TWM683003U - Eyeglasses device - Google Patents

Abstract

An eyewear device includes a solar cell unit and a control unit mounted on the eyewear mechanism. The eyewear mechanism includes a dimming lens unit with adjustable light transmittance. The control unit activates the dimming function when the output power of the solar cell unit exceeds a first power value, and begins to adjust the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit according to changes in output power. The control unit deactivates the dimming function when the output power falls below a second power value. The control unit adjusts the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit only when the output power of the solar cell unit exceeds a first power value, and turns off the dimming function only when the output power is less than a second power value. This design can improve the problem of instantaneous changes in the light transmittance of existing dimming glasses, which can cause eye discomfort.

Description

Eyeglasses device

This invention relates to a pair of glasses, and more particularly to a pair of glasses device with electrically adjustable light transmittance.

In recent years, the technology of controlling the rotation of liquid crystals to change light transmittance has begun to be applied to eyewear devices. These eyewear devices generally include one or two liquid crystal lenses, a light sensor for sensing ambient light intensity, and a controller. The controller automatically controls the light transmittance of the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal lens based on the light sensor's detection result, that is, adjusts the light intensity passing through the liquid crystal lens, thereby reducing the stimulation and damage to the user's eyes caused by changes in ambient light intensity.

Most existing automatic dimming glasses determine ambient light intensity directly through a single light-sensitive switch or photosensitive element. The generated electrical energy activates dimming when it exceeds a preset trigger value, and deactivates dimming when it falls below. This design, which uses only a single threshold as the switching condition, is prone to frequent switching of the dimming switch when ambient light changes rapidly or when the light intensity approaches the trigger threshold.

In addition, when the dimming function is turned on, if the user is walking outdoors and passing through densely spaced obstructions (such as roadside trees or building shadows), the ambient light will rapidly alternate between bright and dark states, causing the light transmittance of the lens to repeatedly rise and fall in a short period of time, forming another type of flickering phenomenon, which will cause visual discomfort to the user.

Both of these situations indicate that existing products still have shortcomings in the stability of dimming response, making it difficult to achieve the desired effect.

Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide an eyewear device that improves upon at least one of the shortcomings of the prior art.

Therefore, this novel eyewear device includes a lens mechanism, a solar cell unit, and a control unit mounted on the lens mechanism. The lens mechanism includes a frame unit for wearing, and a dimming lens unit mounted on the frame unit for viewing objects through the lens. The dimming lens unit can be controlled to change its light transmittance. The solar cell unit can sense light to generate electricity.

The control unit is connected to the dimming lens unit and the solar cell unit, and is powered by the electrical energy generated by the solar cell unit. The control unit includes a power detection module and a control module. The power detection module detects the electrical energy generated by the solar cell unit and outputs power. The control module has a built-in first power value and a second power value lower than the first power value, and also includes a dimming function.

The control module activates the dimming function when it determines that the output power is greater than the first power value, and begins to adjust the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit according to the output power. After activating the dimming function, the control module deactivates the dimming function when it determines that the output power is lower than the second power value.

The advantage of this new design is that the control unit only starts adjusting the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit according to the change in output power when the output power of the solar cell unit is greater than the first power value, and only turns off the dimming function when the output power is less than the second power value. This design can improve the problem of eye discomfort caused by the instantaneous change in light transmittance of existing dimming glasses.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, one embodiment of the novel eyewear device 200 includes an eyewear mechanism 3 for wearing on the head of a user 900, and a solar power unit 4 and a control unit 5 installed in the eyewear mechanism 3.

The eyewear mechanism 3 includes a frame unit 31 for wearing on the head of the user 900, and a dimming lens unit 32 mounted on the frame unit 31.

The frame unit 31 includes a lens mount 311 and a wearing module 312 mounted on the lens mount 311.

In this embodiment, the wearing module 312 is an elastic band (as shown in Figure 1) with its two ends connected to the left and right ends of the lens base 311, and can be fitted around the head of the user 900 in cooperation with the lens base 311. However, in other embodiments of this new invention, the wearing module 312 can be modified to have two temples 313 (as shown in Figure 5) respectively installed at the left and right ends of the lens base 311, and can be used to hang on the ears of the user 900.

The dimming lens unit 32 is connected to the control unit 5 and can be controlled by the control unit 5 to change the light transmittance.

In this embodiment, the dimming lens unit 32 is a liquid crystal lens, including a first lens 321 and a second lens 322 that are spaced apart and transparent, and a liquid crystal module 323 that is covered and disposed between the opposing sides of the first lens 321 and the second lens 322. The liquid crystal module 323 is signal-connected to the control unit 5 and can be controlled by the control unit 5 to change its transmittance. Since the transmittance of the liquid crystal module 323 can be controlled to adjust is existing technology and is not the focus of this improvement, it will not be described in detail.

The solar cell unit 4 and the control unit 5 are integrated together and sealed and fixed to the rear side of the dimming lens unit 32 by a casing 50. The solar cell unit 4, located behind the first lens 321, includes a solar panel 41 that senses light passing through the first lens 321 and generates electricity, and an energy storage element 42 electrically connected to the solar panel 41 and used to store the electrical energy generated by the solar panel 41. The energy storage element 42 provides the electrical energy required for the operation of the dimming lens unit 32 and the control unit 5. In practice, the energy storage element 42 can be, for example, but not limited to, a capacitor.

The control unit 5 is powered by the electrical energy stored in the energy storage element 42. The control unit 5 includes a power detection module 51 and a control module 52.

The power detection module 51 can be used to detect the electrical energy generated by the solar panel 41 and obtain an output power. In this embodiment, the power detection module 51 detects the output voltage of the solar panel 41 to obtain the output power, but in practice, the type of power detected by the power detection module 51 is not limited to this.

The control module 52 has a built-in dimming function and is set with a first power value and a second power value corresponding to the output power, wherein the second power value is lower than the first power value.

The control module 52 can determine the relationship between the output power measured by the power detection module 51 and the first power value and the second power value.

The control module 52 will activate the dimming function when it determines that the output power is greater than the first power value.

After the dimming function is activated, the control module 52 will start adjusting the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 according to the change in the output power. After the dimming function is activated, the control module 52 will turn off the dimming function when it determines that the output power has dropped below the second power value.

After the dimming function is activated, the control module 52 will gradually reduce the transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 by a first modulation ratio as the output power increases. That is, it will start from an initial transmittance and reduce it until the transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 is adjusted to a predetermined minimum value.

As the output power decreases, the control module 52 gradually increases the transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 by a second modulation ratio. When the control module 52 determines that the output power has dropped below the second power value and turns off the dimming function, the transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 will be adjusted back to the initial transmittance.

In this embodiment, the first modulation ratio and the second modulation ratio are the changes in transmittance per unit voltage, and the second modulation ratio is greater than the first modulation ratio. However, in practice, the relative relationship between the first modulation ratio and the second modulation ratio is not limited to this.

When this novel eyewear device 200 is worn by a user 900, the solar cell unit 4 constantly senses ambient light and converts light energy into electrical energy. The control unit 5 is powered by the electrical energy generated by the solar cell unit 4. At this time, the power detection module 51 constantly detects and obtains the output power of the solar cell unit 4.

When the control module 52 determines that the output power is greater than the first power value, it will activate the dimming function and start adjusting the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 according to the change in the output power, thereby reducing the amount of light that passes through the dimming lens unit 32 and enters the eyes of the user 900, and avoiding discomfort to the user 900's eyes caused by strong external light.

In this embodiment, the solar cell unit 4 and the control unit 5 are integrated on the rear side of the dimming lens unit 32. However, in other embodiments of this novel invention, the solar cell unit 4 and the control unit 5 may also be disposed on the lens mount 311 or the wearing module 312 of the lens frame unit 31.

In summary, the dimming function design, where the control unit 5 adjusts the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 according to the change in output power when the output power of the solar cell unit 4 is greater than the first power value, and turns off the dimming function when the output power of the solar cell unit 4 is less than the second power value, not only adjusts the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit 32 according to changes in ambient light intensity to avoid eye discomfort caused by strong external light, but also improves the problem of eye discomfort caused by instantaneous changes in light transmittance of existing dimming glasses through a gradual dimming function design that changes with ambient light.

Furthermore, by using the power generated by the solar cell unit 4 to directly power the dimming lens unit 32 and the control unit 5, the problem of conventional dimming glasses failing to operate due to a dead battery can be avoided.

Therefore, this novel eyewear device 200 is indeed a very innovative and convenient creation, and it can indeed achieve the purpose of this invention.

However, the above description is merely an embodiment of this utility model and should not be construed as limiting the scope of its implementation. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the contents of the patent specification shall still fall within the scope of this utility model.

200: Eyeglasses assembly; 3: Eyeglasses mechanism; 31: Frame unit; 311: Lens base; 312: Wearing module; 313: Temples; 32: Dimming lens unit; 321: First lens; 322: Second lens; 323: Liquid crystal module; 4: Solar cell unit; 41: Solar panel; 42: Energy storage element; 5: Control unit; 50: Case cover; 51: Power detection module; 52: Control module; 900: User.

Other features and effects of this invention will be clearly shown in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of the eyewear device of this invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the embodiment when worn on a user's head; Figure 3 is an incomplete exploded perspective view illustrating the structure of a dimming lens unit, a solar cell unit, and a control unit of this embodiment; Figure 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating the functional architecture of this embodiment; and Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of this invention.

32: Dimming Lens Unit

323: LCD Module

4: Solar Cell Unit

41: Solar Panels

42: Energy Storage Components

5: Control Unit

51: Power Detection Module

52: Control Module

Claims (10)

An eyewear device includes: an eyeglass mechanism comprising a frame unit for wearing, and a dimming lens unit mounted on the frame unit for viewing objects through the lens, the dimming lens unit being controllable to adjust light transmittance; a solar cell unit mounted on the eyeglass mechanism and capable of sensing light to generate electricity; and A control unit, installed in the eyeglass mechanism and signal-connected to the dimming lens unit and the solar cell unit, is powered by the electrical energy generated by the solar cell unit. The control unit includes a power detection module and a control module. The power detection module detects the electrical energy generated by the solar cell unit and obtains an output power value. The control module has a built-in first power value. The control module has a second energy value that is lower than the first energy value and a built-in dimming function. When the control module determines that the output energy is greater than the first energy value, it will activate the dimming function and start adjusting the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit according to the output energy. After activating the dimming function, the control module will deactivate the dimming function when it determines that the output energy is lower than the second energy value. In the eyewear device as described in claim 1, after the dimming function is activated, the control module gradually decreases the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit as the output power increases, and gradually increases the light transmittance of the dimming lens unit as the output power decreases. In the eyewear device as described in claim 2, after the control module activates the dimming function, it gradually decreases the transmittance of the dimming lens unit with a first modulation ratio as the output power increases, and gradually increases the transmittance of the dimming lens unit with a second modulation ratio as the output power decreases. The first modulation ratio and the second modulation ratio are not equal, and when the control module determines that the output power is lower than the second power value and turns off the dimming function, the transmittance of the dimming lens unit is adjusted to restore to an initial transmittance. The eyewear device as described in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the frame unit includes a lens mount for mounting the dimming lens unit and a wearing module disposed on the lens mount for securing the lens mount to a user's head. The eyewear device as described in claim 4, wherein the wearing module is an elastic band whose two ends are respectively connected to the left and right ends of the lens mount. The eyewear device as described in claim 4, wherein the wearing module has two temples respectively mounted on the left and right ends of the lens mount. The eyewear device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the solar cell unit and the control unit are integrated in the dimming lens unit. The eyewear device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the solar cell unit and the control unit are disposed in the frame unit. The eyewear device as described in claims 1, 7 or 8, wherein the solar cell unit has a solar panel for converting light energy into electrical energy, and an energy storage element for storing the electrical energy generated by the solar panel and for powering the dimming lens unit and the control unit. The eyewear device as described in claim 9, wherein the energy storage element is a capacitor.