Frame support member and frame support assembly for over-the-glasses (OTG) eyewear

There is provided a frame support member for eyewear having a frame, with the frame including a nose bridge. The frame support member includes an attachment portion at a first end thereof for coupling the frame support member to the nose bridge of the eyewear, and a nose engaging portion at a second end thereof. The frame support member is configured to position the nose engaging portion below and behind the nose bridge for supporting the eyewear on a user. There is also provided eyewear that includes a frame for supporting at least one lens, a nose bridge for supporting the frame on a user, and the frame support member as herein described. A frame support assembly is also provided, which includes the frame support member and an extender to be coupled to the eyewear frame.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following relates to support assemblies for eyewear, in particular to position secondary eyewear such as over-the-glasses (OTG) eyewear, relative to primary eyewear, such as prescription eyewear.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Conventional eyewear, particularly prescription eyeglasses, may be required by a user at all or most times to improve their vision. Eyeglasses generally include a frame that supports one or more lenses. The frame typically includes a nose bridge or nose pieces that engage the user's nose to support the eyeglasses on the user's head. Eyeglasses also typically include a pair of arms attached to (or integral with) the frame, to further support the eyeglasses, e.g. by resting the arms on the user's ears or engaging their head in the temple region.

Safety eyewear is required in various scenarios, such as on a job or construction site, shop or factory floor, etc. While prescription safety eyewear exists, the costs associated with having prescription lenses for safety eyewear can be prohibitive. Moreover, having prescription lenses for safety eyewear may not be feasible, particularly when the safety eyewear is meant to be shared and reused, e.g., by visitors to a jobsite. For these reasons, safety eyewear has been known to be constructed to fit over a conventional pair of eyeglasses in order to eliminate the need for the user to remove their prescription eyewear or to possess prescription safety eyewear. Such solutions are commonly referred to as “over the glasses” or “OTG” type eyewear.

One problem with OTG type eyewear is that the OTG frames often rest on the prescription frames, which can cause the prescription frames to pulled downwardly on the user's nose, causing misalignment of the lenses and/or causing general discomfort.

Moreover, typical OTG frames may rest or be pushed against the front of the prescription lenses, which can cause damage to the more valuable eyewear, or cause the prescription lenses to impinge the user's face This may occur when the OTG frames act as they are intended to, namely to deflect debris and other objects from the user's face.

It is an object of the following to address at least one of the above-noted disadvantages.

SUMMARY

In order to support secondary eyewear (e.g., safety eyewear) that is worn over primary eyewear (e.g., prescription eyewear), a frame support member is provided that engages the user's nose to support the secondary eyewear above and away from the primary eyewear frames and thus reduce interference between the primary and secondary eyewear frames. The support member can also reduce or eliminate downward forces imparted by the secondary eyewear on the primary eyewear by having at least a portion of a nose-engaging portion be positioned below and behind the lenses of the secondary eyewear such that the secondary eyewear is physically separated from the underlying primary eyewear. Separation can also be provided between the secondary eyewear and the lenses of the primary eyewear by incorporating the support member. In some implementations, a frame support assembly is provided that includes the support member with adjustability. The assembly or support member can be adjusted through flexure or extendibility to accommodate different users. The assembly or support member can also be used for primary eyewear that is worn on its own (e.g., safety eyewear worn without underlying prescription eyewear).

In one aspect, there is provided a frame support member for eyewear comprising a frame, the frame of the eyewear comprising a nose bridge, the frame support member comprising: an attachment portion at a first end thereof for coupling the frame support member to the nose bridge of the eyewear; and a nose engaging portion at a second end thereof; wherein the frame support member is configured to position the nose engaging portion below and behind the nose bridge for supporting the eyewear on a user.

In another aspect, there is provided eyewear comprising: a frame for supporting at least one lens; a nose bridge for supporting the frame on a user; and a frame support member comprising an attachment portion at a first end thereof for coupling the frame support member to the nose bridge of the eyewear, and a nose engaging portion at a second end thereof; wherein the frame support member is configured to position the nose engaging portion below and behind the nose bridge for supporting the eyewear on a user.

In yet another aspect, there is provided a frame support assembly for eyewear comprising a frame, the frame of the eyewear comprising a nose bridge, the frame support assembly comprising: a frame support member comprising an attachment portion at a first end thereof for coupling the frame support member to the nose bridge of the eyewear, and a nose engaging portion at a second end thereof, wherein the frame support member is configured to position the nose engaging portion below and behind the nose bridge for supporting the eyewear on a user; and an extender coupled to the frame support member at one end and a frame engaging portion at the other end, the frame engaging portion configured to be coupled to the nose bridge of the frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the figures,FIG. 1illustrates safety eyewear10(i.e. “secondary” eyewear) being worn over an underlying eyewear (i.e., “primary” eyewear), in this example a pair of prescription eyeglasses12. Both the safety eyewear10and the underlying prescription eyeglasses12are shown as being worn by a user14and are supported on the user14at least in part by resting on the user's nose18. The safety eyewear10is supported relative to the prescription eyeglasses12using a frame support member16that engages the user's nose18as explained in greater detail below. A frame support assembly that incorporates the frame support member16and other features providing adjustability may also be provided, as also explained in greater detail below.

As illustrated inFIG. 2, the prescription eyeglasses12include a pair of arms20that are either pivotally attached to, or integral with a frame21that holds or otherwise supports a pair of prescription lenses22as is known in the art. The prescription eyeglasses12can also be further supported on the user14by resting the arms20on the user's ears24. The safety eyewear10in the example shown inFIG. 2includes a pair of arms30that are either pivotally attached to, or integral with a frame34that holds or otherwise supports a pair of safety lenses32. The safety eyewear10in the example shown inFIG. 2are additionally supported on the user by engaging temple portions26of the user's head14. However, it can be appreciated that the arms30of the safety eyewear10can instead rest upon the user's ears24. The safety lenses32can be made from any suitable material providing impact and shatter resistance and, as illustrated inFIG. 2, these lenses32can partially wrap around the user's head14to provide side impact protection.

Referring to bothFIGS. 2 and 3, the frame34can include a nose bridge36that is positioned between the pair of lenses32. It can be appreciated that the nose bridge36can also be formed from a central portion of a single lens32and need not be a separate element. As can be seen inFIG. 2, the frame support member16is shaped such that it extends downwardly and rearwardly (i.e. below and behind the lenses32) to engage the user's nose18. In this way, the safety eyewear10is separately and independently supported on the user's nose18by being positioned above the frame21and away from the lenses22of the primary eyewear. That is, in this example, the frame support member16inhibits the safety eyewear10from resting upon the underlying prescription eyeglasses12which, as explained above, can cause the safety eyewear10to pull or drag the prescription eyeglasses12down the user's nose and cause misalignment of the lenses22with the user's eyes and/or general discomfort.

By providing inherent adjustability in the frame support member16itself, or by providing a frame support assembly that provides adjustability with/for the frame support member16, the frame support member16can enable the same pair of safety eyewear10to be adjusted to suit different users with different head sizes, shapes, positioning of facial features, etc.

The view shown inFIG. 3also illustrates that the frame support member16is also suitable for use with any eyewear, including primary eyewear without any secondary eyewear (or vice versa). WhileFIG. 3shows the frame support member16used with safety eyewear10, it can be appreciated that the frame support member16can also be used with prescription eyeglasses12or any other type of eyewear such as sports eyewear or an eyewear accessory (e.g., a magnetic or other type of clip-on sunglasses).

A frame support assembly comprising a nose bridge member36and the frame support member16is shown inFIGS. 4 and 5. The enlarged view inFIG. 5illustrates one example configuration for the frame support member16have a vertically oriented portion40connected to an angled nose-engaging portion42via a contoured central portion44. In this example, the central portion44includes a pair of segments angled with respect to each other to position the nose-engaging portion42behind the nose bridge36and vertical portion40as best seen inFIG. 6.

For reasons of comfort and/or to accommodate different users, the support member16can be constructed to include at least some inherent adjustability as shown inFIG. 6. In the example shown inFIG. 6, the nose engaging portion42is flexible relative to the central portion44to enable the angle of the nose engaging portion42to be adjusted to suit different nose shapes. It can be appreciated that any or all of the other portions of the frame support member16can include flexibility to allow for additional degrees of freedom of movement in adjusting the angle and position of the nose engaging portion42. This allows the safety eyewear10to be supported above and away from underlying primary eyewear such as the prescription eyeglasses12shown inFIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7(a)illustrates a front view of the frame support member16in one configuration in which the nose engaging portion42is substantially planar. However, as shown inFIG. 7(b), a contoured nose engaging portion142can instead be provided which includes a contoured nose engaging surface146that generally follows the curvature of the upper surface of a user's nose18. It can be appreciated that the particular contour146shown inFIG. 7(b)is purely illustrative and other contours can be used, including triangular, a many-sided “trough”, etc.

The multi-portion support member16shown inFIGS. 6 and 7is also only one possible configuration. For example, as shown inFIG. 8(a), a single curved member50with a nose engaging surface52at its distal end can be used. As with other configurations, the member50can be provided with inherent flexibility by selecting a suitably flexible material for the support member50. The generally “C” shape for the support member16is also only one possible configuration. For example, as shown inFIG. 8(b), any suitable shape that provides a nose engaging portion152that is positioned behind and below the nose bridge36can provide the same separation between the primary and secondary eyewear. However, it may be noted that the generally “C” shape can minimize the proportion of the frame support member16that could interfere with a nose bridge or nose pieces of the primary eyewear and can be sized to be able to fit underneath such a nose bridge.

The adjustability of the frame support member16can also include extendibility, for example as shown inFIGS. 9(a) to 9(c). In the example shown inFIG. 9, the frame support member16and nose bridge36are connected to the vertically oriented portion40, which can also be referred to as a frame engaging portion. The portion40is operatively connected to the remainder of the support assembly16via an extender60. In this example, a frame support assembly is provided that includes the frame support member16adapted to include the extender60. It can be appreciated that the vertical portion40(i.e. the frame engaging portion) can be constructed separately from the nose bridge36to enable the same safety eyewear10to be manufactured with or without the frame support assembly by providing a mechanism to couple the frame support assembly to the frame10.

The extender60can be made extendible in various ways. For example, as shown in the figures, the extender60can be fixed to the frame support member16at one end and moveably connected to the vertical portion40(and nose bridge36) at its other end. The moveable connection can be a ratchet-type mechanism80(seeFIG. 12), a frictional engagement, or using any other suitable adjustment means in order to provide a plurality of positions. The plurality of positions correspond to a plurality of distances between the nose engaging member42and the nose bridge36and frame34. In this way, the extender60can be used to adjust the vertical separation between the primary and secondary eyewear.FIG. 9(a)illustrates the extender60ain a first position,FIG. 9(b)illustrates the extender60bin a second position, andFIG. 9(c)illustrates the extender60cin a third position. It can be appreciated that the positions shown inFIGS. 9(a)-9(c)can represent a limited number of discrete positions or positions that are possible in a continuum, e.g., with a frictional connection allowing for a multitude of positions. That is, the provision of three discrete positions is illustrative only.

FIGS. 10(a) to 10(d)illustrate how the extender60and inherent flexibility in at least a portion of the frame support assembly16enables adjustability to suit many users.FIG. 10(a)illustrates a first configuration as a reference point, in which the extender60bis in the second position shown inFIG. 9(b). In this first configuration, a vertical separation A, and a horizontal separation B are provided between the primary and secondary eyewear.FIG. 10(b)illustrates that by flexing the frame support member16, an increased vertical separation A+ and decreased horizontal separation B− can be achieved, even with the extender60abeing in the first position shown inFIG. 9(a). As such, the combination of flexibility and extendibility enables adjustability in both directions.

In another example shown inFIG. 10(c), the frame support member16is flexed to push the nose engaging portion42further back, while raising it relative to the other portions40,44. This provides an increased horizontal separation B+, and decreased vertical separation A− when compared toFIG. 10(a). In a further example shown inFIG. 10(d), the same horizontal separation B as shown inFIG. 10(a)is provided with a further increased vertical separation A++ by using the extender60cin the third position. It can be appreciated that the examples shown inFIG. 10are illustrative and that many additional configurations are possible through a combination of flexibility and/or extendibility of the frame support member16and/or the overall frame support assembly.

The multiple directions of adjustability exemplified herein can also be provided using multiple extenders60,70as shown inFIG. 11. In this example, a second horizontally oriented extender70connects the central portion46to the nose engaging portion42of the frame support member16. This allows the nose engaging portion42to be adjusted rearwardly of the nose bridge36as well as downwardly therefrom. It can be appreciated that the second extender70can be used with substantially rigid portions40,42,44, or can be used with at least one flexible portion, e.g., the nose engaging portion42to allow for different angular orientations thereof.