Patent Application
20180356649
This disclosure relates generally to eyeglasses, and more particularly, to telescoping earpieces for use with a pair of eyeglasses.
Conventional eyeglasses generally include a frame, two lenses, and two ear pieces that fold at a hinge where the frame meets the ear pieces. Such eyeglasses are relatively bulky and may become damaged when stored in a pocket or a bag. At least some known eyeglasses include ear pieces that have a hinge in the middle to allow each ear piece to fold on itself. While such a configuration reduces the size of stored eyeglasses compared to conventional configurations, at least some such eyeglasses include ear pieces that are curved to conform to the shape of the wearers head. Such curvature results in space inefficiencies for some eyeglasses when the eyeglasses are stored. Furthermore, some known eyeglasses include a sliding mechanism to allow one portion of the ear piece to slide with respect to another portion of the ear piece. However, in at least some such configurations, the two ear piece portions are required to be offset from one another, rather than being axially aligned. Such an offset may also result in an inefficient storage configuration.
In one aspect, an eyeglass apparatus is provided. The eyeglass apparatus includes a pair of lenses, a frame coupled to the pair of lenses, and a pair of earpieces coupled to the frame. Each earpiece includes a temple portion coupled to the frame and defining a cavity. Each earpiece also includes an ear portion slidably coupled to the temple portion between an extended portion and a collapsed position. At least a portion of the ear portion is positioned within the cavity when the ear portion is in the collapsed position.
In another aspect, an eyeglass apparatus is provided. The eyeglass apparatus includes a pair of lenses, a frame coupled to the pair of lenses, and a pair of earpieces coupled to the frame. Each earpiece includes a temple portion coupled to the frame, a latch pivotally coupled to the temple portion, and an ear portion slidably coupled to the temple portion between an extended position and a collapsed position. The latch is selectively coupled to the ear portion to enable movement of the ear portion between the extended position and the collapsed position.
The above-described embodiments of an eyeglass apparatus provide a telescopic ear piece that facilitates reducing the space required to store the eyeglass apparatus. Specifically, the eyeglass apparatus includes a pair of lenses, a frame coupled to the pair of lenses, and a pair of earpieces coupled to the frame. Each earpiece includes a temple portion coupled to the frame, a latch pivotally coupled to the temple portion, and an ear portion slidably coupled to the temple portion between an extended position and a collapsed position. The latch is selectively coupled to one of the ear portion and the temple portion to enable movement of the ear portion between the extended position and the collapsed position. Furthermore, the temple portion houses at least a portion of the ear portion when the ear portion is in the collapsed position. Moreover, a portion of the temple portion is U-shaped to enable telescopic engagement of the temple portion and the ear portion.
By housing the majority of the ear portion within the temple portion in the collapsed position, the eyeglass apparatus requires a smaller volume of space in which to store the eyeglasses than convention eyeglasses. The telescopic configuration makes efficient use of the space within the temple portion to provide for a compact storage configuration of the eyeglasses. Furthermore, because the ear portion is stored within the temple portion, the ear piece provides a structure that is more durable and less likely to be damaged when stored.
Referring to the drawings,
As shown in
In the exemplary embodiment, temple portion also includes a pair of guides 134 extending into cavity 128 from sidewalls 126 and 132. Guides 134 are configured to engage ear portion 112 to facilitate telescopic movement of ear portion 112 between the extended position and the collapsed position, as described in further detail below. Although temple portion 108 is shown as having two guides 134 that each extend a full distance between ends 118 and 120, temple portion 108 may include only one guide 134 that extends any length of temple portion 108 between ends 118 and 120 to facilitate operation of eyeglass apparatus 10 as described herein.
In the exemplary embodiment, when ear piece 106 is in the extended position, as shown in
When desired, users can adjust the length of ear piece 106 by moving ear portion 112 inward and rotating latch 110 downward before ear piece 106 is in the collapsed position. In such a configuration, projections 156 of latch 110 are press-fit into grooves 144 to re-engage grooves 144 on ear portion 112 to hold ear portion 112 in the desired position and prevent movement of ear portion 112 relative to temple portion 108. That is, rotating latch 110 to re-engage extension portion 136 or ear portion 112 facilitates locking ear portion 112 in an intermediate position between the extended position and the collapsed position. As such, a user is able to adjust the length of ear piece 106 to correspond to their head size.
Furthermore, the U-shaped second portion 116 of temple portion 108 allows hook portion 138 of ear portion 112 to slide inward of temple portion second end 120 such that hook portion 138 is positioned between ends 118 and 120 of temple portion 108 when ear portion 112 is in the collapsed position. More specifically, hook portion 138 extends obliquely from within cavity 128 of temple portion 108 through an open section 164 (shown in
In the exemplary embodiment, once ear portion 112 is in the collapsed position, that it, once hook portion 138 has slid passed second end 120, latch 110 may be rotated in the direction of arrow 166 to re-align with temple and ear portions 108 and 112. In such a configuration, latch 110 is in the same position as when ear portion 112 is in the extended position and prevents non-intentional movement of ear portion 112 from the collapsed position to the extended position. More specifically, in the exemplary embodiment, latch projections 156 are slightly larger than grooves 144 and are press-fit into grooves 144 such that grooves 144 is not slidably coupled to latch 110. As such, projections 156 block the sliding movement of ear portion 112 along temple portion 108 and prevent ear portion 112 from moving from the collapsed position to the extended position when latch is rotated downward, as shown in
The above-described embodiments of an eyeglass apparatus provide a telescopic ear piece that facilitates reducing the space required to store the eyeglass apparatus. Specifically, the eyeglass apparatus includes a pair of lenses, a frame coupled to the pair of lenses, and a pair of earpieces coupled to the frame. Each earpiece includes a temple portion coupled to the frame, a latch pivotally coupled to the temple portion, and an ear portion slidably coupled to the temple portion between an extended portion and a collapsed position. The latch is selectively coupled to the ear portion to enable movement of the ear portion between the extended position and the collapsed position. Furthermore, the temple portion defines a cavity that houses at least a portion of the ear portion when the ear portion is in the collapsed position. Moreover, a portion of the temple portion is U-shaped to enable telescopic engagement of the temple portion and the ear portion.
By housing the majority of the ear portion within the temple portion in the collapsed position, the eyeglass apparatus requires a smaller volume of space in which to store the eyeglasses than convention eyeglasses. The telescopic configuration makes efficient use of the space within the temple portion to provide for a compact storage configuration of the eyeglasses. Furthermore, because the ear portion is stored within the temple portion, the ear piece provides a structure that is more durable and less likely to be damaged when stored.
Exemplary embodiments of eyeglass apparatuses are not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, but rather, components of the apparatus may be utilized independently and separately from other components and/or steps described herein. For example, the methods may also be used in combination with other systems requiring telescoping assemblies and the associated methods, and are not limited to practice with only the eyeglass apparatus as described herein. Rather, the exemplary embodiment can be implemented and utilized in connection with many other applications, equipment, and systems that may benefit from telescoping assemblies.
Although specific features of various embodiments of the disclosure may be shown in some drawings and not in others, this is for convenience only. In accordance with the principles of the disclosure, any feature of a drawing may be referenced and/or claimed in combination with any feature of any other drawing.
This written description uses examples to disclose the embodiments, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the embodiments, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the disclosure is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
