Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the field of wristwatches.

State of the art

It is known that a wristwatch essentially consists of three parts: the watchcase, the back case and the bezel.

The watchcase is a substantially cylindrical hollow body, which accommodates the watch movement and the dial with the hands or a display, in the case of digital watches.

The back case closes the watchcase on the side opposite to the dial and allows access for operations, repairs, battery changing cleaning, etc.

The bezel is the band, usually made of metal, which surrounds the glass of the watch and fixes it to the upper part of the watchcase.

In mechanical watches, one or more buttons and the crown, which interact with the movement system by means of a corresponding holes in the side band of the watchcase and allow to set the hour and other possible functions of the watch (changing the date, chronometer, etc.), are located on the side band of the watchcase.

In particular, the crown is connected to the movement by means of a thin sliding metallic rod, named "winding shaft", which allows to rewind and set the movement by turning the crown. Furthermore, the winding shaft is provided with engagement points, which allow the action on the mechanisms, for example for changing the date and setting the time. Said engaging means interact with respective mechanisms when the crown is extracted outwards, pulling the winding shaft therewith by the minimum distance needed to allow the aforesaid engagement. Because of its position on the edge of the watchcase, and thus contrasting with the user's arm, the crown is rather uncomfortable and difficult to operate, and therefore the watch normally needs to be removed to either rewind it or make the necessary movements.

Furthermore, in objects such as watches, in particular luxury ones, each manufacturing detail must also contribute to defining the exterior appearance of the object: therefore, the crown, in addition to its practical purpose, is particularly suitable for performing this function but its position considerably limits its possible visual impact.

It is thus apparent that it would be worth having a watch wherein the crown were positioned so as to be easily operated and which could further contribute to characterize the watch itself.

Brief description of the figures

Fig. 1 diagrammatically shows an embodiment of the invention, wherein the crown is in resting phase (rewinding function only).

Fig, 2 diagrammatically shows the crown in figure 1 in active position (setting of hands, calendar, etc.).

Fig. 3 shows a detail of the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

The present invention allows to overcome the aforesaid problems by virtue of a wristwatch wherein the crown axis is arranged in inclined position with respect to the plane containing the dial, and therefore the crown is either on an upper edge of the watchcase (or on a small protrusion adherent to the edge of the wristwatch) or on the bezel.

Figure 1 diagrammatically shows a crown 10 arranged on the upper edge of the watchcase 11.

A rod 12 perpendicular to the plane containing the crown (also known as crown axis) connects the crown 10 to the shaft 14 (winding shaft) passing through a specific slot 13 obtained in the watchcase (see Figure 3, in which the crown is not shown for clarity); the winding shaft 14 is then normally connected to the movement of the watch (not shown in the figure).

The rod 12 is connected to the winding shaft 14 by means of a mechanism, which allows to transmit the rotation movement of the crown to the winding shaft 14 but also to make said winding shaft 14 run forwards and backwards; an example of said mechanism, as diagrammatically illustrated in the figure, may be a universal joint 15.

The rod 12 will obviously rest on a fulcrum 16, arranged along the length thereof where most appropriate and fixed to the inner wall of the watchcase; said fulcrum may either consist of a pin on which the rod 12 rests or a pin provided with an eyelet through which the rod 12 passes.

The angle α between the rod 12 and the winding shaft 14 may be, for example, comprised between 31°-42° according to the positioning point of the crown on the upper edge of the watchcase or the bezel.

The operation of the crown is apparent in itself.

In resting position (Fig. 1), the crown will be arranged so that the winding shaft 14 is pushed towards the movement of the watch, and may thus act thereon by means of the universal joint 15 following the rotation to which it will be subjected. When it is needed to operate on other mechanisms of the watch (calendar, time setting, etc. as mentioned above) it is sufficient to move the crown along the slot 13 so that the rod 12 by acting on the fulcrum 16 pulls the winding shaft 14 outwards allowing the engagement means present thereon (not shown in the figure) to act on corresponding setting mechanisms, as described and already occurs in normal watches, by pulling the crown in direction perpendicular to the watchcase.