Patent Application
20060048288
The invention relates to eye goggles, in particular to eye goggles which can be used to protect the eyes in a wide variety of recreational activities, such as swimming, cycling, ball games, etc. where eye protection is usually worn.
Protective eye goggles for sports use are well known and serve to protect or isolate a wearer's eyes to prevent water, chemicals or other foreign materials from entering the eyes and obscuring vision. Many conventional goggle designs includes two rigid eyepieces which are interconnected by a flexible nosebridge piece, and a headband which passes around the wearer's head to hold the goggles on the face with the eyepieces positioned over the eyes to shield or even seal the eye sockets. Goggles of this type tend to be constructed from a plurality of individual parts (nose bridge portion, eyepieces, and headband) that must be manually assembled to create finished goggles. This is very labour intensive and creates a goggle structure that is prone to warping and breakage.
To address these shortcomings, I have developed a novel eye goggle structure that is simple and robust in structure and includes an internal skeleton that acts to pre-shape the goggles and retain them in a desirable and comfortable configuration.
Accordingly, the present invention provides eye goggles comprising:
an inner skeleton of a rigid material comprising:
a pair of transparent eye piece elements; and
a nose bridge element formed integrally with the eye piece elements and connected therebetween to permit relative movement between the eye piece elements and the nose bridge element; and
a covering partially covering the inner skeleton to define at least a pair of transparent regions in the eye piece elements.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a method of forming eye goggles comprising the steps of:
forming an inner skeleton of a rigid material having a pair of transparent eye piece elements and a nose bridge element formed integrally with the eye piece elements, and connected therebetween to permit relative movement between the eye piece elements and the nose bridge element; and
applying a covering partially covering the inner skeleton to leave at least a pair of transparent regions in the eye piece elements.
The construction of the present invention provides an eye goggle that maintains a desired pre-shaped configuration by virtue of its rigid inner skeleton for fitting over a wearer's eyes. While the eye goggles are sufficiently rigid to retain a desired extended shape for ease of fitting over the face and eyes, they are also comfortable due to the resilient covering. The goggles are also constructed from only two main component parts with the result that the overall structure is stronger and assembly costs are significantly reduced.
The goggles of the present invention also incorporate indicia for advertising or marking purposes comprising at least one opening in the outer covering to expose a region of the inner skeleton through the covering. The indicia are permanent and conspicuous, and are a significant improvement over the silkscreened or painted indicia of current goggle designs which are prone to wearing off.
Aspects of the present invention are illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, there is shown a preferred embodiment of eye goggles 2 according to the present invention. The illustrated embodiment relates specifically to goggles intended for swimming, however, the eye goggles of the present invention are not limited to swimming goggles, and swimming goggles are described only by way of example. The structure of the eye goggles of the present invention can be used in goggles intended for various activities where the goal is to protect or isolate a wearer's eyes to prevent water, chemicals or other foreign materials from entering the eyes and obscuring vision.
As best shown in
While nose bridge element 8 is formed integrally with eye piece element 6, the nosebridge element is interconnected between the eye piece elements to accommodate relative movement between the various elements to allow for forming about the nose and eye sockets of a wearer. Preferably, nosebridge element 8 is connected to each eye piece element by a hinge member 10 to permit flexing. Hinge elements 10 are preferably live hinges formed by creating a thin section of material that is able to flex or fold.
To create the novel eye goggle construction of the present invention, inner skeleton 4 shown in
Preferably, covering 20 is resilient and formed from an elastomer which is overmoulded onto the inner skeleton 4 to bond with the inner skeleton. The overmoulding process can be accomplished using conventional injection or compression moulding techniques or using a conventional casting process.
The applied elastomer is soft and flexible and presents a comfortable surface for contact with the skin of the wearer. The covering covers most the of the inner skeleton except over the front lens surface 9 and the side walls 11 of the eye goggle pieces 6 to define windows through which a wearer can see through the clear or tinted hard plastic of the eye goggle pieces. The covering is preferably opaque to prevent light from entering the eye pieces except through the exposed surfaces 9 and 11 of the eye piece elements 6. Covering material may be selected from materials such as a thermoplastic elastomer, silicone or polyurethane.
An embodiment of the present invention with a particularly distinctive appearance uses an inner skeleton 4 of a tinted or coloured polycarbonate material overmoulded with a non-opaque (i.e. translucent or transparent) resilient covering such that the inner skeleton would be visible through the covering.
Preferably, covering 20 is formed into a flange 24 extending rearwardly about each rigid eye piece element 6 to define a soft, resilient cup for sealably fitting over a wearer's eye.
An important feature of covering 20 is that it extends over the nosebridge piece 8 and hinge members 11 of the inner skeleton 4 to reinforce and support the hinge members to increase the life of the hinges.
In order to reliably attach the eye goggles to the head of a wearer, each eye piece element 6 is preferably formed with a mounting point 30 to receive and retain the end of a strap (not shown) adapted to fit about the head of a user. Mounting point 30 can be of conventional design and is preferably moulded into each eye piece element at a location on each eye piece generally opposite from the nosebridge piece. In the illustrated embodiment, mounting location 30 comprises a slotted structure of conventional design through which the end of a strap is woven. When moulded into eye piece element 6, the slotted structure is left exposed after application of the covering. Other mounting point arrangements known to a person skilled in the art are also possible including attachment of a separate mounting point structure either before applying the overmoulded cover 20 in which case, the mounting point is attached to the eye piece element or after applying the overmoulded cover 20 in which case, the mounting point is attached to or formed in the cover.
The construction of the present invention provides an eye goggle that maintains a desired pre-shaped configuration by virtue of its rigid inner skeleton for fitting over a wearer's eyes. While the eye goggles are sufficiently rigid to retain a desired extended shape for ease of fitting over the face and eyes, they are also comfortable due to the soft, overmoulded covering. The goggles are also constructed from only two main component parts with the result that the overall structure is stronger and assembly costs are significantly reduced.
A unique feature of the goggles of the present invention is the ability to incorporate highly visible indicia on the goggles. Current goggle designs often rely on silkscreened or painted advertising logos or decals to mark the goggles with manufacturer's trademarks. The application of indicia is time consuming and costly, and represents an additional step in the manufacturing process, In addition, indicia marked on conventional goggles are prone to wearing off during normal use. However, marking products with trademark indicia is considered an important step by manufacturer's who wish to distinguish their goggle product from those of competitors.
Establishment of a contrast between the inner skeleton and the outer covering structure of the goggles of the present invention allow for creation of conspicuous, persistent and inexpensive indicia for trademark logos and the like. It is possible to form openings in the covering at the time that the covering 20 is overmoulded onto inner skeleton 4 that define indicia. In many cases, the covering will be opaque over a transparent inner skeleton. The openings in the opaque covering expose regions of the underlying inner skeleton through which light can shine to illuminate the indicia in a clear and eye-catching manner. If direct illumination does not occur, the contrast between the darker outer covering and the lighter indicia will tend to make the indicia stand out conspicuously. Openings 41 in the covering are formed aligned on opposite sides of the transparent inner skeleton to permit light to shine through. At least some of the exposed regions in the inner skeleton may comprise protrusions formed on the inner skeleton that project through the openings in the covering. The openings can define indicia such as abstract logos, lettering or any mark
Referring to
In the case of goggles that employ a non-opaque covering over a tinted or coloured inner skeleton, it is the contrast between the inner skeleton and the outer covering that makes the indicia stand out.
While indicia 40 are shown on the nosebridge portion of the goggles, it is understood that the indicia can be formed on any part of the goggles where covering 20 overlies inner skeleton 4 by formed of appropriate openings in the covering.
Constructing and assembly the eye goggles of the present invention involves forming the inner skeleton of a rigid, polycarbonate plastic to create a pre-shaped skeleton that includes conventional eye pieces joined by a nose bridge element and hinges to permit relative movement between the eye pieces and the nosebridge element. The inner skeleton is then overmoulded with a soft, resilient covering of thermoplastic elastomer, silicone, polyurethane or the like to partially cover the skeleton. The overmoulding step is performed using a conventional process such as injection moulding, compression moulding or casting. Regions of the eye piece elements are left uncovered to define transparent windows through which a wearer can see. When forming the soft, resilient covering over the inner skeleton, it is preferable that eye cup flanges are formed about each eye piece element from the same soft elastomer material for sealably fitting over a wearer's eye.
Forming the covering over the inner skeleton also provides an opportunity for forming the unique indicia mentioned above and illustrated particularly in
The nose bridge element is a particularly convenient and prominent location on which to form the indicia. For example, during the overmoulding step using an injection moulding process, the inner skeleton is surrounded by opposing mould parts to shape the covering material over the inner skeleton as the material is injected into the mould. Shut off areas are formed on the nose bridge element by the moulds to create appropriate openings in the covering to define the indicia. Examples of separable mould parts 50 configured for forming indicia 40 are shown schematically in
In
As discussed above, the nose bridge element can also be formed with protrusions 42 that protrude from the nose bridge element 8. This arrangement is shown in
While aligned openings 41 are shown in conjunction with protrusions 42 to create indicia in
The arrangements of
In the arrangement of
Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of example for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practised within the scope of the appended claims.
