US3155763A - Spectacle frame side pieces - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 3, 1964 H. L. THORN ETAL 3,155,763v

SPECTACLE FRAME SIDE PIECES Filed May 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 3, 1964 H. L. THORN ErAL 3,

sazcmm FRAME sms: pmczs Filed. May 8. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,155,763 SPECTACLE FRAME SIDE PIEGES Herbert L. Thorn and Walter Conway, Guildford, England, assignors to Optoplast Manufacturing (Iornpany Limited and The Trident Opticai Company Limited Filed May 8, H61, Ser. No. 108,591 (Claims priority, application Great Britain May 16, 1960 1; Qlaini. (Cl. 88-53) This invention relates to side pieces for spectacle frames.

In a spectacle frame having hinged side pieces made of a plastic it is common to fix one member of each hinge to the side piece by rivets that pass completely through the side piece and so are visible on the face of the side piece remote from the hinge member. This is the outer face, and the visible ends of the rivets detract from the appearance of the side piece, and the hinge is not always firmly held, as the rivets may work loose.

An object of this invention is to fix a side piece hinge very securely in position.

Another object is to improve the appearance of a hinged side piece.

A further object is to provide an improved reinforced side piece requiring fewer steps than hitherto for its manufacture.

Broadly in this invention a wire embedded in the side piece engages at least one element projecting inwards from the hinge member to hold that member in position on the side piece.

It is common to reinforce a plastic side piece by a wire that extends longitudinally in it, and in making such a reinforced side piece it is usual to push the wire longitudinally into a blank from which the side piece is being shaped. The invention may be applied with advantage to side pieces of this kind, since the reinforcing wire may be caused to engage the element or elements projecting from the hinge member. When the reinforcing wire is thus used for two purposes, not only is the hinge member firmly held on the side piece but also the cost of manufacture is much reduced, since the engagement of the element or elements by the wire takes place when the wire is introduced into the side piece. Moreover, if, as is preferred, the element or elements do not extend from the hinge member to the opposite face of the side piece, the appearance of the side piece is improved.

The elements may be made separately from and fixed to the hinge member by riveting or otherwise or be integral parts to it.

Some examples of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the preferred side piece;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged section on the line IIII in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line III--III in FIG- URE 2;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are sections corresponding to FIG- URE 2 through two other side pieces; and

FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal section and FIGURE 7 a transverse section through another hinge and side piece.

The side piece 1 shown in FIGURE 1 is moulded from a plastic, contains a longitudinal reinforcing wire 2 and carries one member of a barrel hinge 4. This member includes a plate 3 which bears on the side piece, being let into a recess 8 in it, and which is formed with two holes. The wire 2 has a pointed leading end 5, a main length 6 of circular section and a flattened end 7. Two small plates 9, perpendicular to the plate 3, have rivet heads 10, the necks 11 of the rivets passing through holes in the "ice plate 3, so that the plates 9 are fixed to the plate 3. The plates 9 are formed with holes through which the wire 2 passes and which are shaped as slots 12 to fit closely round I the flattened parts 7 with central circular parts 13 to allow the circular part 6 to pass freely through.

In manufacture a heated side-piece blank is put in the female part of a two-part mould in a side piercing machine constructed as described in British Patent No. 633,201; the hinge member 3 with the plates 9 riveted to it is held in a recess at one end of the male part of the mould; the mould is closed, the plates entering the heated and softened blank in the process and the hinge member partly entering the blank; and while the moulded blank is still soft during cooling, the wire 2 is pushed into it, the end 5 entering as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2. During this step the holes in the plates 9 act as guides for the wire, thus facilitating the accurate location of the wire in the side piece. This is an advantage, and another is that the wire is not weakened, as it is by drilling the holes necessary for riveting.

In the construction shown in FIGURE 4, the end 14 of a hinge plate 3 is turned at right angles as a flange and formed with a hole through which the wire 2 passes.

In the construction shown in FIGURE 5 the hinge member is essentially only the barrel part 15 and a plate 16 extends into the side piece 2 from it to form the ele ment formed with a hole through which the wire 2 passes.

In the modified construction shown in FIGURES 6 and 7 a wire 17 separate from the reinforcing wire 2 and transverse to the side piece is used to engage two plates 18 fixed to and perpendicular to the hinge plate 3. These plates 18 extend parallel to the centre line of the side piece and the wire 2, instead of transversely to it, and have holes 19 through which the wire 17 passes at right angles to the wire 2. This gives a very rigid construction at the expense of involving an additional step, namely the push-' ing of the wire 17 into position after the wire 2 has been pushed. I

The wire 17 is introduced from the underside of the side piece so that its exposed end is not normally seen.

When a wire such as 17 is used, the side piece need not of course contain any reinforcing wire at all.

Although it is preferred to make the fixing wire 2 or 17 pass through a hole in the element or each element, other means of engagement may be used: for example the wire may pass through a groove or open slot in one of the edges of the element and will still hold the hinge member firmly.

We claim:

In combination, a spectacle-frame side piece made of a plastic, a hinge member including a first plate bearing on the side piece, two further plates parallel to one an-,

other, both perpendicular to said first plate, both fixed to said first plate, both apertured and both extending transversely into said side piece, and a longitudinal wire embedded in the side piece and passing through the apertures in said further plates to hold the hinge member in position on the side piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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