EP0276414B1 - Woven tape - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a new woven ribbon, in particular for a belt, a strap, a strap, a bag strap, a watch strap, at least one end of which is intended to be anchored at an adjustable distance to a pin buckle.

Currently, when you make an object or an article like the ones we just mentioned using a woven ribbon, you don't just make holes in this ribbon to allow the barb to pass.

Indeed, so that the barb can always be easily introduced into the holes, without risking passing by, and for the fabric to resist well to the pulls of the barb, this fabric should consist of very stiff and very tight.

Now, it is true that it is always desirable or necessary for the object or article in question to have good stiffness in width but not in length.

Consequently, what we do is that we choose a fabric that meets this double requirement of rigidity in width and flexibility in length and that we then opt for one of the two following possibilities:

The first is to actually drill holes in the woven tape and surround them with eyelets.

The second is to fix at the end of the tape a strip made of a material more resistant than it, for example natural or synthetic leather, and to drill holes in it.

These two solutions have two disadvantages in common: they significantly increase the cost price of the object or article and they do not allow fine adjustment of the length thereof, because of the relatively large spaces that it you still have to plan between the holes.

In addition, the first solution has another drawback. This is because by interrupting at their location the continuity of the warp and weft threads, the holes compromise the mechanical resistance of the tape.

That said, if we read the French patent No 1,512,865 which was applied for on February 28, 1967, we realize that it has been a long time since we thought of making a ribbon with substantially equidistant weft threads arranged in the direction of its width and the warp threads in the direction of its length and to provide a narrow longitudinal zone completely devoid of warp threads for the passage of a barb, and this precisely to eliminate the drawbacks of the first solution which just spoke.

The problem is that we do not find in this document any details regarding the nature of the threads and the particular weaving mode (s) that should be used so that the ribbon in question meets all the requirements that we have indicated.

According to the holder, this ribbon can have any texture, but it is clear that this is not true. If this were so, ribbons of this kind or articles made with them would certainly have been in the trade for a long time.

The present invention aims to provide a solution that allows moving from this idea found in French Patent No. 1,512,865 to a concrete realization.

The invention also aims to ensure that this solution makes it possible to obtain a ribbon which can be produced in very large numbers and at a very low cost price.

These objects are achieved thanks to the fact that in the ribbon according to the invention which also comprises weft threads and warp threads arranged respectively in the direction of its width and its length and which also has in a narrow part of its width an area intended to be anchored to the pin buckle in which the weaving is less tight than elsewhere, but without that the warp threads are necessarily absent from this area, the weft threads are threads that are made at least partially made of synthetic material and the fact that it is woven so that the weft threads are joined by pairs of threads contiguous with the warp threads.

Thus the weft threads give the ribbon the desired stiffness in width and the warp threads its flexibility in length.

In addition, joining the weft threads in pairs has two advantages:

Firstly, these threads resist better the pulls of the barb than if they were regularly distributed along the length of the ribbon, as is the case in the aforementioned French patent.

Secondly, small spaces are created in this way between the pairs into which the barb can easily penetrate while continuing to offer the possibility of practically continuous adjustment of the length of the ribbon.

With regard to weft yarns, it is often preferable to use solid yarns, entirely made of synthetic material, but it is also possible in certain cases to use mixed yarns composed of a natural fiber core and a sheath made of synthetic material.

The choice of warp yarns is vast. They may for example be yarns made of very fine agglomerated and / or slightly twisted fibers, natural or artificial.

On the other hand, to obtain a less tight weaving in the narrow part we can for example arrange so that the warp threads are there less close to each other than in the other parts or so that the weft threads pass there on the same side of the warp threads.

If we opt for the solution which consists in not providing warp threads in the narrow part, we can weave on each side of this one a full, thin and stiff warp thread or a pair of contiguous threads of this kind. which passes alternately from one to the other side of the consecutive pairs of weft threads. In this way, the stiffening of the weft threads in the central region of the ribbon is accentuated and the other warp threads, which are much more flexible, are prevented from spreading in the narrow part.

Finally, it is clear that we can very widely diversify the appearance of the ribbon by using threads of different colors and different weaving methods.

Other characteristics and advantages of the ribbon according to the invention will appear on reading the following description of four possible embodiments chosen simply by way of examples and which are particularly well suited for the production of a watch strap . This description refers to the appended drawing in which FIGS. 1 to 4 are plan views of part of the ribbon in these four embodiments.

The weft of the ribbon shown in Figure 1 consists of a single wire 1, continuous, thin, full and made of resistant synthetic material. The wire 1 is folded back on itself, successively on each of the edges of the ribbon, as seen in particular in 2 and 3, on the edge of the bottom of the ribbon. It thus constitutes pairs of weft yarns 4, 5 contiguous, regularly spaced from one another, of which only all the two pairs are visible in the drawing, the intermediate pairs appearing on the reverse of the part of the ribbon shown in the drawing.

The chain of this ribbon is composed of two layers of son 6, 7, 8, 9 superimposed, each consisting of very fine agglomerated and / or slightly twisted fibers. Only those in the upper layer are visible in the drawing. Thus, the warp thread 6 of the upper layer alternately passes over three consecutive pairs of contiguous weft threads, then under the next pair of weft threads. All the two warp threads of this upper layer pass over and under the same pairs of contiguous weft threads as the thread 6. As for the warp thread 7, like all the other two warp threads of the upper layer, it passes alternately under the pair of contiguous weft threads, which is in the middle of those over which thread 6 passes, then on the next three consecutive pairs of contiguous weft threads.

As regards the warp threads in the lower layer, each of them passes alternately over the pair of contiguous weft threads, which is in the middle of those over which a warp thread of the upper layer passes, then under the the next three pairs of contiguous weft threads. The parts of the warp threads of the lower layer, which pass over a pair of contiguous weft threads, are covered by the warp threads of the upper layer, which pass over this same pair of weft threads as well as over the two pairs neighbors. Likewise, the warp threads of the lower layer, which pass under three successive pairs of contiguous weft threads, hide the parts of the warp threads of the upper layer which pass under a single pair of contiguous weft threads.

The warp threads are tight against each other, except the two threads 8 and 9, which are in the middle of the width of the ribbon and whose space they occupy is almost the same width as that occupied by three others contiguous warp threads.

The barb (not shown), to which one end of the ribbon described is intended to be anchored and which is in the middle of the width of the ribbon, can thus make its way between the two warp threads 8, 9 and between two consecutive pairs of contiguous weft threads, without damaging either of these threads. Since the pairs of consecutive weft threads are relatively close to each other, the ribbon described allows fine adjustment of its active length.

The ribbon of Figure 2 differs mainly from that of Figure 1 by the fact that it has, in the middle of its width, a narrow part 10, which is occupied only by weft son 11. The barb, to which one end of the ribbon is intended to be anchored, naturally engages in the free spaces between these wires 11. Although these wires 11 are formed by segments, which are folded in a zigzag along the ribbon, of a single and same wire, identical to that of FIG. 1, they are grouped here in triplets 12 of consecutive pairs of contiguous wires. The pairs of a triplet 12 are closer to each other than the triplets are.

The nature and the weaving of the warp threads 13 are identical to those of FIG. 1. However, two means are provided to prevent the warp threads 13 from spreading in the part 10 of the ribbon and to give the weft threads of this part 10 a rigidity allowing them to properly resist the tensile forces exerted on them by the barb to which one end of the strip is intended to be anchored.

The first of these means consists of a pair of contiguous warp threads 14, solid, thin and stiff, made of synthetic material, which extends along each of the edges of the part 10. Each of these pairs of threads 14 passes alternately from one to the other side of the consecutive pairs of contiguous weft threads.

The second means lies in the particular weaving of the two warp threads 15, 16 next to the threads 14, on each side of the part 10. The thread 15 passes successively from one to the other side of the consecutive triplets 12 and the thread 16 passes successively from one to the other side of each consecutive pair of contiguous weft threads. The wires 15, 16 are of the same nature as the wires 13.

The embodiment shown in Figure 3 differs mainly from that of Figure 2 by the fact that two layers of warp threads, of different colors, pass simultaneously and from place to place from one side to the other of the frame. The ribbon therefore has segments 17, 18 of alternating colors.

In this case, the two contiguous warp threads 14, full, thin and stiff, which extend along one and the other edge of the narrow median part 19 of the ribbon, pass, one, d 'one side, and the other on the other side of successive pairs 20 of contiguous weft threads 21, 22, which, in this embodiment, are regularly spaced from each other.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the weaving is identical to that of Figure 2. On either side of the narrow central portion 23 of the ribbon, there is, however, only one warp thread 24, solid, thin and stiff, which passes successively from one to the other side of the consecutive pairs of contiguous weft threads. In addition, some warp threads in a central zone 25 of the ribbon have substantially the same color as the weft threads, so as to camouflage the latter, which occupy the narrow part 23; while the outer warp threads, zones 26 and 27, have another color.

The ribbon of this last embodiment illustrates another very simple way of diversifying its appearance.

In the four embodiments shown in the drawing, the central part of the ribbon where the weaving is less tight extends, of course, over the entire length of the ribbon. It is, however, possible to limit this particular weaving to the zone of the ribbon, which is actually intended to be anchored to the barb in question. For this purpose, it suffices to pass the weft threads of this zone on the same side of two, three or four warp threads lying in the middle of the width of the ribbon or between the same warp threads of two superimposed layers. The barb will then be able to pass through this zone of the ribbon, engaging between the weft threads and the warp threads released from the weft, without risking damaging either of these threads.

The invention is obviously not limited to the described nature of the wires making up the ribbon. Instead of being made of synthetic material, part or all of these threads can consist of natural fibers, bare or coated with synthetic material.

Attaching a pin buckle to one end of the ribbon according to the invention presents no difficulty. It suffices to engage this end of the ribbon in the loop or a part of it, to fold it over the rest of the ribbon and to fix it to the latter, for example by means of one or more rivets. It can also be fixed to it by welding, sewing or gluing. If the ribbon wires and the loop are made of synthetic material, the end of the ribbon can even be soldered directly to the loop.

When the invention is used specifically in the manufacture of watch straps, it is not essential to limit the weaving to each strand of individual strap. On the contrary, a long strip will be woven, the width of which will be a multiple of that of the strands of the bracelet to be manufactured. From place to place, across this band, we will weave in a less tight way, as described above, narrow parts whose spacing between them will correspond to the width of the bracelets, then we will cut them in said band , to the desired length.

If at least the weft thread is made of synthetic material, the cutting to the width of the strands of bracelets can advantageously be carried out hot, for example by ultrasound. This procedure will at the same time ensure the welding together of the ends of the weft threads along the edges of the bracelet.

If, on the other hand, the weft thread is of natural origin, the cutting in question must be carried out mechanically. Then, it will be necessary to border the bracelet strands by sewing to avoid fraying. This naturally also applies to the ends of these strands.

Finally, if the threads making up the ribbon are mixed, that is to say if they are composed of a core of natural fiber, for example cotton, sheathed with synthetic material, for example PVC, cutting can be performed by high frequency, which will ensure at the same time the welding between them of the ends of these wires.

Attaching the strands of the bracelet to the handles of the watch case can be carried out in a similar manner to those described above with a loop. The bracelet strand extending from the watch case to the pin buckle naturally does not need to have a narrow central part woven less loosely, except to save the continuity of the appearance of the bracelet .

Claims (11)

1. A woven ribbon, especially for a belt, thong, strap, handbag handle or watch wristlet, one extremity of which is designed to be secured at an adjustable distance from a buckle with a tang, said ribbon comprising weft threads (4, 5; 11; 21, 22) and warp threads (6-9; 13; 25) disposed along the width and length thereof respectively and presenting in a narrow part (8, 9; 10; 19; 23) of its width at least one zone adapted to be secured to the buckle in which the weave is less closely woven than elsewhere, characterized by the fact that the weft threads are threads which are at least partially composed of synthetic material and by the fact that it is woven in such a way that the weft threads are joined in pairs of adjacent weft threads by the warp threads.

2. A ribbon according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the weft threads (4, 5; 11; 21; 22) are solid threads, entirely of synthetic material.

3. A ribbon according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that the warp threads (6-9; 13; 25) are composed of very fine fibre clusters and / or are slightly twisted.

4. A ribbon according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the fact that in said narrow part of the ribbon the warp threads (8, 9) are less close to one another than in the other parts of the ribbon.

5. A ribbon according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the fact that said narrow part (10; 19; 23) of the ribbon is only composed of weft threads.

6. A ribbon according to claim 5, characterized in that on both sides of said narrow part (10; 19; 23) of the ribbon there is woven a warp thread (24) or a pair (14) of adjacent warp threads, said warp threads (14; 24) being solid, thin and stiff and passing alternately from one side to the other of the consecutive pairs (20) of weft threads (21, 22).

7. A ribbon according to claim 6, characterized in that the weft threads form triplets (12) of close pairs of adjacent threads, the space between the triplets being larger than that between the pairs of adjacent threads of a triplet and in that the warp threads (13) are woven in two surim- posed layers, each partly visible on one face of the ribbon, the parts of the warp threads of one of these layers, which are visible on one side of the ribbon, passing on the same side of three successive pairs of adjacent weft threads and covering the parts of the warp threads of the other layer which pass on this same side as that of the pairs of weft threads which are located between the two others, both two warp threads of one or other of the two layers passing on the same side of three same pairs of weft threads, the single or the two parts of the warp threads next to that of the same layer, which pass on the same side of three successive pairs of weft threads, pass on the other side of the median pair of weft threads.

8. A ribbon according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the two warp threads (15, 16) next to the solid and thin warp threads (14) pass alternately, the one (16) from one to the other side of each consecutive pair of weft threads, and the other (15) from one to the other side of each consecutive triplet (12) of weft threads.

9. A ribbon according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the two layers of warp threads have different colours, the warp threads of one layer passing, from place to place (17, 18), from one side to the other of the weft.

10. A ribbon according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that only a few warp threads (25), situated on both sides of said narrow part (23) of the ribbon, have the same colour as the weft threads.

11. A ribbon according to claim 1, characterized in that in the zone of the ribbon to be secured to a buckle with a tang, the weft threads pass on the same side of the warp threads situated in said narrow part of the ribbon, in the middle of its width.

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