WO1997045775A1

WO1997045775A1 - Improvements to underwater watches incorporating a releasable fastening system for the unidirectional rotatable bezel on the casing

Info

Publication number: WO1997045775A1
Application number: PCT/EP1997/002799
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruno Latini
Original assignee: Cartier International B.V.
Priority date: 1996-05-31
Filing date: 1997-05-29
Publication date: 1997-12-04
Also published as: ITRM960381A1; IT1285147B1; ITRM960381A0; AU3030497A

Abstract

An underwater watch having a unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1) mounted on the casing (3), characterised in that the unidirectional rotatable bezel (1) has a cylindrical portion having two or more inwardly projecting teeth (8) on its internal circumference and is mounted on the casing (3) by means of a circular support ring (2); the casing (3) has an upper toothed annulus (11) having a toothed portion with saw-teeth and has a cylindrical upper portion in which an annular groove (10) is formed; the ring (2) supporting the bezel (1) on the casing (3) is constituted by a split circular collar which is resiliently insertable in the annular groove (10) of the casing (3) and which has means cooperating with the inwardly projecting teeth (8) of the rotatable bezel (1) for the axial locking of said bezel, means for joining the rotatable bezel (1) and the support ring (2), and also means for ensuring the axial stability of the rotatable bezel (1) and cooperating with the toothed portion (11) of the casing (3) in order to ensure that the bezel rotates unidirectionally.

Description

Improvements to underwater watches incorporating a

releasable fastening system for the unidirectional

rotatable bezel on the casing

The present invention relates generally to sports

or work watches for underwater use which are

provided with a bezel having a circular annulus,

with the possibility of unidirectional movement,

accommodating reference or measurement data or

information.

More especially, the present invention relates to

a device of novel design to be used for the

releasable fastening of the rotatable bezel of

underwater watches to the suitably adapted carrier

or casing, using simple and easy mounting and

removal operations which can be carried out

directly by the user of the watch and not

necessarily by a specialist. The possibility of removing the bezel without the

work of a specialist worker or artisan especially

demonstrates its usefulness because it permits the

extremely easy removal of salt encrustations which form after repeated use of the watch in salt

water, practically in all marine applications, and

which may render difficult or even prevent the

rotation of the bezel .

Fastening systems or devices which also, when

desired, provide for the locking of the

unidirectional rotatable bezel are already known

and are in common use, but those known devices are

normally formed by at least two mechanical

components, one of which is used to ensure

unidirectional rotation of the bezel and the other

of which is used to ensure that the bezel is

fastened to the casing. In particular, the latter

component is formed by a spring which engages in

two grooves, one of which is formed on the

internal cylindrical surface of the bezel and the

other of which is formed on the external cylindrical surface of the casing. This means that

the bezel has to be snap-fitted on the casing.

The main disadvantage of this known device is that

the removal of the bezel is very difficult and

therefore this operation must necessarily be

carried out by specialist personnel provided with suitable equipment. As will be appreciated, this

difficulty makes it very hard to carry out the

operation of removing salt residues from the

planes of the bezel by means of which it slides on

the casing, and undoubtedly makes it impossible

for it to be carried out directly by the ordinary

user of the watch who is not provided with the

necessary equipment .

The aim of the present invention, therefore, is to

provide a device which, while ensuring the maximum

reliability and guarantee of leakproofness of the

bezel on the casing and its easy unidirectional

rotation, has a structure such that, first of all,

it is capable of performing both of the functions and, in the second place, it is sufficiently

simple to permit easy mounting and dismounting of

the bezel, so that the operations for removing

salt deposits are particularly easy to carry out,

even directly by the user of the watch.

A basic feature of the device which the invention

seeks to provide is that it is formed by a single

component .

The above-mentioned aim is achieved in accordance

with the present invention by means of an underwater watch having a unidirectional rotatable circular bezel mounted on the casing, wherein

the unidirectional rotatable bezel has a

cylindrical portion having two or more inwardly projecting teeth on its internal circumference and

is mounted on the casing by means of a circular

support ring,

- the casing has an upper toothed annulus having a

toothed portion with saw-teeth and has a

cylindrical upper portion in the external cylindrical surface of which an annular groove is

formed,

- the ring supporting the bezel on the casing is

constituted by a split circular collar which is

resiliently insertable in the annular groove of the casing and which has means cooperating with

the inwardly projecting teeth of the rotatable

bezel for the axial locking of said bezel, means

for joining the rotatable bezel and the support ring, and also means for ensuring the axial

stability of the rotatable bezel and cooperating

with the toothed portion of the casing in order to

ensure that the bezel rotates unidirectionally.

In the preferred embodiment the means cooperating

with the teeth of the rotatable bezel in order to lock it axially are elongate notches formed on the

external circumference of the support ring to

permit the passage of the teeth during the

mounting of the bezel on the support ring. Also in the preferred embodiment, the means for

joining the rotatable bezel to the support ring

are formed by one or more screws which, by passing

through suitable threaded holes in the bezel, are

inserted in corresponding holes in the ring, or

are formed by suitably fixed pins.

Also in the preferred embodiment, the means for

ensuring the axial stability of the rotatable

bezel and cooperating with the toothed portion of the casing to ensure that the bezel rotates

unidirectionally, are formed by resilient

extensions which are produced by tangential

cutting of the external circumference of the support ring, are bent in the axial direction and

are capable of engaging with the saw-teeth of the

toothed portion of the casing.

Other details and advantages of the present

invention will become clear from the following

description which is given with reference to the

appended drawings in which the preferred embodiment is shown purely by way of non-limiting

example .

Figure 1 is an exploded view of the upper portion

of an underwater watch which shows the bezel, the fastening device according to the present

invention and a simplified representation of the

casing,

Figure IA shows a slightly enlarged and sectioned

detail of the upper portion of the casing which

shows the toothed portion and the groove for the

insertion cf the fastening device.

Figures 2 and 3 are two sectional partial views of

an underwater watch in which the device for fastening the bezel of the present invention is

installed.

Referring now especially to Figure 1, it can be

seen that the bezel 1 is mounted and held on the

casing 3 of the watch by means of a single, simple ring device 2. The support ring 2 is formed

substantially by a spring which is in the form of

a circular annulus, has a cross-section suitable

for use, and is split radially so that it can be

opened out resiliently for insertion in the

annular groove 10 (Figure IA) formed in the

cylindrical upper portion of the casing 3.

Three or more notches 4 are formed on the

circumference of the ring 2 and, during the mounting stage, they permit the easy passage of

the elongate support teeth 8 provided on the

internal cylindrical portion cf the bezel 1.

The teeth 8, during the mounting of the bezel 1, pass through the above-mentioned notches 4 formed

on the external circumference of the support' ring

2 and, by a simple operation of pressing towards

the bottom and rotating the bezel in the locking

sense, they are positioned beneath the unworked

portion of the support ring 2, thus locking the

bezel 1 axially. The bezel 1 is thus fixed in position and joined

to the support ring 2 by means of the screw 9

which engages in the hole 7 of the ring 2.

In order to ensure that the bezel 1 rotates

unidirectionally on the casing 3, three or more

resilient extensions 5 which are bent in the axial

direction, that is to say, in practice, towards

the bottom in Figure 1, are formed on the

circumference of the support ring 2, by tangential

cutting and in the area of some of the notches 4, and act both as thrust springs for conferring a

solid axial stability on the bezel, and as

elements for stopping reverse rotation when the

bezel 1 is mounted on the casing 3. These

resilient extensions 5 abut the teeth of the

toothed portion 11 formed on the casing or applied

thereto by means of a suitable stamped ring. In more detail, still with reference to Figure 1,

the mounting of the bezel 1 is effected in the

manner which will now be explained.

Using normal snap-ring pliers applied to the

service holes 6 formed on the sides of the split

in the support ring 2, the resilient ring 2 is

opened out slightly to an extent sufficient to

permit the insertion thereof into the annular

groove 10 of the cylindrical upper portion of the casing (Figure IA) , taking care to orientate the

abutting resilient extensions 5 downwards .

After having thus positioned the support ring 2 on

the casing 3, the rotatable bezel 1 is mounted on

the unit comprising the casing and the support

ring, causing the teeth 8 of the bezel to pass

through the corresponding notches 4 formed on the

external circumference of the support ring 2.

By exerting a slight downward pressure and

performing a suitable limited rotation of the bezel in the sense of blocking rotation (that is

to say, in the sense in which the ring 2 cannot

rotate owing to opposition by the extensions 5

engaged in the toothed portion 11 beneath) , the

bezel 1 is caused to slide on the ring 2 as far as

a suitable predetermined index line or as far as a

mechanical block formed on the ring. In practice,

the relative rotation of the bezel 1 and the

support ring 2 must be sufficient only for the

teeth 8 formed on the bezel 1 to be positioned

beneath the unworked portion of the support ring 2, that is to say, offset relative to the notches

4 of the ring, in such a manner that the bezel

cannot be removed axially.

In order to fix this relative position, the

support ring 2 has a hole 7 which is aligned with

the threaded hole formed in the bezel for the

insertion of the screw 9. Thus, the screw 9 locks

the bezel 1 on the support ring 2 , ensuring the

integral rotation of the unit formed by the bezel

1 and the support ring 2. The dismounting operation is just as easy as the

mounting operation, it being sufficient and easy

to repeat the above procedure in the reverse

order, always rotating the bezel in the locking

sense until the teeth 8 are brought into register

with the notches 4 of the ring 2.

The sections shown in Figures 2 and 3 are,

respectively, in the area of one of the teeth 8 of the bezel 1 and in the area of one of the

resilient extensions 5 of the support ring 2.

Naturally, there may be more than one of the

locking screws 9 in Figure 1, if necessary, or

they may be replaced by one or more suitably fixed

pins.

Finally, with the described structure which

involves the bezel, the casing, and the ring for

supporting the bezel on the casing, the

dismounting and remounting of the bezel can be carried out simply by using a screwdriver and the

operation can be carried out with maximum

simplicity even by persons having no training.

In addition, the operations of dismounting and

remounting the support ring, when necessary, for

example for more thorough cleaning, can be carried out very easily by using normal snap-ring pliers.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention

has been described above and variants have been

suggested but it should be appreciated that

experts in the art can introduce ether variants,

modifications and changes to the details and

structural features without thereby departing from the scope of the present industrial invention.

Claims

1. An underwater watch having a

unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1)

mounted on the casing (3), characterised in that the unidirectional rotatable bezel (1) has a

cylindrical portion having two or more inwardly

projecting teeth (8) on its internal circumference

and is mounted on the casing (3) by means of a circular support ring (2) ,

- the casing (3) has an upper toothed annulus (11)

having a toothed portion with saw-teeth and has a cylindrical upper portion in which an annular

groove (10) is formed,

- the ring (2) supporting the bezel (1) on the

casing (3) is constituted by a split circular collar which is resiliently insertable in the

annular groove (10) of the casing (3) and which

has means cooperating with the inwardly projecting

teeth (8) of the rotatable bezel (1) for the axial

locking of said bezel, means for joining the

rotatable bezel (1) and the support ring (2) , and also means for ensuring the axial stability of the

rotatable bezel (1) and cooperating with the

toothed portion (11) of the casing (3) in order to

ensure that the bezel rotates unidirectionally.

2. An underwater watch having a

unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1)

mounted on the casing (3) according to Claim 1,

characterised in that the support ring (2) in the

form of a split resilient collar has holes (6) for

opening out.

3. An underwater watch having a

unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1) mounted on the casing (3) according to Claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the means cooperating

with the teeth (8) for the axial locking of the

rotatable bezel (1) are elongate notches (4) formed on the external circumference of the

support ring (2) to permit the passage of the

teeth (8) during the mounting of the bezel (1) on

the support ring (2) .

4. An underwater watch having a

unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1)

mounted on the casing (3) according to Claims 1

and 2, characterised in that the means for joining

the rotatable bezel (1) to the support ring (2) are formed by one or more screws (9) which, by

passing through suitable threaded holes in the

bezel (1) , are inserted in corresponding holes (7)

in the ring (2) .

5. An underwater watch having a

unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1) mounted on the casing (3) according to Claims 1

and 2, characterised in that the means for joining

the rotatable bezel (1) to the support ring (2) are formed by suitably fixed pins.

6. An underwater watch having a

unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1)

mounted on the casing (3) according to Claims 1

and 2, characterised in that the means for ensuring the axial stability of the rotatable

bezel (1) and cooperating with the toothed portion

(11) of the casing (3) to ensure that the bezel

rotates unidirectionally are formed by resilient

extensions (5) which are produced by tangential

cutting of the external circumference of the

support ring (2) , are bent in the axial direction

and are capable of engaging with the saw-teeth of

the toothed portion (11) of the casing (3) .

7. An underwater watch having a

unidirectional rotatable circular bezel (1) mounted en the casing ^■';) according to any cne cf

the preceding Claims and substantially as described in the description and represented in

Figures 1 to 3 of the appended drawings .