Eyeglass Frame With Spring Biased Nose Bridge

1. Field of the invention

The invention concerns a novel eyeglass frame and in particular an improvement reducing the risks of event of an impact.

2. Description of the prior art

Eyeglass frames are provided with nose pads, i.e. small convex members, preferably articulated to their support, located under the bridge joining the two "rims" of the lenses so as to come into contact with the nose. The two pads are shaped to match the shape of the nose as closely as possible and so to increase the area over which the eyeglasses rest on the nose. This makes the eyeglasses more stable and more comfortable to wear but in the event of an impact it is usually at this level that contusions occur, associated with deformation of the nose pad support.

The basic idea of the invention is to provide a mobile assembly adapted to move in a direction perpendicular to that of the bridge joining the two "rims" and including at least one nose pad.

The present invention consists in an eyeglass frame comprising a bridge, a housing on the bridge, a slide member movably mounted in the housing, a spring accommodated in the housing to urge the slide member outwardly therefrom, a nose pad support fixed to the slide member and nose pads fixed to the nose pad support.

Some known eyeglass frames have twinned nose pads, that is to say nose pads that are joined together at the top or attached, preferably articulated, to a support in the general shape of an inverted letter U. The invention is particularly applicable to frames of this kind. In this case the two twinned nose pads are mounted on a common slide member.

The invention is advantageously applicable to metal or plastics material eyeglass frames.

The invention will be better understood and other advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the following description of various embodiments of eyeglasses in accordance with the invention given by way of example only and with reference to the non-limiting appended drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial view of an eyeglass frame in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the mechanism in accordance with the invention from FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3a and 3b are alternative embodiments of the slide member from FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view analogous to FIG. 1 showing an alternative embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows the same embodiment as FIG. 4 but fitted to another type frame.

FIG. 6 is a view analogous to FIG. 2 showing the component parts of the FIGS. 4 and 5 embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of damper mechanism carrying the nose pad support.

FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular show the central part of a metal eyeglass frame 11 comprising two "rims" 12 for the lenses joined together by a double bridge made up of two straight metal bars, a top bridge 14 and a bottom bridge 15, the latter being closest to the nose. The frame further comprises two nose pads 16 articulated to a metal support 17 in the shape of an inverted letter U.

In accordance with the invention the support 17 is fixed (in this instance welded) to the lower part of a slide member 18 mounted to move in a housing 19 provided on the double bridge 14, 15 and a spring 20 is disposed in this housing to urge the slide member externally thereof, that is to say downwards, towards the nose. In the example shown the housing 19 is defined by the internal volume of a casing 22 in the form of a square cross-section tube. This casing accommodates the spring and the slide member 18; it is fastened to the double bridge, in this instance welded between the top bridge 14 and the bottom bridge 15. The upper end of the casing 22 is welded beneath the bar constituting the top bridge 14, which therefore constitutes the bearing point of the spring 20, which is a conventional coil spring.

In the FIG. 2 example, the slide member comprises a longitudinal slot 25 and a locking member in the form of a screw 26 fixed into the wall of said casing projects into the longitudinal slot 25. The movement of the slide member within the casing is therefore limited in a simple way by the cooperation of the screw 26 and the slot 25.

As shown in FIG. 3a, the slide member 18a may be a U-shape channel member defining a groove inside which is fixed at least one abutment member, for example a ball 28 welded to the interior of the section. As previously, the locking member is a screw 26.

In another embodiment (FIG. 3b) the slide member 18b incorporates a lateral cavity 30 in the form of a transverse groove defining two opposed abutment members 31a, 31b cooperating with the screw 26 which projects into the cavity.

In all the foregoing examples the casing 22 is preferably covered with a tubular sheath 34 of rubber or a like elastomer material.

The embodiment of FIGS. 4 through 6 has the advantage of being suitable both for a metal frame 11 like that from FIG. 1 (see FIG. 4) and a plastics material frame 11a (see FIG. 5) in which the solid, single-piece bridge 14a is molded at the same time as the "rims".

With regard to the mechanism itself, it comprises a casing 22a, a spring 20a and a slide member 18a incorporating a slot 25a cooperating with a screw 26a or 26b fixed into the wall of the casing 22a. The nose pad support 17 is welded to the lower part of the mobile assembly by means of a small rod 38 inserted into an aperture 39 in the casing, open at the bottom. To enable the casing and the slide member to be made flatter, the spring 20a may be the shape shown in FIG. 6. It essentially comprises two metal branches 40, each hairpin-shape, joined together to constitute a kind of M-shape. The two branches are here linked by at least one flat turn 41.

In FIG. 5 the casing is mounted inside the plastics material bridge 14a, and to enable this an open-bottom cavity 45 is formed in the bridge, the shape and size of this cavity matching those of the casing 22a. The latter is fixed in it by the screw 26b forming the locking member. The head of this screw advantageously has an unthreaded cylindrical part which is housed in a corresponding hole formed in the plastics material bridge. The screw 26b thus has a two-fold function.

In the normal position the mobile assembly project to the maximum extent from the casing 22, towards the nose. The nose pads 16 rest on the nose. In the event of an impact to the frame, the latter might move down towards the nose, but the impact is then damped because of the relative movement between the bridge and the slide member carrying the nose pad support; this movement compresses the spring 20.

FIG. 7 shows only the metal bridge 114 of the eyeglass frame joining the "rims" of the frame and to which is welded, substantially perpendicular thereto, a tubular casing 122 within which is defined a housing 119 accommodating a slide member 118 to the lower end of which is fixed a nose pad support 117. In this example the support 117 is stirrup-shape and adapted to carry two nose pads (not shown). The casing 122 also accommodates a spring 120 adapted to urge the slide member towards the outside of the housing 119. The slide member 118 projects from the open lower end of the casing 122 and the spring 120 urges it towards the outside of the housing.

The slide member 118 is shaped to feature a longitudinally open space 121 and the spring 120 is accommodated in this space. It is a coil spring with its ends bearing on an abutment member 123 fixed to the casing 122 and a plate 129 or the like fixed to the lower end of the slide member 118, that is the end projecting from the housing 119. To be more precise, the plate 129 is welded to the lower end of the slide member and the nose pad support 117 is welded to the plate 129. A notch 132 is formed in the wall of the casing 122, extending upwardly from its lower end, and the plate 129 is shaped so that it slides in this notch, which guides such sliding.

The slide member 118 essentially comprises a straight section with a U-shape profile. The inside transverse cross-section of the housing 119 has a shape and size corresponding to those of the straight section constituting the slide member 118. The latter further incorporates a straight slot 125 formed in the base surface 124 of the U-shape profile section whereby the abutment member 123 fixed into the ajoining wall of the casing is inserted in the slot 125 to constitute the other bearing member for the spring 120. The abutment member 123 comprises a bolt 126 and a nut 127 mounted through the wall of the casing 122. The nut 127 is inserted into the open space 121 of the slide member through the slot 125. As shown, the nut is advantageously cubic or rectangular parallelepiped shape for superior guiding of the slide member. The shape of the slide member facilitates the accommodation of a coil spring in the casing.

The arrangement that has just been described enables the use of a longer coil spring, other things being equal, and the spring therefore functions under better conditions. This increases the reliability of the device.