The present invention relates to a new device for flexibly hinging ends of temples to ends of an eyeglass front-part, in particular for frames made of plastic or which, in any case, can also be attached to and aligned with a metal hinge, without having to add bulky and unsightly thickness to said temples, as well as allowing for a particular decorative effect and also an original acoustic effect, when the temples are moved. The temples can be placed in various intermediate opening positions, compared to the eyeglass front-part to which they are attached.

One of the main effects of the present invention is the creation of two hinge elements that are interlockable to the ends of the eyeglass front-part and to the ends of the temples and, which also have, at the same time, a decorative covering function, The hinge elements can be joined to the respective ends of the front-part and temple by in-built screws or pins, wherein one of the two hinge elements can be equipped with a slider, having an elastic thrust mechanism. The slider acts on a toothed head of an eyelet of the other aligned hinge element, in order to allow for a partial opening of the temple, if desired, as well as the determination of a particular clicking noise when the temple is moved.

There are countless known solutions for eyeglass frames including devices for elastically moving the temples in relation to the ends of the front-part, said elasticity being achieved with an elastic device which preferably acts by direct or indirect compression against an end of the temple and on the end of the front-part, resulting in improved conditions for supporting the eyeglasses on somebody' s head, as well as ensuring the possibility of achieving suitable means of release in order, to bring the temples into their normal opening or normal closing position on the front-part to which they are hinged.

Just for example it is referred to the principle of Patent EP 0 003.001 dated 1978, in which a slider present on the end of the temple head is pushed by an elastic device against the squared head of a front-part end, resulting in the intentional positioning release of the temple to the open and close conditions, compared to the eyeglass front-part.

Similarly, there is a well-known solution of a box assembly inserted into the end of the temple and with an eyelet hinged with a squared eyelet of the eyeglass front- part, said box being equipped with an elastic device that holds it under compression and that reacts, when the temple is caused to rotate to the dead point of .the squared eyelet, in any case resulting in the release for the open or close position of the temples on the front-piece, for example according to the principle of Patent EP 0 91.573 dated 1983.

According to a different but equally well-known design, the squared head of the front-part end has been replaced by a cam shape with grooves, each housing a sphere which is always contained in the end of the temple and is pushed therein by an elastic device coaxial to the same temple, in any case resulting in a release effect for the open and close portions, for example in accordance with the principle of Patent No. EP 0 006.075 dated 1979.

According to these exemplary design techniques and other countless already known structural variations of flexible hinges with which the temples join and move on the eyeglass front-part, with these elastic hinges it is possible to achieve a definite improvement in eyeglass wearing, compared to normal non-elastic hinges, as well as making the opening and closing operation of the eyeglasses temples more rapid and secure.

Nevertheless, in all these current well-known solutions for flexible eyeglass hinges, the presence of sliders or mobile elements, pushed or somehow activated by springs or elastic devices, also requires the presence of additional containers for said sliders, or in any case of thickness increases of the temple ends and of the front-piece ends, which involves a substantial bulk and unsightly appearance of the eyeglass as a whole.

It is also known that the elastic devices currently used are hard to adapt to the eyeglass frames made, entirely or partially, of acetate or another plastic and injected material, due to the difficulty of solidly joining them to the core of the temple and the ends of the front-part.

There is also a well-known problem of stably applying embellishments or special signs to the ends of temples and front-parts, in particular made of plastic, again due to the difficulty of integrally connecting them to the eyeglass structure, except for fixing them with unsightly exposed screws .

An object of the present invention is to allow the creation of eyeglass frames that ensure the best elasticity of the temples relative to the front-part, whilst avoiding adding bulky thicknesses to their hinging ends, irrespective of the type of material by which the frames or the ends of temples and front-parts to be hinged are made.

Within the scope of this task, another important purpose of this invention is to allow the creation of a hinge that already has the function of embellishing the eyeglass frames, due to its particular structural form and its possibility of being interlocked on the ends of the temple and front-part.

Another important object of the invention is to ensure that the temple not only has a final release condition, for the open and close position on the front-part, but also intermediate or partial opening release positions, for example, to enable the display of a model of eyeglasses with at least one temple partially open.

A further object of the invention is to create eyeglass frames that, when the temples are moved, can produce a particular ticking noise, that could set a fashion trend, particularly in eyeglass frames for the youth market.

These and other objects are in fact perfectly achieved by the present invention, which allows the creation of two hinge elements to be applied by interlocking, therefore also with the function of a decorative covering, the ends of the front-part and of the temples, said hinge elements being joined to the respective ends of the front-part and the temple by way of in-built screws or pins, wherein one of the two elements is equipped with a slider, having its own thrust or elasticity device, said slider acting on a toothed head of an eyelet of the other aligned element, in order to allow for a partial or intermediate opening of the temple, if desired, as well as the determination of a particular ticking noise when said temple is moved.

A better understanding of the solution proposed and a highlighting of the achievement of the scopes indicated are described in more detail below and also illustrated, according to a purely indicative and non-restrictive structural form, by means of 10 drawings reproduced in 4 sheets attached, in which:

Fig. 1 represents a perspective and exploded view of main parts forming the hinge of the present invention, applied to a temple end and an eyeglass front-part end; Fig. 2 represents a plan and axial section view of the hinge element to be interlocked to the end of the temple of Fig. 1, represented according to section plane II - II of Fig. 4;

Fig. 3 represents an external and plan view of the same element as in Figs. 1 and 2;

- Fig. 4 represents an external vertical view of the element as in Figs. 2 and 3;

- Fig. 5 represents a plan view of feeler pin or slider and its elastic compression (thrust) device to be applied to the element of Fig. 2, in order to contrast the rotation movement on the element of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 represents an external plan view of the hinge element to be interlocked to the end of the front-part of Fig. 1;

- Fig. 7 represents an external vertical view of the hinge element of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 represents a basically axial section and horizontal view of the parts of the eyeglass temple and front-part of Fig. 1, interconnected, by interposing the elements of Figs. 2 to 7, depending on the view of the section plane VIII --VIII of Fig. 9;

Fig. 9 represents an external vertical view of the same parts of the temple and front-part of Fig. 1, represented with a dotted line for a better view, attached to the same elements of Fig. 8; - Fig. 10 represents a basically axial section and horizontal view similar to the view of Fig. 8, but the temple is represented in a closed position in relation to its front-piece.

In all the figures the same details are shown, or are understood to be shown, with respectively the same reference number.

According to the design illustrated in the various figures attached, it can be inferred that an end 11 of one temple 10 is attached to an end 21 of a front-part 20 by interposing two hinge elements 30 and 50 by way of screws 2 and 3, namely internally to the eyeglass frames, as well as by way of a hinge pin or screw 1.

As shown in Fig. 1, the end 11 of the temple 10 has a notch (or head slot) 12 and a pair of recesses (or reductions) 13 in its thickness that form a minimum (or reduced) thickness 14, which has a (threaded or) tapped hole 15, said notch 12 having some prongs 16 and 17 with a suitable profile (contour) . Similarly, the end 21 of the front-part 20 has a notch (or head slot) 22 and a pair of recesses (or reductions) 23 that form a minimum (or reduced) thickness 24, which has a (threaded or) tapped hole 25, said notch 22 having some prongs 26 and 27 with a suitable profile.

Notches 12 and 22, like the recesses 13 and 23 as well as the other parts of the ends of the temple 10 and front-part 20, are naturally proportioned and contoured so as to adapt to the better containment and solid blocking of the respective hinge elements 30 and 50, as specified below.

With particular reference to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the first hinge element 30, which is to be interlocked to the end 11 of the temple 10, is basically formed by a central body 31 wherein the two ends thereof are shaped like a cross fork, wherein a first fork is formed by teeth or prongs 32 and 33, that are separated by a void (i.e. a cavity or slot) 34, and wherein an opposing and orthogonal second fork is formed by prongs 35 and 36 separated by a (spacer) slot 37. The second pair of prongs 35 and 36 act as a hinge eyelet.

A slot 38 is worked out of the tooth 33 of the first hinge element 30 with a tapped hole 39 which is aligned with a blind hole 40 formed in the tooth 32, in order to house a stem of a screw 2 for fixing and anchoring the first hinge element 30 to the end 11 of the temple 10.

A slot 41 is worked out of the tooth 36 of the first hinge element 30 with a tapped hole 42, which is aligned with a threaded hole 43 present on the other tooth 35 for housing and screwing the hinge pin 1.

Aligned with the threaded hole 43, the central body 31 of the first hinge element 30 has a blind hole 44 which is only partially opened toward the void 34 for housing a (feeler pin or) slider 45 and an elastic pushing device 46.

The first hinge element 30 is completed by the presence of special lateral grooves 47 and 48, formed along the insides of the teeth 32 and 33, which act as a guide for the interlocking of the teeth 32 and 33 along the recesses 13 of the ends 11 of the temple 10.

A guide 49 can be created at the entrance of the blind hole 44 of the element 30, only if said hole 44 is made better.

With reference to Figs. 6 and 7, the second hinge element 50, to be attached to the end 21 of the eyeglass front-part 20, comprises a central body 51, wherein one end thereof is shaped like a toothed eyelet 52 and the opposite end is shaped like a fork, being orientated orthogonally to the eyelet 52, and wherein an external tooth 61is longer than an internal tooth 62, the teeth 61 and 62 being separated by a void 63.

The eyelet 52 of the element 50 also has a central tapped hole 53 and a series of radial teeth 54, forming a toothed head of the eyelet 52, that are surrounded by a pair of voids 55 and 56, which are basically orientated orthogonally to each other and radially to the hole 53. This eyelet 52 further comprises an internal relief 57.

The central body 31 of the element 50 is also equipped with a pair of tongues 58 and 59 which can determine a total height of the second hinge element 50 that is equal to the total height between external surfaces of the prongs 35 and 36 of the first hinge element 30.

The internal tooth 62 of the second hinge element 50 has a slot 64 for a tapped hole 65 which is aligned with a blind hole 66 formed in the opposite tooth 61 of this second hinge element 50 for housing a stem of a screw 3 joining the second hinge element 50 to the end 21 of the front-part 20.

The element 50 further comprises a pair of lateral grooves 67 and 68, formed along the internal and external walls of the central body 51, and of the tongues 58 and 59 acting as a guide for the interlocking of its teeth 61 and 62 along the slots 24 of the end 21 of the front-part 20.

Having thus described the main parts of the invention, one can quickly summarise the obvious stages of assembly, particularly with the aid of Figs. 1, 8, 9 and 10, also in order to check they match the scopes specified.

The reduced thickness 14 of the end 11 of the temple 10 is inserted into the void 34 of the first hinge element 30 until the prongs 16 and 17 thereof abut against the back of the eyelets 35 and 36 and, more specifically, the arched head shape of said prongs 16 and 17 fits into the arched end shape of the grooves 47 and 48 of the first hinge element 30, and therefore the prongs 32 and 33 are permanently fit into the recesses 13 of the temple 10.

The application of the screw 2 in the slot 39, with the passage through the threaded hole 15 of the temple 10 and with the housing of its stem in the hole 40, together with high quality of the interlocking between the end 11 and the pair of prongs 32 and 33, contributes to ensuring a proper and stable joining of the temple 10 to the first hinge element 30.

At the same time, the reduced thickness 24 of the end 21 of the front-part 20 is inserted into the void 63 of the element 50 until the prongs 26 and 27 thereof abut against the arched head of its teeth 61 and 62 and of its tongues 58 and 59 and, more precisely, the arched head shape of the prongs 26 and 27 fit into the arched shape of the grooves 67 and 68 of the second hinge element 50 at the front-part 20.

The application of the screw 3 into the slot 65, with a passage through the threaded hole 25 of the front-part 20 and the housing of its stem in the hole 66, together with high quality of the interlocking (engagement) between the end 21 and the pair of prongs 61 and 62 contributes to ensure a proper and stable joining of the front-part 20 to the second hinge element 50.

With particular reference to Figs. 8, 9 and 10, it is clear that the joint between the temple 10 and the first hinge element 30, already equipped with the feeler pin or slider 45 and spring 46 in its void (or cavity) 44, with the front-part 20 and the second hinge element 50, is made possible by a simple alignment of the two aforementioned hinge elements 30 and 50, which are subjected to an adequate pre-load pressure on the feeler pin 45, so as to fit the eyelet 52 of the second hinge element 50 into the spacer slot 37 of the first hinge element 30, thereby aligning the hole 53 of the eyelet 52 with the hole 42 of the eyelet 36 and the coaxial threaded hole 43 of the eyelet 35, in order to interlock and screw in the hinge pin 1.

With said alignment and with the application of the hinge pin 1, the feeler pin (or slider) 45 can, for example, be positioned in the void 55 of the eyelet 52, thus blocking the temple 10 in its normal opening position on the front-part 20, as shown in Fig. 8.

With a light push on the temple 10 towards the inside of the front-part 20, the resistance of the elastic device 46 is overcome, allowing the feeler pin 45 to be withdrawn by the height of the intermediate toothing 54, and it is therefore possible to bring the temple 10 to its normal closing position on the front-part 20, as shown in Fig. 10.

The best elasticity of the temple 10 is thus created on the front-part 20, whilst avoiding the use of bulky contraptions to contain the elasticity devices, additional to the thickness of the end of the temple and front-part, in accordance with the main purpose of this invention.

With the translation of the temple 10 from the open position of Fig. 8 to the closed position of Fig. 10 and vice versa, the feeler pin 45 encounters several little teeth 54 and when it slides along them it produces a ticking noise, which makes it particularly pleasant and original for young people, consistent with another of the scopes specified. With reference to Fig. 9, as already mentioned, we intentionally used a dotted line for the end part 11 of the temple 10 and the end part 21 of the front-part 20, only for the purpose of highlighting the fact that the borders 47 and 48 of the first hinge element 30 and the borders 67 and 68 of the second hinge element 50, besides containing the edges of prongs 16 and 17 and 26 and 27, respectively, also create a special chromatic and decorative effect of the hinge elements 30 and 50 compared to the temples 10 and front-part 20 to which they are applied, consistent with another of the scopes specified.

The design until now described for illustration purposes can naturally be realised also in other shapes.

For example we would like to indicate the possibility of using the same flexible hinge for temples of different heights, suitably adapting the thicknesses of the hinge elements 30 and 50, just as it is possible to use said hinge for temples and front-parts not only made of acetate or other plastic materials, but also for entirely or partially metal eyeglass frames, by simple fixing with the screws 2 and 3.

It is also possible to equip the ends 32 and 33 of the first hinge element 30 and the ends 61 and 62 of the second hinge element 50 with different shapes, for example rounded, compared to those exemplified, just as it is possible to prescribe a different shape of the elastic device 46.

According to one preferential solution, the slider or feeler pin 45 is formed by a hollow cylindrical body, wherein its head bevelled or filleted as in Fig. 5, but having a void basically corresponding to the length of the stem 45a, within whose void the elastic device 46 fits for an identical and improved thrust against the toothed eyelet 52. Furthermore, it is possible to prescribe the application and adaptation of the hinge elements 30 and 50 directly by injection on the ends 11 of the temples 10 and/or front-parts 20, just as it is possible to apply to the external surfaces of the same hinge elements 30 and 50 special graphical or chromatic finishes or surface applications.

It is also possible to make temple ends 10 and front- part ends 20, that are already thin enough not to require the recesses 13 and 23, as well as set at different heights, for example for frames made entirely of metal, or in any case equipped with head voids 21 and 22 for interlocking in the voids 34 and 63 of the respective hinge elements 30 and 50, preferably arranging several threaded slots 15 and 25 for the application of several joining screws 2 and 3. These and other similar amendments or adjustments are in any case understood to be part of the originality of the industrial invention being protected.