Abstract:
A tool ( 10 ) for facilitating the adjustment of rimless eyewear ( 100 ) includes two pivotaby connected arms ( 12, 14 ) having distal and proximal ends ( 16, 18 ). The distal ends ( 16, 18 ) of the arms ( 12, 14 ) each has a gripping pad ( 22, 24 ) attached thereto. The first gripping pad ( 22 ) has a seat formed thereon to accommodate a nut, post ( 113, 114 ) or other hardware of the eyewear ( 100 ). The tool ( 10 ) is used to adjust the eyewear ( 100 ) by gripping the lens ( 102, 104 ) over and around the interface ( 113, 114 ) between the lens ( 102, 104 ) and the hardware ( 106, 108, 110 ) such that the lens ( 102, 104 ) and the interface ( 113, 114 ) are securely held in their relative positions to one another. Adjustments to the hardware ( 106, 108, 110 ) can be made without damaging the lens ( 102, 104 ) or the hardware thereon.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/043,295, filed on Jan. 26, 2005, which claims priority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/545,568 filed Feb. 18, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention generally relates to eyewear, such as rimless eyewear. More specifically, the present invention relates to a tool for facilitating the adjustment of rimless eyewear. These tools are commonly known as “adjusting pliers.” 
   Rimless eyewear is very well known in the art. Such rimless eyewear necessitates that the hardware (e.g. temples, hinges, bridge, etc.) be attached directly to the lens using, for example, rivets, clips, posts and the like. Once the hardware is installed, there is a need to adjust various parts of rimless eyewear to custom fit it to the wearer. In the prior art, the rimless frames are typically gripped and twisted and bent by hand to achieve the desired location of the parts of the eyewear. Such bending and twisting places significant pressure and strain on the lens, particularly in the region where the hardware is installed. For example, the lens about the hardware holes is particularly susceptible to cracks and damage during this custom adjustment of the lenses. 
   Therefore, there is a need to be able to effectively grip rimless frames while they are being adjusted to avoid damage to the hardware or the lenses. Various attempts in the prior art have tried to grip and capture the lens itself about the hardware holes to take the pressure and strain off of the lens in this area and improve the precision of adjustment over simply adjusting the eyewear by hand. Typically, these prior art tools are in the form of adjusting pliers where one side of the tool includes a plastic pad with the other side of the tool being a metal pronged fork-like structure to communicate with the lens on opposing sides of the hardware and their associated holes. However, these prior art tools cannot easily accommodate lenses of differing sizes and shapes and the metal fork-like structure can easily damage the lenses. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art and provides a greatly improved tool for facilitating the adjustment of rimless eyewear. Specifically, the improved tool includes a pair of resilient gripping pads that gently communicate with the rimless hardware in the area that it is mounted to the lenses. One gripping pad is preferably of a self-adjusting rocking-type that pivots about a screw. This enables the pad to change angles to accommodate a wide range of lens sizes and shapes. A pair of perpendicularly opposed grooves is provided to receive installed hardware during gripping. The perpendicularly opposed grooves enable the lens to be gripped from different angles. The second pad also includes a pair of perpendicularly opposed grooves to accommodate hardware but also includes a central bore to accommodate a screw, threaded post or nut during use of the tool in the event such hardware is present on the eyewear. This second pad may also be of the rocking-type to provide a more customized clamping grip during adjustment. 
   In view of the above, a new and novel tool for facilitating adjustment of rimless eyewear is provided. The adjusting pliers of the present invention provides two pads where at least one of them can pivot to accommodate lenses and frame hardware of different sizes and shapes. As a result, this new tool can more effectively grip a rimless frame during adjustment than prior art adjusting pliers by better embracing the lens in the region where the rimless hardware is attached to effectively avoid damage to the lens or hardware installed thereon. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the instant invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a top close-up perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the gripping pads of the instant invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a bottom close-up perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the gripping pads of the instant invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of a pair of rimless eyewear with various hardware installed thereon; 
       FIG. 5  is a rear perspective view of the pair of rimless eyewear of  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the instant invention gripping a lens of the rimless eyewear of  FIG. 4 ; and 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view through the line  6 — 6  of  FIG. 6  showing the instant invention gripping the lens of the rimless eyewear. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The preferred embodiment of the eyewear adjustment tool of the instant invention is shown generally in  FIG. 1  at  10 . The tool  10  has a first arm  12  and a second arm  14 . The first arm  12  has a distal end  16   a  a proximal end  18   a . Similarly, the second arm  14  also has a distal end  16   b  and a proximal end  18   b . The arms  12 ,  14  are pivotably connected together by a pivot pin  13  to allow the distal end  16   a  of the first arm  12  and the distal end  16   b  of the second arm  14  to move towards each other to a closed position and away from each other to an open position. Preferably, the arms  12 ,  14  of the tool  10  are pivotably connected at a point that is aligned with the distal  16   a ,  16   b  and proximal  18   a ,  18   b  ends of the arms  12 ,  14  to reduce lateral twisting forces as the tool  10  is operated to the closed position. The use of a pivot pin  13  that passes through arms  12  and  14  is just one of many different structures to pivotably connect arms  12  and  14  to each other. Other pivot connection structures may be employed in the tool  10  of the present invention. Preferably the arms  12  and  14  are made of steel, but can be made of any other suitable material for hand tools of this kind. 
   The proximal ends  18   a ,  18   b  of the tool  10  form handles in which an optometrist or optician holds to operate the tool  10 . The proximal ends  18   a ,  18   b  of the arms  12 ,  14  may be coated with a rubber or plastic coating to improve the quality and comfort of the optometrist&#39;s or optician&#39;s grip. 
   Located on the facing surfaces of the proximal ends  18   a ,  18   b  of the arms  12 ,  14  are a pair of opposing leaf springs  20   a ,  20   b . The leaf springs  20   a ,  20   b  exert outward pressure, which forces the distal ends  16   a ,  16   b  of the arms  12 ,  14  apart and to the open position. Although leaf springs are shown, other mechanical springs could be used to achieve the desired spring-bias effect. Alternatively, springs  20   a  and  20   b  can be omitted. 
   Attached to the distal end  16   a  of the first arm  12  is a first gripping pad  22  with a contact surface  29  thereon. The first gripping pas  22  is preferably mounted in a fixed position on the distal end  16   a  of the first arm  12 . Fastener  23 , such as a screw, is employed to secure gripping pad  22  to the distal end  16   a.    
   Attached to the distal end  16   b  of the second arm  14  is a second gripping pad  24  with a contact surface  31  thereon. The second gripping pad  24  is preferably pivotably mounted to the distal end  16   a  of the arm  14  such that the second gripping pad  24  may be pivoted approximately fifteen degrees forwards and backwards to facilitate an even grip on a curved surface of varying thickness such as a lens. A fastener  25 , such a screw or rivet, pivotably secures gripping pad  24  to distal end  16   b . As can be seen in  FIG. 7 , a gap  27  is provided within gripping pad  24  to permit it to pivot about fastener  25 . 
   While it is preferred that gripping pad  22  is fixed and gripping pad  24  is pivotably mounted, it is possible that both pads  22  and  24  are both fixed. Alternatively, both pads  22  and  24  can be pivotably mounted. The pads  22 ,  24  are preferably made of a soft nylon material, but may be constructed of any other material that is cushioning or will not damage the lenses  102  and  104  in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
   The optician or optometrist operates the tool  10  by squeezing the proximal ends  18   a ,  18   b  of the arms  12 ,  14  with enough pressure to overcome the outward force exerted by the leaf springs  20   a ,  20   b  to cause the distal ends  16   a ,  16   b  of the arms  12 ,  14  to travel to the closed position. Depending on the amount of force exerted by the optician or optometrist against the proximal ends  18   a ,  18   b  of the tool  10 , he or she may control the amount of force exerted by the gripping pads  22 ,  24 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a close up view of the first gripping pad  22  of the tool  10  of the instant invention is shown. The first gripping pad  22  uniquely includes a central bore which forms a seat  26 , which can be clearly seen in  FIG. 7 . The seat  26  is designed to accommodate a retaining component of a pair of rimless eyewear described more fully below. Also included, are a pair of perpendicularly opposed grooves  28  designed to accommodate a fastening structure of rimless eyewear described more fully below. Contact surface  29  gently communicates with a lens, as will be described below. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a close up view of the second gripping pad  24  of the tool  10  of the instant invention is shown. The second gripping pad  24  also includes a pair of similarly configured perpendicularly opposed grooves  30  as the first gripping pad  22 . These grooves  30  serve the same function as the grooves  28  on the first gripping pad  22 . Contact surface  31  gently communicates with a lens, as will be described below. 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a pair of common rimless eyewear is shown generally at  100 . These figures are provided in order to describe the method of using the novel tool  10  of the present invention. A pair of rimless eyewear  100  includes a left lens  102  and a right lens  104 . The lenses  102 ,  104 , which can be made of polycarbonate material or glass, for example, have corresponding inside surfaces  103   a ,  103   b , and outside surfaces  105   a ,  105   b . Unlike traditional eyewear (not shown), rimless eyewear  100  lacks a frame surrounding and holding the lenses  102 ,  104 . The lenses  102 ,  104  are connected together by a bridge wire  106  with typical nose pads  113  thereon. On the other sides of the lenses  102 ,  104 , opposite from the sides the bridge wire  106  is connected, are a corresponding left temple bar  108  and right temple bar  110 . 
   Because a pair of rimless eyewear lack a traditional frame in which to attach the bridge wire  106  and temple bars  108 ,  110 , these components  106 ,  108 ,  110  are attached directly to the lenses  102 ,  104  typically through a hole punched, molded or drilled through the edge of the lens  102 ,  104 . These components  106 ,  108 ,  110  may then be attached to the lens  102 ,  104  by a number of means, but one common means implemented is a post  112  (seen more clearly in  FIG. 7 ) with a threaded top and nut  114  threaded thereon to secure these components  106 ,  108 ,  110  to the lenses  102 ,  104 . Although the post-and-nut style means is shown, the tool of the instant invention can accommodate other configurations that use a post and a retaining back component such as a rivet or a notched post with a plastic clasp. 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , use of the unique tool  10  the instant invention is shown. As can be seen, and by way of example, the tool  10  is used to grip a pair of rimless eyewear  100  on the lenses  102 ,  104  at a point where the temple bars  108 ,  110  are joined. Although the figures and description will be described in reference to the right lens  104  and right temple bar  110 , this procedure is equally applicable to the joint created by the left temple bar  108  and the left lens  102  and the joints created between the bridge wire  106  and both lenses  102 ,  104 . The description is limited to a discussion of the method of gripping the joint created by the right lens  104  and right temple bar  110  solely as a matter of convenience to the reader and to avoid redundancy. 
   The tool  10  is orientated so that the seat  26  of the first gripping pad  22  is placed over the nut  114  of the eyewear  100 . The tool  10  may then further be orientated so that the grooves  28  interlock with the portion of the right temple bar  110  that may protrude onto the inside surface  103   b  of the lens  104 . The optician or optometrist will then operate the tool  10  to the closed position to close the distal ends  18   a ,  18   b  and attached gripping pads  22 ,  24  against the right lens  104  so that the contact surfaces  29  and  31  of the respective gripping pads  22 ,  24  engage the lens  104 . The groove  30  of the second gripping pad is aligned by the optician or optometrist to mate with the portion of the right temple bar  110  that may protrude onto the outside surfaces  105   b  of the lens  104 . 
   The optician or optometrist then exerts enough pressure such that the tool  10  securely holds the post  112 , nut  114 , and right lens  104  in relative relation to one another. Because the seat  26  envelopes the nut  114 , and the grooves  28 ,  30  envelope the portion of the right temple bar  110  that overlaps the right lens  104 , the region at the lens  104  immediately about the hardware, namely the post  112  and nut  114 , is firmly gripped. As a result, the right temple bar  110  may then be adjusted without fear of cracking the right lens  104 . The nylon or other material of the pads  22 ,  24  is desired so the delicate lenses  102 ,  104  are not damaged during eyewear adjustment using the tool  10  of the present invention. 
   Although the description has been described in considerable detail regarding a certain preferred embodiment, other versions are possible. All the features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.