AU9422898A - Improved folding binoculars assembly - Google Patents

Description

P/00/0011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

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ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service in Australia: Invention Title: William BRESNAHAN William BRESNAHAN CARTER SMITH BEADLE 2 Railway Parade Camberwell Victoria 3124 Australia IMPROVED FOLDING BINOCULARS ASSEMBLY The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to US '1 7- IMPROVED FOLDING BINOCULARS ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to binocular assemblies and particularly to folding binocular assemblies.

Thus it can be seen that the potential fields of use for this invention are myriad and the particular preferred embodiment described herein is in no way meant to limit the use of the invention to the particular field chosen for exposition of the details of the invention.

*o A comprehensive listing of all the possible fields to which this invention may be 010 applied is limited only by the imagination and is therefore not provided herein. Some of the more obvious applications are mentioned herein in the interest of providing a full and complete disclosure of the unique properties of this previously unknown general purpose article of manufacture. It is to be understood from the outset that the scope of this invention is not limited to these fields or to the specific examples of potential uses presented hereinafter.

One aspect of the instant invention is an improvement in the ease of folding the binoculars. Prior art folding binoculars suffer from the drawback in that they cannot be manually assembled, requiring folding machines and other automatic means to effect folding and assembly.

In another aspect of the invention a display/storage case is provided. The case can function to facilitate display and advertising as well as provide a convenient carrying case.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THIE PRIOR ART 5. Several binoculars of this type are known in the prior art and are made of a relatively Sthin semi-rigid material, such as cardboard. When folded, they are light in weight and compact and suited for taking to sporting events, concerts etc.

S-One disadvantage of some of the prior art binoculars of this type is that, when folded, the lenses, especially the larger convex objective lenses, are unprotected and may be scratched when carried in pocket or purse. This disadvantage is overcome in U.S. Patents 4,239,328 and 4,478,498 by providing a cardboard sleeve or case in which to store the folded binocular when not in use. However, this solution is not entirely satisfactory since the case must be stored when the binocular is being used. Also, the case has no closure and does not facilitate advertising or display.

1: In U.S. Patent 4,013,341, the lens elements of the binocular are retracted before folding in order to protect them from scratching. However, they must be pulled out by tabs when the binocular is unfolded. This is awkward.

2 In U.S. Patent 4,443,071, the lenses fold inwardly when the binocular is in a folded state and thus are protected. However, the arrangement is such that, when the binocular is to be used, the various side flaps must be folded individually to reassemble the binocular as one would assemble a box. Then the flaps must be unfolded in order to disassemble the binocular. This is very inconvenient. Several of the fold lines must be folded in reverse during assembly and disassembly, thus weakening the cardboard material. In contrast, the present invention contemplates a single side flap held in place by a tab which fits into a slot formed by cooperating pairs of side flaps.

O In U.S. Patent 4,268,111 the mounting pins in the foldable binoculars are forced p 1through the spaces in the front wall occupied by their tabs. The tabs on the outside rear wall 0 0 will be sprung rearward such that their extremities will engage the front surface of the offsets of the eyepiece cups.

Still another disadvantage with the prior art is that the binoculars are made of blanks formed from laminated cardboard, which can tend to be slippery when the users hands are sweaty, or greasy, a situation which occurs often when attending sporting events and the like.

ge...i A further shortcoming of the prior art foldable binoculars manufactured of cardboard is that repeated folding of the blank has a tendency to weaken the side panels. Weakened side S" panels make this section of the binoculars of reduced mechanical rigidity as the side panels are subjected to repeated fastening and unfastening as they are selectively opened and closed. In contrast, the side flaps of the present invention have tab portion at the ends which are not stressed during folding and thus do not wear out with repeated folding.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The Invention relates to a blank for a foldable binocular and the binocular formed therefrom and a case therefor. The blank comprises a substantially rectangular sheet of relatively thin semi-rigid material divided by parallel foldlines into a series of rectangular panels comprising a first rectangular panel having an intermediate outwardly folding foldline parallel to its longitudinal axis and having a first pair of cooperating flap members hingedly attached to each of its short sides along an outwardly folding foldline, said intermediate outwardly folding foldline extending through said flap members; a second rectangular panel hingedly attached to the first rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline, and having a pair of spaced apertures for receiving a pair of ocular lenses; a third rectangular panel S0 hingedly attached to the second rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline and having an intermediate outwardly folding foldline parallel to its longitudinal axis and having *1.5 a second pair of flaps hingedly attached to each short side of the third rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline the intermediate outwardly folding foldline of the third panel extending through said second pairs of flaps; and a fourth rectangular panel hingedly attached to said third rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline and having a pair of inwardly folding foldlines defining a central rectangular panel having a second pair of spaced apertures for removably receiving a pair of objective lenses and having a pair of elongated trapezoidal side flaps having an intermediate foldline perpendicular to its longitudinal axis extending from said central rectangular panel and having tabs at end portions thereof; wherein the first and second pairs of flaps in combination with short sides of said second rectangular panel form a pocket within which the tabs of the trapezoidal flaps may be inserted.

Since the objective lenses are convex, it is most important to protect them from scratching during storage.

*The elongated trapezoidal side flaps may be opened to provide access to the inner surfaces of the lenses for cleaning, if necessary. It is also desirable to attach a two-part •fastening element to the center of the inner surfaces of the lens plates, one part on one plate i3 and a mating part on the other plate, so that the folded binocular may be held securely in the S• folded position when not in use. Such a fastening element may be a two part snap or patches of VELCRO fabric.

It is an object of the invention to provide a foldable binocular wherein the lenses are S protected when the binocular is in the folded state.

5: It is a further object to provide a foldable binocular which may be partly disassembled to obtain access to the inner surfaces of the lenses for cleaning, if necessary.

•It is yet another object of the invention to provide a foldable binocular where at least a portion of the exterior surface is textured.

Finally, it is a general goal of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.

These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

The present invention meets or exceeds all the above objects and goals. Upon further study of the specification and appended claims, further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

0 S 9* BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS I Fig. 1 is an inner plan view of one embodiment of the binocular blank according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the binocular assembled from the blank of Fig. 1, in mid-extension, resting on the ocular lens panel.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the assembled binocular of Fig. 2 in fully extended 1S" viewing position.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view of the assembled binocular of Fig. 2 in folded position resting on the ocular lens panel.

6 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled binocular of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a top view of a case for the folding binoculars of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a blank for the case of Fig. 6.

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5 55 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention relates to a foldable binocular and the blank for forming the binocular.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and specifically to Fig. 1, the binocular blank 1 is divided into a series of rectangular panels B. by parallel foldlines 3, 4,6 which are outwardly folding. Panels C-C' are further divided by outwardly folding foldlines 2 and respectively.

Panel D-D' is divided by inwardly folding foldlines 7,8 to define a panel E. A lens plate 15 holding a pair of ocular lenses 16 is attached to the inner surface of panel B with the lenses aligned over a pair of apertures (not shown) in panel B. A lens plate 17 holding a pair o0. of objective lenses 18 is attached to the inner surface of panel E with the lenses aligned over 0* a pair of apertures (not shown) in panel E.

SA pair of elongated trapezoidal flaps 30, having outwardly folding foldlines 31 extend from the short side of panel E. Two pairs of short flaps 32, 34 extend from the sides of A-A' and C-C' respectively. Foldlines 3 and 5 extend through flaps 32, 34 to facilitate folding of *0*0S the binocular 10, and the flaps 32, 34 may be bent along foldlines 33 and 35. The edges of flaps 32, 34, in combination with the short sides 36 of panel B form a pocket 38 within which tabs 40 may be inserted to complete assembly of the binocular as shown in Fig. 5. It can be appreciated that the elongated trapezoidal flaps 30, which extend along the sides of the binoculars when assembled as shown in Fig. 5 help maintain structural rigidity of the binocular during repeated folding and extension of the binocular. Prior art folding binoculars have interlocking flaps which would wear out quickly when used frequently, since the region where the flaps interlock is moved inwardly as the binoculars are collapsed eventually wearing out the tab and slot which serves to interlock the flaps. The tabs 40 of the flaps 30 of the present invention are not connected at a stress point and thus do not deteriorate with repeated use.

A plurality of adhesive regions DA, DC, and corresponding bonding areas AD, CD are disposed on the inner surface of the blank. Preferably, there are multiple adhesive regions, or the regions are made relatively large to ensure effective bonding. When the blank is .10 assembled, region DA is secured to area AD, and likewise for region DC and area CD. Of *0 course, both region DC and area CD may have adhesive thereon.

To assemble the binocular, adhesive region DC is pressed firmly to bonding area CD with care being taken to ensure proper alignment of panels D' and C. Then, the binocular is folded along the foldlines until region DA can be brought into contact with bonding area CD.

Flaps 32, 34 may be folded inwardly, thereby forming pocket 38 within which tabs 40 may be inserted. Bonding areas AD and CD may be marked by indicia to facilitate manual assembly of the binoculars.

A side elevation view of the assembled binocular is shown in Fig. 2 in mid-extension 0 after tabs 40 are inserted into pocket 38. The fully extended position is obtained by exerting pressure on foldlines 2 and 5 is shown in Fig. 3. By exerting pressure on flap sections D-D' and panel B, and removing tabs 40 from pocket 38, the binocular may be flattened for storage as seen in Fig. 4. If the flaps 30 are scored along foldline 45 as shown in Fig. 2, the flaps may be pushed inward and collapsing the binocular may be initiated with the tab 40 inserted within pocket 38. It should be noted that flaps 32, 34 will extend outwardly and that as the binocular is collapsed the pocket 38 will dissapear. The flaps 30 may be stored within the folded structure to facilitate insertion into the sleeve 50 as will be explained more fully later.

As can be seen, the objective lenses are fully protected by flaps A' and C when the binocular is folded. Patches of VELCRO fabric 23,23' adhered to lens plates 15 and 17 in order to keep I the binocular securely closed in the folded position. A perspective view of the fully extended 0 binocular ready for use is shown in Fig. 5 with phantom lines to show the inner construction.

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OS 00 0 5@ 0 0@ 0* 0 ecceeS 5 0 Ce. e o Ca All of the above described embodiments for the binocular are adapted to fit into the protective sleeve 50 shown Figs. 6 and 7, when the binoculars are in the folded or collapsed position. The blank for the sleeve 50 shown in Fig. 7 has three main panels 52, 54, and 56.

A detachable panel 57 having a J-shaped cutout is attached to a short side of panel 52. The cutout facilitates hanging of the sleeve for display purposes and is scored along the connecting edge 58 for easy removal. Panel 52 includes a slot 60 for receiving tab 62 and thus forms a closure as may be seen in Fig. 7. Panel 54 includes flaps 64, 66 to which glue is applied to adhere panel 54 to panel 52. Of course, panels 52 and 54 are sufficiently wide and tall for insertion of the binocular in the collapsed position. When on display, the binocular is contained within the sleeve 50 with the tab 62 inserted into the slot 60. Opening of the sleeve may be effected by either removing the tab 62 from the slot 60 or by tearing away the elongated pull tab 70. Of course, tearing away tab 70 does not allow for reuse of the sleeve Panel 57 may be removed if the user desires to reuse the sleeve It is to be understood that the provided illustrative examples are by no means exhaustive of the many possible uses for my invention.

From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions.

0 It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims:

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Claims (5)

1. A blank for a foldable binocular comprising a substantially rectangular sheet of relatively thin semi-rigid material divided by parallel foldlines into a series of rectangular panels, a first rectangular panel having an intermediate outwardly folding foldline parallel to its longitudinal axis and having a first pair of cooperating flap members hingedly attached to each of its short S sides along an outwardly folding foldline, said intermediate outwardly folding foldline .i extending through said flap members; a second rectangular panel hingedly attached to the first rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline, and having a pair of spaced apertures for receiving a pair of ocular lenses; a third rectangular panel hingedly attached to S" the second rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline and having an intermediate outwardly folding foldline parallel to its longitudinal axis and having a second pair of flaps hingedly attached to each short side of the third rectangular panel along an outwardly folding S* foldline, the intermediate outwardly folding foldline of the third panel extending through said second pairs of flaps; and a fourth rectangular panel hingedly attached to said third rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline and having a pair of inwardly folding foldlines defining a central rectangular panel having a second pair of spaced apertures for receiving a pair of objective lenses and having a pair of elongated trapezoidal side flaps extending from said central rectangular panel and having tabs at end portions thereof; wherein the first and second pairs of flaps in combination with short sides of said second rectangular panel form a pocket within which the tabs of the trapezoidal flaps may be inserted when assembling said binoculars.

2. The blank of claim 1 wherein adhesive regions on said rectangular panels are secured to corresponding bonding areas on said rectangular panels in order to effect assembly of said binocular.

3. A reusable foldable binocular assembly comprising a substantially rectangular sheet of relatively thin semi-rigid material for forming a binocular, said sheet divided by parallel foldlines into a series of rectangular panels, a first rectangular panel having an intermediate S* outwardly folding foldline parallel to its longitudinal axis and having a first pair of cooperating flap members hingedly attached to each of its short sides along an outwardly folding foldline, said intermediate outwardly folding foldline extending through said flap members; a second rectangular panel hingedly attached to the first rectangular panel along an outwardly folding S. o foldline, and having a pair of spaced apertures for receiving a pair of ocular lenses; a third 0.6 1 rectangular panel hingedly attached to the second rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline and having an intermediate outwardly folding foldline parallel to its longitudinal axis and having a second pair of flaps hingedly attached to each short side of the third rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline, the intermediate outwardly folding foldline of the third panel extending through said second pairs of flaps; and a fourth S* rectangular panel hingedly attached to said third rectangular panel along an outwardly folding foldline and having a pair of inwardly folding foldlines defining a central rectangular panel having a second pair of spaced apertures for receiving a pair of objective lenses and having e a pair of elongated trapezoidal side flaps extending from said central rectangular panel and having tabs at end portions thereof, wherein the first and second pairs of flaps in combination with short sides of said second rectangular panel form a pocket within which the tabs of the trapezoidal flaps may be inserted when assembling said binoculars, a second sheet. of relatively thin semi-rigid material for forming a sleeve for said binocular, said second sheet foldable into a sleeve having both a locking tab and a tear away tab, said sleeve sized for containing said binocular when collapsed. o*

4. A blank for a foldable container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5. A reusable foldable binocular assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED: 27 November 1998 CARTER SMITH BEADLE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: SWilliam BRESNAHAN 0 C• 0 OS