Spectacle frame with adjustable ear bends

• US 6,491,389 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2001
• Issued: 12/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nikon Corporation, Nikon Eyewear Co., Ltd. (Nikon Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nikon Corporation, Nikon Eyewear Co., Ltd. (Nikon Corporation)
• Inventors: Yaguchi, Kenichi
• Primary Examiner(s): MAI, HUY KIM
• Application Number:
  US09/897,384
• Publication Number:
  US 20020003604A1
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• Field of Search: 351/123, 351/118, 351/119, 351/113, 351/121
• US Class Current: 351/123
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 5/143 having special ear pieces
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 5/16 resilient or with resilient parts
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 5/20 adjustable, e.g. telescopic

Abstract

A spectacle frame with ear bends each comprising an auricular front member connected to a temple, an auricular back member contactable with the back of the ear, and a connecting member for connecting the front member and the back member to be rotatable. The spectacle frame further comprises selective pressing means capable of changing a first state in which the back member presses the back of the ear with a second state in which the back member does not press the back of the ear.

Claims

1. A spectacle frame with ear bends each comprising an auricular front member connected to a temple, an auricular back member, a connecting member that connects said front member and said back member rotatably, and a mechanism having first and second stable states at opposite sides of an unstable or quasi-stable state, said first stable state being a state in which said back member is near the back of an ear, and said second stable state being a state in which said back member is remote from the back of the ear, said mechanism being operable between said first and second stable states by rotation of said back member with respect to said front member, and wherein said mechanism includes a device that biases said back member toward the back of the ear in said first stable state and that biases said back member away from the back of the ear in said second stable state.

2. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises a spring.

3. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises a coil compression spring.

4. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises a coil tension spring.

5. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises a leaf spring.

6. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises a cam rotatable with said back member and having a pair of surfaces converging to a vertex, and said front member has a pair of surfaces engagable with respective surfaces of the cam in said first stable state and said second stable state, respectively.

7. A spectacle frame according to claim 6, wherein said surfaces of said cam are side surfaces, respectively, of an isosceles triangle.

8. A spectacle frame according to claim 6, wherein said device comprises a coil compression spring in a bore in said front member and a contact part urged by said coil compression spring into engagement with one or the other of the surfaces of the cam in the first stable state or the second stable state, respectively, and into engagement with the vertex of the cam in the unstable or quasi-stable state.

9. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises a part rotatable with said back member and having a pair of surfaces converging to a vertex, and a leaf spring in a bore in said front member connected to the vertex of said part, and wherein said front member has a pair of surfaces engagable with respective surfaces of the part in said first stable state and said second stable state, respectively.

10. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises a part rotatable with said back member and having a pair of surfaces converging to a vertex, and a coil tension spring connected between said front member and said back member, and wherein said front member has a pair of surfaces engagable with respective surfaces of said part in said first stable state and said second stable state, respectively.

11. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, further comprising an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a position of connection between the temple and said front member so that the length from the front end of the temple to the back end of the front member is adjustable.

12. A spectacle frame according to claim 1, wherein said first stable state is a state in which said back member presses against the back of the ear, and wherein said device biases said back member to press against the back of the ear in said first stable state.

13. A spectacle frame with ear bends each comprising an auricular front member connected to a temple, an auricular back member, and a connecting member that connects said front member and said back member rotatably, said back member being rotatable with respect to said front member between a first position in which said back member is near the back of an ear and a second position in which the back member is remote from the back of the ear, and further comprising a device that biases said back member toward said second position when a wearer of the spectacle frame rotates said back member from the first position past a position intermediate said first and second positions, and that biases said back member toward the first position when the wearer rotates said back member from said second position past a position intermediate said first and second positions.

14. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, wherein said device comprises a spring.

15. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, wherein said device comprises a coil compression spring.

16. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, wherein said device comprises a coil tension spring.

17. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, wherein said device comprises a leaf spring.

18. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, wherein said device comprises a cam rotatable with said back member and having a pair of surfaces converging to a vertex, and said front member has a pair Of surfaces engagable with respective surfaces Of the cam in said first position and said second position, respectively, of said back member.

19. A spectacle frame according to claim 18, wherein said surface s of said cam are side surfaces, respectively, of an isosceles triangle.

20. A spectacle frame according to claim 18, wherein said device comprises a coil compression spring in a bore in said front member and a contact part urged by said coil compression spring into engagement with one or the other of the surfaces of the cam in the first position or the second position, respectively, and into engagement with the vertex of the cam in an intermediate position of the back member.

21. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, wherein said device comprises a part rotatable with said back member and having a pair of surfaces converging to a vertex, and a leaf spring in a bore in said front member connected to the vertex of said part, and wherein said front member has a pair of surfaces engagable with respective surfaces of the part in said first position and said second position, respectively, of said back member.

22. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, wherein said device comprises a part rotatable with said back member and having a pair of surfaces converging to a vertex, and a coil tension spring connected between said front member and said back member, and wherein said front member has a pair of surfaces engagable with respective surfaces of said part in said first position and said second position, respectively, of said back member.

23. A spectacle frame according to claim 13, further comprising an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a position of connection between the temple and said front member so that the length from the front end of the temple to the back end of the front member is adjustable.