Improvements in Spectacles.
Year: 1891

page_text: COME LEIE STE
Improvements in Spectacles.
I, THOMAS ATWOOD WILLSON, Manufacturer of Spectacles Citizen of the
United States and resident at No. 400 Washington Street in the City of Reading,
County of Berks State of Pennsylvania, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN SPECTACLES and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The invention relates to improved means for securing the lens and providing
temple joint.
a
Heretofore it has been generally customary to make the joint piece integral with
the eye wires and, to connect the ends by means of a screw. The end pieces have
however in a few cases been made separate and removably secured to the eye wires.
The objects of my invention are to, provide a separate piece which will itself serve
both as a temple joint and a permanent means for securing the lens and by means
thereof to produce an article that can be cheaply manufactured and will at the
same time be durable and present a neat appearance. The invention is fully
described in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a spectacle frame one eye of which shows a simple form of
my separate joint piece firmly secured while the other is shown with it entirely
removed.
Fig. 2 shows one eye of the frame with the joint piece in position but
unsecured.
Fig. 3 is an end view of the finished eye in Fig. 1 showing the joint piece in
section and a temple bar pivoted thereto.
Fig. 4 is another view of this temple bar.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the complete joint piece detached from the
frame.
Figs. 6.and 7 show the sheet metal blanks from which the joint piece and temple
bar represented in Figs. 5 and 4 are formed.
Fig. 8 shows a sheet metal blank from which a slightly modified and preferred
form of my joint piece is formed.
Fig. 9 is a side elevation of this modified construction showing the jointing ears
bent up but the tongue unbent.
Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 but showing the joint piece clamped to the
eye wires and the tongue bent up between the ears to complete the end finish.
Fig. 11 is an end view and Fig. 12 a plan view of the same.
Fig. 13 shows in two views, a well known temple bar which is well adapted for
use with this joint piece.
The eye wires A A are united at their junction with the nose piece B as usual;
the outer ends a a however instead of being formed with end pieces which serve as
a means for attaching the temple directly, are merely bent at about right angles to
that portion of the wire enclosing the lens, thus forming in connection with said
wire and heels or stops a¹ a¹ at their extremities U-shaped wire ends arranged to
abut inversely.
.
The separate joint piece C is punched out of sheet steel or other suitable metal';
the blank thus formed is shown in Fig. 6 and its conversion into the proper form
for use,
illustrated in Fig. 5, is effected by bending the sides upward at right angles
along the dotted lines. Slots ff in the bent up sides divide them into separate
cars e e and dd, the former of which are provided with holes e¹ for the temple
pivot pin, while the latter are adapted to fit over the U-shaped ends a a as shown

page_text: in Fig. 3, the heels a' a' of the ends passing into the slots ff. Recesses & receive
the eye wires A.
In completing a spectacle the joint piece C is placed upon the ends of the wire
in the manner indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, the wires being first placed in the
recesses of the inclined joint piece which is then straightened up to position.
The lens being in place, a suitable clamping mechanism is used to bend the ears d d
over the ends aa thus simultaneously closing the wires A tightly upon the lens and
securing the joint piece firmly to the spectacle frame. The temple G is then
pivoted between the ears e e and is so arranged that its projecting tongue g is
seated in a recess e in the joint piece when the temples are spread.
A very neat looking and substantial spectacle frame may be manufactured easily
and economically by means of this separate joint piece. In the modified con-
struction shown in Figs. 8 to 12 however the appearance is considerably improved
with little or no increase in cost of production, by giving the joint piece a rounded
end finish, the effect of which is substantially the same as though it were made by
cutting away metal to form the temple recess, as is ordinarily done.
The sheet metal blank shown in Fig. 8 from which the modified joint piece C¹ is
formed, has clamping ears d d with recesses d' d' for the eye wires A, the same as
in Fig. 6 it also has the jointing ears e e separated from the clamping ears by
slots. The jointing ears e e however are in the present case formed with
abutments and with curved lines h¹¹ forming about a quarter circle around the
pivoting centre e' and joining at acute angles the tongue k which is located between
and extends beyond the ears. The length of this tongue is such that when the
jointing ears are bent up parallel with each other as in Fig. 9 it will be sufficient
to bend the tongue upward between the ears to a curve corresponding with the
curved lines and to bring its end ¹ on line with the abutments h h as in
Fig. 10. The temple L shown in Fig. 13 is a well known form which may be
conveniently used in connection with this joint piece, the shoulders being adapted
..
to rest upon the abutments with the eye between the jointing cars.
It is evidently immaterial so far as this rounded end finish is concerned whether
my sheet metal joint piece be secured to the eye wires by clamping or otherwise.
It is also evident that the form of both the clamping and jointing ears may be
considerably modified without departing from the spirit of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) A separate temple joint piece for a spectacle frame formed with clamping
and jointing ears and with a slot or recess as between said ears, substantially as
set forth.
(2) A separate joint piece for a spectacle frame formed with clamping and
jointing ears, with a slot or recess, as between said cars, and eye wire recesses ¹
in the clamping ears, substantially as set forth.
(3) A spectacle frame having the eye wires bent to form abutting ends without
temple joints, in combination with a separate temple joint piece having clamping
cars attached to said ends, substantially as set forth.
(4) A spectacle frame having the eye wires bent to form abutting U-shaped
ends, in combination with a separate temple joint piece having clamping ears
engaging said U-shaped ends between the bends, substantially as set forth.
(5) A spectacle frame having the eye wires bent to form abutting U-shaped
ends in combination with a separate temple joint piece having clamping ears
engaging said U-shaped ends between the bends and recesses engaging the eye
wires, substantially as set forth.
(6) A sheet metal end piece for a spectacle frame having jointing ears bent
parallel with each other and formed with abutments h, and a tongue of the same
width as the space between said ears curved upward between them to form a flush

page_text: end finish and having its top edge on line with said abutments, substantially as set
forth.
(7) A sheet metal end piece for a spectacle frame having jointing ears bent
parallel with each other and a tongue of the same width as the space between said
cars curved upward between them to form a flush end finish, substantially as set
forth.
(8)-The blank C₁ for a spectacle end piece formed with an attaching end and
with opposite ears having curved lines and abutments h, and an intermediate
tongue of the same length as said curved lines, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 17th day of April 1891.
THOMAS ATWOOD WILLSON.