Eyeglass frame member

Disclosed herein is an eyeglass frame member comprising a predetermined length of a rod-like material made of an alloy of super elasticity and shape-memory property, said material having a predetermined number of thin portions of a reduced diameter, the thin portions disposed at desired intervals at both sides of a middle section of said rod-like material, wherein connecting pieces made of a higher solderable metal are respectively fitted in or wound around the thin portions, the middle section being formed into a bridge, intermediate sections to which the connecting pieces are fixed being simultaneously formed into eyebrow portions to which rims for holding respective lenses are to be fixed, and end sections of the rod-like material being bent to form lugs extending rearwards.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a metal member used as a part of eyeglass 
frame. 
2. Description of Prior Art 
There have been used stainless steels, nickel-chromium alloys, German 
silver, phosphor bronze or other metallic materials, as the parts 
constituting the metal frames of eyeglass. Recently, pure titanium or some 
nickel-titanium base alloys (i.e., Ni-Ti alloys) also have been made use 
of as said eyeglass parts because they are excellent in their properties 
such as mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, spring property or 
resilience and are lighter in their weight. In particular, Ni-Ti alloys 
are very useful in this field owing to their super elasticity which 
enhances to them the so-called "shape memory" property depending upon 
their compositions. 
It is however difficult to solder the parts of pure titanium or the Ni-Ti 
alloys to each other or to other materials. Said metal or alloys should 
thus be coated with a nickel plating membrane or other plating before they 
are soldered to the other eyeglass parts made of German silver or other 
readily solderable materials, the plating membrane thereby being 
interposed for instance between Ni-Ti alloy phase and German silver phase. 
Such interpositon of the plating membrane between the surfaces of soldered 
materials brings about insufficient junction strength. It is also 
disadvantageous to add such plating step to the process for manufacturing 
the eyeglasses. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In order to resolve the problems inherent in prior art, the present 
invention aims to provide an eyeglass frame member which is formed as an 
integral part made of a material of super elasticity wherein rims and 
temples or bows of an eyeglass assembly can be fixedly secured to said 
member so that shape-memory property of the material is efficiently 
utilized to improve the eyeglass assembly. 
According to the invention, an eyeglass frame member comprises a 
predetermined length of a rod-like material of super elasticity and 
shape-memory property, the rod-like material having a predetermined number 
of thin portions disposed at desired intervals at both sides of a middle 
section and at ends of said rod-like material. The eyeglass frame member 
further comprises intermediate connecting pieces which are made of a 
highly solderable metal and fitted in or wound around the thin portions, 
wherein the middle section is formed into a bridge, intermediate sections 
to which the intermediate connecting pieces are fixed being thereby formed 
into eyebrow portions to which a pair of rims for holding respective 
lenses are to be attached, and end sections including the thin portions at 
ends of the rod-like material being bent to form lugs extending rearwards. 
End connecting pieces made of the same or other highly solderable metal as 
the intermediate connecting pieces are attached to the lugs at the thin 
portions so that hinges for mounting temples or bows can be secured 
thereto. 
It is preferable to press the rod-like material and the connecting pieces 
into a flat shape, and to simultaneously engrave any decorative pattern on 
outer surfaces of said connecting pieces. 
Such an eyeglass frame member is advantageous in that the bridge and lugs 
are of an excellent shape-memory property, and the rims and temples can be 
rigidly fixed to the frame member by means of the connecting pieces. 
In particular, the eyeglass frame member in the invention comprises the 
bridge, the eyebrow portions for the rims, and the lugs for the temples 
which are integral with each other and are made of the metal of super 
elasticity enhancing the shape-memory property. Even if a strong force 
would cause the rims or the temples to deform, their original shapes will 
be recovered soon after the force is relieved, to thereby improve the 
function or comfortableness of eyeglasses made of the frame member 
provided by the invention. In addition, the eyeglass parts such as the 
rims and temples are made capable of being fastened to the eyeglass frame 
member by means of the highly solderable connecting pieces, thereby 
providing eyeglasses of an improved mechanical strength.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
A rod-like material 1 as shown in FIG. 1 is a main body from which an 
eyeglass frame member in the invention is made. The rod-like material 1 is 
a predetermined length of a Ni-Ti alloy rod which is of a super elasticity 
enhancing an excellent shape-memory property. A middle section 1a is of a 
given length corresponding to a bridge. Intermediate thin portions 2 of a 
reduced diameter are formed at both sides of the middle section 1a at 
suitable intervals, and end thin portions 3 of a reduced diameter are 
formed at ends of the rod-like material 1. 
Intermediate and end connecting pieces 4 are made of a highly solderable 
metal such as German silver or the like, and are of a cylindrical shape to 
be fitted on the rod-like material 1. Length of the connecting pieces 4 is 
substantially the same as that of the thin portions 2 and 3. The 
connecting pieces 4 are fitted in said thin portions 2 and 3, and 
thereafter pressed in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the rod-like 
material. Said connecting pieces 4 which are thus deformed into a 
depressed shape are tightly secured to the thin portions 2 and 3. 
Shoulders 2a located at boundaries of each intermediate thin portions 2 
are effective to prevent each intermediate connecting piece 4 from moving 
along the rod-like material in axial direction thereof. On the other hand, 
annular grooves 3a are formed respectively in the end thin portions 3 at 
the ends of the rod-like materials so that the end connecting pieces 4 may 
not be removed therefrom. It is preferable to force an inner surface 
portion of each piece 4 into each annular groove 3a, or to employ other 
suitable means for retaining said pieces 4 in the annular grooves 3a. 
A blank consisting of the rod-like material and the connecting pieces is 
subjected to a pressing process wherein a depressed and curved shape as 
shown in FIG. 3 is given to the blank at a stroke. The middle section 
thereby becomes a bridge 5, and intermediate sections including the 
intermediate connecting pieces 4 become eyebrow portions 6. It is 
desirable to engrave a decorative pattern on the outer surfaces of said 
connecting pieces 4 when the pressing process is effected. 
Subsequently, end sections of the blank are bent to face each other at the 
same side of said blank so as to form lugs 7 which complete the eyeglass 
frame member as shown in FIG. 4. 
FIG. 5 illustrates an eyeglass assembly comprising the frame member of such 
a structure as described above. A pair of rims 10 are soldered or welded 
to the connecting pieces 4 of the eyebrow portions 6. A pair of temples 11 
are fastened to hinges 12 which are soldered or welded to the connecting 
pieces 4 of the lugs 7.