Patent Application
20080105798
The present invention is directed to eyeglasses holders and more particularly to magnetic eyeglass holders.
Typical eyeglasses consist of a frame body that houses two lenses on either side of a nose piece. Attached to the frame body are two temple bars that extend from two ends of the frame body. The temple bars pivot between an open position perpendicular with the frame body and a closed position parallel with the frame body. Sometimes attached to the temple bars are separate ear pieces, or temple tips. The temple bars and nose piece support the frame on the head of the wearer.
Individuals often remove their eyeglasses during the course of the day. They may hang them around their neck where they bounce against their chest, they may put them in a pocket and have them fall out or they may put them in a place where they can get damaged. Especially when individuals go to bed at night, they may put down their eyeglasses somewhere and not recall where the next morning when they need them.
To solve this problem, the prior art teaches a variety of eyeglass holders, including stand-alone and eyeglass holders which are fixed to a solid surface. However, unlike the present invention, none of these eyeglass holders include a magnetic means of holding the eyeglasses.
The use of magnets on eyeglass frames for various purposes is also well known in the art. For example, a number of eyeglass frames have magnets that magnetize the wearer for health benefits. Other eyeglass frames use magnets to hold eyeglass frame sections together, thereby facilitating disassembly and reassembly in a new configuration, with auxiliary frames, lenses, or the like.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a magnetic eyeglasses holder that includes a support having a first attractive means. The support is operable to maintain its intended upright position when placed on a flat surface. The first attractive means allows for attractive magnetic communication with each temple bar of an eyeglasses such that when folded the eyeglasses are held in place on the holder.
In some embodiments, the support includes an upright member and a base. The first attractive means is positioned on or at least partially in the upright member. The support can be a stand.
In some embodiments, the first attractive means is a magnet. Additionally or alternatively, the first attractive means is formed from non-magnetic ferrous material.
Embodiments of the present invention are also directed to a magnetic eyeglasses holder that includes a support having an upright member and a base, and at least one magnet positioned on or at least partially in the upright member. The at least one magnet allows for attractive magnetic communication with each temple bar of an eyeglasses such that when folded the eyeglasses are held in place on the holder.
In some embodiments, the support is operable to maintain its intended upright position when the base is placed on a flat surface. The support may include at least one suction cup for securely attaching to the flat surface.
In some embodiments, the magnet is positioned at least partially within at least one recess in the upright member. The magnet can be fixed in a recess or removably held in the recess. The magnet can be removably held in the recess by any means. For example, the magnet can be removably in the recess by magnetic attraction. Additionally or alternatively, the upright member can include at least one aperture in the recess and the magnet can include at least one outwardly extending projection that is insertable through the aperture.
In other embodiments, the magnet is positioned on the surface of the upright member and extends outwardly from the upright member. The magnet can be fixed on the surface of the upright member or removably held on the surface of the upright member.
In other embodiments, the magnet extends through the upright member providing for attractive magnetic communication on both sides of the upright member.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:
In the drawings and description that follows, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features of the invention may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form and some details of conventional elements may not be shown in the interest of clarity and conciseness. The present invention is susceptible to embodiments of different forms. Specific embodiments are described in detail and are shown in the drawings, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to that illustrated and described herein. It is to be fully recognized that the different teachings of the embodiments discussed below may be employed separately or in any suitable combination to produce desired results. Any use of any form of the terms “connect”, “engage”, “couple”, “attach”, or any other term describing an interaction between elements is not meant to limit the interaction to direct interaction between the elements and may also include indirect interaction between the elements described. The various characteristics mentioned above, as well as other features and characteristics described in more detail below, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the embodiments, and by referring to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
Support 12 is operable to maintain its intended upright position when placed on flat surface 30 as shown in
As shown in FIGS. 1B and 2-5, support 12 may comprise upright member 16 and base 18. Suction cup 20 is preferably positioned at the bottom of base 18, as shown in
Base 18 can be composed of any suitable material known in the art. Non-limiting examples of suitable materials are metal, plastic, glass, wood, stone, ceramic or combinations thereof. Preferably, base 18 is composed of metal or a combination of metals, such as stainless steel. Although base 18 can be any size or shape, base 18 is preferably shaped such that it is functional to maintain itself as well as upright member 16 upright when support 12 is placed on flat surface 30, as shown in
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, first attractive means 14 comprises a magnetic material, such as nyobium. As shown in
Alternatively, magnet 14 can be removably positioned at least partially within recess 22 as shown in
Magnet 14 of embodiments of the present invention can extend through upright member 16. In this way, magnet 14 can attract and hold a first set of eyeglasses on one side of upright member 16 and a second set of eyeglasses on the other side of upright member 16. There can also be more than one magnet 14 that extends through upright member 16 so that more than two sets of eyeglasses may be held by eyeglasses holder 10.
As shown if
Alternatively, magnet 14 can be removably positioned on the surface of upright member 16 by any suitable means known in the art. For example, magnet 14 can be removably held on the surface of upright member 16 via the magnetic attraction between magnet 14 and the metal or combinations of metals upright member 16 is at least partially made of. Additionally or alternatively, other methods such as clip in place, snap in place, friction fit, Velcro, and wax can be used.
Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
This application claims priority to Provisional Application No. 60/864,502 filed Nov. 6, 2006 which is incorporated in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60864502 | Nov 2006 | US |
