very time-consuming.

Claims

Demands

1. Flexible bracelet, particularly for jewelry or watchmaking items, consisting of links, notably metallic, placed side by side, articulated between them by means of transverse axes (8, 22), in particular rods or pins, received within said links, said links comprising a central part or at least a central element (1, 21) and parts lateral (2, 3) or lateral elements (20), characterized: — in that the said axes (8, 22) are received within windowless dwellings (4, 5, 23) provided within the lateral parts (2, 3) or elements lateral (20) of said links; — in that the ends (6, 7, 27) of said axes are clipped within of the said windowless dwellings (4, 5, 23), the latter being equipped with a shoulder (12, 13, 25) suitable for performing this clipping.

2. A flexible bracelet according to claim 1, characterized in that the two ends (6, 7, 27) of each axis (8, 22) are slotted.

3. A flexible bracelet according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that that the axes (8, 22) are made of metal.

4. A flexible bracelet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that that the ends of the axes (8, 22) are brazed at the level of the housings one-eyed (4, 5, 23).