Abstract:
The invention concerns a combined tool for countersinking or inserting pins is essentially shaped like a pliers, comprising a handle and a lever articulated about a pin, the ends of the handles, respectively of the lever, opposite to the ends forming hand grips, bearing a body for receiving the object portion provided with the pin to be countersunk or inserted and an end portion adapted to actuate a pin-punch or a pin-pusher located in a housing of said body. The combined tool is particularly designed to countersink or insert a pin connecting two successive links of a bracelet.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is concerned with a combined tool for retrieving and for inserting pins, in particular, pins connecting together articulated objects, more particularly the links of a bracelet and, especially the links of a bracelet of a wristwatch. 
   PRIOR ART 
   At the present time, bracelets are available which are comprised of a plurality of links, made of a metal or of a plastic material, hingedly held together by pins, in particular bracelets for wristwatches. A problem then arises, when the length of a bracelet of this type needs to be adapted. In fact, in order to shorten or lengthen such a bracelet, one must remove, respectively, add, one or more links, which requires the retrieval or the insertion of at least one pin. The pin retrieval or addition operation is an operation which is delicate, which requires special tools and during which the bracelet must be secured against motion. 
   The device described in DE 41 25 506 endeavours to provide a solution to this problem. This solution is not satisfactory, because, to retrieve a pin, it is necessary to rotate a pusher, while maintaining the bracelet in a defined position. Furthermore, the device is suitable for only one pin diameter and, accordingly, a specific device must be made available for each pin diameter. 
   Patent CH 689 993 describes a device for adjusting and for repairing bracelets. This device is relatively complete in that it makes it possible to carry out various operations on a bracelet formed from links, but its utilisation is difficult, and both the retrieval and the insertion of a pin are time consuming. Furthermore, this device necessitates the positioning of a bracelet between two shoulders, the pin being subsequently pushed by a screw means, which is operated manually. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The first objective of the invention is to provide a tool, which is improved by comparison with known tools and devices. 
   Another objective of the invention is to provide a tool, which is simple, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to handle and which makes it possible to adjust rapidly to the desired length, a bracelet made from links. 
   Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a tool which is simple and which makes it possible to rapidly to insert a pin or to remove a pin holding together two successive links of a bracelet, without having to rotate any key, screw, bolt or button. 
   The invention will be better understood and its advantages and characteristic features will become more clearly apparent from the description below of an exemplary embodiment of a combined tool for retrieving and for inserting pins according to the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  represents, schematically, a tool according to the invention, in a preferred embodiment thereof; 
       FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  represent, respectively, a front view along arrow A and a plan view along arrow B of the tool represented in  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a component part designed for retrieving pins, for use with the tool represented in  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 3  represents, schematically, a component part designed for inserting pins, for use with the tool represented in  FIG. 1 , and 
       FIGS. 4   a, b, c  and  d  represent securing devices for the tool represented in  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   As represented in  FIGS. 1 ,  1   a  and  1   b , a combined tool for retrieving and for inserting pins, for example those holding together two successive links of a bracelet, includes, in the embodiment illustrated, a body  1  having a shape fitting substantially inside a parallelepiped and exhibiting an angular U-shaped housing limited by the faces  7 ′,  23  and  7  and designed for receiving two successive links of a bracelet, which are either to be disassembled, or to be assembled together by means of a pin. The body  1  is contiguous to a handle  2  providing a first hand grip and it is affixed thereto, in the embodiment illustrated, via the side at the opposite of the side with the U-shaped housing. 
   The handle  2 , which has a circular cross-section in the present embodiment, exhibits, at a location close to the body  1 , a slot  29  designed for receiving a lever  3  having the shape of an elongated S and providing a second hand grip  5  which has a rectangular cross-section and which is pivotally connected to the handle  2 , via an axis or a pin  6 , the handle  2  and the lever  3  forming the two hand grips  2  and  5  of a pair of pliers. Clearly, other forms than those described above can be envisaged for the two hand grips, for instance by inverting the circular cross-section and the rectangular cross-section or by designing both hand grips with a rectangular cross-section. 
   The lever  3  has, at its end portion  4  which is at the opposite of the hand grip  5 , a portion  30  capable of pressing, when the pliers are actuated, against an end of a member  26  or  27 , of which the constructional details, the operations and the usefulness will be explained subsequently, with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
   The body  1  further includes a hollow passage or a cylindrical housing  25 , of which the axis runs parallel both to the actuation plane of the two hand grips  2  and  5  of the pliers and to the plane of the face  23  of the U-shaped housing. This housing  25  is intended for receiving a pin-punch  26  as illustrated in  FIG. 2  or a pin-pusher  27  as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
   As it is apparent from  FIG. 1   a , the body  1  has a front face  9 , which is rectangular in the embodiment illustrated and which has a groove  8  at its upper part, extending through the side  7  of the U-shaped housing. The groove  8  is aligned with the axis of the above-mentioned housing  25 . 
   Furthermore, the body  1 , as illustrated here, carries on its face which is at the opposite of the face  9 , an abutment component part  24  running parallel to the axis of the housing  25  and designed for co-operating with said portion  30  for catching hold of a pin partly expelled from its housing. 
     FIG. 2  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a pin-punch  26  designed for the combined tool described above. This pin-punch has a hollow cylinder  10 , of which the outer diameter is very slightly smaller than that of the housing  25 , so that it may be introduced therein. An end  13  of the cylinder  10  is, preferably, of a conical shape so that it may be placed as close as possible to the pin which is to be expelled, so as to limit the risk of buckling of the needle  12 . The cylinder  10  has an axial bore which extends over its whole length and in which is guided slidably a rod  11  carrying the needle  12  at its end. A spring  14 , placed between the end of the cylinder  10  which is at the opposite of the end  13  and a head  28  of the rod  11 , situated at the end which is at the opposite of the end carrying the needle  12 , holds the rod  11 , respectively the tip of the needle  12 , retracted with respect to the tip of the conical end  13  of the pin-punch  26 . 
   A plurality of pin-punches  26  such as those described above are made available, each one having a needle  12  of a given diameter for retrieving a pin of a determined diameter. 
     FIG. 3  illustrates schematically a pin-pusher  27  designed for the combined tool described above. This pin-pusher has a cylindrical body  15 , of which the diameter is very slightly smaller than that of the housing  25 , one end of said cylindrical body has a head  31  providing an abutment for a spring  16 , and the other end has a flat surface designed for pushing the pin, when the same is inserted. 
     FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  are two views illustrating a securing device  20  designed for use with parallel links and for being placed in the U-shaped housing in order to adapt the shape and the dimensions of the latter to the shape and to the dimensions of the bracelet. As is apparent from  FIG. 4   a , the securing device  20  has the shape of an inverted U, of which the upper face of the upper portion  32  is provided with a groove  18  and the two legs  19  of the U slope slightly inwardly, to retain the securing device  20  on the body  1 . 
     FIGS. 4   c  and  4   d  show securing devices  21  and  22  designed respectively for links having a trapezoidal shape and for links having a curved portion. 
   Other alternate versions of the securing devices can be envisaged, depending on the shape of the links processed. Preferably, a plurality of securing devices of differing thickness will be available for links of differing dimensions. 
   Preferably, the body  1  will be made of a material, which is relatively soft, for example of a plastic material, to avoid the scratching of the objects placed thereupon, in particular the links of a bracelet. 
   To retrieve a pin holding together two links of a bracelet, one must first select the pin-punch  26  carrying the needle  12  having a diameter adapted to that of the pin to be retrieved and the pin-punch  26  is introduced into the housing  25 , in such a manner that its conical end  13  protrudes into the U-shaped housing of the body  1 . The effect of the spring  14  is to push away from each other the two hand grips  2  and  5 , with the needle being, at that time, entirely retracted with respect to the tip of the conical end  13 . Then, the securing device  20 ,  21  or  22 , which is adapted to the shape and to the dimensions of the links, is placed in the U-shaped housing of the body  1  and, subsequently, the portion of the bracelet with the pin to be expelled is placed into said housing, in such a manner that the needle  12 , the pin to be expelled, the groove  18  of the securing device and the groove  8  of the body  1  be aligned. By subsequently bringing together the two hand grips  2  and  5  of the pliers, the needle  12  is pushed outside of the cylinder  10  by the rod  11  and it expels the pin facing it from its housing, said pin being subsequently guided along the aligned groves  18  and  8 . When the hand grips come apart, the needle  12  retracts inside the cylinder  10  owing to the action of the spring  14 . It then becomes possible to remove the bracelet with its two links still held together by the pin, which is partly removed. The removal can be completed either by gripping the pin with two fingers, or by holding the same between the head  30  and the abutment component part  24  and by pressing together the two hand grips  2  and  5  of the pliers. 
   To introduce a pin for fastening together two successive links of a bracelet, a pin-pusher  27  is placed first in the housing  25 , while the two hand grips  2  and  5  are kept apart owing to the action of the spring  16 . Thereafter, the portion of the bracelet including the two links, which are to be joined together by a pin, is positioned and the introduction of the pin into the housing between the two links is started, while however leaving the pin protruding in the direction of the pin-pusher  27 . Then, the two hand grips  2  and  5  of the pliers are brought together, with the result that the end of the pin-pusher  27  is urged against the protruding end of the pin, thus pushing the same into its housing between the two links of the bracelet. 
   The combined tool was described hereabove in a preferred embodiment, but clearly other embodiments or alternate versions can be envisaged. Also, the combined tool as it is described can be used for retrieving or extracting a pin connecting two successive parts of any object. This object can be a bracelet comprised of links held together by pins, and it can be, in particular, a bracelet of a wristwatch. Many other uses can be envisaged for such a combined tool, for example for the mounting and the dismounting of roller chains.