WO2005003840A1

WO2005003840A1 - Spectacles, in particular of the type without lens-carrying rims

Info

Publication number: WO2005003840A1
Application number: PCT/IT2003/000418
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vittorio Tabacchi
Original assignee: SAFILO SOCIETÁ AZIONARIA FABBRICA ITALIANA LAVORAZIONE OCCHIALI S.p.A.
Priority date: 2003-07-03
Filing date: 2003-07-03
Publication date: 2005-01-13
Also published as: AU2003304307A1

Abstract

A pair of spectacles, in particular of the type without lens-carrying rims, comprises at least one lens (2) that can be secured directly to a fitting element (4), such as a lug for the articulation of an arm of the spectacles or a central connecting bridge between the lenses, an edge surface (7) between the opposite lens faces (2a, 2b) being defined on the lens, and also at least one attachment element (8) for attaching the fitting to the lens, which is arranged to be locked on the edge surface (7) by the insertion and locking of respective appendages of the attachment element in corresponding blind holes formed radially in the lens at the location of the edge surface of the lens. The spectacles comprises, for the locking of each fitting (4) to the lens, exclusively a single appendage (14) which projects from the attachment element (8) and is capable of being inserted and locked in a single respective blind hole (6) formed radially in the lens through the edge surface (7) thereof, and they also comprise anti-rotation means for preventing the fitting (4) from rotating with respect to the lens about the axis of the hole (6), those means being integrated in the attachment element (8) in order to be active on the edge surface of the lens or on one of the lens faces, as a result of the clamping of the attachment element onto the lens.

Description

Spectacles, in particular of the type without lens-carrying rims Technical field

The present invention relates to a pair of spectacles, particularly of the type without lens-carrying rims, which includes the features specified in the preamble of main claim No. 1. Technological background

The invention belongs particularly, although not exclusively, to the field of spectacles without lens-carrying rims, in which various forms of fitting are secured directly to the lens of the spectacles. In the present context the term "fittings" is intended to cover, for example, the lugs for the articulation of the arms, or the central bridge for connecting the lenses, or other structural elements for supporting the lenses.

A first series of known applications in the field of spectacles without lens- carrying rims provides for through-holes in the lens, which holes are to receive screws for securing the fitting, the screws being clamped between the opposite faces of the lens. Those systems, in addition to bringing about undesired stress states in the lens during the screw-tightening operations, have the restriction of reducing the field of vision offered by the lens owing to the presence of the holes and the corresponding securing screws at the location of the opposite lateral ends of the lens.

A further known application is described in United States patent No. 5646706 in which the lens has pairs of blind holes directed radially through the edge surface of the lens and capable of accommodating corresponding appendages of an attachment element of the lug (or of the central bridge). The locking of the appendages is preferably achieved by adhesively bonding them inside the respective accommodation holes. That arrangement requires the provision of a pair of holes having a predetermined distance between their centres at each point of attachment of the lugs or of the central bridge, with a consequent associated complicated machining of the lens in addition to providing the additional stage of adhesively bonding the attachment element to the lens. Description of the invention

The main object of the invention is to provide a pair of spectacles designed structurally and functionally to facilitate and simplify the coupling between the lens and the fittings, thus overcoming the restrictions encountered with reference to the mentioned prior art, at the same time obtaining stability and reliability of clamping of the fittings to the lens and without causing critical stress states in the lens.

Those objects and others too which will emerge more clearly hereinafter are achieved by a pair of spectacles having the features defined in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

The features and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the following detailed description of some of its preferred embodiments which are illustrated by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a detail of a pair of spectacles according to the present invention,

- Figure 2 is a perspective view of a detail of the spectacles of Figure 1 in a variant,

- Figures 3 to 7 are plan views of a detail of the spectacles of the previous Figures in respective and separate variants, - Figures 8 to 14 are perspective views of a further detail of the spectacles according to the invention in respective variants,

- Figures 15 and 16 are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, of the detail of Figure 8 in the condition mounted on a fitting for spectacles,

- Figures 17 and 18 are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, of the detail of Figure 8 in the condition mounted on a fitting for spectacles according to a variant,

- Figures 19 and 20 are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, of the detail of Figure 8 in the condition mounted on a fitting for spectacles,

- Figures 21 and 22 are a perspective view and a plan view, respectively, of the detail of Figure 8 in the condition mounted on a fitting for spectacles,

- Figures 23 and 23a are a front view and a plan view, respectively, of a pair of spectacles according to a variant of the invention,

- Figures 24 and 25 are a side view and a front view, respectively, of a detail of the spectacles of Figures 23 and 23a,

- Figures 26 and 27 are a plan view and a front view, respectively, of a variant of the detail of Figures 24 and 25,

- Figures 28 and 29 are views corresponding to those of Figures 26 and 27 in a further variant of the detail represented,

- Figures 30 and 31 are a side view and a front view, respectively, of a variant of the detail of the previous Figures,

- Figure 32 is a partial perspective view of a detail of the invention in a further variant,

- Figure 33 is a partial plan view of a pair of spectacles in a further variant of the invention,

- Figure 34 is a partial side view of a detail of the spectacles of the invention in a further variant, - Figures 35 and 36 are partial side views of a detail of the spectacles in a further variant,

- Figures 37 and 38 are a plan view and a perspective view, respectively, of a detail of the spectacles of the invention in accordance with a further variant. Preferred embodiment of the invention

Referring initially to Figure 1, a pair of spectacles of the type without lens- carrying rims produced in accordance with the present invention is generally indicated 1 and is shown only partially. Of the spectacles 1, a lens 2, the end 3a of an arm 3 and a hinge element 4 for the articulated connection of the arm to the lens are shown partially. The hinge element 4, otherwise known as the "lug" in this particular technical sector, has a pair of eyelets 5 for connection by means of a hinge pin (not shown) to the arm 3.

For ease of explanation, the lug 4 and the central connecting bridge (not shown) between the lenses are also referred to hereinafter by the general term "fitting", the present invention relating to the usual system of securing these fittings directly to the lens of the spectacles, a system which is typically adopted for light-weight spectacles without lens-carrying rims. It will be appreciated that the term "fitting" may also include any other structure of the spectacles that is intended to support the lenses with the securing system which forms the subject-matter of the invention and which is described in detail hereinafter.

In particular, a description will be given of the system for connecting the lug 4 to the lens 2, it being understood that this same system distinguishes the connection of any of the above-mentioned fittings, including the central connecting bridge between the lenses of the spectacles. For the above-mentioned connection, the lens 2 is provided with a blind hole 6 formed radially in the lens through an edge surface 7 thereof defined between the opposite faces 2a, 2b of the lens.

8 marks an attachment element which is integral with the lug 4 at the end remote from the eyelets 5 and which is provided with a surface 8a capable of contact with the edge surface of the lens. A through-hole 9 is formed through the attachment element for the passage of a screw means 10 capable of being inserted and locked by screwing in the blind hole 6. It will be noted that the locking of the screw in the hole of the lens by direct screwing is particularly efficient when the materials constituting the lens are relatively resilient and at any rate such as not to cause critical stress states in the lens as a result of the engagement of the screw in the hole by screwing. In addition, the thread on the screw 10 may, according to requirements, be provided with a conventional triangular profile or with prominent edges, for example of the sawtooth type, for a greater gripping capacity. Analogously, the thread may have a standard or lengthened pitch.

The lug 4, in the embodiment of Figure 1, is provided with cutaway portions 11 for the positioning of and access to the screw 10, on a side remote from the surface 8a, and also having the function of permitting partial masking of the screw.

A pair of projections 12 also rise up in the same direction from the surface 8a, in a position facing the edge surface of the lens, in order to increase the gripping of the attachment element 8 against the edge surface 7 of the lens during the tightening of the screw 10. The projections 12 have a shape and size such as to deform locally the edge surface 7 of the lens, as a consequence of the tightening of the screw 10, thus improving the locking between the lens and the lug, and they act as means suitable for preventing the relative rotation be- tween the lens and the lug about the axis of the hole 6. Advantageously, in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, the projections 12 are disposed on diametrically opposite sides with respect to the through-hole 9 and have a substantially wedge-shaped tapering form, as shown in the drawings. The provision of one or more projections 12 integrated in the attachment element 8 and acting as anti-rotation means therefore makes it possible, according to the invention, to lock the lug relative to the lens by means of a single securing means, in this embodiment by means of a single screw means 10, which therefore accordingly requires the provision of a single hole in the thickness of the lens.

Figure 2 shows a variant of the lug 4 of Figure 1, the variant consisting in a different end shape of the attachment element 8, with a rounded profile of the contour of the surface 8a, principally for reasons of greater aesthetic value. Figures 3 to 7 show further variants of the lug 4 which differ from one another by the different shape of the end portion of the lug, at the location of the attachment element 8. It will be seen that, in the embodiments of Figures 3, 4 and 7, the screw 10 is masked by the lug when the spectacles are viewed from the front.

It is also provided that the attachment element 8 is structurally independent of the fitting to which it is coupled. Figures 8 to 14 show variants of the attachment element 8 which are capable of being secured, for example by welding, to the free ends of the corresponding fittings (lug or bridge), as shown in Figures 15 to 22. In those variants, the attachment element 8 comprises a plate- shaped body 8b on which the surface 8a that is to come into contact with the edge surface 7 of the lens is defined. Rising from the surface 8a are pairs of projections 12 (Figures 8, 9, 10, 13) or only a single projection 12 (Figures 11, 12, 14), the projections having different shapes with a free end which is pointed (Figures 9 and 12) or which has an edge (Figures 8, 10, 11, 13 and 14). In the configurations with pairs of projections 12, the latter are preferably disposed on diametrically opposite sides with respect to the central through- hole 9. In the embodiment of Figure 14 it is provided, as an alternative, that the single projection 12 is positioned "horizontally" with respect to the hole 9. The securing of the fitting to the attachment element 8 may be effected by direct connection, for example by welding, of a free end of the fitting (for example having a circular or polygonal cross-section as shown in Figures 19 and 21, respectively) to a lateral surface 8c of the attachment element. There may also be provision for a shaping of the end of the fitting (Figure 15) with subsequent welding thereof to the lateral surface 8c, or the attachment element may be provided with a seat 13 (Figure 17) which is preferably produced on the opposite side to the surface 8a and is capable of accommodating an end portion of the fitting, at least partially.

According to other variants of the invention, which are the subject of the embodiments of Figures 23 to 36, it is provided that the connection between the lens 2 and the attachment element 8 is effected by means of a single pin-form appendage 14, which is integral with the attachment element 8 and projects therefrom and is also intended to be inserted and locked with interference in the hole 6, in order to ensure the clamping of the fitting onto the lens. The pin-form appendage 14 and, in a corresponding manner, the blind hole 6 in the lens may have a circular or ovalised or polygonal cross-section, the non- circular cross-sections advantageously helping to prevent undesired movements of relative rotation between the attachment element and the lens. In order to increase the locking action, it is also provided that the pin-form appendage 14 has, on its external curved surface, one or more protuberances 15 having profiles of a suitable shape (for example, having a triangular, sawtooth or polygonal cross-section).

In the embodiment of Figures 22 to 25, the attachment element, still indicated by the number 8 for ease of description, has, on the opposite side to the pin- form appendage 14, a hollow seat 16 for the connection of the respective fitting. The attachment element is also provided with a pair of abutment members 17 which are disposed diametrically opposite one another with respect to the appendage 14 and which are capable of being accommodated at least partially in respective cavities 18 formed in the lens 2 at the location of the edge surface 7. These abutment members constitute anti-rotation means for preventing the attachment element 8 from rotating relative to the lens 2 about the axis of the hole 6.

In a variant of the previous embodiment, shown in Figures 26 and 27, the attachment element 8 has a flattened portion 19, the function of which is to facilitate the securing of the lug, for example by welding, at the same time conferring aesthetic value on the attachment element.

The variant forming the subject of Figures 28 and 29 differs from the previous embodiments by the fact that the hollow seat 16 for connection to the fitting extends perpendicularly to the direction of the axial extent of the pin-form appendage 14.

Referring to Figures 30 and 31, a further variant provides that the pin-form appendage (shown with a broken line) is fixedly joined to the attachment element at the location of an axial cavity 16a thereof having a substantially semi- cylindrical shape.

The variant of Figures 32 and 33 provides that the fitting which is to be connected to the lens 2 has a free end 20 which is shaped in the form of a pin 14 and which is capable of being inserted directly in the blind hole 6 of the lens. An abutment member 17 secured to the end 20 and accommodated at least partially in a respective cavity 21 in the lens 2 is provided as anti-rotation means in the variant of Figure 32. In the variant of Figure 33, the function of abutment member is transferred to a portion 17a of the element for connecting a plate 17b for bearing on the nose to a central bridge 17c of the spectacles.

The abutment member 17 may also itself have a pin shape with a longitudinal axis parallel with the appendage 14. In that case, the lens 2 is provided with a pair of contiguous radial holes, as illustrated in the embodiment of Figure 34. Figures 35 and 36 show a further variant in which the pin-form appendage 14 has an axial end which projects from the hole 6 and which is capable of being connected, for example by welding, to an end portion 22 of the respective fitting. The portion 22 is partially accommodated in a recess 23 (for example produced by milling the edge of the lens) in order to ensure the anti-rotation function preventing the fitting from rotating with respect to the lens. With reference to Figures 37 and 38, in a further variant of the invention the anti-rotation means comprise a portion 25 which projects from the surface 8a of the attachment element and on which is defined a surface 25a which is to abut one of the lens faces 2a, 2b, thus helping to prevent the rotation of the attachment element with respect to the lens. It is provided that the portion 25 is advantageously integral with or fixedly joined to the attachment element, depending on the specific requirements and the materials used. In the above embodiments, in which the pin-form appendage 14 is locked with interference in the blind hole 6, in addition to that mechanical coupling, which at any rate ensures reliability and stability of relative locking between the coupled components, it is possible to provide for the use of optional auxiliary ad- hesives interposed between the appendage and the accommodation hole in the lens.

The invention thus achieves the objects proposed, overcoming the restrictions indicated with reference to the mentioned prior art and achieving numerous advantages over the known arrangements.

These include principally the fact that the spectacles according to the invention make it possible to simplify the construction and machining and also the mounting of the coupling components between the lens and the associated fitting.

Claims

1. Spectacles, in particular of the type without lens-carrying rims, comprising:

- at least one lens (2) which can be secured directly to a fitting element (4), such as a lug for the articulation of an arm of the spectacles or a central connecting bridge between the lenses, an edge surface (7) between the opposite lens faces (2a, 2b) being defined on the at least one lens (2),

- at least one attachment element (8) for attaching the fitting to the lens, which is arranged to be locked on the edge surface (7) by the insertion and locking of respective appendages of the attachment element (8) in corresponding blind holes formed radially in the lens (2) at the location of the edge surface (7) of the lens, characterised in that they comprise, for the locking of each fitting (4) to the lens, exclusively a single appendage (14) which projects from the attachment element (8) and is capable of being inserted and locked in a single respective blind hole (6) formed radially in the lens through the edge surface (7) thereof, and in that they also comprise anti-rotation means for preventing the fitting (4) from rotating with respect to the lens about the axis of the hole (6), those means being integrated in the attachment element (8) in order to be active on the edge surface of the lens or on one of the lens faces, as a result of the clamping of the attachment element onto the lens.

2. Spectacles according to claim 1, wherein the appendage comprises screw means (10), which are structurally independent of the attachment element (8) and also extend through an opening (9) in the attachment element in order to be secured with screwing in the blind hole (6) with consequent locking of the attachment element (8) on the lens (2).

3. Spectacles according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the anti-rotation means comprise at least one projection (12) rising from the attachment element (8) and capable of coming into contact with the edge surface (7) of the lens, as a result of the clamping of the attachment element onto the lens.

4. Spectacles according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the attachment element (8) comprises a plate-shaped body (8b) having a first surface (8a) capable of coming into contact with the edge surface (7) of the lens and a second, opposite, surface capable of being secured to the fitting (4).

5. Spectacles according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, wherein the attachment element (8) is integral with the fitting (4).

6. Spectacles according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the anti-rotation means comprise, on the attachment element (8), a pair of projections (12) which are disposed diametrically opposite one another with respect to the through-opening (9).

7. Spectacles according to claim 1, wherein the appendage (14) extends integrally from the attachment element (8) and is capable of being inserted and locked with interference in the corresponding blind hole (6) formed through the edge surface (7) of the lens.

8. Spectacles according to claim 7, wherein the appendage (14) is pin- shaped with a circular or ovalised or polygonal cross-section, with a corresponding shaping of the hole (6) in the lens for relative locking between the attachment element and the lens.

9. Spectacles according to claim 8, wherein the pin form of the appendage (14) is provided with one or more protuberances (15) for relative gripping between the appendage (14) and the accommodation hole (6).

10. Spectacles according to one or more of claims 7 to 9, wherein the anti- rotation means comprise at least one abutment member (17) capable of being accommodated at least partially in a respective cavity (18) formed in the lens at the location of the edge surface (7) thereof.

11. Spectacles according to claim 10, wherein a pair of abutment members (17) disposed diametrically opposite one another with respect to the securing appendage (14) are provided.

12. Spectacles according to claim 1, wherein the anti-rotation means comprise, on the attachment element, a projecting portion (25) on which is defined a surface (25a) which is intended to abut one of the opposite lens faces (2a, 2b) as a result of the clamping of the attachment element to the lens.