GB2392737A

GB2392737A - Two part clipped together spectacles assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2392737A
Application number: GB0316723A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Guido Medana
Original assignee: Foval Srl
Current assignee: Foval Srl
Priority date: 2002-07-22
Filing date: 2003-07-17
Publication date: 2004-03-10
Anticipated expiration: 2023-07-17
Also published as: DE20311024U1; JP4353713B2; FR2842615B3; ITTV20020086A1; GB0316723D0; GB2392737B; CN1308729C; KR200323184Y1; FR2842615A1; CN1470904A; JP2004157496A

Abstract

A spectacles assembly has a bow-shaped frame 2 with bow 2, and arms 20, 21, and a support clip or saddle-clip 21a to support a frontal lens holder 1. The frontal lens holder 1 is made out of profiled material, and the material goes around at least a part of the outer edge of the lens. The frontal closed-ring lens holder 1 has a connection bridge (Fig 5, 10) between the peripheral support of the lenses and the bridge is hooked by a the clip 22A, which is formed monolithically by the bow 2. Lenses can therefore be gripped by the frame and a spectacles assembly formed without the use of screws. Nose pads (Fig 5, 3 and 4) may also be applied to the frame by welding or other means.

Description

1 Patent for an invention 2 International Classification: G02C 3 Title: 4

SPECTACLES ASSEMBLY WITH A BOW-SHAPED FRAME AND SUPPORT CLIP

5 FOR AN INTERCHANGEABLE FRONTAL LENS HOLDER.

6 Applicant: FOVAL srl, Valdobbiadene (TV) 7 Inventor: Guib Medana 8 Ager D'Agostini Giulio et al, with delegated premises c/o D'Agostini 9 Group industrial property consultants, Rivale Castelvecchio 6 - Treviso.

10 Deposited on with N 11 * *

12 The object of this invention is a spectacles assembly with a bow 13 shaped frame and support clip for an interchangeable frontal lens holder.

14 FIELD OF THE INVENTION

15 The proposal may be used especially, but not exclusively, in the 16 sector involved in the production and commerce of lightweight, multi 17 purpose spectacles.

18 Frames for spectacles are well known, and they are mainly made 19 from a frame which is used to hold the lenses, that is, the front part, 20 formed by the two rings of the spectacles, which are joined together by an 21 intermediate bridge, nose-pads, which are sometimes formed 22 monolithically together with the two rings, and by two support arms.

23 There are various solutions available on the market. Amongst the 24 most significant solutions, for example, there is EP546589 (Lindberg), 25 the object of which is the support means for the lenses in the spectacles,

1 especially of the type with a wire frame. Variations of the main solution are 2 also described, especially regarding the support structure for the lenses, in 3 this case where the wire is made in such a way that it runs along only the 4 lower part of each lens in one of the variations, and along the upper part of 5 the lens in another of the variations. As a result, by bending and twisting 6 the wire, a single structure is created in the form of a bow, which acts as a 7 joint at the sides of the spectacles for hinging the arms, as a joint for the 8 two lenses by means of a bridge in the centre, and also as a fixing point for 9 the respective nose-pads.

10 There are also other types of spectacles formed by a bow-shaped 11 frame, which uses only the upper arch to hold the lenses.

12 A conventional type, for example, foresees a lightweight bow-shaped 13 frame made from either plastic or metallic material which, due to its 14 shape, runs from one side to the other along only the upper part. In this 15 way, the lenses are fixed against the bow of the spectacles. Going further 16 into detail, there are a number of holes along the upper edge of the lenses, 17 through which fixing points, formed perpendicularly with respect to the 18 frame, are inserted. The said fixing points are small studs with a threaded 19 end onto which, once they are fitted through the corresponding holes in the 20 lens, a small star-nut or other kind of nut is tightened. A development of 21 the above-mentioned proposal is described in W002/10840 (Tabacchi), 22 and is made up of a support bow for the interchangeable frontal lens holder 23 which, in order to fasten the lenses or visor to the frontal bow, does not 24 require screws or nuts to fasten it to the mounting.

( 1 A second conventional proposal also foresees a bow which, to the 2 side, forms two counter-shaped portions, each one of which is shaped like 3 an arch to fit the curved profile of the relative lens which is to be mounted.

4 The bridge, which is also curved, and which joins the two portions which S hold the lenses, is formed monolithically together with the portions, by 6 shaping that particular part of joining wire. The outside ends of each of the 7 two arched sections, that is the ends of the bow, are bent at approximately 8 90 towards the rear part of the spectacles, and have the joint for the 9 corresponding hinge for the hinging movement of the arm soldered onto it.

10 Each section also has hooks or clips which are soldered on and stick out with 11 respect to the upper portion of metallic wire, and are used to how the lens 12 against the bow.

13 It is also well known that, in some cases, people who wear 14 prescription glasses need to protect their eyes from the sunlight, but 15 without spoiling their appearance. The choice in theses cases is somewhat 16 limited, and it is conditioned by certain factors such as the strength of the 17 lenses, or by the environment in which the spectacles are mainly used.

18 A'rt the solutions which are currently available to the consumer, one of 19 them consists in a kind of visor-type mounting which is placed over the 20 existing lenses of the spectacles, and which is hooked on to the main front 21 part with clips, usually along the upper arch of the spectacles and the 22 bridge.

23 The first proposals of the clip-type similar to the one described 24 above, and which allow a pair of spectacles to how a second lens holder with

1 protective lenses, are mentioned, for example, in W093/24856 (Salk) or 2 in US6257718 (Spencer).

3 STATE OF THE ART MOST SIMILAR TO THE INVENTION

4 In US6382787 (Xie), there is the description of a pair of spectacles

5 which has a clip, and which in this case is positioned to correspond with the 6 bridge of a mounting and is fumed towards the rear part of the spectacles.

7 The said clip, which joins the mounting to the corresponding frame, 8 overlaps and hooks the corresponding bridge of the support frame to which 9 the relative arms are joined. Finally, a number of magnets, which are 10 attached to the mounting in correspondence with the nose-rests, stabilise 11 the whole assembly.

12 US6283591 (Chen) also describes a mounting, but in this case it 13 may be joined and fastened to the front part of a pair of spectacles, of the 14 type which includes a conventional frame formed by two rings which are 15 joined along the upper part by a bridge. Going further into detail, the 16 mounting is also made up of two rings connected together by a bridge, and 17 has a tightening mechanism on one side which basically includes a clip or 18 grip with a flexible catch, which hinges in correspondence with one of the 19 ends. In detail, the said clip, in joining the mounting to the front of the 20 spectacles, straddles the bridge and flexes slightly so that the bridge in the 21 front of the spectacles enters inside the seat along the inner part of the 22 catch, and is kept pushed against a stop point which works together with the 23 said catch.

24 Finally, a system to interchange the lenses applied to a frame for 25 spectacles is also described in US6325506 (Cooper). In this case, there is

1 a bow which supports both the mounting and the spectacles. In particular, 2 the said bow, in correspondence with the bridge, also has a lever-type 3 flexible grip which works against the action of a spring. On one side of the 4 said bow, a mounting is attached so that it goes against corresponding ma le 5 female fastenings along the outer side of the bow. Also, the said grip is 6 positioned so that it straddles the bridge in correspondence with the 7 intermediate dip between the two protection surfaces, and with the ends of 8 which is able to grip and hold the lenses of the front of the spectacles.

9 In view of the above, we may summarise that the following are part 10 of a well known technique: 11 - a bow and arms for the support of a frontal lens holder; 12 - a frontal lens holder made out of wire, where the wire goes around at 13 least a part of the outer Hereof the lens; 14 - a device with a flexible movement, which does not require the use of 15 screws, used to join the frontal lens holder to the bow; 16 - the positioning of the flexible device located on the bridge which 17 connects the two arch-shaped sections which make up the said bow.

18 DRAWBACKS

19 There are various drawbacks which may often be encountered with 20 the solutions mentioned above.

21 In the solutions made up by joining the frame or main mounting to 22 the visor, it is difficult to keep the lenses well clamped. In fact, even though 23 they are subject to the action of the clips which overlap along the outer part 24 or even by magnets, there is quite a lot of play with respect to the frame.

1 Under these circumstances, if the spectacles are slightly twisted along the 2 front axis, for example, the lenses may fall out.

3 This leads to the lenses falling out and being ruined, for example, if 4 they fall against an abrasive surface, or they may even be lost.

5 As far as similar solutions are concemed, they are applications 6 which require quite complex work processes and which sometimes need 7 either holes, welding or adhesives. In spite of this, even in this case, the 8 frames are delicate and must be used with extreme care.

9 In comparing all of these solutions, it is clear that they are basically 10 complex mountings which use a lot of parts and small components which, 11 apart from making the structure heavy, do not allow the assembly steps to 12 be rationalized, leading to considerable production costs. To sum up, they 13 make the assembly and control of a large number of coded items in the 14 stores a complicated issue.

15 The aim of this invention is, therefore, to identify an optimum 16 solution for the frames of spectacles.

17 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

18 These and other aims are achieved with this invention according to 19 the characteristics described in the attached claims, by solving the 20 problems mentioned above by means of a spectacles assembly with a bow 21 shaped frame and support clip for an interchangeable frontal lens holder, 22 which includes: 23 - a bow with arms for the support of the frontal lens holder; 24 - a frontal lens holder made out of profiled material, where the said 25 material goes around at least a part of the outer edge of the lens;

1 - a device with a flexible movement, used tojoin the frontal lens holder to 2 the bow; 3 - the said flexible device formed in correspondence with the connection 4 bridge between the two arch-shaped sections which make up the said 5 bow; 6 in which, the frontal closed- ring lens holder has a connection bridge 7 between the peripheral support of the lenses, with the said bridge being 8 hooked by a clip which is Armed monolithically by the bow.

9 ADVANTAGES

10 In this way, by means of the significant creative content, which 11 leads to en immediate technical progress, various objectives are reached.

12 One of the aims is to propose improvements to the bow structure, by 13 optimising the clamping system of the lenses. Going further into detail, they 14 are rigidly joined to the bow. This effect means that they can not 15 accidentally drop out even if the frame is used incorrectly or twisted.

16 The second aim leads to the structure of the spectacles being more 17 solid, especially when subject to deformations which usually occur due to 18 even partial wear in correspondence with the clamping devices for the 19 lenses. 20 The third aim is to create a structure which does not have screws or 21 nuts for joining the bar to the lens holder.

22 The fourth aim is to create a lens holder which is attached centrally, 23 to guarantee a good optical stability of the lenses.

24 The fifth aim is the creation of the bar and lens holder, made out of 25 different materials to form new chromatic and/or industrial matches.

( 1 The sixth aim is to reduce the weight and create a lightweight 2 structure. 3 The seventh aim is to guarantee efficient, economic repairs to the 4 damaged parts and reuse of the good parts.

5 The final aim is the possibility of creating an item which does not 6 require particular or complex work phases for the mounting of the lenses, 7 and furthermore, which has a high technological level and acceptable 8 production costs.

9 These and other advantages will be demonstrated in the following 10 detailed description and attached schematic drawings of at least one

11 preferential application of the solution, the details of which are intended to 12 be an example and not a limitation.

13 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

14 Figure 1 is a front view of the bow-shaped frame; 15 Figure 2 is a side view of the bow-shaped frame as illustrated in Figure 1; 16 Figure 3 is a front view of a variation of the bow-shaped frame as 17 illustrated in Figure 1; 18 Figure 4 is a side view of the bow-shaped frame as illustrated in Figure 3; 19 Figure 5 is a front view of only the frontal lens holder; 20 Figure 6 is a front view of a variation of the frontal lens holder as 21 illustrated in Figure 5; 22 Figure 7 is an assembly view of the frontal lens holder joined to the 23 respective bow.

24 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS APPLICATIONS

1 In one of the preferred applications, and with reference to the 2 attached drawings, there is a lightweight spectacles structure, given by the 3 frontal lens holder l which is joined to a bow Z and which hangs centrally.

4 In a first example, the frontal lens holder 1 is made up of a shaped, 5 continuous, flexible, metallic profile which is in the form of dosed rings, 6 and which adapts to peripherally fasten around almost all of the perimeter 7 of each of the lenses in the spectacles. The shape which is given to the lens 8 holder 1 is such that it forms two rings l l, right and left respectively, 9 joined by an intermediate portion l O which forms the connection bridge 10 between them. As a result, in this case, each of the two lenses, right and 11 left, is held by the same lens holder l. Furthermore, in the intermediate 12 part 10 of the lens holder l, in correspondence with the connection bridge 13 between the two rings of the said frontal lens holder, the profile comes 14 closer together to form the correct distance between the lenses which are 15 thus held, and there is a more or less parallel part of the profile formed by 16 100 and l Ol. As a result, the tension which is applied in correspondence 17 with the bridge l 0, and which acts to bring the two portions of the profile 18 l DO and l Ol even closer together, is calibrated in order to firmly grip 19 both lenses around their perimeter, and if the tension is reduced, the lenses 20 may thus be replaced.

21 It is in correspondence with the bridge l O of the lens holder l that 22 the corresponding bow-shaped frame 2 may be attached. In particular, the 23 bow-shaped frame 2 is formed by a single bar, in this case metallic, shaped 24 in such a way that it forms two mirror-image sections shaped like an arch, 25 right 20 and left 21, respectively, each of which corresponds to an

f 1 underlying, independent lens held by the lens holder 1. The two sections 2 0 2 and 2 1 are joined by a connection piece 2 2A and 2 2 B which is also formed 3 monolithically by localised bending and re-bending of the part of the wire 4 es required, in order to form a saddle-clip. The saddle-clip 22A and 22B S shaped in this way by following the development in correspondence with the 6 end of one of the two mirrorimage arch sections 2 0 and 21, is formed by 7 bending the centre of the bow-shaped frame 2, with the first part 220 8 which goes downwards, followed by a second part 2 21 which goes towards 9 the inside of the spectacles more or less perpendicularly with respect to the 10 first bend, a third bend 2 2 2 which is more or less in the opposite direction 11 and displaced with respect to the first portion, and finally by a fourth bend 12 2 2 3 perpendicular to the third bend 2 2 2 in order to close the saddle-clip.

13 In a first example of a saddle-clip 22A, the hooking portion fanned 14 by parts 221, 222 and 223 faces the inside of the structure of the 15 spectacles, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. In a second example of a saddle clip 16 2 2 B. on the other hand, it faces the outside, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

17 In both cases, in attaching the frontal 1 to the bow-shaped frame 2, 18 it is important to ensure that the saddle-clip 22A and 22B fits in 19 correspondence with the connection bridge 10 in the lens holder 1, by 20 initially opening the flexible portions 2 2 2 and 2 2 3 in order to insert both 21 of the parallel portions of the profile 100 and 101 into the saddle, 22 followed by putting them back in position to pull the lens holder and bring 23 the parallel parts of the profile 1 00 and 1 01 together.

24 In a preferred application, the joining of the bow-shaped frame 2 25 and the lens holder 1 is further improved, by using a tooth 12 in

1 correspondence with only the upper part 100 of the bridge 10. In this 2 case, there is a short portion of the upper profile which is welded on top of 3 the main part of the upper profile 100. In this example, regarding the 4 hooking of the lens holder 1 to the bow-shaped frame 2, it is the portion 5 2 2 3, therefore, which is pressed up against the tooth 1 2.

6 In yet another preferred application, the clip 2 2 O. 2 2 1, 2 2 2 and 7 2 2 3, formed by the shaped bar 2, may be formed with an inverted shape 8 which hooks under and over the continuous profile of the frontal lens holder 9 1, again in correspondence with the intermediate connection portion 10 between the two support rings for the lenses.

11 In the example mentioned above, the material used to make both the 12 bow 2 and the frontal lens-holder 1 may be of different kinds, such as 13 metal or plastic, and foment by either shearing, milling, laser- cutting or 14 other kinds of process.

15 Finally, as far as the nose-pads 3 and 4 are concemed, they may be 16 applied, by welding for example, next to the saddle-clip 22A and 22B or, 17 as an alternative, they may be joined to the lens holder 1 in a conventional 18 position.

Claims

( CLAIMS

1. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip for an interchangeable frontal lens holder, which includes: 5 a bow and arms, where required, for the support of a frontal lens holder; a frontal lens holder which goes around at least a part of the outer edge of the lens; device with a flexible movement, used to join the frontal lens 10 holder to the bow; the said flexible device formed in correspondence with the bridge which connects the two arch-shaped sections which make up the said bow; characterised by the fact that the frontal lens holder has a connection 15 bridge for the peripheral support of the lenses, with the said bridge being hooked and suspended by a clip which is formed monolithically by the bow.

2. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip for 20 a frontal lens holder according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the frontal lens holder is made up of a shaped, continuous, flexible metallic profile which is in the form of closed rings, and which adapts, at the two opposite ends, to peripherally fasten around almost all of the perimeter of each of the lenses in the spectacles, and in which the shape 25 which is given is such that it forms two rings, right and left respectively, joined by an intermediate portion which forms the connection bridge between the said two circular portions.

3. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip for 30 a frontal lens holder according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that, in the lens holder made up of the closed-ring profile, and which is open at

( the centre, the connection bridge between the two circular portions is such that the profile comes closer together to form a portion which is more or less parallel.

5

4. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip for a frontal lens holder according to any preceding claim, characterised by the fact that, in the lens holder, the connection bridge may be hooked to a bow-shaped frame formed by a single length of bar, shaped in such a way that it forms two mirror-image bow-shaped sections, right and left 10 respectively, joined by a portion which forms the clip, also formed monolithically to locally create a saddle shape.

5. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip for a frontal lens holder according to any preceding claim, characterized by 15 the fact that the saddle-clip, following the development in correspondence with the end of one of the two mirror-image arch sections, is formed by the first part which curves downwards, followed by a second part which goes towards the inside of the spectacles more or less perpendicularly with respect to the first bend, a third part which is more or less in the 20 opposite direction and displaced with respect to the first portion, and by a fourth part which is perpendicular to the third one in order to close the saddle-clip, and goes in a longitudinal direction with respect to the bow-shaped frame.

25

6. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip for a frontal lens holder according to any preceding claim, characterized by the fact that, in the saddle clip, the hooking portion may point towards either the inside or the outside, or may be formed upwards and downwards or downwards and upwards with respect to the structure of the 30 spectacles.

7. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip for a frontal lens holder according to any preceding claim, characterized by the fact that, only in correspondence with the portion of the upper profile of the bridge of the lens holder, there is a tooth.

8. Spectacles assembly with a bow-shaped frame and support clip substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.