WO2012117369A2

WO2012117369A2 - Frame for eyeglasses

Info

Publication number: WO2012117369A2
Application number: PCT/IB2012/050970
Authority: WO
Inventors: Silvio Vecellio Reane
Original assignee: ZAKETAC Srl
Current assignee: ZAKETAC Srl
Priority date: 2011-03-03
Filing date: 2012-03-01
Publication date: 2012-09-07
Anticipated expiration: 2013-09-03
Also published as: ITPD20110069A1; WO2012117369A3

Abstract

A frame for eyeglasses (10) which is provided with covering elements (11, 12, 13) that are fixed to corresponding parts (14, 15, 16) of the frame with easy and secure reversible fixing means, for the removal of the covering elements (11, 12, 13) and substitution with others of different visual impact.

Description

FRAME FOR EYEGLASSES

The present invention relates to a frame for eyeglasses.

Nowadays frames for eyeglasses are known the temples and nosepiece of which can be removed and substituted with other temples and another nosepiece of different color or different surface finish, and in general offering a different visual impact than the corresponding parts that they substitute.

Such 'swappable' frame parts or portions are expensive and can have a cost in the range of the price of the entire frame, and the proposal of retailers that their customers buy the frame and the entire set of replacement portions of different visual impact often meets with hesitation on the part of the potential purchaser, who, faced with the high outlay required, often decides to have only some of such replacement parts and not all of them.

Thus, the retailer who agrees to a separation of the replacement parts finds himself with incomplete sets of such replacement parts which are difficult to manage in terms of warehousing, since such incomplete sets cannot be sold as complete sets, and since they cannot in fact be matched with other sets which are incomplete in a different manner, except in an unlikely case of good fortune, thus making it necessary to reorder replacement parts, which is difficult to manage.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a frame for eyeglasses the overall visual impact of which can be modified in a manner that is simpler and cheaper for a purchaser than in case of the frames with replacement parts known today.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a frame for eyeglasses the replacement parts of which are simpler and more flexible to manage by a retailer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame for eyeglasses that can be easily and intuitively managed even by a user with no particular prior training. Another object of the invention is to provide a frame for eyeglasses that can be produced using known systems and technologies.

This aim and these and other objects which will become more apparent hereinafter are achieved by a frame for eyeglasses, characterized in that it is provided with covering elements that are fixed to corresponding parts of said frame with easy and secure reversible fixing means, for the removal of said covering elements and substitution with others of different visual impact.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the description of nine preferred, but not exclusive, embodiments of the frame for eyeglasses according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a frame according to the invention; Figure 2 is a partial exploded view of the frame according to the invention in its first embodiment of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of a detail of the frame according to the invention, in its first embodiment;

Figures 4 to 10 each show a sectional view of a detail of a different embodiment, respectively from a first to a seventh embodiment, of the frame according to the invention;

Figures 1 1 to 13 show a further detail of the frame in its first embodiment, respectively in an assembled perspective view, an exploded perspective view and a sectional view;

Figures 14 and 15 are views of a further detail of the frame according to the invention in an eighth embodiment thereof;

Figures 16 and 17 are views of a further detail of the frame according to the invention in a ninth embodiment thereof.

With reference to the figures, a frame for eyeglasses is generally designated, in the first embodiment thereof, with the reference numeral 10. The example of the frame 10 according to the invention is given here as being of the three-piece, or rimless, type, but it can also be implemented as the type with closed lens mounts, or of the single-lens or screen type, with only the temples fixed to the single lens.

Each one of the covering elements 1 1, 12 and 13 is fixed, as means of easy and secure reversible fixing, to one of the parts 14, 15 and 16 of the frame, which are, in the present embodiment, respectively the temples 14 and 15, and the bridge 16.

Each one of the covering elements 1 1 , 12 for the temples 14, 15 is provided by a flat body, 17 and 18 respectively, that extends so as to affect at least part of the outer surface of the temple 14 and 15, between the hingeing region 19 and 20 and the tip 21 and 22.

The reversible fixing means for the covering elements 1 1 , 12 for the temples 14 and 15 are provided for each one of the covering elements 11 and 12 by an insertion portion that extends from the inner face of the flat body 17 and 18 and is adapted to be inserted in a corresponding complementarily shaped seat defined on the corresponding temple 14 and 15, either by sliding in a direction of longitudinal extension of the temple, or by pressure in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction of longitudinal extension of the temple.

In the embodiments of the invention described herein by way of non- limiting example of the invention, the insertion portion is provided by a rib, 23 and 24 respectively, which extends longitudinally on the inner face of the corresponding flat body, 17 or 18.

The complementarily shaped seat intended to accommodate the corresponding rib is provided by an opening, 25 and 26 respectively, defined on the corresponding temple 14 or 15.

The rib 23, 24 has, as in Figure 3, two mutually opposite ridges 27, 28, transverse with respect to its longitudinal direction of extension, which are adapted to engage by snap-fitting in complementarily shaped corresponding recesses 29, 30 defined on the inner face of the corresponding opening 25, 26.

The opening 25 and 26 can be a through-hole or blind.

If the opening 25 is a through-hole, then the transverse cross-section of the rib 23 and 24 can have a profile which is either quadrangular 24, as in Figure 4, or at least partially dovetail-shaped 124, as in Figure 5, or shaped like an overturned T 224 with respect to the flat body 17, as in Figure 6, or with rounded ridges 324 as in Figure 7.

If the opening is blind, like the opening which is T-shaped in section 426 of the temple 415 of a fifth embodiment of a frame according to the invention, shown by way of example in Figure 8, then the covering element 412 is constituted by a flat insert.

The same blind opening, designated with 526 in a sixth embodiment of the frame according to the invention, as in Figure 9, is adapted to accommodate a covering element 512 with a T-shaped cross-section shaped complementarily with respect to the cross-section of the blind opening 526. In this manner a face 536 of the covering element 512 is directed outward from the frame, so as to define a substantially continuous surface, i.e. without steps, with the outer surface of the temple 515.

The same blind opening, designated with 626 in a seventh embodiment of the frame according to the invention, as in Figure 10, is adapted to accommodate a covering element 612 with an H-shaped, or double-T, cross-section, a flat portion 637 of which extends so as to protrude from the opening 626 and so as to affect, by covering them, the longitudinal edges of the opening 626 as well.

Figures 1 1 to 13 show the covering element 13 for the bridge 16, which is provided, for the first embodiment of the frame 10, with a flat front portion 31 that extends so as to affect the bridge 16 over all its width, and is provided with ends 32, 33 that are contoured so as to surround the corresponding complementarily shaped ends 34, 35 of the bridge 16, and be fixed thereto by interference or with snap-fitting engagement means.

In an eighth embodiment of the frame according to the invention, shown by way of example in Figures 14 and 15, the bridge 716 is adapted to accommodate a covering element 713 which is substantially provided by a U-shaped profile, the longitudinal end flaps 738 and 739 of which are substantially indented so as to define a channel 740 with the corner areas undercut for the accommodation, in a retaining configuration, of the central part of the bridge 716.

In a ninth embodiment of the frame according to the invention, shown by way of example in Figures 16 and 17, the bridge 816 is adapted to accommodate thereupon a covering element 813 which is substantially provided by a U-shaped profile, a side wall 840 of which has a ridge 841 for reversible snap-fitting engagement in a corresponding hole 842 defined in a tab 843 that extends from the bridge 816.

In practice it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects.

In fact with the invention a frame for eyeglasses has been devised the exchangeable portions, i.e. the covering elements, of which are cheaper, being only parts of the various temple and bridge elements.

What is more, the covering elements for the temples can be produced so as to be used symmetrically both for a right temple and for a left temple, other than in the known art which requires the production of an entire right temple and of an entire left temple.

With the invention a frame for eyeglasses has thus been devised the overall visual impact of which can be modified in a manner that is simpler and cheaper for a purchaser than in the case of conventional frames with exchangeable parts, since the covering elements, which are interchangeable, are relatively cheap to make, and as such are simpler and more flexible to manage by a retailer.

Moreover, with the invention a frame for eyeglasses has been devised which can be easily and intuitively managed even by a user with no particular prior training, the substitution of the covering elements requiring simple extraction and insertion operations.

Last but not least, with the invention a frame for eyeglasses has been devised that can be produced using known systems and technologies.

The invention, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.

In practice the materials employed, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. PD201 1A000069 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, such reference signs have been inserted for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

1. A frame for eyeglasses (10) characterized in that it is provided with covering elements (1 1, 12, 13) that are fixed to corresponding parts (14, 15, 16) of said frame with easy and secure reversible fixing means, for the removal of said covering elements (1 1 , 12, 13) and substitution with others of different visual impact.

2. The frame for eyeglasses according to claim 1 , characterized in that it is of the rimless or three-piece type, said parts (14, 15, 16) of the frame ( 10) which are adapted to support a covering element being respectively two temples (14, 15) and a bridge (16).

3. The frame for eyeglasses according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the covering elements (1 1 , 12) for said temples (14, 15) are each provided by a flat body (17, 18) that extends so as to affect at least part of the outer surface of the temple (14, 15) between the hingeing region (19, 20) and the tip (21 , 22).

4. The frame according to claim 3, characterized in that said reversible fixing means for said covering elements (1 1 , 12) for said temples (14, 15) are provided, for each covering element (1 1 , 12), by at least one insertion portion that extends from the inner face of said flat body (17, 18) and is adapted to be inserted in a corresponding complementarily shaped seat defined in the corresponding temple (14, 15), either by sliding in a direction of longitudinal extension of said temple, or by pressure in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction of longitudinal extension of said temple.

5. The frame according to claim 4, characterized in that said at least one insertion portion is provided by a rib (23, 24) that extends longitudinally on the inner face of the flat body (17, 18), said complementarily shaped seat intended to accommodate it being provided by an opening (25, 26) defined in the corresponding temple (14, 15).

6. The frame according to claim 5, characterized in that said rib (23, 24) has two mutually opposite ridges (27, 28), transverse with respect to its longitudinal direction of extension, which are adapted to engage by snap- fitting in complementarily shaped corresponding recesses (29, 30) defined on the inner face of said opening (25, 26).

7. The frame according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transverse cross-section of said rib (23, 24) has a profile which is either quadrangular (24), or at least partially dovetail- shaped (124), or shaped like an overturned T (224) with respect to the flat body (17, 18), or with rounded ridges (324).

8. The frame according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the covering element (13) for the bridge (16) is constituted by a flat front portion (31) which extends so as to affect said bridge (16) over all its width, and is provided with ends (32, 33) that are contoured so as to surround the corresponding complementarily shaped ends (34, 35) of the bridge (16), and to be fixed thereto by interference or with snap-fitting engagement means.

9. The frame according to one or more of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said bridge ( 16) is adapted to accommodate thereupon a covering element (713) which is substantially provided by a U-shaped profile, the longitudinal end flaps (738 and 739) of which are substantially indented so as to define a channel (740) with the corner areas undercut for the accommodation, in a retaining configuration, of the central part of the bridge (716).

10. The frame according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said bridge (816) is adapted to accommodate thereupon a covering element (813) which is substantially provided by a U-shaped profile, a side wall (840) of which has a ridge (841) for reversible snap-fitting engagement in a corresponding hole (842) defined in a tab (843) that extends from the bridge (816).