Patent Application
20150116652
The present invention relates to a portable and adjustable fan(s) for eyeglasses by circulating air behind the lens, and therefore, removing humidity and condensed air that builds up between the eye and glasses.
Eye glasses may fog up by changes in temperature and can hinder the vision and therefore the health and safety of other individuals. Fogging occurs because humidity rises in the space confined between the eyewear and the wearer's eye. Moisture condenses on the inner surface of the glass element as the latter is cooled by the outside air below the dew point of the air confined between the glasses and the face of the wearer. The dew point of the confined air constantly varies as the relative humidity and temperature of the air inside the eyewear changes with skin respiration. Anyone who wears any type of glasses, be it sun glasses, safety glasses or prescription vision correcting glasses etc., may experience some degree of fogging in hot and humid environments. Another example would be someone working indoors in an unventilated workplace who is under a higher than normal humidity. As their body temperature rises so does the temperature around their face, this hot air gets trapped behind the glasses and causes the lenses to fog.
The prior art provides several different technique to prevent such an issue. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 2,099,464 issued to Donald L. Bruner et. al. discloses a goggle assembly for aviators which is non-frosting and non-fogging in character. An air conduit was connected to the goggle to provide pre-heated air into the eye cup frame of the said goggle. The goggle should be pre-designed to accept an air conduit into an opening inside the eye cup frame. Such a device requires specific goggles to operate and as such cannot be used with different varieties of widely available goggles.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,284 issued to Wilfred Thomas discloses a device used by aviators. Said device provided non-fogging goggles with the help of intake and exhaust ports connected to the frame to deliver pre-heated filtered air to the lens of said goggles. The device is complicated in design and inconvenient to use, because it contains too many attachments which are annoying to the wearer of said goggles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,953 issued to Robert Hunter discloses anti-fog goggles. Said goggles include housing for positioning a fan for conducting air into the space between lens of the goggles and the wearer's face. Position and location of said fan is permanent on top of the goggles and it provides a constant airflow in the space between goggles' lens and wearer's face.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,863 issued to Joseph R. McNeal discloses anti-fog goggles with a foam frame that have a plurality of air channels in the foam frame to allow air into and out of the interior of the goggles. Said goggles are designed with a cushioning foam with an air channel used to provide anti-fog functionality. The design and configuration on said goggles is complicated and expensive to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,512 issued to Fred F. Grabos et al. discloses protective goggles that have ventilated lens mounted in the frame. The ventilated lens provides air flow to the space in the interior of the goggles. These goggles are complicated in design and expensive to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,639 B1 issued to Carl J. Abraham discloses fog-free protective glasses which have a plurality of apertures that provide continuous air flow between the frame and user's eye. A plurality of airflow apertures which designed in the entire frame, function to allow air circulation from outside the eyewear to enter an area in front of the user's face to prevent fog from forming on the lenses and frame.
U.S. Patent application US 2013/0160195 A1 by James T. Clement discloses a portable fan and battery box for clearing fog in goggles or helmets. The device includes a fan that provides airflow and transfers the airflow by air outlet hoses to the area behind the lenses. Having air outlet hoses attached to the frame is inconvenient to use. Users who wear such an attachment to the frame are not comfortable while wearing such a device.
The prior art also discloses anti-fog coatings and lens treatment for this purpose. These treatments are designed to prevent water vapour from building up on the lens and creating fog. These coatings need to be reapplied very often. Additionally, anti-fog coatings have been found to interfere with vision as they become contaminated. As well, such coatings have not proven to be adequately effective at low temperatures.
The devices in the prior art have been inconvenient to use, they have required an outside or independent source of circulating air, and their attachments are annoying to the wearer and interfere with clear vision. The present invention deals with the humidity and water vapour by directly removing it from the problem area therefore making the build-up of water not possible.
The present device prevents the user's eyeglasses from fogging by circulating air behind the lenses of the glasses, thereby removing the humidity that builds up between the eyes and the glasses. This invention is a device that incorporates an attachment clip used to attach the device to a hat or other head or face gear, a power source which can be a battery unit providing power to the fan(s) unit, a switch and a fan(s) to create airflow onto the lens of eyewear to prevent fogging. The fan(s) or air ducts are mounted to a specific type of movable stay put tubing that can be easily moved into position and will remain in that desired position. The fans could also be mounted to a ball and socket type joint or any other movable joint assembly to accomplish the same effect with which the user can efficiently direct the airflow where needed based on the facial structure of the glasses themselves.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a device which does not interfere with the configuration of the glasses. The user can at any time use the anti-fog fan device with his/her glasses or have it removed. The present invention provides airflow to the back of the lenses of the glasses without touching the frame of the glasses.
The second objective of the present invention is to provide a miniature anti-fog device which is quite with minimal noise. Such devices can be used by hunters without disturbance and without generating distraction during hunting. This objective is achieved by eliminating any air ducting and directly bowing air towards the glasses using miniature fans located close to the glasses.
The third objective of the present invention is to locate the fans close to the eyeglasses. In order to use miniature fans for quite operation, they have to be positioned very close to the eye glasses, otherwise, miniature fans would not have enough air flow to remove fog. Therefore, the present device is designed such that they miniature fans can be located close to the eyeglasses.
The fourth objective of the present invention is to provide a device which is portable and can be easily installed on and removed from a hat of a user. The present invention is a lightweight device, which can be handled by any person without causing any inconvenience.
The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide a device that can operate hands-free. The user can remove fog from the glasses without having to touch the glasses. For example, the users who are wearing the present invention do not have to concern themselves with removing the glasses and wiping away fog when their hands are not clean or being used.
The sixth objective of the present invention is to provide a device which is easy to manufacture and inexpensive so the users can use the present invention with any kind of glasses.
The seventh objective of the present invention is to provide a device which is more comfortable to wear. Workers or hunters who need the device because they are working in a specific environment can wear the device comfortably. The present invention does not affect their vision negatively.
The eight objective of the present invention is to provide a device which has flexible fans to create airflow behind the lenses of the glasses. These flexible fans can be placed at a specific zone according to the user's preference and based on the user's expectation.
The object features and effects of the invention are described in details below with accompanied drawings and embodiments. The aforementioned objects of the present invention are attained by a device and method that functions for anti-fog purposes. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following drawings and detailed description of preferred embodiments.
Embodiments herein will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended figures provided to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the claims, wherein like designations denote like elements, and in which:
The following is detailed description of the drawings which show exemplary embodiments of the present portable and adjustable fan for eye glasses to prevent them from fogging. The present invention removes the humidity that builds up between the eyes and eyewear, by circulating air behind the lens.
Referring to
The base plate 21 and the leg 22 function as a spring clip that is to be engaged by a hat 50. They can be formed integrally together or be connected by some screws or glued to one another. The shape of the spring clip can vary in order to provide the functionality of engaging said device 10 to said hat 50.
The arm(s) 32, 34 are connected to a control switch 23 from one end and to the fan(s) 42, 44 on the other side. The arms 32, 34 carry wires from a control switch 23 to said fans 42, 44. The arm 32 is comprised of a specific type of movable tubing that can be easily moved into position and will stay in that position to provide precise location of airflow which is produced by said fan(s) 42,44.
The control switch 23 controls said fans 42, 44 by turning them on and off. It also provides different speed for fans 42, 44 for operation in different air humidity. The user can select the speed of the fans 42, 44 based on his/her expectation. An on-off button 24 turns the fans 42, 44 on at a specific speed. If the speed of the fans is not adequate to prevent fogging behind the lenses of the glasses 60, the user can easily change the speed of the fans 42, 44.
Referring to
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In one embodiment of the present invention as shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the power box and control switch can be embodied into a hat or any comparably formed items. In this case, the adjustable arms and fans can be seen from the cap of the hat or any other clothing worn on the head.
In the present invention, attachment assembly preferably includes a base and a deformable clasp preferably has slightly arcuate configuration. In another embodiment of the present invention, the clip can be a hinge or similarly shaped to function for engaging the said device to a hat or any other clothing worn on the head.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the arms can be retractable to provide different length for better functionality of the fans. It also can be designed to have a telescopic length.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the arms can be in ball and joint design to provide different movement from left to right and up and down to locate the fans in a specific location for providing steady air flow behind the lenses. It also can be designed to contain a plurality of hinges to provide exact functionality for the fans.
Having described and illustrated the principles of this application it should be apparent that the preferred embodiments may be modified in arrangements and detail without departing from the principles disclosed herein.
A variety of methods can be used to manufacture the adjustable fans device. One method being by injection molding, wherein whole parts of the said device can be mold integrally. The material to form the adjustable fans device can be plastic or any other material commonly used to manufacture similar products.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum relationships for the parts of the invention in regard to size, shape, form, materials, function and manner of operation, assembly and use are deemed readily apparent and obvious to those skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
