Case For Removably Carrying A Wrist Watch

Abstract

This invention relates to a protective case adapted to receive a wrist watch having a case with a pair of drilled ears or lugs in which is maintained a retaining pin assembly whereby wrist straps or bands are customarily connected to the watch. This protective case is open at the top to slidably receive a watch from which the strap is removed. A clip carried within and at the closed other end of the case removably retains the pin carried by the entering lug end of the wrist watch. A protective pad is provided on the inside of a side panel of the case, said protective pad adapted to prevent scratching of the plastic or glass face of the watch. A belt clip attached to the outer back surface of the case provides a dual purpose wherein the case may be attached or hooked over a belt or pocket of the wearer and when not used for this purpose may provide a support which engages the strap retaining pin of the watch and the watch case to support the watch at an angled relationship while the retaining case is placed on a support surface enabling the watch to be supported in a viewing condition.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

With regards to the classification of art as established by the U.S. Patent Office this invention pertains to the general class of "Package and Article Carriers" and more particularly to the subclass therein which is entitled, "watch and clock."

2. Description of the Prior Art

Although wrist watches are a popular form of timepiece many people, particularly men, carry the wrist watch in a pocket or a belt rather than on the wrist. This occurs because of the condition in which they are working or because they find it uncomfortable to wear the watch upon their wrists. As a timepiece the watch is often carried in a pocket or sometimes on a clip. On other occasions the watch may be propped up or laid upon a desk or hung on a pin or stand in a viewing position. The problem of retaining this watch upon a belt or supporting the watch for viewing has been attempted by holding means as represented in many issued U.S. Patents. In particular such an attempt is seen in a wrist watch attachment described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,685 issued to BRENNER on Oct. 26th, 1965. This and like patents have attempted to provide a wrist watch carrier and support for the retention and protection of the watch. With many of these carriers retention is not assured and damage and loss of the watch often occurs. In the present invention the wrist watch retaining case provides an open-topped enclosure in which the watch is retained by a clip during the time the watch is carried in the case. The case may be carried on the band of the trousers, on a pocket of a shirt or trousers or on the belt of the user. As a stand support for the viewing of the watch, the front of the case provides a flat supporting surface and the belt clip is formed so as to engage the strap-retaining pin and watch case so that the watch is readily mounted thereon and is retained at an angle so as to be viewed in a substantially vertical condition such as about 60.degree. above the horizontal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention may be summarized at least in part with reference to its objects.

It is an object of this invention to provide, and it does provide, a retaining case for wrist watches whereby a wrist watch may be carried within a protective case which is open at one end. This case has an internal clip carried at its closed end and is adapted to receive and removably retain a strap pin of the watch. The case also has a protective interior pad arranged to slidably engage the glass or plastic face of the wrist watch to prevent scratching thereof and to act as a shock absorbing means. A belt clip carried on the outside of the case is adapted to engage the belt of the user or one of the retaining pins of the wrist watch to permit the watch to be supported on the retaining case which acts as a base for resting on a support surface while the watch is displayed at an angle such as 45.degree. to 60.degree. above the horizontal.

It is a further object of this invention to provide, and it does provide, a retaining case for a wrist watch into which the watch may be inserted until the entering strap pin engages an internal clip means to removably retain the watch in said case while preventing accidental dislodgement or removal of the watch as and when the case is mounted upon and carried by a belt or on a pocket of the user. This retaining case completely encloses the watch with the exception of an open top into which the watch is inserted while only a strap or lug portion of the watch protrudes. This case further has a belt retaining clip attached to the back, which clip not only provides means for retaining the case on a belt or pocket of the user but permits the case to act as a display support providing mounting means by which the watch may be engaged and supported upon the back of the case with the case acting as a platform for the display of the watch at a determined angle.

In brief, the wrist watch retaining case of this invention includes a case which may be a drawn or formed sheet metal box adapted to enclose the watch except at its open end. Within this case and attached to the inside of the closed end bottom is a strap pin retaining means such as a U-clip adapted to engage a strap retaining pin on the entering end of the wrist watch. Attached to the inner face of one side of the case is a shock absorbing and scratch preventing pad which is disposed to engage the plastic or glass face of the inserted wrist watch. This pad provides a shock absorbing means as well as a scratch preventing guide and support surface. Attached to the back of the case is a U-shaped spring clip adapted to be slid onto and removed from a trouser belt or pocket of a user. This clip enables the ready mounting or removal of the case from a belt or pocket. This U-shaped clip also provides a secondary use in that when a belt-retaining pin of the wrist watch is slid under the outer leg of the clip that pin engages the underside of the leg while the body of the watch engages an adjacent outer surface of the same clip leg. When the front face of the case is laid upon a support surface the watch is retained on the clip leg so as to be displayed at a substantially upright angle to provide means for viewing the wrist watch.

In addition to the above summary the following disclosure is detailed to insure adequacy and aid in understanding of the invention. This disclosure, however, is not intended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how it may later be disguised by variations in form or additions of further improvements. For this reason there has been chosen a specific embodiment of the case for carrying a wrist watch as adopted for use as a belt supported case or a watch supporting base and showing a preferred means for the construction and use of the wrist watch retaining case. This specific embodiment has been chosen for the purposes of illustration and description as shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 represents an isometric view of the wrist watch carrying case of this invention, the view being from the back and looking toward and partly into the open end or the top of the case;

FIG. 2 represents a sectional side view of the carrying case of FIG. 1 and showing in particular the assembled construction of the case;

FIG. 3 represents an enlarged sectional, partly fragmentary, side view of the lower portion of the case of FIG. 2 and showing in particular the apparatus for removably retaining a watch in the case;

FIG. 4 represents an isometric view of the watch retaining and carrying case in the attitude of laying upon a flat support surface with a wrist watch mounted and supported by the outer leg of the belt retaining clip, and

FIG. 5 represents an exploded isometric view of the several preferred components which are assembled to provide the wrist watch carrying retaining case with the parts arranged to show the means of assembling and retaining the components.

In the following description and in the claims various details will be identified by specific names for convenience. These names, however, are intended to be generic in their application. Corresponding reference characters refer to like members throughout the several figures of the drawing.

The drawing accompanying, and forming part of, this specification discloses certain details of construction for the purpose of explanation of the broader aspects of the invention, but it should be understood that structural details may be modified in various respects without departure from the concept and principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 5 the wrist watch retaining case of this invention includes a case 10 which may be a drawn metal case. This case, when drawn and trimmed, is a five-sided member open at one end only and which in use becomes the top or entering end. Attached to the inside of a face side of this case as by gluing is a pad 12. The inside face of this pad is conditioned or surfaced so that a face 13 of the watch is slidable along this surface without scratching the face of the watch. This pad also provides a shock absorbent means as well as scratch resisting means for the face of the watch. The pad preferably is of a foam type plastic or rubber. At the closed or lower inside end of this case 10 there is attached to the case a clip means as depicted in a metal spring clip formed in the nature of a U-shape or channel-shaped. This clip is attached to the inside bottom end of this case as by spot welding, gluing, brazing or riveting. Both upper ends of the clip are formed to provide outwardly flaring ears or wings disposed to engage a strap-retaining pin 16 of a wrist watch 18 when said watch is inserted into the case. Arcuate portions 20 and 21 are shown as formed in the intermediate extent of the upward extent of the legs and adjacent the outer ends of this clip 14. These arcuate portions are disposed to snap around and retain the wrist strap retaining pin 16 of the wrist watch.

To the outer surface of the back of the case 10 there is attached a U-shaped clip 25 which has its outer free end formed with an inwardly directed V adapted to provide a grip on a pocket or belt or to act as a retaining stop means on the belt of a wearer so as to snugly engage and retain the case 10 upon the belt, band or pocket of the user. This clamp 25 is attached to the back of the case 10 as by riveting, gluing, brazing, welding and the like.

USE AND ASSEMBLY OF THE CARRYING CASE

In use, the wrist watch 18 having one or both strap portions 30 removed therefrom has a strapless end pushed into the case 10 with the plastic or glass face 13 thereof disposed so as to slidably engage the protective interior pad 12 which not only acts as a shock absorbing cushion but as a scratch preventing medium. This watch is inserted into the open end of the case 10 until the pin 16 of the watch engages the open end of the clip 14 to cause the engaged flared ends of the leg portions to be urged apart until the pin 16 moves into the retaining arcuate portions 20 and 21 which then snap around the pin to snugly retain the watch within the case 10. The watch, by means of clip 25, may then be mounted upon the belt or waistband of the user or if desired on a shirt pocket and carried in this manner. Since the case is open at the top, the watch portion extending from the case may be grasped so that the watch may be removed for viewing to determine the time. The watch retaining case may be removed from the clothing or belt of the user as and when desired.

When the watch is to be displayed in a more or less vertical viewing condition, the watch retaining case may be used as a stand or support for the watch. The retaining case is laid down upon a support surface as in the manner of FIG. 4 and the strap pin 16 of the watch is slid onto the outer leg of the clip 25 so that the pin 16 and the case of the watch 18 engage opposite sides of this outer leg so that the watch is retained at a slight angle from the vertical and in this attitude is available for ready display. When the watch is to be removed from this display supported attitude on the retaining case, the watch and pin 16 are slid along the outer leg until disengaged therefrom whereupon the watch may be stored within the case or for other uses.

In the assembly of the above-described case it is assumed that the case is already formed by drawing or by casting. The case then has a U-shaped clip attached to the internal surface of the bottom end. The preferred method of attachment is by brazing, spot welding, riveting or gluing. The protective pad 12 is preferably of a foam material having a certain degree of resilience or cushioning ability. Usually this pad will have a protective skin or cover produced during its manufacture. If not, a protective skin is applied to provide a sliding surface permitting easy insertion of the watch into the case while preventing scratching the clear cover or face 13 during the insertion or storage of the watch. This pad is usually mounted to the inner surface of the case as by cementing. The U-shaped belt clip 25 is usually attached to the case as by spot welding, brazing, cementing and the like.

ALTERNATE CONSTRUCTIONS

Although the preferred embodiment has been shown and above-described in detail there are, of course, alternate constructions which may be used. For example, the case 10 may be a molded item and instead of metal may be plastic. The spring clip 14 instead of being a metal U-shaped clip may be a slotted rubber or resilient block or be made as three or more resilient pins or posts which may be molded into the end or side walls of the closed end of the case. Where or when the case is of plastic the protective pad 12 may be an integrally molded grid providing a scratch resisting surface.

It is also to be noted that a dimple or like means may be formed in clip 25 to assist in supporting the watch at a desired display angle. In addition the arcuate portions 20 and 21 in clip 14 may be V-shaped or may simply be dimpled portions.

The retaining case of this invention is intended to provide a full protection to an inserted watch by substantially enclosing all the watch case. This retaining case is intended to have a positive strap-pin gripping means provided at its closed inner end. This gripping means disposed to retain the watch in the case until it is grasped and deliberately pulled from the case. The interior of the case may have one or more padded sides to prevent scratching as well as providing a shock-absorbing means. The outside clip 25 may be the simple slid on U-shaped clip disclosed or may be a spring clip or a pin, any of which may be made to grip the strap pin of the watch to display the watch.

Terms such as "up", "down", "bottom", "top", "front", "back", "in", "out" and the like are applicable to the embodiment shown and described in conjunction with the drawing. These terms are merely for the purposes of description and do not necessarily apply to the position in which the retaining case for wrist watches may be constructed or used.

While a particular embodiment of the retaining case has been shown and described it is to be understood the invention is not limited thereto and protection is sought to the broadest extent the prior art allows.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A case for removably retaining and carrying a wrist watch, said case including: (a) a closed case housing except for an open top end and with an interior configuration disposed to slidably receive a wrist watch whose entering strap-retaining lug end is absent a wrist strap while retention of the wrist watch is effected in the case housing, this retaining lug end having a strap retaining pin carried therewith; (b) a resiliently biased clip mounted to extend upwardly from the bottom of the case, said clip having a recess at its upper end for laterally engaging the lower pin of the watch and retaining the same within the case when the watch is substantially fully inserted in the case, said pin partially fitting within said recess (c) at least one protective pad means carried by an inside surface of the case and protruding therefrom, said protective means disposed and adapted to prevent scratching the transparent face member of the watch during the inserting, withdrawal and retention of the watch within the case, and (d) a retaining clip attached to and extending from the back outer surface of the case to provide a securing support for mounting and releasably securing said retaining case on a belt, pocket, waist band and the like of a wearer.

2. A wrist watch retaining case as in claim 1 in which the housing is of drawn metal and is generally rectangular and the retaining clip attached to the outside of the case is a U-shaped clip.

3. A wrist watch retaining case as in claim 1 in which the strap-pin retaining clip is a channel-shaped metal clip and at its closed end is secured to the inner bottom closed end of the case housing, said clip having two upwardly extending leg portions formed with strap pin-receiving and retaining portions, said leg portions of the clip having their unattached upper distal ends flared outwardly to provide strap-pin guiding means.

4. A wrist watch retaining case as in claim 3 in which the pin retaining portions formed in the clip leg portions are substantially arcuate in shape.

5. A wrist watch retaining case as in claim 1 in which the protective pad means carried by the case housing is of resilient material such as foam rubber, foam plastic and the like, said pad presenting an inwardly facing surface which is a smooth sliding and non-scratching surface disposed to engage the face of a watch while the pad provides a shock-absorbing means for a retained wrist watch.

6. A wrist watch retaining case as in claim 5 in which the protective pad is tapered at its upper end to provide a guiding and deflecting means for the entering watch and the pad is adhesively attached to the inner wall of the case housing.

7. A wrist watch retaining case as in claim 1 in which the retaining clip secured to the back outer surface of a side of the case housing is a U-shaped clip attached by one leg to the back of the case housing and with the free leg of said clip directed away from the open end of the case.

8. A wrist watch retaining case as in claim 7 in which the outer leg of the attached outside U-shaped clip is made so as to be substantially parallel to the front face of the case so that a wrist watch may be exteriorly supported on said leg by passing said leg between the strap retaining pin and the case of the wrist watch so that said leg engages the pin and the watch body as the retaining case is laid with its opposite outer front face on a support surface.