Patent Publication Number: US-2016231591-A1

Title: Eyewear having compression hinges

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The application relates generally to eyewear and more particularly to eyewear having a pair of temples joined to a frame structure of the eyewear by respective compression hinges. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE ART 
     Spring hinges used in eyewear are known. They serve to connect the lens-containing central part of eyewear to the side pieces in a flexibly resilient manner. The side pieces can be displaced from a folded position in which they abut against the central part, to an unfolded position in which they are pivoted outward to extend at approximately right angles to the central part. If the side pieces are pivoted outward beyond the unfolded position, a spring device in the spring hinge is activated to allow the side pieces to over flex without breakage and to draw the side pieces back into the unfolded position. The spring hinges including the spring device are conventionally made of metal material and are conventionally configured for use in a metal frame structure of eyewear. However, these conventional spring hinges may not meet users&#39; needs for over flexing of modern eyewear styles. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for eyewear having improved types of “over flexed” hinge apparatus. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, there is provided eyewear comprising a central part including at least one lens, a pair of side pieces, and a pair of compression hinges each pivotally connecting a corresponding one of the side pieces to the central part, each compression hinge comprising a first hinge element and a second hinge element pivotally joined one with the other, and a compressible foam body accommodated in a cavity defined in one of the central part and the corresponding side piece, the first hinge element abutting the compressible foam body and being displaceable with respect to said one of the central part and the corresponding side piece which defines the cavity. 
     Optionally, the cavity may be located in a rigid plastic part of said one of the central part and the corresponding side piece of the eyewear. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Reference is now made to the accompanying figures in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a pair of eyeglasses having a pair of compression-hinge apparatuses according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged partial top view of the circled area A of the eyeglasses of  FIG. 1 , showing the compression-hinge apparatus according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of the compression-hinge apparatus taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional view of the compression-hinge apparatus taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view of the compression-hinge apparatus of  FIG. 2 , showing a cavity defined in a plastic part positioned in one end of a side piece of the eyeglasses; 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged perspective view of the circled area A of the eyeglasses of  FIG. 1 , showing the compression-hinge apparatus according to another embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of the compression-hinge apparatus of  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is a partial perspective view of the compression-hinge apparatus of  FIG. 6  showing a cross section thereof taken along line  8 - 8  in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an eyewear having a central part holding at least one lens and pivotally connecting two side pieces thereto. For example, eyeglasses  10  include a pair of lenses  12  attached to a central part  14  of the eyeglasses  10  which may be made in a rigid frame structure having opposed side ends (not numbered) forming respective end bases  16 . A pair of side pieces  18  such as temples each are pivotally connected to the respective end bases  16  of the central part  14 , by a compression-hinge apparatus  20 . Due to the symmetrical configuration of eyeglasses  10 , only one compression-hinge apparatus  20  which pivotally connects a corresponding one of the side pieces  18  to an end base  16 , is described and illustrated hereinafter. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , the compression-hinge apparatus  20  according to one embodiment, may include a connector  22  (a first hinge element) having opposed ends (not numbered). The connector  22  at one end thereof may have an abutment member  24  and at the other end thereof, may define a hole  26  (see  FIG. 4 ) extending therethrough in a substantially vertical direction. The compression-hinge apparatus  20  may include a pin  28  (a second hinge element) rotatably extending through the hole  26 . The pin  28  may extend substantially vertically through a recess  30  defined in the end section  16  of the central part  14  (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). Top and bottom sections (not numbered) of the pin  28  may be embedded in and secured by the end base  16  (see  FIG. 3 ). The recess  30  may have openings (not numbered) defined in both an inner facing surface  32  and a rear facing surface  34  thereof to accommodate an end section (not numbered) of the connector  22  and to permit the connector  22  to rotate about the pin  28  between positions corresponding to the respective folded and over flexed positions of the side piece  18 , as indicated by broken lines  36  and  38 , respectively. 
     The compression-hinge apparatus  20  may further include a compressible foam body  40  accommodated in a cavity  42  defined in for example the side piece  18 . The side piece  18  may be formed as a rigid plastic single piece or may be formed of composite materials such as plastic and metal materials in which the cavity  42  may be defined in a rigid plastic end section of the side piece  18 . 
     The compressible foam body  40  may be made of an elastically-deformable foam material which can be compressed under external forces and can return to its original shape when the external forces are removed. The compressible foam body  40  according to one embodiment may be in a block profile defining a vertical passage  44  for receiving the abutment member  24  to be inserted thereinto, and a horizontal passage  46  for receiving the connector  22  to be inserted thereinto. The connector  22  and the abutment member  24  may be connected together with the compressible foam body  40 , for example by a screw  48  extending laterally through the compressible foam body  40 , the connector  22  and the abutment member  24 . 
     The cavity  42  defined in the rigid plastic end section of the side piece  18  may be configured to have a rectangular cross section (corresponding to the block profile of the compressible foam body  40 ) extending through the rigid plastic end section of the side piece  18  to define a rectangular opening (not numbered) on one or both of top and bottom surfaces  50 ,  52  of the side piece  18 . The compressible foam body  40  may therefore be inserted into the cavity  42  through the top opening or bottom opening of the cavity  42 . 
     The cavity  42  defined in the rigid plastic end section of the sides piece  18  is thus surrounded by opposed end walls  54 ,  56  and by opposed inner and outer side walls  58 ,  60  (see  FIG. 5 ). An end opening  62  may be defined on an end surface  64  of the side piece  18  and may extend through the end wall  54  of the cavity  42  to permit the connector  22  to extend therethrough. Therefore, the connector  22  at one end thereof may be pivotally joined with the pin  28  (which is attached to the end base  16  of the central part  14 ) and at the other end thereof may be connected to the compressible foam body  40  which is accommodated in the cavity  42  in the side piece  18 , thus pivotally connecting the side piece  18  to the central part  14 . 
     The cavity  42  according to one embodiment. may further define a side opening  66  at an inner side and/or outer side of the side piece  18 . The side opening  66  may extend through the inner side wall of the cavity  42  and/or may extend through the outer side wall  60  of the cavity  42 . The side opening  66  permits the screw  48  to be placed into the cavity  42  to join the connector  22  and the abutment member  24  with the compressible foam body  40 . Nevertheless, the connector  22  and the abutment member  24  may be otherwise configured and otherwise joined together such that the side opening  66  may not be required. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the end base  16  of the central part  14  may be provided with a rounded corner  33  between the inner facing surface  32  and the rear facing surface  34 . The inner facing and rear facing surfaces  32 ,  34  connected by the rounded corner  33  thereby form a cam surface in contact with the end surface  64  when the side piece  18  is in pivotal motion (such as indicated by arrow  68 ) about the pin  28  between the unfolded position and the folded position indicated by the broken line  36 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The compressible foam body  40  is in a relatively uncompressed condition when the side piece  18  is in the folded or unfolded position and will be compressed by the abutment member  24  (see  FIG. 3 ) when the side piece  18  is pivoted from one to the other position because the cam action will force the end surface  64  of the side piece  18  (see  FIG. 5 ) to deviate away from the pin  28  to thereby cause displacement between the abutment member  24  together with the connector  22  and the side piece  18 . A recovery force of the compressed foam body  40  has a tendency to bring the side piece  18  back to the unfolded or to the folded position. 
     When a force  70  is applied to the side piece  18  in order to pivot the side piece  18  outward, past the unfolded position, a corner  72  between the end surface  64  and the outer side of the side piece (see  FIGS. 2 and 5 ) will act as a stopper against the pivoting motion of the side piece  18  about the pin  28 . However, when such external force  70  continues, the side piece  18  pivots about the corner  72  beyond the unfolded position to an over flexed position, as indicated by the broken line  38 , which causes the end surface  64  of the side piece  18  to deviate away from the pin  28 , resulting in displacement of the connector  22  and the abutment member  24  with respect to the side piece  18 . Therefore, the compressible foam body  40  is compressed by the abutment member  24  when the side piece  18  is forced to the over flexed position indicated by broken line  38 . When the external force  70  is removed, the recovery force of the compressed foam body  40  has a tendency to bring the side piece  18  back to the unfolded position. 
     It should be noted that the compression-hinge apparatus  20  may be alternatively arranged. For example, the pin  28  may be attached to the side piece  18  and the cavity  42  may be defined in the central part  14 . In such an embodiment, other features of the compression-hinge apparatus  20  will be similar but arranged in accordance with the alternatively positioned pin, the compressible foam body and the cavity. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 6-8 , the compression-hinge apparatus  20  according to another embodiment may be configured to have the pin  28  (a first hinge element) to abut and compress a compressible foam body  40 ′ accommodated in the cavity  42  defined in the side piece  18  during a pivoting motion of the side piece  18  with respect to the central part  14 . In comparison with the embodiment described with reference to  FIGS. 1-5 , similar features and structures indicated by similar reference numerals will not be redundantly described in detail 
     The cavity  42  defined in a rigid plastic end section of the side piece  18 , similar to that shown in  FIG. 5 , may have a rectangular cross section extending vertically through the side piece  18  and may have the openings in the top and bottom surfaces  50 ,  52  thereof, formed with opposed end walls  54 ,  56  and opposed inner and outer side walls  58 ,  60 . However, an end opening  62 ′ and an inner side opening  66 ′ extending through the respective end wall  54  and inner side wall  58  may be in communication one with the other without a wall corner structure therebetween. 
     A ring  74  (a second hinge element) may be attached to the rear facing surface  34  of the end base  16  of the central part  14 , defining a hole  26 ′ therein to receive the pin  28  to extend therethrough. Optionally, the hole  26 ′ may be larger than the diameter of the pin  28 . The ring  74  and the openings  62 ′ and  66 ′ of the cavity  42  may be configured and positioned to allow the ring  74  to be receivable and partially receivable in the cavity  42  through the end opening  62 ′ and the inner side opening  66 ′ allowing angular mobility between the two positions. 
     The compressible foam body  40 ′ according to one embodiment may have a block profile having a rectangular cross section corresponding to that of the cavity  42 . The compressible foam body  40 ′ may have a recess  76  (see  FIG. 7 ) at a middle portion thereof extending into the compressible foam body  40 ′ from one end which abuts the end wall  54  of the cavity  42  when the compressible foam body  40 ′ is accommodated in the cavity  42 . The recess  76  may have openings at both sides of the compressible foam body  40 ′ and may be configured and positioned with respect to the openings  62 ′,  66 ′ of the cavity  42  in order to accommodate the ring  74 , thereby allowing the above-described angular mobility of the ring  74  with respect to the side piece  18 . 
     The side piece  18  may be pivotally joined to the central part  14  by the pin  28  extending through the hole  26 ′ of the ring  74  which is received or partially received in the recess  76  of the compressible foam body  40 ′. The opposed end portions (not numbered) of the pin  28  may be embedded in the compressible foam body  40 ′ such as being received in holes  78  defined in the compressible foam body  40 ′ which is accommodated in the cavity  42  in the side piece  18 . 
     When an external force (not illustrated) is applied to the side piece  18  to pivot the side piece  18  from the unfolded position as shown in  FIG. 6 , outwardly or inwardly with respect to the central part  14 , the rear facing surface  34  of the end base  16  and the end surface  64  of the side piece  18  interact such that the pin  28  is forced by the wall of the hole  26 ′ (the inner wall of the ring  74 ) to abut and compress the compressible foam body  40 ′ and the pin  28  is thereby displaced in the cavity  42  with respect to the side piece  18 . The recovery force of the compressible foam body  40 ′ has a tendency to bring the side piece  18  back to the unfolded position (or to the folded position), similar as shown by broken line  36  in  FIG. 2 . Because there is no corner wall between the end opening  62 ′ and the inner side opening  66 ′ of the cavity  42 , the angular mobility of the ring  74  received in the recess  76  of the compressible foam body  40 ′ and the cavity  42 , allows the side piece  18  to pivot between the folded position and the unfolded position. 
     However, there are no openings defined in the outer side piece  18  corresponding with the side openings  66 ′ of the cavity  42 . Therefore, the middle portion of the outer side wall  60  of the cavity located adjacent the end opening  62 ′ will interact with the ring  74  to prevent the side piece  52  from further outward angular motion with respect to the central part  14  when the side piece reaches a limited over flexed position such as indicated by the broken line  38  in  FIG. 2 . 
     It should be noted that the features of the compression-hinge apparatus according to this embodiment associated with the respective central part and the side piece may also be alternatively arranged. For example, the ring may be attached to the end surface of the side piece while the compressible foam body may be accommodated in a cavity in the central part. 
     The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the described subject matter. Modifications which fall within the scope of the described subject matter will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of a review of this disclosure, and such modifications are intended to fall within the appended claims.