US3619923A - Calendar watch band - Google Patents

Abstract

A WATCH BAND HAVING A CALENDAR SECURED THEREON. THE CALENDAR COMPRISES A HOUSING WITH A TRANSPARENT LENS ON ONE LATERAL SURFACE THEREOF. A SUPPORT IS POSITIONED BENEATH THE TRANSPARENT LENS AND A BAND IS MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT. THE BAND HAS THIRTHEEN COLUMNS OF NUMBERS THEREON, WITH ANY SEVEN ADJACENT COLUMNS OF NUMBERS ADAPTED TO INDICATE ALL OF THE DAYS OF A GIVEN MONTH. THE BAND IS MOVABLE ON THE SUPPORT TO POSITION ANY SEVEN ADJACENT COLUMNS OF NUMBERS BENEATH THE TRANSPARENT LENS, THEREBY GIVING THE USER OF THE WATCH BAND AN IMMEDIATE INDICATION OF THE DAYS OF A GIVEN MONTH. INDICIA ARE PLACED ON THE HOUSING ADJACENT ONE EDGE OF THE TRANSPARENT LENS TO INDICATE THE SEVEN DAYS OF THE WEEK.

Description

72 Shouts-Shoot l M. A. BRUNER CALENDAR WATCH BAND INVENTOR MATES/1. BRUNER I45 I I Nov. 16, 1971 Filed Nov. 4, 1969 "acomib ATTORNEYS,

Nov. 16, 1971 M. A. BRUNER CALENDAR WATCH BAND 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 4.- 1969 lNVENTOR MATES A. BRU/VER BY W,

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofice 3,6l9,923 Patented Nov. 16, 1971 3,619,923 CALENDAR WATCH BAND Mates A. Bruner, 1113 Wynnbrook Place, Secane, Pa. 19108 Filed Nov. 4, 1969, Ser. No. 873,868 Int. Cl. G09d 3/10 US. Cl. 40-118 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A watch band having a calendar secured thereon. The calendar comprises a housing with a transparent lens on one lateral surface thereof. A support is positioned beneath the transparent lens and a band is mounted on the support. The band has thirteen columns of numbers thereon, with any seven adjacent columns of numbers adapted to indicate all of the days of a given month. The band is movable on the support to position any seven adjacent columns of numbers beneath the transparent lens, thereby giving the user of the watch band an immediate indication of the days of a given month. Indicia are placed on the housing adjacent one edge of the transparent lens to indicate the seven days of the week.

This invention relates to a watch band, and more particularly, to a calendar assembly which can be made integral with the watch band or secured to any watch band to indicate the date for any given day of the month.

In recent years, a small metallic calendar has been developed which could be clipped on to a watch band to readily indicate the date for any given day. These calendars have been found to be most useful for salesmen, doctors, other professional men or any other people who were constantly away from their desks and needed a handy indicator for the date. The clip-on calendars have been found to be quite useful, in that they provided a ready indication of the date, but have the serious shortcoming of being very unattractive in appearance. Furthermore, the calendar is only good for a one month period, and would have to be changed each month. Also, since the calendar was only clipped on by bent tabs, it has been found that it could easily be jarred loose from the watch band and lost.

An improvement in the clip-on calendar has recently been developed wherein an annular calendar has been made part of a watch band. A lens is provided on a housing for the calendar, and the calendar is positioned beneath the lens. The calendar comprises an elongated band having one end rollable on one roller and the other end rollable on a second roller. As each month changed, the user could roll the calendar to the extent that the next succeeding month would be placed beneath the lens. A crown is provided for each roller in order to be able to move the calendar in either a forward or backward direction, thereby enabling the user to determine the date for any given day of a year. A total of twelve monthly calendars is placed on the band, and the calendar must be changed at the end of each year. In order to permit use of the calendar partially into the succeeding year, an additional three months of the succeeding year have been added onto the band, thereby permitting the use of the calendar for a year and three months.

The improved calendar which is integral with the watch band provided a number of improvements over the clipon calendars. There is no danger of losing the clipped-on calendar, since the improved calendar is integral with the watch band. Furthermore, the improved calendar is effective for a period of up to fifteen months, and therefore need be changed only annually, rather than monthly, as is the case with the clip-on calendars. However, it has been found that the improved calendar also suffers from a number of disadvantages.

One of the most serious disadvantages is that the protruding crowns are extremely small, and are positioned in open slots exposed to penetration of corrosive elements and dirt. These elements and the dirt ultimately impair the usability of the crowns, and it has been found that it is difiicult to move the calendar from one month to the next after the calendar has been in use for the better part of the year.

Another disadvantage of the improved calendar is that the numbers on the calendar are extremely small in order to insure that the calendar will fit Within the width of a watch band. Having the small numbers makes the calendar difiicult to read.

A third disadvantage is that the calendar can be used for a maximum of fifteen months. Replacement of the calendar is difficult, and on many occasions it can be replaced only by a jeweler.

The improved calendar watch band of this invention overcomes all of the disadvantages of the calendar Watch bands presently in use. The numbers on the calendar are three times as large as the numbers on the calendar presently in use. There are no rollers or stems which can become clogged during use, and there is no intricate mechanism for changing the calendar each month in the calendar watch band of this invention. Additionally, the calendar of the watch band of this invention is perpetual, and need never be replaced. The changing from one month to the next is easily accomplished, and the calendar assembly need not be changed at the end of any given year.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a novel calendar watch band.

It is another object of this invention to provide a calendar assembly that is securable on a watch band.

These and other objects of this invention are accomplished by providing a calendar for a watch band comprising a housing, said housing having an opening in the top thereof, a support positioned beneath said opening, indicia adjacent said opening on said housing for indicating the seven days of a week, and a band monuted on said support, said band having thirteen columns of numbers thereon, with any seven adjacent columns of numbers being adapted to be aligned with the indicia indicating the seven days of the week, whereby the date for any given day in any given month can be determined from said indicia and said columns of numbers.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the calendar watch band of this invention, as mounted on a wristwatch;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the calendar assembly of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the calendar assembly of this invention, with parts broken away for the purpose of clarity;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the number band of the calendar assembly of this invention and the support for the band.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, a calendar watch band embodying the present invention is generally shown at 10 in FIG. 1. Device 10 basically comprises a watch band 12 having a 35 calendar assembly 14 formed as an integral part thereof. The watch band 12 is in turn secured onto a watch 16, in a manner well known to the art.

As best seen in FIG. 4, calendar assembly 14 comprises a housing 18 having an upper surface 20 and dependent side walls 22. An opening 24 is formed in upper surface 20, and a transparent lens is mounted to opening 24. Lens 26 includes flanges 28 and 30 that abut the underside of top surface 20, thereby securing the lens 26 in place. If desired, flanges 28 and 30 can be adhesively secured in place to prevent the inadvertent removal of the lens 26. Lens 26 can be formed of any transparent material, such as glass or a plastic. If desired, the lens 26 can be curved to render it a magnifying lens in order to facilitate the use of the calendar of this invention.

A roller 32 is mounted between walls 22 and held in place by protruding pins 34 which are received in holes in walls 22. A second roller 36 is mounted between walls 22 and is held in place by protruding pins 38 which are received in holes in walls 22. Rollers 32 and 36 are longitudinally spaced and are aligned, as best seen in FIG. 4.

A supporting block 40 is positioned in housing 18 between walls 22. As best seen in FIG. 4, block 40 has flat upper and lower surfaces and is rounded at its ends. Block 40 is preferably formed from a plastic material having a low coefiicient of friction, such as polytetrafluoroethylene or nylon.

A calendar band 42, which comprises a continuous loop, is mounted on block 40. Band 42 is shown in a linear form in FIG. 6 for ease of understanding. As seen in FIG. 6, band 42 has printed on the surface thereof thirteen columns of numbers, in a vertical sense, and five rows of numbers, in a horizontal sense. With the exception of the first two columns, each successive number in a column is seven higher than the number above it. Additionally, the numbers in any given row run consecutively, with the exception of the first two numbers in the first row.

The purpose of the numbers on band 42 is to indicate the date for each day of the month for any given month. Accordingly, any seven adjacent columns of numbers will indicate all of the days of a given month. The band 42 is used by positioning the column having the number 1 under the indicia for the day on which the first day of the month falls. Accordingly, housing 18 is provided with indicia 44 showing the seven days of the month. The indicia 44 can be engraved into the housing or printed thereon. The indicia is positioned above lens 26.

By way of example, assuming the first day of a given month falls on Saturday, then the column containing the number 1, which is the center column on band 42, is positioned beneath the indicia for Saturday. All other days of the month can readily be ascertained by using the indicia and numbers in the normal manner of using a calendar. It should be noted that the numbers 30 and 31 are placed in the same row as the number 1 when the band 42 is positioned in the manner shown in FIG. 2. The reason for doing this is to avoid the necessity of having a sixth row of numbers for the instances when the thirtieth or thirty-first of a month fall on a Sunday or Monday. By limiting the band 42 to five rows of numbers, the size of each of the numbers can be maintained at a maximum. This, coupled with the fact that the numbers extend longitudinally relative to the watch band, permits the use of numbers that are substantially larger than those used on the watch calendars presently 1n use.

At the end of a given month, band 42 is moved in order to position the number 1 below the day on which the first day of the month falls. In order to facilitate the movement of band 42 on support 40, a sleeve 46 is secured to band 42 along one edge thereof. Sleeve 46 is provided with a series of notches 48 which are engageable by a fingernail. Thus, the user of the calendar device of this invention will insert his fingernail in one of the notches 48 4 and slide the band 42 relative to support 40 until the number 1 is below the desired day of the week indicated at 44. Having the sleeve 48 eliminates the necessity of using stems and rollers which may become clogged during use, thereby rendering them ineffective.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 5, sleeve 46 is positioned under an impervious portion of top surface 20 of housing 18, and therefore is not visible. Access to sleeve 46 is through the use of cover plate 50. As seen in FIG. 4, plate 50 has a loop 52 formed at one end thereof which is telescoped over roller 32. Plate 50 also includes an arcuate lip 54 (FIG. 4) which resiliently engages roller 36. A dependent lip 56 is formed in plate 50 adjacent lip 54.

When it is desired to move calendar band 42 relative to indicia 44, plate 50 is pivoted from the position shown in full line in FIG. 4 to the position shown in phantom at 50' in FIG. 4. This is accomplished by engaging lip 56 with a fingernail and rotating plate 50 around roller 32. Resilient lip 54 is disengaged from roller 36, and the plate will automatically drop to the position shown at 50. Thereafter, a fingernail can be inserted in one of the notches 48 of sleeve 46, and band 42 can be moved on support 40 until the columns of numbers are correctly aligned with the indicia 44 for a given month. At the end of any given month, the calendar band 42 is adjusted to properly align the columns of numbers with the indicia. After the band has been set for the given month, plate 50 is returned to the position shown in full line in FIG. 4 by snapping resilient lip 54 over roller 36.

As seen in FIG. 3, a second plate 58, which is similar in structure and function to plate 50, is provided. Plate includes a loop 60 which pivotally mounts the plate on roller 32. An arcuate lip 62 resiliently engages roller 36. A dependent lip 46 is provided for pivoting plate 58 in the same manner as is shown in FIG. 4 with respect to plate 50.

The purpose of plate 58 is to provide an opening in conjunction with plate 50 into the housing 18 in order to permit the removal of support 40 and the associated band 42. With the support and band removed, the watch band, along the calendar assembly 14, can then be cleaned. Additionally, access is provided for cleaning the interior surface of lens 26. If band 42 should even become damaged or if any of the numbers should be obliterated, a new band can be inserted by removal of support 40 and the associated band after plates 50 and 58 have been pivoted to an open position.

After the support 40 and band 42 have been reinserted into the housing 18, plates 50 and 58 are returned to the position shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 5, it is seen that support 40 is maintained within housing 18 by the engagement of sleeve 46 against flange 30 at the top and plate 50 at the bottom. The other end of support 40 is secured between a pair of protuberances 66 (one shown in FIG. 5) projecting downwardly from flange 28-, and integrally formed therewith, and outstruck nibs 68 formed in plate 58. As seen in FIG. 3, nibs 68 are formed directly in plate 58. The protuberances 66 and nibs 68 maintain the vertical position of support 40 within the housing. The ends of protuberances 66 and nibs 68 are rounded, and therefore there is little resistance to the sliding of band 42 relative to them at the time the columns of the band are aligned with the indicia 44. Since the protuberances and nibs contact the lower edge of band 42, as viewed in FIG. 6, none of the numbers imprinted on the band will be obliterated by the sliding contact of the band and the protuberances and nibs. All contact is with a portion of the band on which no numbers are printed.

The calendar assembly 14 of this invention is preferably formed as an integral part of a watch band 12. For this purpose, each wall 22 of housing 18 is provided with a pair of spaced openings 70. The calendar assembly is then secured on a watch band by pins 72 (FIG. 1) which pass through aligned openings 70 and through loops formed in the ends of the watch band. The loops can be similar to those used for securing the watch band on the watch 16. The calendar assembly 14 can be positioned at any point along the length of band 12, but it is preferably to position at the center of the band in order to have the calendar assembly completely out of view when the watch is worn, since the calendar assembly will be placed against the bottom of the wrist. This is also a convenient position for viewing the calendar when it is used.

The calendar assembly 14 is adapted for use with any watch band known to the art. Accordingly, it can be used with bracelet bands, stretch bands, cloth bands, leather bands or any combinations thereof. Instead of having the calendar assembly as an integral part of the watch band, it can also be used by slipping the same over a watch band on any watch. This is accomplished by placing the assembly 14 over a watch band, and inserting pins 72 under the watch band. This use of the calendar assembly is preferable with a strap type of band, since access must be had to plate 50 in order to change the setting of the calendar band 42.

The calendar assembly 14 can be made from any of the materials known to the art, and the specific material used is a matter of choice. Housing 18 is preferably made from any of the metals normally used for making watches such as stainless steel, gold, a gold alloy or a gold plate on a base metal. Lens 26 can be plastic or glass. Supporting block 40 is preferably formed from a plastic having a low coefficient of friction, such as nylon or polytetrafluoroethylene. Band 42 can be paper or a synthetic plastic. Preferably a plastic is used, since in this way the band 42 can be extruded as a continuous loop and then cut to size. Also, if it is formed from a plastic, there will be less frictional resistance to the sliding of the loop on support 40. Suitable plastics for band 42 are nylon and Mylar (polyethylene terephthalate). The numbers can be printed on band 42 by any printing method known to the art. Having the band 42 formed from a resilient plastic enjoys the additional advantage of rendering it easily slid over support 40 during the assembling process.

Sleeve 46 can also be formed from a resilient plastic or natural or synthetic rubber. A plastic that can be used is nylon. Sleeve 46 can also be formed by an extrusion process, and then cut to size. The sleeve 46 is secured on band 42 by heat Welding or any adhesive normally used for cementing plastics.

Although one of the advantages of the device of this invention is the fact that rollers with stems are eliminated, thereby eliminating many of the problems of dirt and corrosion of the prior art, the invention still can be carried out by supporting band 42 on a pair of rollers and utilizing stems or wheels to move the hand. If this were done, access to the rear of housing 14 would no longer be necessary for the purpose of changing the positioning of the columns of numbers each month. The change could then be accomplished through the use of stems projecting through the upper surface 20 of housing 18.

Because the change of the columns of numbers is longitudinal with respect to the watch band 12, numbers that are substantially larger than those of the calendar watch bands presently in use can be used. Thus, in the present calendars, the numbers extend across the width of the watch band, and therefore are limited in size to the size that will conveniently contain seven columns of numbers across the width of the band. This limitation is not present in the calendar band of this invention.

Having the column of numbers with the number 1 in the center minimizes the total number of columns that must be present on the band 42. Thus, by the arrangement shown in FIG. 6, only thirteen columns of numbers on the band 42 are necessary.

Because the thirteen columns of numbers on band 42 can be used to indicate the date for any month, regardless of the year, the calendar assembly of this invention pro- 6 vides a perpetual calendar. The band 42 will only have to be changed in the event it becomes worn. Since the band will have to be moved a maximum of twelve times a year, it is believed the wear rate will be extremely small, and therefore the band will have a long period of usefulness.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention, that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, adopt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A calendar for a watch band comprising a housing, said housing having an opening in the top thereof, support means positioned beneath said opening, indicia adjacent said opening on said housing for indicating the seven days of a week, a band mounted on said support means, said band comprising a continuous loop, said band having thirteen columns of numbers thereon, with any seven adjacent columns of numbers being adapted to be aligned with said indicia, whereby the date for any given day in any given month can be determined from said indicia and said columns of numbers, and means to move said band relative to said support means, said moving means comprising a sleeve secured to said band.

2. The calendar of claim 1 wherein said sleeve has a plurality of slots formed in the surface thereof, said slots being engageable by a fingernail for moving said sleeve and its associated band.

3. A calendar for a watch band comprising a housing, said housing having an opening in the top thereof, support means positioned beneath said opening, indicia adjacent said opening on said housing for indicating the seven days of a week, a band mounted on said support means, said band having thirteen columns of numbers thereon, with any seven adjacent columns of numbers being adapted to be aligned with said indicia, whereby the date for any given day in any given month can be determined from said indicia and said columns of numbers, and a pair of cover plates on said housing, said cover plates being positioned on the side opposite said opening in said housing, both of said cover plates being movable, whereby one of said cover plates can be moved to provide access to said band to vary the position of the columns of said band relative to said opening by adjusting said band on said support means, and whereby both of said cover plates can be moved to permit the removal of said support means and its associated band.

4. A calendar for a Watch band comprising a housing, said housing having an opening in the top thereof, support means positioned beneath said opening, indicia adjacent said opening on said housing for indicating the seven days of a week, a band mounted on said support means, Said band having thirteen columns of numbers thereon, with any seven adjacent columns of numbers being adapted to be aligned with said indicia, whereby the date for any given day in any given month can be determined from said indicia and said columns of numbers, and means within said housing for releasably securing said support means and said band within said housing and with said band spaced from said housing.

5. The calendar of claim 4 and further including means for mounting said calendar on a watch band.

6. The calendar of claim 5 wherein said means for mounting said calendar on a watch band comprises a pair of pins extending between a pair of walls of said housing said pins being secured in said walls.

7. The calendar of claim 4 and further including means to move said band on said support means, whereby the seven columns of numbers aligned with said indicia can be varied.

8. The calendar of claim 4 wherein said support means comprise an elongated plate, said plate being rounded at its ends, whereby said band can easily be moved relative to said plate.

9. The calendar of claim 8 wherein said plate comprises a plastic having a low coefiicient of friction.

10. The calendar of claim 4 and further including a lens positioned in said opening and at least one back plate for said housing, said lens and said back plate including projections therefrom, said projections comprising said means for releasably securing said support means within said housing.

11. A watch band having a calendar mounted thereon, said calendar comprising a housing, said hOuSing having an opening in the top thereof, support means positioned beneath said opening, indicia adjacent said opening on said housing for indicating the seven days of a week, a band mounted on said support means, said band having thirteen columns of numbers thereon, with any seven adjacent columns of numbers being adapted to be aligned with said indicia, whereby the date for any given day in any given month can be determined from said References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,470,638 10/1969 Friedman 40-107 3,474,558 10/1969 Huber 40-107 3,522,672 8/1970 Hinds 40-86 3,526,985 9/1970 Rieth 40-21 C ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 40-21 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,619,923 Dated November 16 1971 Mates A. Bruner It is certified that errors appear in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

(1) Column 2, Line 42 "monuted" should be mounted-.

(2) Column 3, Line 7 after the word "lens" insert -26.

(3) Column 4, Line 33 after the word "Plate" second occurrence insert 58-.

(4) Column 4, Line 36 "46" should be 64-.

Signed and sealed this ZSth day of April 197a.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD MJ LTJTCTIER, JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

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