1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to prescription inserts for use with safety eyewear and more particularly to a prescription insert that can be converted into fully functional prescription eyeglasses.
2. Background of the Related Art
The creation of safety eyewear and other masks that fit over a user's face has presented a problem to those that wear corrective eyeglasses for their vision. Typical corrective eyeglasses often will not fit underneath a mask, especially if any sort of seal around the face is required. To solve this problem, a variety of prescription inserts have been developed for insertion into goggles, masks and protective eyewear of all types.
Prior art prescription inserts typically include a pair of lenses suspended in a frame which has a structure for mounting the insert into a pair of safety eyewear or other goggles, such as scuba or diving masks. The configurations are numerous and each is designed for a specific mask or goggle. Because each prescription insert is designed for a particular a goggle or mask, one prescription insert can rarely be substituted for another. If the user has multiple sets of protective eyewear, the user will require multiple custom prescription inserts with each being specifically configured to fit each pair of protective eyewear. As a result, the user must keep multiple prescription inserts at great expense and inconvenience. Therefore, there is a need for a prescription insert that can be universally mounted into a variety of eyewear.
Moreover, prior art prescription inserts are not capable of being worn separately as a pair of stand-alone eyeglasses. If the user misplaces or leaves his or her regular eyeglasses at home, they cannot readily use the prescription insert as a replacement set of eyeglasses. Therefore, there is a need for a prescription insert that can be readily converted into a fully functional set of stand-alone eyeglasses.
The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing a prescription insert having a nose bridge support with a central mounting slot that cooperates with a prong of a mount. The mount is an inexpensive wire or plastic structure that is configured and arranged to be snap-received over the lens or frame of a pair of safety eyewear. The prescription insert is held securely in place in the safety eyewear by sliding the mounting slot of the nose bridge support over the central prong of the mount.
The prescription insert can be easily converted into a pair of eyeglasses by attaching a pair of removable temple bars and a nose pad to the prescription insert.
Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention is the provision for a prescription insert that can be universally mounted in a variety of safety eyewear and other masks with an inexpensive mount.
Another object of the present invention is the provision for a prescription insert that can be easily converted into a pair of functional eyeglasses.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
a is a close up view of the area circled in a dashed line in
b is an exploded view of the close up view of the prescription insert and conversion kit of the present invention shown in
a is a close up view of a retaining catch for the alternative embodiment of the prescription insert and conversion kit of the present invention; and
b is a close up view of the retaining catch decoupled from the prescription insert and conversion kit of the present invention shown in
Referring to
As seen in
As seen in
As shown in
So long as the mount has a structure that snuggly fits within the mounting slot 18 of the prescription insert 10, the remainder of the mount can be easily configured to attach to a variety of goggles. As can be appreciated, the mounts in themselves are very inexpensive to manufacture. This feature enables a user to own a variety of mounts that are configured to fit a variety of goggles or masks, yet still only need to possess one prescription insert 10. Therefore, the user realizes significant savings by only having to purchase a single prescription insert 10 for use with a variety of protective eyewear and masks.
Although, the embodiments of the mounting structures shown depict the mounting structure as attaching to the goggle lens only, the mounting structure can be easily configured to mount to the goggle frame as well. As such, the included embodiments are by way of example and not of limitation.
The prescription insert 10 also has the advantage of being easily converted into a functional pair of eyeglasses 38 as shown in
As more clearly seen in the exploded view in
To attach the temple bars 40 to the prescription insert 10, the wire clips 48 are squeezed together and inserted into slots 44 on the temple bar mounting structures 20, respectively. The user then releases the clips 48, ensuring that the upturned ends 50 fall into the recesses 46, to secure the respective temple bar 40 to the prescription insert 10. The outwardly turned ends 50 on the clips 48 lock into the recesses 46 on the interior of the slots 44 of the temple bar mounting structure 20 to prevent the temple bars 20 from coming loose from the prescription insert 10.
Each temple bar 40 includes an inwardly swinging hinge 53 to allow the temple bar 40 to be folded so that the eyeglasses 38 may be more conveniently stored while not in use. As can be appreciated, the temple bars 40 and temple bar mounting structures 20 can be easily configured in other numerous ways to be selectively releasable.
The nose pad structure 42 has a pair of nose pads 54 connected to an arched frame 56. Preferably the nose pads 54 are pivotally attached to the arched frame 56 to allow for the pivotal adjustment of the nose pads 54 while the eyeglasses 38 are placed on the user's face. The top of the arched frame 56 of the nose pad structure 42 is fitted within the mounting slot 18 of the nose bridge support 16 to support the eyeglasses 38 on the user's face and thereby increase the comfort for the user.
Referring to
The conversion kit for the alternative prescription insert 100 includes left and right temple bars 114. Each temple bar 114 includes an upper and a lower portion 116, 118 with inwardly turned ends 120. The temple bars 114 extend rearward and have earpieces 122 integrally formed thereon, or may optionally be separately attached thereto.
Referring to
Referring to
Therefore, it can be seen that the present invention provides a unique solution to the problem of providing a prescription insert that can be universally mounted within a variety of protective eyewear and masks and a prescription insert that can be easily converted into a functional pair of eyeglasses.
It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be within the scope of the present invention except as limited by the appended claims.
This application claims priority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/737,924, filed Nov. 18, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60737924 | Nov 2005 | US |