Timepiece bezel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020301366-A1
Application number	US-202016822248-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 18, 2020
Priority date	Mar 21, 2019
Publication date	Sep 24, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A timepiece component ( 1 ) for a watch case, notably a bezel, comprising an axis (A), a first ring ( 10 ), a second ring ( 11 ) and a connecting element ( 12 ) for connecting the first and second rings, the connecting element being elastic and positioned between the first and second rings, the first ring and/or the second ring comprising an element ( 31 ) for retention on the rest of a watch case ( 200 ), particularly on a watch middle ( 4 ).

First claim

1 . A watch component for a watch case, the watch component comprising:
an axis, first ring, a second ring, and a connecting element for connecting the first and second rings, the connecting element being elastic and positioned between the first and second rings, at least one selected from the group consisting of the first ring and the second ring comprising an element for retention on the rest of the watch case.

2 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the watch component is designed to be mounted movably in rotation about the axis on the rest of the watch case.

3 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of
the first ring and the connecting element are held or fixed to one another by at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) adhesion by chemical bonding and (ii) an obstacle, the second ring and the connecting element are fixed to one another by at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) adhesion by chemical bonding and (ii) an obstacle.

4 . The watch component as claimed in claim 3 , wherein holding or fixation is by an obstacle, and the obstacle comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a pin, a wedge, a bayonet, a groove, a cavity, a rod, a boss, and an element with a helical geometry.

5 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of the first ring and the second ring is textured at its interface with the connecting element.

6 . The watch component as claimed in claim 6 , wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of the first ring and the second ring is at least partially coated with a binder layer at its interface with the connecting element.

7 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of:
the first ring comprises a first lip extending toward the second ring, the second ring comprises a second lip extending toward the first ring.

8 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the connecting element is made of elastomer or polymer, or of natural or synthetic rubber or fluoroelastomer, or of ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) rubber or nitrile or copolymer comprising a mixture of an elastomeric material and another material, or of polyurethane (PU), or of poly(3-caprolactone) and styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer (PCL/SBS).

9 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bulk modulus of the connecting element is between 1 GPa and 4 GPa.

10 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first and second rings are rotationally fixed about the axis (A) of the component and/or in that the connecting element ( 12 ) comprises at least a cavity and/or at least an insert.

11 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one selected from the group consisting of:
the connecting element is formed directly between the first ring and the second ring, the first ring is metallic or of ceramic material, the second ring is metallic or of ceramic material.

12 . A method for producing a watch component, comprising a first ring, a second ring, and a connecting element connecting the first and second rings, the method comprising:
providing the first ring and the second ring, positioning the first ring and the second ring with respect to one another, inserting, the connecting element between the first and second rings, and fixing the connecting element to at least one selected from the group consisting of the first ring and the second ring, so as to obtain the watch component as claimed in claim 1 .

13 . A watch component obtained by the implementation of the method as claimed in claim 12 .

14 . A watch case comprising the watch component was claimed in claim 1 .

15 . A timepiece comprising a watch case as claimed in claim 14 .

16 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , which is a watch bezel.

17 . The watch component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the element for retention on the rest of the watch case is configured for retention on the watch middle.

18 . The watch component as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the watch component is designed to be mounted movably in rotation about the axis on the watch middle.

19 . The watch component as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the binder layer is an adhesion primer layer.

20 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein:
the positioning of the first ring and the second ring with respect to one another is in a mold, the inserting of the connecting element between the first and second rings is by injection or by overmolding, and the fixing of the connecting element to at least one selected from the group consisting of the first ring and the second ring is by polymerization of the connecting element.

Assignees

• Rolex Sa

Inventors

• Boaron Nicolas
• Caillol Julien
• Celant Benjamin
• Mincone Laurent
• Nguyen Michael

Classifications

• G04B37/0008 Primary

  for pocket watches and wrist watches · CPC title

• G04B19/283 Primary

  on rotatable rings, i.e. bezel (for graduations on the bezels G04B19/18) · CPC title

• G04B37/22

  Materials or processes of manufacturing pocket watch or wrist watch cases {(machines or tools for the manufacture of clockwork cases G04D3/0064, G04D3/0097, G04D3/029; decoration or tools therefor G04B45/0076)} · CPC title

• G04B19/223

  with rotary disc, rotary bezel, or rotary dial · CPC title