PROTECTIVE EYEGLASS ASSEMBLY

ENSEMBLE DE LUNETTES PROTECTRICES

English Abstract

The protective eyeglass assembly described comprises a frame having right and
left portions defining respective right and left apertures and a central
bridging
portion, a pair of ear stems respectively mounted at an upper edge extremity
of
the right and left portions and a protective lens piece defining an unitary
arcuate
body adapted to be mounted to and rearwardly of the lens piece between the
upper and lower edges of the frame. The lower edge of the lens supporting
surface of the frame has a retaining wall for retaining the lens therein while
the
upper edges of the frame and the lens piece have cooperating portions to
secure
the lens to the frame. The frame is made of flexible plastic material to
enable a
snap-in engagement and a snap-out disengagement of the lens to and from the
frame.

Claims

CLAIMS
1. A protective eyeglass assembly comprising:
a frame having right and left portions defining
respective right and left apertures and a central bridging portion between
said
right and left portions; said right and left portions and said bridging
portion
displaying an upper edge lens receiving surface and a lower edge lens
supporting surface; said frame being made of flexible plastic material;
a pair of ear stems respectively mounted at an
upper edge extremity of said right and left portions to pivot between an
inwardly
folded position and an outwardly ear contacting position; and
a protective lens piece made of transparent plastic
material defining an unitary arcuate body and adapted to be mounted to and
rearwardly of said lens piece between said upper edge extremities of said
frame;
said lens piece including a pair of right and left sight regions and a central
bridging region; said right and left sight regions and said bridge region
displaying
an upper edge adapted to be received beneath said upper edge surface of said
right and left portions and said central bridging portion, and a lower edge
adapted to be supported on said lower edge lens supporting surface of said
right
and left portions and said bridging portion of the said frame;
wherein said lower edge lens supporting surface
includes means to retain said lens when mounted to said frame and wherein said
upper edge surface of said right and left portions of said frame and said
upper
edge of said right and left regions of said lens include cooperating means to
secure said lens to said frame; said flexible plastic material of said frame
enabling a snap-in engagement and a snap-out disengagement of said securing
means to and from one another.
2. A protective eyeglass assembly as defined in
claim 1, wherein said cooperating means consist of slot means on said upper
edge surface of said right and left portions of said frame and of projection
means
on said upper edge of said right and left regions of said; said projection
means
being so dimensioned as to fit into said slot means.

3. A protective eyeglass assembly as defined in
claim 1, wherein said retaining means consist of rib means extending along an
outer edge of a portion of said lower edge supporting surface of said right
and
left portions of said frame.
4. A protective eyeglass assembly as defined in any
of claims 1, 2 and 3 wherein said lens includes an integral side shield
extension
on each said right and left sight regions, the rearmost edge of said side
shield
extensions disposed inwardly of said upper edge extremities to enable said ear
stems to move to said inwardly folded position.

Description

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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
Protective eyeglass assembly.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an eyewear and more particularly to a
protective
eyeglass assembly for industrial use.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There often occur in industrial use that the lens and/or ear stems of a
protective
eyewear breaks requiring a user to discard to the entire eyeglass and replace
it
with a new pair. Another problem in the industry has been to provide a
standard
protective eyeglass that can accommodate comfortably different sizes. It is
important to provide the user with comfort when wearing such eyeglasses during
work. There is therefore a need for a protective eyeglass for industrial use
that
can be easily mounted and/or dismounted in the event of any of its components
being damaged while providing the user with comfort.
OBJECTS AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective eyeglass
assembly
which is adapted to be both comfortably worn and adjusted to fit different
users.
One such eyeglass assembly has been described in U.S. Patent No. 5,796,461
issued August 18, 1998 to Stepan. The eyeglass assembly described includes
a frame with left and right lens frame portions, lens receiving apertures and
frame portions, a central bridge portion connecting the frame portions and
left
and right temple bars. The assembly also includes an integrally formed lens
piece which is adapted to be detachably secured to the frame so that the user
can interchange the frame and/or replace the lens piece. The left and right
lens
panels include ?? lens formation which are received in interfitting engagement
into the lens receiving apertures of the frame when the lens piece is
assembled
with the frame.

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The present invention is concern with providing a protective eyeglass assembly
of such type described in the above U.S. patent wherein, however, the
interfitting
engagement between the lens frame and the lens piece is improved.
The present invention therefore relates to a protective eyeglass assembly
which
comprises:
a frame having right and left portions defining respective right and
left apertures and a central bridging portion between the right and left
portions;
the right and left portions and the bridging portion displaying an upper edge
lens
receiving surface and a lower edge lens supporting surface; the frame being
made of flexible plastic material;
a pair of ear stems respectively mounted at an upper edge
extremity of the right and left portions to pivot between an inwardly folded
position and an outwardly ear contacting position; and
a protective lens piece made of transparent plastic material
defining an unitary arcuate body and adapted to be mounted to and rearwardly
of the lens piece between the upper edge extremities of the frame; the lens
piece
including a pair of right and left sight regions and a central bridging
region; the
right and left sight regions and the bridge region displaying an upper edge
adapted to be received beneath the upper edge surface of the right and left
portions and the central bridging portion, and a lower edge adapted to be
supported on the lower edge lens supporting surtace of the right and left
portions
and the bridging portion of the the frame;
wherein the lower edge lens supporting surface includes means
to retain the lens when mounted to the frame and wherein the upper edge
surface of the right and left portions of the frame and the upper edge of the
right
and left regions of the lens include cooperating means to secure the lens to
the
frame; the flexible plastic material of the frame enabling a snap-in
engagement
and a snap-out disengagement of the securing means to and from one another.

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In one form of the invention, the cooperating means consist of slot means on
the
upper surface of the right and left portions of the frame and of projection
means
on the upper edge of the right and left regions of the lens.
In another form of the invention, the retaining means consist of rib means
extending along an outer edge of a portion of the lower edge supporting
surface
of the right and left portions of the frame.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will
become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be
understood, however, that this detailed description, while indicating
preferred
embodiments of this invention, is given by way of illustration only since
various
changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will
become apparent to those skilled in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is an exploded top perspective view showing the protective eyeglass
assembly of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a top perspective view of the assembled eyeglass;
Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the frame with the lens shown in dotted
lines;
Figure 4 is a top view thereof;
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of figure 4;
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of figure 4;
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of figure showing another
embodiment of the present invention; and

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Figure 8 is cross-sectional view taken along lines 8-8 of figure 4.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to figure 1, there is shown the various components forming the
protective eyeglass assembly, generally denoted 10, of the present invention.
It
includes a frame 12, a pair of ear stems 14 and 16 and a lens piece 18.
The frame 12 has right and left portions 18 and 20 defining respective right
and
left apertures 22 and 24, and a central bridging portion 26 extending
therebetween. The upper edge 28 of the lens has a given width and consists of
three sections 28a, 28b and 28c. The under surface of the upper edge defines
a lens receiving area. The width of the upper end 28 is the smallest at the
central section 28c and gradually increases as it curves outwardly and
rearwardly towards the extremities of the end sections 28a and 28b. These
extremities of the lens define rearward extensions 30 and 32 to which are
pivotly
connected the ear stems 14 and 16, respectively. The end sections 28a and 28b
of the upper edge of the lens 12 each display an elongated slot 34 and 36, the
function of which will be described hereinbelow.
Also, the lens 12 is made of a flexible plastic material; again, the
flexibility
function will be described further hereinbelow.
The ear stems 14 and 16 are pivotly connected to the rearward extensions 30
and 32 through a first pin 38, 40 enabling the ear stems to move in a vertical
plane and indicated by arrow 41 in figure 5 and through a second pin 42, 44 in
order to allow the ear stem to be pivoted between an inwardly folded position
and an outwardly extending ear contacting position. A detailed description of
such pivotal arrangements does not form part of the present invention and
therefore will not be given. Such construction may be found described in the
above U.S. patent No. 5,796,461 to Stepan or to U.S. applicant's patent
No. 5,760,867 issued on June 2, 1998 to Pernicka et al.

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The lower edges of the right and left frame portions 18 and 20 as well as the
central bridging portion 26 define lens supporting surfaces 19, 21 and 27.
Surfaces 19 and 21 include rear walls 23 and 25 that extend from about the
middle of surfaces 19 and 21 and up to the lower surface 27 of the bridging
portion 26.
Lens 18 consists of an unitary arcuate body made of transparent plastic
material.
It includes a pair of right and left sight regions 50 and 52 and a central
bridging
region 53. The upper edges of the regions 50 and 52 each display a flat
horizontal surface 54 and 56 which progressively increases in width and in a
curved manner from the central portion 54 to the outer extremities which
define
side shields 58 and 60. The upper surfaces 54 and 56 each displays a
rectangular-shaped projection 62 and 64 which are dimensioned so as to
snuggly fit into the elongated slots 34 and 36 of the lens frame.
To assemble the lens piece 18 to the frame 12, the lower edges 51 and 53 of
the
sight regions 50 and 52 are placed on their corresponding surfaces 19 and 21
of the frame with the lower edge 55 of the lens piece resting on surface 27 of
the
frame. Due to the flexibility of the material of the frame, the upper part of
the
lens is forcingly moved to the frame so that the top surfaces 54 and 56 of the
lens are positioned beneath the under surfaces of the upper edge sections 28a
and 28b of the frame with the top edge 54 of the lens being received under the
upper edge section 28c of the frame. The presence of projections 62 and 64 of
the lens provide some hindrance to such entry. However, the flexibility of the
material of the frame will cause a slight upward movement of the frame
sections
28a and 28b so that the projections 62 and 64 will slide along the
undersurfaces
of sections 28a and 28b until they reach and engage the slots 34 and 36. Thus,
there is achieved a snap-in engagement of the lens to the frame.
Disengagement of the lens and the frame from one another is achieved in the
reverse manner; in other words a slight upward force on the upper edges of the

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frame will free the projections 62 and 64 from their respective slots 34 and
36
and the lens is separated.
Although the invention has been described above with respect to one specific
form, it will be evident to the person skilled in the art that it may be
refined and
modified in various ways. For example, as illustrated in figure 7, the
projection
70 may be provided on the upper edge of the frame and its corresponding slot
72 in the upper edge of the lens. It is therefore wished to have it understood
that
the present invention should not be limited in interpretation except by the
terms
of the following claims.

Representative Drawing