Eyewear having a flexural member

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9632331-B2
Application number	US-201615187643-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2016
Priority date	Mar 2, 2012
Publication date	Apr 25, 2017
Grant date	Apr 25, 2017

Abstract

An eyewear article having a flexing portion including first and second longitudinally disposed ribs is disclosed. In another exemplary embodiment, the flexing portion has a maximum height (H), in a direction parallel to a mid-sagittal plane bisecting the eyewear into imaginary left and right halves, that is greater than 10 mm. The eyewear article of the present invention provides a balance of fit and comfort suitable for a range of user head sizes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An eyewear article, comprising:
a temple piece extending rearwardly from a front of the eyewear article, the temple piece comprising a flexing portion having a radius of curvature (p) and having first and second longitudinally disposed ribs;
wherein when the temple piece is in an unflexed state, the first rib is angularly disposed with respect to the second rib and ρ<80 mm;
and wherein the eyewear article is chosen from the group consisting of safety glasses, sunglasses, vision correction glasses, cosmetic glasses, and goggles.

2. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the flexing portion further comprises third and fourth longitudinally disposed ribs, and when the temple piece is in an unflexed state the third rib is angularly disposed with respect to the fourth rib.

3. The eyewear article of claim 1 , wherein the flexing portion has a torsional stiffness about its longitudinal axis that is greater than 32 N-mm/rad.

4. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the flexing portion has a torsional stiffness about its longitudinal axis that is greater than 56 N-mm/rad.

5. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein each rib comprises first and second major surfaces that are substantially planar.

6. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein each rib comprises first and second major surfaces that are curved.

7. The eyewear article of claim 6 wherein when the temple piece is in an unflexed state a curved inner surface of each rib defines a radius of curvature R 1 ; and, wherein when the temple piece is in a flexed state the curved inner surface of each rib defines a radius of curvature R 2 , and wherein R 2 >R 1 .

8. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein inner peripheral edges of each of the first and second ribs define a slot extending between portions of the first and second ribs.

9. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein inner peripheral edges of each of the first and second ribs define a plurality of slots.

10. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the first and second ribs are connected along the lengths of the ribs.

11. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the eyewear article comprises a frame, lenses, and two temple pieces, each temple piece being rotatably secured to the frame of the eyewear article by a hinged connection; and, wherein the frame, the lenses and the two temple pieces are formed separately and are joined together to make the eyewear article.

12. The eyewear article of claim 11 wherein the flexing portion of each temple piece is located rearwardly of the hinged connection of the temple piece to the frame.

13. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the temple piece further comprises a contact portion, and a force (F) exerted normal to the contact portion is between 50 g and 110 g when the eyewear article is positioned for use on a human head having a width (W) between 130 mm and 170 mm.

14. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the temple piece further comprises a contact portion; and, wherein a first force (F 1 ) is exerted at the contact portion when the eyewear article is positioned for use on a human head having a width of 130 mm and a second force (F 2 ) is exerted at the contact portion when the eyewear article is positioned for use on a human head having a width of 180 mm, and wherein (F 2 −F 1 )<50 grams.

15. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein each rib has first and second major surfaces separated by a thickness (t), and wherein t is between 0.5 mm and 2.5 mm.

16. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein each rib has a height (h) that is between 2.5 mm and 8 mm.

17. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the first and second longitudinally disposed ribs have inner surfaces that form an angle θ 1 when the temple piece is in an unflexed state and that form an angle θ 2 when flexed outwardly into a flexed state to accommodate a head of a user, wherein θ 1 is less than 180 degrees and wherein θ 1 <θ 2 .

18. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the eyewear article comprises safety glasses.

19. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the eyewear article comprises sunglasses.

20. The eyewear article of claim 1 wherein the eyewear article comprises vision correction glasses.

Assignees

• 3M Innovative Properties Co

Inventors

• Marini Solomon
• Martinson Paul A
• Froissard Laurent
• Stanley Glen E

Classifications

• G02C5/20

  adjustable, e.g. telescopic · CPC title

• G02C5/146

  having special front end · CPC title

• G02C5/143

  having special ear pieces · CPC title

• G02C5/16 Primary

  resilient or with resilient parts · CPC title