Pair of Goggles and the Manufacturing Method Thereof

This invention relates to a pair of goggles, and more particularly to a pair of inexpensive, lightweight goggles which is easily manufactured and transported.

A pair of goggles is used to protect the eyes of a wearer from water, light, dust, cold, bacteria, etc. Referring to FIG. 1, a pair of conventional goggles G typically has a unitary shield 10 of soft material, a glass 11 fixed at the front end of the shield 10, and a cord 12 fastened to two sides of the shield 10 at its ends. Because the goggles G are expensive and durable, They suffer from the following disadvantages:

1. After the goggles G have been used, it is difficult to clean and sterilize the same.

2. If the goggles G are used for a long time, the wear of the glass 11 is inevitable.

3. The goggles G weigh about 70-100 g, making the wearer uncomfortable.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a pair of inexpensive goggles of disposable style which may be thrown away after it has been used.

It is another object of this invention to provide a pair of goggles which is easily manufactured and transported, lowering its manufacturing and transportation costs.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a pair of lightweight goggles which can be comfortably worn on the head of a person.

It is therefore the main feature of this invention to provide a pair of goggles with a unitary goggle body of flexible, transparent sheet material which is used as a substitute for the shield and glass unit of the aforemetioned conventional goggles.

According to an aspect of this invention, a pair of goggles includes a transparent goggle body of flexible sheet material and means for wearing the goggle body on the head of a person. The goggle body has a front shield, an upper shield extending rearwardly from the upper edge of the front shield, and a pair of opposed side shields respectively extending rearwardly from two opposite side edges of the front shield and coupled with the upper shield.

According to another aspect of this invention, a method for manufacturing a pair of goggles is provided. The pair of goggles includes a transparent goggle body and means for wearing the goggle body on the head of a person. The goggle body is made of a flexible sheet material and has a front shield, an upper shield extending rearwardly from the upper edge of the front shield, and a pair of opposed side shields respectively extending rearwardly from two opposite side edges of the front shield and coupled with the upper shield. The manufacturing method includes the steps of: (1) pressing and shearing a large sheet material into a small sheet material of a predetermined outline which has a front shield area, an upper shield area, and two side shield areas; (2) folding the upper and side shield areas rearwardly relative to the front shield area to form the front, upper, and side shields, and subsequently coupling the side shields with the upper shield to form the goggle body; and (3) mounting the wearing means on the side shields.

Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of this invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pair of conventional goggles;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pair of goggles according to a first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the goggles according to the first embodiment of this invention in which the goggle body is unfolded;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pair of goggles according to a second embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the goggles according to the second embodiment of this invention in which the goggle body is unfolded;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pair of goggles according to a third embodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating a pair of goggles according to a fourth embodiment of this invention in which the goggle body is unfolded.

Referring to FIG. 2, a pair of goggles Gl according to a first embodiment of this invention includes a unitary goggle body 3 and a cord 4 connected to the goggle body 3. The goggle body 3 is made of a flexible, transparent sheet material, such as a sheet of cellulose acetate, and has a front shield 31, an upper shield 32 extending rearwardly from the upper edge of the front shield 31, and two side shields 33 extending rearwardly from two side edges of the front shield 31. The front shield 31 is formed at the middle portion of the lower edge thereof with a concaved edge 311 from which a nose abutment strip 312 extends rearwardly for abutting snugly against the nose of the wearer. The upper shield 32 has a curved rear edge 321 from which a forehead abutment strip 322 extends downwardly for abutting snugly against the forehead of the wearer. Each of the side shields 33 is formed at its upper edge with a hook 331 which is inserted into two adjacent slits 323 in the upper shield 32 for coupling the upper shield 32 with the side shields 33. The cord 4 is fastened to the side shields 33 at its two ends so as to sleeve the goggles Gl on the head of the wearer.

The goggle body 3 is folded from a sheet material of a predetermined outline shown in FIG. 3 which has the areas of the front shield 31, upper shield 32, and side shields 33. The sheet material is pressed and shorn from a large sheet of cellulose acetate.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a pair of goggles G2 according to a second embodiment of this invention is shown. The goggles G2 also has a unitary goggle body 5 which has a front shield 51, an upper shield 52, and two side shields 53. The goggle body 5 is formed between the front shield 51 and the upper shield 52 with a folding line L along which the goggle body 5 is thinner than the remaining parts thereof. Each of the side shields 53 has an extended rear end portion 531 and an extended upper end portion 532 which is defined by the extension of the folding line L. When the upper shield 52 and the extended upper end portion 532 of one side shield 53 are folded along said folding line L to abut each other, a first adhesive tape T1 secured to the extended upper end portion 532 of the side shield 53 is engaged with a second adhesive tape T2 secured to the upper shield 52, so that the side shield 53 can be fixed vertically relative to the upper shield 52. The extended rear end portions 531 of the side shields 53 include third adhesive taps T3 which may be adhered to the cheeks of a wearer. Alternatively, the side shields may be further extended rearwardly to couple with each other so as to construct the goggles G3 of FIG. 6. The elongated side shields 531' of the goggles G3 are provided with engagement elements E, such as adhesive tape or hook-and-loop bands, so as to couple with each other. It is understood that the first and second adhesive tapes Tl and T2 may be replaced with other engagement elements, such as hook-and-loop bands (see FIG. 7). Certainly, folding lines may be formed between the front shield and each of the side shields.

Optionally, protective membranes may be attached removably to both faces of the front shield in a known manner.

The advantages of the goggles according to this invention are as follows:

(1) Because the goggles of this invention weigh only about 5-6 g, they can be worn comfortably on the head of a person.

(2) Because the goggles of this invention have a simple structure and are easy to manufacture and assemble, the manufacturing costs are so low that the goggles may be thrown away after they have been used.

(3) Because the goggle body of this invention can be unfolded into a flat sheet material, its transport and storage costs are reduced.

With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. For example, the side shields may be welded to two opposited side portions of the upper shield. It is therefore intended that this invention be limited only as indicated in the appended claims.