Abstract:
A device for protecting the crown ( 17 ) of a watch comprising a lever ( 18 ) which allows the crown to be pulled out.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of watches, and in particular to devices for the protection of watch parts. 
       STATE OF THE ART 
       [0002]    A particularly delicate part of watches, and particularly wrist watches, is the crown, which can be easily damaged, for example as a result of a knock, or it can be accidentally moved by the user; furthermore, the crown is also one of the weak points of a watch in terms of waterproofing. 
         [0003]    To solve this problem, several crown protection devices are known, schematically shown in  FIG. 3 , which when applied to the watch case enable a crown cover to be screwed onto the crown to protect it from the above-mentioned possible accidents. 
         [0004]    As can be seen from  FIG. 3 , the crown-cover devices belonging to the state of the art generally comprise an arm  10 , one end of which is capable of rotating around a pin  11  firmly fixed to the watch case  12 , or to a projection from it. At the end of said arm  10 , opposite the end fixed to the case, there is a cap  13  inserted into a support element  14  (allowing the rotation of said cap  13 ) and this support element, in turn, is adapted to turn around a pin  15 . 
         [0005]    Said cap  13  is adapted to engage, by means of screwing, with a thread  16  positioned under the crown  17  and integral with the case  12  so as to cover and protect said crown  17 . 
         [0006]    As can be seen from  FIG. 3 , and as is in any case self-evident, in the device described above, the thread  16  onto which the cap  13  has to screw must have a diameter larger than that of the crown  17 ; this means that, after unscrewing the cap  13 , when the user tries to pull out the crown  17  (for example to set the time or perform other functions controlled by the crown) in reality his or her fingers automatically grip the thread  16  instead of the crown  17 . Therefore, pulling out the crown can generally become a rather uncomfortable operation requiring the user to make several attempts before being successful. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  shows a cross-section schematic view of the device according to the invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of the device according to the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  shows a schematic view of a known crown-covering device. 
       
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    A crown-covering device is described comprising a lever enabling the crown to be pulled out without acting directly on it. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The present invention resolves the above-mentioned problem thanks to a crown-covering device comprising a lever enabling the crown to be pulled out without acting directly on it. 
         [0012]    As can be seen from  FIG. 1 , the crown-covering device according to the invention consists (like known devices) of an arm  10 , one end of which is capable of rotating around a pin  11  firmly fixed to the watch case  12 , or to a projection from it, while having at the end opposite the end fixed to the case a cap  13  inserted into a support element  14  (allowing rotation on itself), this support element also being able to rotate around a pin  15 ; if preferred, said cap  13  may contain an elastic shim  13 ′ that can help to compress the crown in its rest position. 
         [0013]    The cap  13  is capable of engaging, by means of screwing, with a thread  16  positioned under the crown  17  and integral with the case  12 , so as to cover and thereby protect said crown  17 . 
         [0014]    Furthermore, the device according to the invention comprises a lever  18  housed in a corresponding cavity  19  made on the edge of the watch case  12 , the fulcrum of which consists of a shaft  20  firmly fixed to the watch case  12  and perpendicular to its surface. 
         [0015]    The first end  18   a  of said lever  18  is housed in an opening in the arm  10  of said crown-cover and is made available to be operated by the user when said cap  13  is removed from the crown  17 . The second end  18   b  of said lever  18  is adapted to engage with a housing made under said crown  17 , so as to push said crown  17  upwards when the user applies sufficient pressure on the first end  18   a  of said lever  18 . Said second end  18   b  of said lever  18  preferably comprises two prongs  21  adapted to receive the shaft supporting the crown  22  and to exert on said shaft the force needed to pull out the crown  17 . 
         [0016]    Furthermore, a ball spring  23  adapted to act on said first end  18   a  of said lever  18  is then inserted into the cavity  19  of the case so as to keep the lever in the inactive position (i.e. with the crown not pulled out). 
         [0017]    Operation of the device according to the invention is intuitive and extremely simple. 
         [0018]    Once the cap  14  is unscrewed, the user, by acting on the lever  18 , causes the crown  17  to be pulled out and, once the lever is released, the ball spring  23  acting on the lever  18  returns it to the rest position while the crown  17  remains pulled out. 
         [0019]    Once the necessary operations have been performed, the user can then push the crown back in and screw on the cap  13  by engaging it with the thread  16 .