US803267A

US803267A - Optometer.

Info

Publication number: US803267A
Application number: US23571304A
Authority: US
Inventors: Louis G Booth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1904-12-06
Filing date: 1904-12-06
Publication date: 1905-10-31
Anticipated expiration: 1922-10-31

Description

No. 803,267. PATENTED 0013.31, 1905. L. e. BOOTH.

' OPTOME'IER,

APPLICATION FILED DEG.6, 1904.

UNITED STATES .PATENT )FFICE.

' LoUIs e. BOOTH, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs.

OPTOMETEFL' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed December 6, 1904. Serial No. 235,713.

To all whom it Worry concern:

Be itknown that I, LOUIS Gr. BOOTH, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Optometers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof,.reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification This invention relates to improvements in optometers, and refers more specifically to that class of optometers which are so constructed as to be capable of being folded together in small compass for convenience in transportation, more particularly by mail, and which may be made at such low cost as to profitably permit of its production and sale for a single use thereof.

The device herein shown is more particularly applicable for use by opticians who vend eyeglasses and spectacles through correspondence, by mail or otherwise, and who do not, therefore, have access to their customers for the purpose of testing their vision by the use of the usual more permanent devices employed by the opticians when personally making examinations of this kind. In a device of this character it is important that it be produced at low cost, that it may be packed in small compass for transportation, preferably by mail, and particularly when set up for use that it possess such stability as to insure accuracy of measurement, and thereby enable a prospective customer, under the direction supplied by the optician, to furnish such measurements as will enable the optician to furnish the customer with the lenses required. In such use of the device it will ordinarily be used but once. must be of such stability as to be accurate, while capable of being produced at a low cost.

My device, while primarily designed for individual customers, is of such construction as to permit of its satisfactory use by Opticians whose business does not warrant the purchase of a more elaborate outfit.

One object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a scale-strip for optometers which is so arranged and to which the target and lensholder are so applied that said holder and target are held in reliable positions, so that the lens shall always occupy a predetermined relation to the target.

A further object of the invention is to hold the lens and target in such relation to the strip For this reason the device that the scale may be clearly read while the test is being made and whereby also the target is of such stability that it will remain in any position on the scale-strip, thereby insuring accuracy of the test.

Another object of the invention is to provide a suitable detachable connection between the lens-holder and the scale-strip of such character that it holds the lens-holder in reliable angular relation to the scale-strip during use and which also permits ready detachmentthereof from the strip, so the lens-holder can be placed flatwise against the strip when packed for transportation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved detachable connection between the target and the scale-strip which permits the ready removal of the target and the packing of the target flat against the strip.

The invention has for its object other features of improvement, which will hereinafter more fully appear.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure lis a perspective view of an optometer embodying an approved form of the invention. Fig. 2 is a detail of the scale-strip. Fig. 3 is a detail of the lensholder. Fig. 4 is a detail of the target.

A designates the scale-strip, usually made of cardboard or other suitable thin material. Said strip is preferably arranged vertically edgewise, as shown in Fig. 1. It is provided at one end with an open transverse slit a, adapted to receive the lens-holder B, which latter is formed with a slit 6, opening downwardly and adapted to interlock with the slitted part of the strip A in a manner to constitute a reliable connection between the strip and holder and to maintain the holder preferably at right angles to the strip. Said connection not only holds the holder against transverse displacement, but also prevents it shifting endwise of the scale-strip and further prevents vertical tilting of the holder to the scale-strip. Such construction constitutes a detachable connection of the holder to the strip and permits the lens-holder to be readily separated or detached from the strip and to be attached thereto in such manner that the lens-holder will at all times be maintained at right angles to the scale-strip and in fixed longitudinal position to the scale a, which is marked on the strip. The said lens-holder is made of a thin flat piece of material, conven- IIO iently cardboard, and when disconnected from the strip may be laid fiatwise against the strip for packing or transportation. The lensholder is preferably provided with a handle 6 for convenience in holding the optometer in front of the eye. The lens-holder is provided with a lens 5 which may be attached thereto in any suitable manner. Said strip A is provided with a long slot a, in which a target G is adjustably held in a manner to slide ment of which at different distances from the disconnected from the strip.

lens by different eyes indicates, by reference to the scale, the particular defect of vision and the character of lens required to remedy such defects of vision. The target is provided with a handle 0 for conveniently shifting it longitudinally of the strip. The lens is so adjusted to the graduated strip and the test matter on the target that when such test matter is most clearly seen the position of the target relatively to the scale indicates to-the optician the kind of lens to send to the customer to remedy the defect of vision. By swinging the target vertically until the face thereof is brought into substantially parallel relation with respect to the upper and lower sides of the slot 0, the target may be withdrawn and When so disconnected from the strip, the target may be placed flatwise against the strip for convenience in packing or transportation. Arubber band may be conveniently used forholding the strip, lens-holder, and target together in transportation or when it is desired to carry the optometer in the pocket.

In the use of the device by an optician it is held-with the lens in front of one eye of the patient, with the strip directed forwardly therefrom, and the other eye of the patient is closed or its vision otherwise obscured. A When in this position, the target is moved toward or away from the lens until the proper point on the scale is reached at which test matter on the target is most readily discerned. The patient when using the device himself holds it in the same manner, he holding the device steady by grasping the handle of the lensholder in one hand and manipulating the target with the other hand.

It will be observed that by reason of the verticality of the scale-strip and the location of the scale at one side of the line of vision the scale may be easily read while the device is in use. This construction and arrangement is of material advantage, because the Optician or the patient can clearly and conveniently see the scale and determine the relative position I of the target in making a test.

Furthermore, there is no disturbance of the proper relative vertical arrangement of the lens and target, because the strip, although made of thin material, is substantially rigid in a vertical direction.

An important resultant advantage of the detachable connection of the target and the lens and the detachable connection for the target is that hinge-joints are avoided and the parts are more firmly held in proper relation than is possible by hinge-joints. Another advantage is that these parts when detached and placed flatwise against each other are not subject to stress in such manner as to tend to weaken the connections of the parts.

The above-described embodiment of my invention is merely illustrative and not restrictive as to its scope. I do not wish, therefore, to be limited to such embodiment except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an optometer, a thin flat strip upon which is indicated a scale, a flat target made i of thin material slidable on said strip, and a fiat lens-holder, said lens-holder and strip be- 1 ing provided with parts lying severally within the planes thereof, and constituting interlocking connections to detachably hold the lensholder rigidly in a prescribed relation to the strip.

2. An optometer comprising a thin flat strip upon which is indicated a scale, a target and a lens-holder, both made of fiat thin material, said strip and each the said target and holder being provided with parts lying severally within the planes of said members of the device and constructed to detachably and rigidly connect said target and lens-holder with the strip.

3.. In an optometer, a flat thin strip upon which is indicated a scale, a fiat lens'holder made also of thin material, said lens-holder and strip being formed to provide interlocking parts constructed to detachably fix the holder in a prescribed angular relation to the strip, While permitting the holder and its associated part of said connection to lie flatwise against one face of the strip.

4. An optometer comprising a flat thin strip upon which is indicated a scale, a lens-holder fixed thereto and a target also made of flat thin material and having sliding engagement with said strip, said strip and target being formed to provide interlocking connections constructed to detachably fix the target in a prescribed angular relation to the strip while permitting the target and its associated part of said connection to be removed from the terial on which is indicated a scale and a lensholder made also of thin flat material and having slitted, detachable connection with the strip.

6. An optometer comprising a flat strip of thin material on which is indicated a scale, a lens-holder made of thin material, both of said parts being slitted to form a detachable connection, whereby the strip and lens-holder may be connected in angular relation, and a target adjustably connected to the strip.

7. In an optometer, the combination of a flat strip of thin material, a lens-holder attached thereto, said strip having a longitudinal slot therein and a target fitting in said slot and slidable along the strip:

8. In an optometer, the combination of a strip of thin material, a lens-holder attached thereto, said strip having a longitudinal slot therein and a target having slits therein for engaging the strip at the edges of the slot, whereby the target is adjustably connected to the strip.

9. In an optometer, the combination of a flat strip of thin material, a lens-holder, said strip having a longitudinal slot therein, and a target fitting in said slot and slidable along the strip, and constructed to be released from the slot by angularly shifting the target endwise relatively to the strip.

10. In an optometer, the combination of a strip of thin material, a lens-holder attached thereto, said strip having a longitudinal slot therein and a target having slits therein for adapted to be turned lengthwise of the slot to permit disengagement of the strip from said slot.

11. In an optometer, the combination of a strip of thin material for a scale, a lens-holder made of thin material and detachably connected to the strip, said strip having a slot therein, and a thin target having interlocking, detachable sliding engagement with said strip.

12. In an optometer, the combination with a flat vertically-disposed strip made of thin material and having a scale on one of its vertical faces, a lens-holder and a target extending laterally from and supported on said strip and having detachable connection therewith by means holding them in fixed angular positions relatively to said strip.

13. In an optometer, a thin flat strip having thereon a scale, a target on the strip and a lensholder, said strip being provided with a transverse slit and the holder at one margin with a longitudinal strip, whereby said parts may be locked together in angular relation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 25th day of November, A. D. 1904.

LOUIS G. BOOTH.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. HALL, GEORGE R. WILKINS.