Patent Publication Number: US-11662605-B2

Title: Flexible temple for eyeglasses

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a flexible temple for eyeglasses. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a flexible temple for eyeglasses that is hinged to an element of the front of the frame of the eyeglasses in an elastic manner. 
     BACKGROUND 
     As is known, frames are commercially available which have temples that are coupled in an elastic manner to the element of the front of said frame. In other words, the temple is mated with the element of the front of the frame and can be divaricated beyond its normal position of use, without breaking the temple, without breaking the connection hinge between the temple and the element of the front, and without said hinge being damaged. 
     Eyeglasses with this type of hinges are usually called eyeglasses with flex temples or flex hinges. The flexibility or elasticity of the temple with respect to the element of the front of the frame allows to wear the eyeglasses more comfortably and also allows to handle them with less care, since the temple is certainly less delicate than temples that have hinges of a conventional type, therefore not flex hinges. 
     Flex temples of the known type usually provide for a mating between the temple and an element of the front of the frame by means of a slider that is elastically coupled within a slot defined in the temple. 
     In this manner, the movement of the temple to open beyond its normal position, known as overtravel, is provided by virtue of a rotation cam of the element of the front that entrains the slider outward, by virtue of the compression of the spring that is coupled to the temple by means of a retention element. 
     The solution described above, although functional as regards the elasticity given to the temple, has the drawback that the spring must be inserted with appropriate tools, must then be preloaded and then locked in a last step. This entails difficulty in assembly that leads to longer times and higher costs. 
     Moreover, the parts that constitute traditional flex systems, so-called slider systems, require high-precision machining, particularly for the provision of the pocket inside which the retention element is inserted. 
     SUMMARY 
     The aim of the present disclosure is to provide a flexible temple for eyeglasses that can be coupled in an elastic manner to an element of the front of the frame and does not require special tools for the preloading and insertion of the spring. 
     Within this aim, the present disclosure provides a flexible temple for eyeglasses in which the spring can be inserted already in preloaded condition, saving time and costs. 
     The present disclosure also provides a flexible temple for eyeglasses that has a reduced number of components and less delicate machining operations. 
     The present disclosure further provides a flexible temple for eyeglasses that has the possibility to adjust the opening angle in overtravel (or over-flex). 
     The present disclosure advantageously provides a flexible temple for eyeglasses that is highly reliable, relatively easy to provide and at competitive costs. 
     This aim and these and other advantages that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by providing a flexible temple for eyeglasses, wherein the temple comprises a temple body which has a fork-shaped end adapted to form a slot within which a slider can move slidingly in contrast with the action of elastic means, said elastic means being accommodated in a preloaded condition in said slider. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further characteristics and advantages of the disclosure will become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the temple according to the disclosure, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is an exploded perspective view of the temple according to the disclosure, mated to an element of the front of the frame; 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view of the temple according to the disclosure, mated to an element of the front of the frame; 
         FIG.  3    is a longitudinal sectional view of the temple according to the disclosure in an inactive configuration; 
         FIG.  4    is a transverse sectional view of the temple according to the disclosure in an inactive configuration; 
         FIG.  5    is a longitudinal sectional view of the temple according to the disclosure in an inactive configuration; and 
         FIG.  6    is a transverse sectional view of the temple according to the disclosure in the overtravel (or over-flex) (flexing) condition with respect to the front element of the frame. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The flexible, i.e., elastic, temple for eyeglasses according to the disclosure, generally designated by the reference numeral  1 , comprises a temple body having a fork-shaped end  2 , adapted to be mated to an element of the front  3  of the frame of the eyeglasses. 
     The end  2  therefore comprises an upper elongated portion  2   a  and a lower elongated portion  2   b  that form between them a slot  4 , which is shaped with an initial portion that is wider than a terminal portion  4   a . The separation between the initial portion and the terminal portion is provided by a shoulder  5 . 
     The slot  4  accommodates a slider  6 , which in turn accommodates elastic means  7  inside it. The elastic means  7 , constituted for example by a spring  7 , are accommodated between a shoulder  6   a  of the slider and a containment portion  6   b  of the spring. The spring  7  is inserted between the shoulder  6   a  and the containment portion  6   b  in a preloaded condition. 
     Essentially, therefore, the spring  7  is accommodated within the slider by lateral insertion, without the aid of particular tools, and is accommodated in an already preloaded condition within the slider  6  itself. 
     The mating between the end  2  of the temple and the element of the front  3  occurs by virtue of an engagement means  10 , for example a pin or a screw or the like, which mates in two opposite holes  11  and  12 , which are defined in the portions  2   a  and  2   b  of the temple  2 , respectively, and in a hole  13  defined in a portion  14  of the element of the front  3  that is inserted in the fork defined at the end of the temple body  2 , so that the holes  11 ,  13  and  12  are, in this sequence, aligned so that the engagement means  10  can be inserted in them and can thus lock the temple  2  mated to the element of the front  3 , with a rotatable coupling. 
     The upper portion and the lower portion of the end of the temple  2  can have a recessed configuration at the holes  11  and  12 , in order to accommodate the head of the pin  10  flush with the outer surface of the temple and make the temple more aesthetically pleasant. 
     The ends of the portions  2   a  and  2   b  are conveniently rounded so as to be accommodated in contact with a portion  15 , also rounded in a complementary manner, of the element of the front  3 . 
     The portion  6   b  of the slider  6  acts as a stroke limiting abutment element, accommodating in the portion  4   a  of the slot  4  when the slider  6  is pushed, compressing the elastic means  7  toward the terminal end of the temple  2 . 
     The compression of the spring  7  when said slider  6  is accommodated within the slot  4  of the temple  2  and is pushed toward the bottom of said slot occurs since the spring  7  abuts against the shoulders  5  of the slot  4 , which allow the compression of the spring and therefore allow the slider to be elastically opposed in its movement toward the bottom of the slot  4 . This allows to have an overtravel of the temple  2  when the latter is mated to the element of the front  3 . 
     In greater detail, when the user acts on the temple  2 , moving it elastically in overtravel with respect to its normal operating condition, the element of the front  3  makes abutment contact with the slider  6 , which protrudes from the outer face of the temple body  2 , pushing against the slider  6 , which moves within the slot. The spring  7  is compressed, since it abuts against the shoulder  5  while the slider  6  slides toward the bottom of the portion  4   a  of the slot  4 . In this manner the temple  2  flexes elastically outward. 
     When the spring  7  abuts against the shoulder  5 , the spring  7  is spaced from the portion  6   b  of the slider  6 . 
     The stroke limit of the temple  2  in the overtravel movement is provided upon reaching the bottom of the portion  4   a  of the slot by the portion  6   b  of the slider  6 . 
     This is the maximum stroke that the slider  6  can perform within the slot  4  and is therefore the maximum overtravel stroke that the temple  2  can have with respect to the element of the front  3 . 
     The overtravel can be adjusted and determined on the basis of the depth of the portion  4   a  of the slot  4  and/or on the basis of the position of the portion  6   b.    
     In practice it has been found that the temple according to the disclosure fully achieves the intended aim and objects, because it allows to be subjected to over-flexing with respect to the frame, with the spring that can be accommodated within the slider for lateral insertion, without the aid of particular tools, and is accommodated within the slider itself in an already preloaded condition. 
     This allows easy assembly and subsequent disassembly, if any, of the slider and of the corresponding spring. 
     The temple thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the appended claims. 
     All the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements. 
     In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art. 
     The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102018000006736 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.