GB2545892A

GB2545892A - Improved spectacles

Info

Publication number: GB2545892A
Application number: GB1521944.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Smith Karen
Original assignee: Plasses Ltd
Current assignee: Plasses Ltd
Priority date: 2015-12-11
Filing date: 2015-12-11
Publication date: 2017-07-05
Also published as: GB201521944D0; WO2017098285A1

Abstract

Spectacles, 1, including a mounting portion, 3, with side portions, 3a, 3b, for wrapping around the head of the user to mount and retain the eyeglasses thereto. Lenses, 5, 7, are mounted to the mounting portion such that, when the glasses are being worn, a line of vision of the user passes through said at least one lens. The mounting portion is made from fabric / cloth / textiles. The fabric may be Ariaprene (RTM). The temple areas of the mounting portion may be stiffened. The nose area, 15, of the spectacles may also be reinforced. The stiffening insert material, 13a, 13b, 17, may be a plastics material capable of flexing whilst returning to its original shape. The glasses may have two single lenses and the lenses may be mounted in the frame by being retained in individual pockets, 9a, 9b. The spectacles may be sunglasses whereby the lenses are adapted to filter ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun. The glasses may be corrective glasses with lenses for improving the vision of the user. The lenses may be made of polycarbonate.

Description

Improved Spectacles

The present invention relates to improved spectacles. In particular, the present invention relates to improved sunglasses, that is, spectacles for protecting the eyes of the user from the harmful rays of the sun.

It is known that ultraviolet (UV) rays, which are a constituent part of the rays emitted from the sun, can cause damage to the eyes, in particular to the eyes of children. Indeed, at the time of writing, it is estimated that the majority of the damage done to eyes by UV rays emitted from the sun occurs in the first ten years of life.

In an attempt to mitigate this damage, it is known for a user to wear sunglasses, which comprise lenses that are adapted to filter UV light from the rays emitted from the sun that enter the eyes of the user.

Whilst sunglasses are a well known solution to the problem of UV damage to eyes, problems nevertheless exist. In particular, it can often be difficult to ensure that children in particular wear their sunglasses when required, to prevent damage from the sun. Moreover, due to the typical plastics formation of sunglasses, the disposal of sunglasses can often be potentially damaging to the environment.

These problems also exist with conventional spectacles, which provide the user with improved vision as a result of specially designed lenses, without necessarily incorporating any protection from UV light emitted from the sun.

The aim of the present invention is to overcome, or at least alleviate, at least the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art and in particular to provide improved spectacles, such as (i) spectacles for providing the user with improved vision and/or (ii) sunglasses, whilst mitigating the damage to the environment when they are eventually disposed of, when compared to known prior art spectacles.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided wearable spectacles comprising: - (i) a mounting portion comprising side portions for wrapping around the head of the user to mount the spectacles to the head of the user and substantially retain the spectacles in position on the head of the user; and (ii) at least one lens mountable to said mounting portion, such that, when the spectacles are mounted to the head of the user, a line of vision of the user passes through said at least one lens, characterised in that said mounting portion is made from fabric.

This provides the advantage that the spectacles can be customised to suit the user. By means of example, mounting portions can comprise various colours and designs of fabric to be selected as desired by the user. As a result, the spectacles can be made to be more appealing to children, thereby encouraging their use. It is however to be appreciated that the customisable nature of the spectacles and in particular the various mounting portion options also results in the spectacles also being more appealing to the adult user.

In having a mounting portion made from fabric, this provides the further advantage that, when the spectacles are disposed of, they are less damaging to the environment in view of the fact that they comprise less plastics material overall, instead comprising a mounting portion made from fabric. To elaborate, in the case of known prior art spectacles, it is often the case that the majority of their composition is plastics material, whose disposal can often be potentially damaging to the environment.

Preferably, said fabric is substantially biodegradable.

Preferably, said side portions of said mounting portion are substantially tubular, each said side portion comprising at least one stiffening portion.

Preferably, each said stiffening portion comprises plastics material.

This provides the advantage that the spectacles are provided with a degree of rigidity to maintain the spectacles substantially in position on the head of the user, whilst not comprising as much plastics material as known prior art spectacles.

Preferably, said mounting portion further comprises a nose portion which, when in situ on the head of the user, is disposed in the region of the nose of the user, said nose portion being substantially tubular and comprising at least one further stiffening portion.

Preferably, said stiffening portions comprise plastics material that is able to flex and substantially retain its shape after flexing.

Preferably, said spectacles comprise two said lenses mountable to said mounting portion.

Preferably, said mounting portion comprises two pockets, wherein a first said lens is retained within a first said pocket, and a second said lens is retained within a second said pocket.

This provides the advantage that, once the user has selected the fabric of the mounting portion, they can simply slot the appropriate lenses into the pockets of the mounting portion as required. In this way, the user can change the fabric according to the intended use of the spectacles, and according to the type of fabric they wish to wear on that day.

This provides the further advantage that the user is able to have more than one pair of spectacles with only one set of lenses and several interchangeable mounting portions.

This provides the further advantage that the user is able to have one mounting portion with various different sets of lenses appropriate to different environments and prescriptions.

Preferably, said mounting portion comprises Ariaprene ™ fabric.

Preferably at least one said lens is adapted to filter UV light from the sun to reduce the amount of UV light entering the eyes of the user.

Preferably, at least one said lens is adapted to improve the vision of the user.

Preferably, at least one said lens comprises polycarbonate material. A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: -

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of spectacles in accordance with the present invention, showing hidden detail.

With reference to Figure 1, a set of wearable spectacles is represented generally by reference numeral 1.

The spectacles, which in this embodiment are sunglasses 1, comprise a mounting portion 3 having a first side portion 3a and a second side portion 3b. The mounting portion 3 is made from fabric, which in this embodiment is Ariaprene™. The fabric of the mounting portion 3 is adapted to be breathable to improve the comfort of the user, for example by incorporating a plurality of perforations.

The side portions 3 a and 3 b of the mounting portion 3 wrap around the side of the head of the user and each comprise free ends 4a and 4b, which can be connected together either by means of tying together towards the back of the head of the user or by means of a suitable connecting means, in order to mount the sunglasses 1 to the head of the user and substantially retain the sunglasses 1 in position on the head of the user. It is however, to be appreciated that as an alternative to or in addition to, connecting the free ends 4a and 4b, the free ends 4a and 4b can be shaped to fit over the ear of the user, in order to mount the sunglasses 1 to the head of the user.

The sunglasses 1 further comprise a first lens 5 and a second lens 7, which in this embodiment are made from polycarbonate. The lenses 5 and 7 are mounted to the mounting portion 3 so that, when the sunglasses 1 are mounted to the head of the user, the lines of vision of the user pass through the first 5 and second 7 lenses respectively. In order to facilitate this, the mounting portion 3 comprises two pockets 9a and 9b, wherein the first pocket 9a retains the first lens 5 in position and the second pocket 9b retains the second lens in position.

Access to the first 9a and second 9b pockets is achieved by means of slots (not shown) on an upper portion of the mounting portion 3. Alternatively, access to the first 9a and second 9b pockets is achieved by means of stretching the fabric of the mounting portion 3 to a limited extent to allow the user to insert the lenses 5 and 7 into the first 9a and second 9b pockets respectively. In order to facilitate this, the fabric of the mounting portion 3 is elastic to a limited degree.

In this way, the user can select different fabric mounting portions 3 according to their requirements or mood, simply by inserting the lenses 5 and 7 into the pockets 9a and 9b of differently coloured mounting portions 3, when required, for example. As a result, the sunglasses 1 are customisable by the user, which can encompass both children and adults.

It is also to be appreciated that, in view of the fact that the majority of the composition of the sunglasses 1 comprises fabric, when they are eventually disposed of by the user, they do not pose as much of a threat to the environment as conventional sunglasses, the majority of which is made from plastics material.

The fabric side portions 3a and 3b of the mounting portion 3 are tubular, and each side portion 3a and 3b encases a plastics stiffening portion 13a and 13b. Similarly, a nose portion 15 of the mounting portion 3 is also tubular and encases a further stiffening portion 17. It is to be appreciated that the stiffening portions 13a, 13b and 17, although being made from plastics material, contribute to a relatively small proportion of the composition of the sunglasses 1. In this way, the sunglasses 1 are provided with some rigidity to maintain them in position on the head of the user, whilst not comprising as much plastics material as known prior art sunglasses 1.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

By means of example, as an alternative to sunglasses 1, the spectacles could alternatively be spectacles intended to improve the vision of the user. In this case, the lenses would not necessarily incorporate a UV filter but would instead be lenses adapted to improve the vision of the user to correct short sightedness or long sightedness for example.

It is also to be appreciated that the spectacles of the present invention can be, inter alia, children’s sunglasses, sports sunglasses for either children or adults (for use during skiing or sailing for example), sunglasses for general use, or spectacles for improving the vision of the user.

Claims

1. Wearable spectacles comprising: - (i) a mounting portion comprising side portions for wrapping around the head of the user to mount the spectacles to the head of the user and substantially retain the spectacles in position on the head of the user; and (ii) at least one lens mountable to said mounting portion, such that, when the spectacles are mounted to the head of the user, a line of vision of the user passes through said at least one lens, characterised in that said mounting portion is made from fabric.

2. Wearable spectacles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fabric is substantially biodegradable.

3. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein said side portions of said mounting portion are substantially tubular, each said side portion comprising at least one stiffening portion.

4. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein said mounting portion further comprises a nose portion which, when in situ on the head of the user, is disposed in the region of the nose of the user, said nose portion being substantially tubular and comprising at least one further stiffening portion.

5. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of claims 3 or 4, wherein each said stiffening portion comprises plastics material.

6. Wearable spectacles as claimed in claim 5, wherein each said stiffening portion comprises plastics material that is able to flex and substantially retain its shape after flexing.

7. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein said spectacles comprise two said lenses mountable to said mounting portion.

8. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein said mounting portion comprises two pockets, wherein a first said lens is retained within a first said pocket, and a second said lens is retained within a second said pocket.

9. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein said mounting portion comprises Ariaprene ™ fabric.

10. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein at least one said lens is adapted to filter UV light from the sun to reduce the amount of UV light entering the eyes of the user.

11. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein at least one said lens is adapted to improve the vision of the user.

12. Wearable spectacles as claimed in any one of the previous claims, wherein at least die said lens comprises polycarbonate material.

13. Wearable spectacles substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.