Patent Application
20160259179
The application relates generally to eyewear, and more particularly to a flexible nose piece structure for eyewear.
An eyewear frame structure conventionally includes a nose piece such that the eyewear is supported on the bridge of the nose. A conventional nose piece may be an integral part of the frame or may be in the form of pads fixed or on a swivel to provide some self-adjustment between the frames and a user's nose. A nose piece must be configured to be suitably supported on the user's nose bridge to prevent the eyewear from slipping down the user's nose and to provide comfort, particularly after being worn for a long period of time. However, most conventional nose pieces for eyewear are less than satisfactory because they cannot be adjusted as to width and height with the result that, unless the eyewear are fitted properly and exactly at the outset, there is very little that can be done to correct for a poor fit. Efforts have been made to improve the comfort and to provide some form of adjustability for eyewear. Such efforts to develop improved nose pieces for eyewear continue, particularly with modern eyewear designs.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved nose piece structures for eyewear.
In one aspect, there is provided a flexible nose piece structure for eyewear, comprising: a base structure including a connector for attachment to a frame structure of the eyewear and a pair of nose piece bodies divergently and downwardly extending from the connector to a bottom end of the respective nose piece bodies, each of the nose piece bodies having opposed outer and inner sides extending between a front end and a rear end thereof, each of the nose piece bodies defining a plurality of first grooves on the outer side thereof and a plurality of second grooves on the front end; and a comfort piece including a pair of nose pads attached to the inner sides of the respective nose piece bodies and a plurality of filling elements received in the respective first and second grooves, the comfort piece being soft and flexible relative to the base structure.
In another aspect, there is provided a method of making a nose piece structure for eyewear, comprising steps of: a) molding a base structure in a first molding procedure using a first molding material, the base structure including a connector for attachment to a frame structure of the eyewear and a pair of nose piece bodies divergently and downwardly extending from the connector to a bottom end of the respective nose piece bodies, each of the nose piece bodies having opposed outer and inner sides extending between a front end and a rear end thereof, each of the nose piece bodies defining a plurality of first grooves on the outer side thereof and a plurality of second grooves on the front end; and b) molding a comfort piece in a second molding procedure using a second molding material with the presence of the base structure, to produce a pair of nose pads attached to the inner sides of the respective nose piece bodies and a plurality of filling elements received in the respective first and second grooves, the second molding material in a cured condition being soft and flexible relative to the first molding material.
Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings in which:
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
It should also be noted that throughout the following description and claims, the terms “front” and “rear” refer to directions from the perspective of the user—i.e. further away from the user's face is referred to as “front” and closer to the user's face is referred to as “rear”.
Referring to
Each nose piece body 26 may have a dimension defined between the outer and inner sides 30, 32 (the thickness of the nose piece body) smaller than a dimension defined between the front and rear ends 34, 36 (the width of the nose piece body), as more clearly shown in
Each nose piece body 26 may define a first group of grooves 38 on the outside 30 which extend through the respective nose piece body 26 between the front and rear ends 34, 36 thereof. Optionally, the grooves 38 may be positioned parallel one with another. A second group of grooves 40 may be defined on the front end 34 of each nose piece body 26, extending through the nose piece body 26 between the outer and inner sides 30, 32. Optionally, the grooves 40 may be positioned parallel one with another. The grooves 40 meet the respective grooves 38 at a corner (not numbered) between the front end 34 and the outside 30 of each nose piece body 26 and therefore each groove 40 is in communication with a corresponding groove 38, as more clearly shown in
The base structure 20 according to one embodiment may further include a bridge 44 which forms a joint (not numbered) connecting the connector 24 and the nose piece bodies 26. The bridge 44 may define a concave bottom surface 46 extending downwardly and divergently toward the respective inner sides 32 of the nose piece bodies 26. The bridge 44 may define a convex top surface 48 extending downwardly and divergently toward the respective outer surfaces 30 of the nose piece bodies 26. The bridge may be affixed to a rear side of the connector 24 at a lower location of the connector 24. The connector 24 may be configured in various shapes in accordance with the frame structure 14 to which the nose piece structure 18 is attached. The bridge 44 may further define a flat rear surface 50 extending in a substantially vertical direction between the convex top surface 48 and the concave bottom surface 46. The rear surface 50 and the respective rear end 36 of the nose pieces bodies 26 may in combination define a shoulder 52 therebetween.
The base structure 20 may be made of a relatively rigid material such as a rigid plastic material and the comfort piece 22 may be made of a soft and flexible material such as rubber, such that the comfort piece 22 is soft and flexible relative to the rigid material of the base structure 20.
The comfort piece 22 according to one embodiment may include a pair of nose pads 54 attached to the inner sides 32 of the respective nose piece bodies 26, and may optionally wrap around and cover the entire inner side 32 and the rear end 36 of the respective nose piece bodies 26 (see
The filling elements 56, 58 may be configured in accordance with the respective grooves 38, 40 to fully fill the respective grooves 38, 40 such that the filling elements 56, 58 are substantially flush with the respective outer side 30 and front side 34 of each nose piece body 26, as illustrated in
The comfort piece 22 according to one embodiment may further include a center piece 60 including a curved pad 62 attached to the concave bottom surface 46 of the bridge 44 and smoothly extending to and connecting the nose pads 54. The center piece 60 may include a back pad 64 extending upwardly from the curved pad 62 and positioned behind the bridge 44 of the base structure 20. The back pad 64 may be configured to have a profile similar to the profile of the bridge 44 of the base structure 20. The shoulder 52 in the base structure 20 may function as a spacer, resulting in a gap 66 formed between the back pad 64 and the bridge 44 (see
The nose piece structure 18 may be made in molding procedures. For example, the base structure 20 may be molded in a first molding procedure using a first molding material which is relatively rigid when cured. The molded base structure 20 may include all parts and members as above-described to form an integrated one-piece component. Optionally this molding procedure of the base structure 20 may be combined with the frame structure molding procedures such that the molded base structure 20 may be integrated with (permanently attached to) the molded frame structure 14. Nevertheless, the base structure 20 may also be molded separately from the frame structure 14 and may be removably attached to the frame structure 14 by known or unknown attachment means. In a second molding procedure with the presence of the molded base structure 20, the comfort piece 22 which may include all the parts and features described above, may be molded using a second molding material which is softer and more flexible than the molding material of the base structure when cured. Due to the presence of the molded base structure 20 in this molding procedure, the comfort piece 22 may be molded over the base structure 20, resulting in suitable attachment, for example of the nose pads and curved pad to corresponding surfaces of the base structure 20. The second molding material during this molding process may fill into the respective grooves 38, 40 in the base structure 20 to form the required filling elements 56, 58. Optionally, when the base structure 20 is molded in a configuration integrated with the frame structure 14, the molding procedure of the comfort piece 22 may be conducted with the presence of the integrated frame structure 14 and the base structure 20.
The relatively rigid base structure 20 provides a suitable profile and configuration of a nose piece structure 18 generally required for eyewear. The grooved configuration in the nose piece bodies 26 and the method of joining the nose piece bodies 26 to the connector 24 advantageously provides comfort and multiple flexibilities of the nose piece structure 18 for self-adjustment while maintaining enough rigidity to provide a stable configuration. For example, the side flexion as indicated by arrows 70 and top flexion as indicated by arrows 72 (see
The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the described subject matter. Modifications which fall within the scope of the described subject matter will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of a review of this disclosure, and such modifications are intended to fall within the appended claims.
