Field of invention The present invention relates to hinge for eyeglasses. More specifically, the invention relates to a screw less hinge for joining the rim and the sidepieces.

Background of the invention The driving force in the improvement of eyeglasses has been design and weight as well as creating frames, which are tolerant to stain or shock. Flexible, strong and in need of less maintenance are desired qualities for modern eyeglasses. This has resulted in the use of plastic or light metals to form the frames and hinge and development in formation of the lens itself by using plastic or mineral lens. Traditional eyeglasses are formed by attaching right and left temple pieces to a main portion, which comprises the rim/lens holding portions connected by a bridge portion. The temple pieces are attached to the main portion by a hinge with screws and joints, which allows the glasses to be folded and kept in a case for protection when they are not being used. The hinges mechanism and the fasteners used for connecting the two parts are however subject to much strain during use and fasteners become loose in time or break.

The use of light metal alloys or Plastic to produce frames for eyeglasses is also known in the art. The use of one piece continuous alloys for the hinge benefits both the need of producing lighter / stronger and above all less maintenance eyewear.

Many solutions have been introduced to provide eyeglasses with no hinges. US 7,044,596 discloses a frame for a pair of eyeglasses where two lens attachment segments are connected by a bridge portion and each lens attachment segment is welded to temple sections. The frame is a hingeless, all-metal body and the temple sections are flexible and are adapted to fold as standard eyeglasses with hinges. WO 00/46628 discloses a frame for eyeglasses produced in one piece made from metallic material without hinges. These eyeglasses can be folded into a rest position and stored in a scabbard of soft material as the frame is flexible. Summary of the invention

The present invention provides a hinge to connect the rim and the sidepieces of frames for eyeglasses, where no screw is needed for connecting the sidepiece/temple portion to the rim/lens holding portion. A connection member extending from each lens holding portion forms receiving portion for receiving a pin at the connecting end of the side pieces. A support member attached to the pin gives the hinge stability and certain forms of the support member can make the sidebars rest or sit in an open and closed position.

Description of the invention

In a first aspect of the present invention a frame for eyeglasses is provided comprising lens holding portions, a bridge portion, connecting the lens holding portions and temple portions. The temple portions are attached to the lens holding portions by a connection member where the connection member has opposite wings on each side at the connecting end of the connection member. The wings are being bent to face each other and each wing further has an aperture for receiving a pin formed at the end of each temple portion.

In a second aspect of the present invention a hinge is provided for connecting a lens holding portion and a temple portion of a frame for eyeglasses. The hinge is formed from a connection member of the lens holding portion and a connecting end of the temple portion. The connection member has opposite wings on each side at the connecting end of the connection member, where the wings are being bent to face each other. Each wing further comprises an aperture for receiving a pin formed at the end of each temple portion.

In a third aspect of the present invention a pair of eyeglasses is provided comprising a frame and lenses. The frame portion further comprises lens holding portions, a bridge portion, connecting the lens holding portions and temple portions, attached to the lens holding portions by a connection member. The connection member has opposite wings on each side at the connecting end of the connection member and the wings are bent to face each other. Each wing further comprises an aperture for receiving a pin formed at the end of each temple portion. The following embodiments all relate to the first, the second and the third aspect of the present invention. In an embodiment of the present invention a support member is formed around the pin of the temple portion. The support member can have different outer shape, such as but not limited to an annular shape or an oval shape. In an embodiment of the present invention an opening is formed into the inside of each lens holding portion. The opening extends from the inside of each lens holding portion and into each connection member.

In an embodiment of the present invention the opposite wings are being bent 90° to face each other.

In an embodiment of the present invention the frame is formed from a metal alloy.

In the present context the terms "rim" and "lens holding portion" are used for the part of a frame for eyeglasses which holds the lens. For traditional eyeglasses two such rims/lens holding portions are connected with a bridge portion (see Fig. 1).

In the present context the terms "temple portion" and "sidepiece" are used for the part of a frame for eyeglasses which extends from the lens holding portion and over the ears to allow the frames to sit on the nose and on the ears.

In the present context the term "connection member" refers to a portion of a frame for eyeglasses which is attached to the rim or is formed as part of the rim to connect with a sidepiece through a hinge. In embodiments shown herein (Fig. l) the lens holding portion and the connection member of the frame are formed as a single piece structure. This is obtained by cutting the frame from a single metal plate and bending the frame after formation into the shape the frame is to be used in. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 the lenses are secured to the frame by increasing the periphery of the lens-holding portion. This is possible due to the opening in the inner side of the lens-holding portion. Other variants are also possible where the lens holding portion is open in other areas to allow insertions of the lenses or that the connection member is attached to the rim.

In the present context the term "support member" refers to a member attached around or formed around a pin in the sidepiece. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the support member is a cylinder or tube, where the inner circumference fits around the pin and the thickness of the cylinder is such that it gives support to the sidepiece against the wings which receive the pin. If the support member is annular the opening and closing of the frames, i.e. moving the sidepiece from a storing position to a using position is smooth or without resistance, whereas if the shape is oval the frames will jump or click from a storing position to a using position.

Detailed description of the invention

Illustrative embodiments of the invention will be described more in detail with reference to the drawing. The hinge of the present invention is formed by a connection member shown in Fig. 1 and a pin on the temple portion in Fig. 2. FIG. 1 shows the lens holding portions of a frame for eyeglasses according to an embodiment of the present invention as well as the connection member which forms part of the hinge.

FIG. 2 shows (A) a side view and a top (B) view of the temple portions with an enhanced view of pin which forms the mating part of the hinge.

The illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 1 discloses a part of a frame for eyeglasses to form a hinge according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the frame comprises two lens-holding portions 1 connected by a bridge portion 2. The temple portions 3 are shown separately in Fig. 2, but each temple portion is attached to the lens holding portion by a connection member 5. Each lens-holding portion 1 has a pad arm 4 below the bridge to support nose pads (not shown in this figure). Opening 6 extend from the inner surface of the lens-holding portion 1, where the lens-holding portion 1 meets the connection member 5. The lenses are fixed to the frame by applying pulling force to the lens-holding portion/rim 1 and placing the lens therein. The connection member has opposite wings 7a, 7b on each side at the connecting end of the connection member. During assembly, the wings are being bent 90° to face each other. The bending is made over the edge 8 which is in continuance from the outer edge of the connection member 5. The wing also has an aperture 9 for receiving a pin 10 formed at the end of each temple portion 3 (see Fig 2).

In Fig. 2 a side view (A) of the temple portion 3 is shown. The width of the connecting end of the temple portion is smaller than the main portion of the temple 3. At the end of the connecting end of the temple portion, a pin 10 is formed. A support member 11 is formed around or attached to the connecting end of the temple portion. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 the support member has an annular shape. This means that when the temple portions are folded back or out, the support member 11 does not interact with any part of the hinge and a soft movement is facilitated. In fig. 2 B a top view of the temple portion is shown with an enhanced view of pin 10 which forms the mating part of the hinge. The annular shaped support member 11 is shown in the drawing.