WO2015128067A1

WO2015128067A1 - Eyeglass frame made in a single piece fitted with a fixing device for a pair of lenses

Info

Publication number: WO2015128067A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/000373
Authority: WO
Inventors: Camillo Rattaro
Original assignee: Camillo Rattaro
Priority date: 2014-02-28
Filing date: 2015-02-19
Publication date: 2015-09-03

Abstract

Eyeglass frame made in a single piece fitted with a fixing device for a pair of lenses (L) of the frame (1) wherein the frame creates two eyepieces in which the lenses themselves are inserted, each eyepiece comprises an upper rigid portion (1') and a lower rigid portion (22) in which each lens (L) is inserted, said fixing device joins said upper rigid portion (1') to said lower rigid portion (22), which are separated from each other on their lateral external portion, by means of a first support (8).

Description

EYEGLASS FRAME MADE IN A SINGLE PIECE FITTED WITH A FIXING DEVICE FOR A PAIR OF LENSES

This invention refers to an eyeglass frame fitted with a fixing device to the same frame for a pair of lenses.

Most frames used today are realised in a single piece with eyepieces destined to hold the lenses in place by being suitably shaped. These are fixed to the frame by exerting pressure on them so as to slot them in the special eyepieces whose internal edge has a groove to block them. They are also known on the market as "Nylor" type eyeglasses, made up of an upper (ciliary) portion in metal or other rigid material and by a lower portion in thin nylon wire that must be positioned inside a groove that is created in the edge of the lens; the wire allows one, therefore, to join and to fix the lens to the said upper (ciliary) portion.

In particular, the wire is joined and blocked to the rigid frame through its insertion in special pairs of holes realised in the ends of the rigid frame, generally realised in titanium alloy. The external and internal ends of the frame are twisted so that the couple of holes realised therein are parallel to the lateral part of the lenses. In every internal end a couple of pad arms is then joined, by means of welding, destined to support the nose pads (small plaques in plastic material for protection that avoid nose-metal contact).

The eyeglass frames used today introduce certain drawbacks in that, first of all, one finds with a certain frequency, the breaking of the welding that joins the pad arm and nose pad to the frame with separation of the latter. This involves, in most cases, substitution of the entire eyeglasses, it being problematic to carry out welding of pieces in titanium alloy that requires the use of specialised laboratories with rather sophisticated and expensive equipment. What is more, said material is being used more and more for the production of eyeglasses since one is dealing with a particularly light and hypoallergenic material.

Furthermore, welding causes a lack of elasticity making it difficult, with the possibility of breakage, to have different regulations of adaptation to the face of the person that wears the eyeglasses.

Again, the manufacture of "Nylor" type eyeglasses results rather complex and expensive because of the necessity to perform the welding and the torsion of the internal ends of the frame, which, besides seem to be, rather anti-aesthetic to the sight. Lastly, it is pointed out that it is not easy to remove the lens from the frame-nylon wire in that it is necessary to exert a certain force by the end- user.

The purpose of this invention is that of obviating the drawbacks mentioned above by supplying a frame for eyeglasses in a single piece fitted with a fixing system for the lenses to the same frame having the characteristics of the attached claim 1.

The invention will be explained better through the following description, in which the form of preferred realisation of the invention is described, done with aid of the figures attached that respectively illustrate:

Figure 1 illustrates an exploded view of the frame without lenses according to this invention;

Figure 2 illustrates the magnified detail of the system of fixing indicated with A in Figure 1 ; Figure 3 illustrates the magnified detail of the system of fixing indicated with B in Figure 1 ;

Figure 4 illustrates a partial frontal view of the eyeglasses with lens before the fixing according to this invention;

Figure 5 illustrates the magnified detail of the system of fixing indicated with C in Figure 4;

Figure 6 illustrates the magnified detail of the phase of fixing of the lens indicated with C in Figure 4;

With reference to the above-mentioned figures the eyeglasses, according to this invention, include a frame 1 realised in a single rigid piece, substantially flat, suitable to form two eyepieces in which the lenses are inserted. In such a frame, for each eyepiece, a lateral end 11 of the upper portion is disconnected from a lateral end 22 of the lower portion 2' of the same frame (Figures 1 and 2).

Furthermore, said lateral end 1 1 of the upper portion is fitted with at least one protrusion 21 and at least one upper lateral recess 5 preferably of rectangular shape and facing in the direction of the lenses that have to be positioned on the frame. Preferably, protrusion 21 is advantageously provided with at least one upper ratchet 6 facing upward and one lower ratchet 66, facing downward. Said protrusion 21 is advantageously fitted with at least one slot 7. The terminal portion 16 of the lateral lower portion 22 is "hammer" shaped and fitted with a protrusion 70 preferably fitted with at least one ratchet 18 facing downward and toward the part of the lenses. What is more, said terminal portion 16 has a lower curvature 68 facing out from the external portion of the frame 1 so as to facilitate the insertion of a first support 8, illustrated in the following (Fig.2).

The two lateral portions of the frame 1 , that is the upper lateral portion 1 1 and the lower lateral portion 22 are joined to one another through said first support 8 fitted with respective holes 13, 14, of substantially rectangular shape and having an upper opening 15 realised, for instance, in the shape of a "U." Said holes 13 and 14 are destined to house, through insertion, the respective protrusions 21 and 70, while the opening 15 is destined to insertion in the lateral recess 5. The protrusions 21 and 70 and the upper opening 15 of the first support 8, once insertion of the first in the special holes 13 and 14 and of the second in the recess 5 has taken place, remain blocked in position in that the size of said holes 13 and 14 is slightly larger than that of said protrusions 21 and 70 whereby the strength of elastic thrust exerted by them on the internal walls of the holes as well as the block of ratchets 6, 66 and 18 allow realisation of a solid bonding.

The lenses L are of a known type fitted with a special circumferential groove 77 for which the assembly operation of the eyeglasses is rather simple: they, indeed, after being inserted in the special eyepieces, open in the lateral part, are held by the frame 1 that is inserted in said groove 77 of the lenses L (Fig. 4) and they are blocked in position through the use of special supports 8. The protrusion 21 of the upper portion 11 of the frame 1 is inserted in the upper hole 13 of the support 8, while the upper opening 15 of the same support 8 is inserted in the respective lateral recess 5 (Fig. 2). Advantageously, with the aid of a pair of pliers 33 (Fig. 6) a force is exerted between the upper 1 1 and lower 22 lateral portions of the frame 1 so as to insert and block the protrusion 70 in the special hole 14 of the above-mentioned support 8 (Fig. 5). The phase of unblocking and dismantlement of the lenses is just as simple in that one proceeds in an inverse way to that described above exerting pressure between the respective upper and lower lateral portions of the frame.

The internal lateral portions of the frame 1 (Fig. 3), near the bridge 88, are also fitted with at least one protrusion 23, with respective ratchets 24 and 24', one, the upper 24, facing upward and the other, the lower 24', facing downward and of respective upper recess 25 and lower recess 26 preferably of rectangular shape, facing toward the lenses.

Said protrusion 23 is advantageously fitted with at least one slot 35 and is destined to house a second support 27 joined, in a single piece devoid of welding, to the pad arms 28 supporting the nose pad 29.

The second support 27 has a central hole 30 and openings 31 and 32, realised, for instance, in a "U" shape set, respectively, on the upper and lower extremities so that assembly takes place through the insertion of the protrusion 23 in the hole 30 and the wedging of the ratchets 24 and 24' in said hole while the openings 31 and 32 are respectively destined to the insertion in the recesses 25 and 26 of the internal lateral portion of the frame. The slot 35 allows the elastic movement of protrusion 23 with the purpose of facilitating the insertion in the above-mentioned holes 30 of the second support 27, as indicated above with regard to the lateral protrusions 21 and 70.

The lateral supports 8 and the internal supports 27 are then blocked in position in that the size of the respective holes is slightly larger than that of the respective protrusions and recesses with which they are joined, so the strength of elastic thrust exerted by the supports on the walls with which they come into contact and of the ratchets allows realisation of a solid bond.

Furthermore, it is possible to strengthen the bond through insertion of the point of a screwdriver in the slots 7 and 35 so as to increase the elastic thrust of the protrusions 21 and 23 on the edges of their respective supports.

The dismantling of the supports happens in an inverse way to that described above that is one exerts crushing pressure on the ratchets 6, 66, 18, 24 and 24' so as to free the supports 8 and 27 from their bond with the recesses 5, 25 and 26 and so to allow the opening of the frame. In such way, it results quite easy to assemble and dismantle the frame for the substitution of the lenses or the pad arm supporting the nose pad, with evident simplicity and saving of costs, without what is more having to resort to welding creating weakened zones subject to easy breakage. Then the fact that the elements of the eyeglasses such as the frame and the pad arms of the nose pad are realised in only a single piece devoid of welding using a system of laser cutting, or other system known to the expert of the sector, of a metallic plate, or using the method of casting in a special mould, gives them a good resistance and elasticity, essential characteristics for eyeglasses of good quality.

A further advantage is represented by the fact that the portion of the frame and the nose pad support, being independent elements, can be realised with different thicknesses for which it is possible to realise the frame with a thickness of a certain dimension so as to obtain good rigidity, while the pad arm of nose pad can be realised with a reduced thickness so as to increase the degree of elasticity for a correct positioning of the eyeglasses on the person that wears them.

Claims

CLA IMS

1. Eyeglass frame made in a single piece fitted with a fixing device for a pair of lenses (L) of the frame (1) wherein the frame creates two eyepieces in which the lenses themselves are inserted, each eyepiece comprises an upper rigid portion ( ) and a lower rigid portion (22) in which each lens (L) is inserted, characterised by the fact that said fixing device joins said upper rigid portion ( ) to said lower rigid portion (22), which are separated from each other on their lateral external portion, by means of a first support (8).

2. Eyeglass frame as by claim 1, wherein said fixing device comprises, on the lateral end (11) of the upper portion ( ), at least one protrusion (21), at least one upper lateral recess (5), and, at the end (16) of the lower lateral portion (22), at least one protrusion (70), wherein said protrusions (21, 70) are inserted in the first support (8).

3. Eyeglass frame as by claim 2, wherein said first support (8) is suitably bored by a pair of holes (13, 14) to receive the respective protrusions (21 , 70) by means of restraint, and has an upper opening (15) for the insertion of the support (8) into the lateral recess (5) .

4. Eyeglass frame as by claim 2, wherein the protrusion (21) is advantageously fitted with at least one slot (7) and preferably with at least one upper ratchet (6) facing upwards and with at least one lower ratchet (66) facing downwards, and the protrusion (70) is preferably fitted with at least one ratchet (18) facing downwards and towards the lens (L).

5. Eyeglass frame as by claim 2, wherein the end portion (16) has a lower curvature (68) facing out from the external portion of the frame so as to facilitate the insertion of the first support (8).

6. Eyeglass frame as by claim 1, wherein each internal lateral portion of the eyepieces provided in proximity of the nosepiece (88) is fitted with at least one protrusion (23) with ratchets (24, 24'), the upper one (24) facing upwards and the lower one (24') facing downwards, as well as with respective upper recess (25) and lower recess (26) facing towards the lens, suitable to accommodate a second support (27).

7. Eyeglass frame as by claim 6, wherein said protrusion (23) is advantageously fitted with at least one slot (35).

8. Eyeglass frame as by claims 6, 7, wherein the second support (27) is fitted with a central hole (30) and upper and lower openings (31, 32), respectively for the insertion and the restraint of the protrusion (23) and of the ratchets (24, 24') in the hole (30), whilst the openings (31, 32) are inserted and restrained in the respective recesses (25, 26).

9. Eyeglass frame as by claims 7 and 8, wherein the second support (27) is joined to the pad arm (28) supporting the nose pad (29).

10. Eyeglass frame as by claim 9, wherein the second support (27) and the pad arm (28) are made in a single piece and are devoid of welding.