Patent Application
20230305314
Wearers’ complaints about their eyeglasses are well documented. U.S. Pat. 5,719,655 explains irritation at the ears and nose resulting from eyeglasses not maintaining a constant position. U.S. Pat. 4,389,102 uses cords to restrain eyeglass temples from sliding. U.S. Pat. 9,946,095 discusses damage to eyeglasses resulting from sporting activities. Sporting activities, hot weather and quick motions cause eyeglasses to slip, slide, droop or fall off. Discomfort and irritation inspired the author of U.S. Pat. 5,719,655 to eliminate eyeglass temples completely.
While many patents have documented the negative features of eyeglass temples, it is important to realize that temples also provide great convenience. Eyeglass wearers raise and lower eyeglasses to and from their face many times per day alternating between eyeglass types such as reading, computer, distance vision, sun and fashion. Eyeglass temples use the wearer’s ears as a convenient resting place while also allowing quick eyeglass removal. For these benefits, eyeglass temples should not be deleted.
When a person wears eyeglasses he may consciously or subconsciously feel the need to limit his physical activity and quickness of motion. The wearer has learned to not move so impulsively, and he is less prepared for athletics. Dare he play frisbee, play basketball with his kids, play soccer, or go for a boat ride? Does he put his eyeglasses in his pocket? Does he set them down somewhere? Will his eyeglasses fall, scratch, bend, break and otherwise become damaged or lost. This lack of confidence may cause him to become passive and less active. The eyeglasses feel like a handicap. No one wants their capabilities limited. But, that is what eyeglasses often do.
Eyeglasses, placed on your face in contact with your nose, head and ears, feel like a foreign object. Why is this acceptable? What if the eyeglasses felt as one with the body like a sneaker to your foot? Sneakers improve the tennis player’s performance versus volleying barefoot, while also providing comfort and protection from bloody skin damage. Similarly, full foot fins help the scuba diver versus diving barefoot. In both examples, the wearer enjoys the improved performance. The sneakers and full foot fins inspire confidence, improve performance, and feel like an extension of the body. Eyeglasses may improve vision performance, but the wearer too often feels physically handicapped and less agile.
Imagine the confidence the wearer would feel if he knew his eyeglasses would not shift, slip, slide, droop or fall off even when running, jumping or sweating. His eyeglasses would no longer feel like a handicap or a foreign object. The wearer’s confidence in the performance of his eyeglasses would grow. His eyeglasses would begin to feel like an extension of his body, helping him to achieve maximum results.
Another area of discomfort and displeasure relates to cartilage ear piercings. Cartilage ear ornamentation can be painful for the wearer. Cartilage ear piercings cause ongoing discomfort to many people who decide to endure the piercing procedure. Documented drawbacks of cartilage ear piercings include chronic pain and infection at and near the site of the piercings. Piercings provide ornamental benefits, but pain forces many people to grudgingly allow their piercings to close up. Are piercings really necessary, or can the ornamental benefits be attained another way?
What if the ongoing pain, inflammation and infection resulting from cartilage ear piercings could be avoided? Imagine if the wearer’s eyeglasses could provide not only slip, slide and droop restriction, but also ornamentation benefits similar to cartilage ear piercings!
Conventional eyeglasses include lenses, a frame, two temples and means for attaching all components into an assembly. This patent discloses and claims a novel invention for eyeglasses comprising a tunnel inside the eyeglass temple. The tunnel is used to deploy magnets to the ear and retract magnets away from the ear of the wearer. When deployed, the magnets form a magnetic bond at the wearer’s ear. With the wearer’s ear sandwiched in-between this magnetic bond, the motion of the eyeglass temple with respect to the wearer’s ear is restricted. The wearer’s eyeglasses remain in optimum position on his head during activities when conventional eyeglasses might slip, slide, droop or fall off. This allows the wearer to perform confidently during sporting activities, all the while knowing his eyeglasses will improve his performance like the sneakers on his feet. When physical activity is minimal, the wearer retracts the magnets away from his ear, breaking the magnetic bond, allowing simple eyeglass removal similar to the function of conventional eyeglass temples.
When the wearer deploys magnets to his ear to form a magnetic bond with his ear sandwiched in-between, this provides an opportunity for cartilage earring ornamentation. If the cartilage earring has composition including temporary magnet or permanent magnet material, the wearer only needs to position the cartilage earring near the front of his ear and release it. The cartilage earring then magnetically attracts toward and joins the magnetic bond already present at the wearer’s ear. With the cartilage earring magnetically bonded at the front of the wearer’s ear, ornamentation is achieved without the requirement for a painful cartilage ear piercing.
It is an object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that do not slip, slide, droop or fall from the wearer’s face.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that form a magnetic bond with the wearer’s ear sandwiched in-between.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that remain stably positioned on the face of the wearer during sporting activities.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that form a magnetic bond at the ear of the wearer only when activated by the wearer to do so.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that deploy magnets to the ear by pushing a control button on the eyeglass temple.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that retract magnets away from the ear with the push of a control button.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that reduce the forward and rearward motion of the temples relative to the position of the wearer’s ear.
It is a further object of the invention to inspire confidence by the wearer that his eyeglasses will maintain a secure fit like a sneaker to a foot.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses that allow ear ornamentation similar to ornamentation achieved by cartilage ear piercings.
It is a further object of the invention to provide eyeglasses with a back-of-ear magnet magnetically bonding to a front-of-ear cartilage earring to provide both ornamentation and slip-slide-droop restriction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide eyeglasses that do not feel like a handicap or a foreign object on the face of the wearer, but instead inspire confidence to the wearer by remaining in optimum position on the wearer’s head during physical activities that may include running, jumping and perspiring.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide eyeglasses with a back-of-ear (BOE) line and a back-of-ear (BOE) magnet that are removably secured to the eyeglass temple.
In the first embodiment,
Continuing to reference
As shown in
It’s a hot, sweaty summer day, but the wearer’s SSDR eyeglasses 200 do not slip, slide or droop down his nose. The wearer joins a soccer game and focuses on his soccer skills without concern his SSDR eyeglasses 200 might fly off his head due to his rapid movements. Observers of the soccer game do not visually notice the thin 0.28 mm diameter FOE line 205 at the front of his ear 211. Observers also may not visually detect FOE magnet 204 at the front of ear 211, since said FOE magnet 204 is color-matched to the skin color of said ear 211. Observers might wonder how it is possible his SSDR eyeglasses 200 remain optimally positioned, unaware that SSDR temple assembly 201 is slip-slide-droop restricted.
The wearer wakes in the morning and raises SSDR eyeglasses 200 in retraction mode to his head with SSDR temple assembly 201 resting on his left ear 211. As the wearer prepares for a jog, he pushes control button 210 rearward 25 mm into deployment mode, causing BOE magnet 202 to deploy to the back of ear 211. The wearer grasps FOE magnet 204 in his fingers and releases it near the front of said ear 211. FOE magnet 204 magnetically bonds to BOE magnet 202 with ear 211 sandwiched in-between. The wearer is now ready to jog with full confidence his SSDR eyeglasses 200 will not slip, slide or droop. Conventional eyeglasses commonly would slide during his jog due to perspiration or a quick change of direction, but SSDR eyeglasses 200 remain optimally positioned. During his jog an accident occurs. A small low hanging tree branch contacts his SSDR eyeglasses 200, knocking them off his head. The impact force from contact with the branch was enough to overcome the magnetic bond at ear 211, sending SSDR eyeglasses 200 to the ground. Important for physical safety, the magnetic bond between BOE magnet 202 and FOE magnet 204 breaks from a strong external force, protecting the wearer’s ear 211 from damage. The wearer simply retrieves and replaces SSDR eyeglasses 200 on his face in deployment mode and continues his jog. Upon returning home, the wearer pushes button 210 from deployment mode to retraction mode, causing BOE magnet 202 to retract to 91 mm from Datum A, and also causing FOE magnet 204 to retract toward and magnetically bond to steel plate 209.
An hour later, the wearer enters his work office with SSDR eyeglasses 200 in retraction mode. He removes SSDR eyeglasses 200 and puts his computer eyeglasses on. Then, to read documents, he changes to reading eyeglasses. Then he switches to SSDR eyeglasses 200 in retraction mode for a meeting with co-workers where distance vision is needed. The wearer easily switches back and forth as necessary, with SSDR eyeglasses 200 functioning in retraction mode as ordinary conventional eyeglasses.
Upon arriving home in the evening summer heat, his wife suggests a bike ride. The kids want to play basketball and catch, and his Labrador retriever wants him to throw the tennis ball. The wearer pushes control button 210 rearward 25 mm into deployment mode. Instead of positioning FOE magnet 204 at the front of his ear 211, this time the wearer allows FOE magnet 204 to remain bonded to steel plate 209. The wearer instead grasps cartilage earring 212 from his pocket and releases said cartilage earring 212 approximately 10 mm forward of ear 211. Cartilage earring 212 attracts toward BOE magnet 202 and magnetically bonds to said BOE magnet 202 with ear 211 sandwiched in-between. Cartilage earring 212 performs the same function as FOE magnet 204. The wearer enjoys the slip-slide-droop restricting benefits of his SSDR temple assembly 201 while also enjoying the ornamental benefit of the cartilage earring 212. Life is great for the wearer as all his activities are achieved easily and confidently with his SSDR eyeglasses 200 in deployment mode. What a great day!
If the wearer didn’t have cartilage earring 212 in his pocket, he simply would have used FOE magnet 204 as he had done for his morning jog. If the wearer later found cartilage earring 212, the wearer could have released it forward of FOE magnet 204 to form a three magnet bond including BOE magnet 202, ear 211, FOE magnet 204 and cartilage earring 212. If the wearer prefers to exclusively use cartilage earring 212 instead of FOE magnet 204, then several items may be deleted from SSDR temple assembly 201.
Deleted items could include FOE magnet 204, FOE line 205, FOE slot 208 and steel plate 209.
A second embodiment is shown in
FOE and BOE magnets may be of various sizes and shapes and may be shaded to match the wearer’s skin color. The composition of the BOE magnet 202, FOE magnet 204 and cartilage earring 212 typically includes neodymium permanent magnet material. It is possible for temporary magnet material to replace some permanent magnet material. The composition of said steel plate 209 could include permanent magnet material, thereby allowing temporary magnet composition for FOE magnet 204. Control button transition between deployment mode and retraction mode could be aided by a motor. Other materials can be used in place of fishing line and trimmer line. Back-of-ear and front-of-ear lines may exit from the temple assembly at various locations. Larger magnets may be used for increased bonding strength. Neodymium magnets are used due to their higher magnetic strength, but other permanent magnet compositions are possible. It is only necessary for eyeglasses to have one SSDR temple assembly. If the left temple is a SSDR temple assembly, the right temple can be a conventional temple. With one temple assembly restricting temple motion with respect to the ear, overall eyeglass motion is restricted. A miniature tape-measure-type retraction device could be added near the rearward end of the temple assembly to deploy and retract the FOE line. Multiple BOE magnets may be deployed to the wearer’s ear, allowing multiple cartilage earring attachments. Various attachment means known in the art may be used including adhesives, insert-molding and welding technologies. Attachments can be permanent or temporary and removable. These and additional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive concepts described herein.
