U.S. patent application number 15/505702 was filed with the patent office on 2017-09-28 for locking buckle for a belt or a strap such as a watch strap.
The applicant listed for this patent is Roland Iten Mechanical Luxury S.A.. Invention is credited to Roland Iten.
Application Number | 20170273411 15/505702 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54252348 |
Filed Date | 2017-09-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170273411 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Iten; Roland |
September 28, 2017 |
Locking Buckle for a Belt or a Strap such as a Watch Strap
Abstract
The buckle for a belt or a strap comprises an ardillion (800)
mounted on a movable lever (801) for being placed in at least two
positions, a upper one where the ardillion is not engaged in a hole
of said belt or strap, and a lower one where the ardillon is
engaged in a hole (7) of said belt or strap. Said lever is mounted
in an adjustment lever (90) of the buckle that allows the belt to
take at least a loose position and a tight position.
Inventors: |
Iten; Roland;
(Mont-Sur-Lausanne, CH) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Roland Iten Mechanical Luxury S.A. |
Mont-Sur-Lausanne |
|
CH |
|
|
Family ID: |
54252348 |
Appl. No.: |
15/505702 |
Filed: |
August 21, 2015 |
PCT Filed: |
August 21, 2015 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IB2015/056344 |
371 Date: |
February 22, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A44B 11/006 20130101;
A44C 5/246 20130101; A44B 11/24 20130101; A44B 11/223 20130101;
A44C 5/18 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A44B 11/22 20060101
A44B011/22; A44C 5/18 20060101 A44C005/18; A44B 11/24 20060101
A44B011/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 22, 2014 |
CH |
CH01259/14 |
Claims
1-10. (canceled)
11. A buckle for a belt or a strap, the belt or strap having a
plurality of holes, comprising: a movable lever; an adjustment
lever; and an ardillon mounted on the movable lever, the ardillon
configured to be placed in an upper position and a lower position,
wherein in the upper position the ardillon is not engaged in any
hole of the belt or strap, wherein in the lower position the
ardillon is engaged in a hole of the belt or strap, and wherein the
lever is mounted to the adjustment lever that is configured to
tighten and loosen the belt or strap.
12. The buckle of claim 11, further comprising: a locking
mechanism, wherein in the lower position, the ardillon is held in a
locked state by the locking mechanism.
13. The buckle of claim 11, wherein the ardillon has an incurved
shape for facilitating an insertion of the ardillon in the hole of
the belt or strap.
14. The buckle of claim 12, wherein the locking mechanism includes
a pin and a ball mounted in a cage.
15. The buckle of claim 11, wherein the lever is mounted on a frame
via a first axis.
16. The buckle of claim 15, wherein the frame is mounted to the
adjustment lever via a second axis.
17. The buckle of claim 11, wherein elements forming the buckle are
made of metal, or alloys or a combination therefrom or other
precious materials or synthetic materials, or a combination
therefrom.
18. An object in combination with a buckle as defined in claim
11.
19. The object of claim 18, wherein the object is a belt or a strap
or a watch strap.
20. A belt or a watch in combination with a buckle as defined in
claim 1.
Description
REFERENCE TO EARLIER APPLICATION
[0001] The present application claims priority to earlier Swiss
application No. 01259/14 filed on Aug. 22, 2014 in the name of
ROLAND ITEN MECHANICAL LUXURY S.A., the content of this earlier
application being incorporated by reference in its entirety in the
present application.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention concerns the field of buckles for
belts or straps, such as watch straps and other similar
products.
[0003] More specifically, the present invention concerns a buckle
that makes it easy to adjust the length of the belt or strap and
also to open or close the buckle.
BACKGROUND ART
[0004] 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 a little more complicated allow a continuous adjustment
of the size of the belt.
[0005] A belt or watch strap generally comprises two parts: a
buckle and a leather belt/strap. 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 the leather belt,
whereby this may also be made out of materials other than
leather.
[0006] Some luxury products are made of complicated mechanisms that
can be fabricated out of precious metals for example.
[0007] Examples of known buckles and straps are disclosed in
publications WO 2012/117326A, CH 703 808 B1, CH 702 774 B1, CH 706
438 A2, WO 2007/113638 the contents of which are incorporated by
reference in the present application in their entirety.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] An aim of the present invention is to improve the buckles
known from the prior art when used with a belt or a watch strap or
other similar products.
[0009] In particular, an aim of the present invention is to provide
a buckle that is simple and convenient to use and that allow a safe
mounting on the belt/strap.
[0010] Embodiments of the invention are defined in the appended
claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIGS. 1A to 1F illustrate a first embodiment of the
invention;
[0012] FIGS. 2A to 2D illustrate the functioning of a part of the
present invention;
[0013] FIGS. 3A to 3D illustrate the functioning of another part of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] The invention will be explained now by reference to the
figures. In the following, the same elements will be referenced
with the same or corresponding references. Also, the notion of belt
or strap will be used indifferently, it being clear that they are
equivalent and the use of the present invention is not limited to a
belt or to a watch strap but also to other similar systems.
[0015] An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1A
(front view) and it shows a belt strap 6 with at least one hole 7.
The buckle comprises an adjustment lever 90 carrying a frame 9
which holds a lever 801 supporting an ardillion 800 (see FIG. 1B)
for example via a screw.
[0016] The lever 801 is described in more detail in FIG. 1B (top,
side views and detail on the right).
[0017] The lever 801 is articulated on frame 9 via axis 810 and may
take the positions illustrated in FIGS. 1D to 1F, said positions
being about 90.degree. apart.
[0018] The lever 801 carries the ardillion 800 with is to be
inserted in a hole 7 of the belt 6 as seen in FIGS. 1D and 1E.
Therefore, the ardillion 800 preferably has the shape illustrated
to facilitate its insertion.
[0019] The lever 801 also carries a pin 802 for unlocking the lever
801. The locking mechanism is illustrated in detail in FIG. 1C and
comprises a cage 803 with a ball which are attached to the frame 9
and the pin 802 on the lever 801. When the lever 801 is essentially
aligned with the frame 9, the ball penetrates in one side of a hole
of the lever 801 thus locking the relative position of the lever
801 with respect to the frame 9. To unlock the mechanism and allow
the lever 801 to rotate on its axis 810, the user pushes the pin
802 in the hole towards the ball and this movement disengages the
ball from the hole and allows a relative movement (for example
rotation) of the lever 801 with respect to the frame 9. The curved
shape of the lever helps the user reach the pin 802 with one
finger. Of course, other equivalent means may be envisaged.
[0020] The movement of the pin 802 (and to ensure it remains
attached to the lever 801) is ensured for example via a screw (see
FIG. 1B, right side detail).
[0021] Of course the parts forming the locking mechanism could be
inverted and the pin placed on the frame 9 and the ball/cage 803 on
the lever 801. Other equivalent constructions are possible as
well.
[0022] Reference 91 identifies a frame axis which allows a relative
rotation of frame 9 relatively to adjustment lever 90 and reference
93 an adjustment lever axis allowing a rotation of the lever 90
(see FIGS. 3A-3D described hereunder) on a platform 92 of the
buckle.
[0023] The introduction of the ardillion 800 in the desired hole 7
of the belt 6 is illustrated in FIGS. 1D to 1F. In FIG. 1D, the
lever 801 is in an open position allowing the adjustment of the
buckle on the belt 6. Once a proper size has be reached, the lever
801 is rotated downward of about 90.degree. relatively to frame 9
such that the ardillion 800 penetrates in the chose hole 7 (FIG.
1E). This rotation bring the lever 801 in a locked position (FIG.
1F) using the locking mechanism discussed above.
[0024] FIG. 2A illustrates a top view of the buckle with a raised
lever 801 (i.e. unlocked) as in FIG. 1D.
[0025] FIG. 2B shows a side view in partial cut of the situation of
FIG. 1D in the buckle.
[0026] FIG. 2C illustrate a top view of the buckle with a lever 801
as in FIGS. 1E/1F in locked position, essentially aligned with
frame 9, the ardillion 800 being inserted in the chose hole 7 (see
FIG. 2D which shows a side view in partial cut of the situation of
FIGS. 1E/1F in the buckle).
[0027] FIGS. 3A to 3D illustrate the adjustment mechanism of the
buckle that allows an adjusted belt to easily be put in a loose
position or tight position, the loose position being when the
overall size of the belt is greater than the size in the tight
position.
[0028] This aim is achieved by the movement of the adjustment lever
90 of about 180.degree.. FIG. 3A illustrate the loose position and
corresponds to the buckle as shown in FIGS. 1A, 2A and 2C discussed
above.
[0029] The lever 90 may be rotated to the right of an angle of
about 180.degree., see FIGS. 3B and 3C, to reach another position
as illustrated in FIG. 3D. This position is a tight position where
the overall size of the belt (or strap) is smaller than in the
loose position.
[0030] Such two different positions are interesting for taking
account of the position of the wearer of a belt with this buckle
and its comfort, for example sitting or standing or during a meal.
For example when sitting (and maybe eating) the loose position will
be preferred whereas when standing the tight position will be
chosen
[0031] If the belt/strap is a watch strap, these two positions may
be useful when the wearer wishes to carry the watch underneath his
clothes (the tight position will be preferred) or over his clothes
(then the loose position may be better). This is particularly
useful when the clothes are thick, for example a diving suit in
which activity the diver's watch must be attached over the
suit.
[0032] 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
embodiments described herein may also be combined as desired.
[0033] 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 for other devices and in other contexts.
[0034] The parts of the present invention may be made in any
suitable materials: metals, alloys, precious metals or alloys,
synthetic or plastic materials and any combination thereof etc.
* * * * *