Title of Invention: SCREWLESS HEAD ACCESSORY, SUCH AS

EYEGLASSES OR A HEADPHONE

Technical Field

[1] The present invention refers to a head accessory, such as eyeglasses or a headphone, having a frame comprising a main portion and a connecting element at both sides and further comprising two attaching elements that are screwless and pivotable connected with the connecting elements, said frame being made of flexible material, preferably sheet metal.

[2] Many head accessories are known which comprise different articulated mechanisms.

The most common variants are eyeglasses frames comprising an articulated hinge mechanism which uses an articulation pin to hinge the respective attaching element to a connecting element attached to the frame, generally by means of a screw or of other means suitable for the purpose. To place the lenses into the frame conventional eyeglasses frames are opened and closed using a locking block, or attached onto the frame with screws. When using frameless glasses the attaching elements are usually screwed onto the lenses.

Background Art

[3] Due to a number of disadvantages arising from such mechanisms, such as the

loosening of screws and pins - thereby destabilizing or even dislodging the parts of the construction - as well as the need to use of multiple components - thereby increasing production cost - there are a number of devices which have used a screwless articulating mechanism.

[4] EP 0863424 Al proposes an eyeglasses frame which incorporates the screwless articulated mechanism into the frame. The frame is connected to a three-leaf spring arm attaching element. The connecting element which is part of the frame comprises two recesses forming an articulated axis running perpendicular to the direction of the open or operative position of the attaching element. In the operative state of the attaching element the outer leaf spring arms lie against the surface of the connecting element pointing in the direction of the eyeglasses wearer, and the curves provided at their free ends pass through the recesses in the connecting element. The center leaf spring arm then lies against the opposite surface of the connecting element. The articulated connection that is thereby created negates the need for using pins or screws, thereby also making it possible to easily replace the attaching elements as well as simplifying the production process. The connecting element is comprised of two parts, thereby making it easy to place lenses into the frame. The eyeglasses frame is made of sheet metal.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[5] This known eyeglasses leaves the possibility of the connecting element and the

attaching element disconnecting in the operative state if pressure is applied such as when the wearer is resting the attaching element-side of his head on a hard surface such as a wall. Furthermore the frame of these known eyeglasses restricts the design and form in that it always requires three leaf-spring arms.

Technical Solution

[6] It is the object of the invention is to improve such head accessories by constructing a more stable screwless articulated hinge mechanism.

[7] According to the invention each of the attaching elements has at one end a first and a second leaf spring arm, which extend substantially parallel in their longitudinal direction, each connecting element is provided with a recess and an opening, each receiving one of the leaf spring arms, and the first leaf spring arm of each attaching element is provided near its free end with an L-shaped portion for limiting the pivotal movement of the attaching element with respect to the connecting element.

[8] Thus, each connecting element is merged with the neighboring attaching element , which comprises two substantially parallel leaf spring arms, in a way that the leaf's spring arms pass through a recess and an opening in the connecting element, respectively. The L-shaped portion of each of both first leaf spring arms, limiting the pivotal movement of connecting and attaching elements, contributes to the stability of the construction of the head accessory.

[9] It is preferable for the stability that in that the leg of L-shaped portion extends at least over the width of a base portion of the first leaf spring arm.

[10] In a preferred embodiment of the head accessory the second leaf spring arm is

provided near its free end with a projection and is movable through the opening of the connecting element, the projection is able to abut against the surface of the connecting element, limiting the pivotal movement of its attaching element and preventing a disengagement of the leaf spring arm from the connecting element. The projection prevents it from sliding out of the opening of the connecting element. In this position the head accessory frame is now in the non-operative state.

[11] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for connecting attaching elements to connecting elements of the main portion of such a head accessory. This method is characterized by the following steps for connecting each attaching element:

• the second leaf spring arm is positioned aligned to the surface of the

connecting element, • both recesses in the connection element and in the first leaf spring arm are aligned and the attaching element is engaged by a sliding movement of the attaching element substantially parallel to the pivot axis,

• the attaching element is pivoted around the pivot axis enabling a movement of the second leaf spring arm over the free end edge of the connecting element, followed by a sliding movement of the second leaf spring arm from the edge over the surface of the connection element into the opening.

Description of Drawings

[12] The present invention will be described in more detail below on the basis of figures and of an example of a head accessory of the kind of eyeglasses. Shown in details is the following:

[13] Fig 1 is a schematic perspective view of a head accessory in accordance with the invention in the inoperative state with a folded- in attaching element and with the connection of this attaching element with a connection element,

[14] Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a part of the head accessory as shown in fig.1 in the operative state with a folded-out attaching element

[15] Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a part of the head accessory as shown in fig.1 wherein for better understanding of the invention a binding element securing the attaching element and connecting element has been deleted,

[16] Fig.4 is a schematic perspective exploded view of the connection element and the binding element.

[17] Fig.5 is a schematic perspective view of the connection element and the binding element joined together.

[18] Fig.6 is a schematic perspective exploded view of the attaching element.

Mode for Invention

[19] The head accessory 1 shown in fig.l, in this first embodiment an eyeglasses, has a frame 2 made of flexible material, preferably sheet metal, with a main portion 3 having two lense-holding frame portions and a connecting element 4a, 4b at both respective sides. It further comprises two attaching elements 5a, 5b that are screwless and pivotable connected with the connecting elements 4a, 4b. Each connecting element shows an upper part 6a and a lower part 6b.

[20] Each of the attaching elements 5a, 5b has at one end a first and a second leaf spring arm 7a, 7b, which arms extend substantially parallel in their longitudinal direction. Each connecting element 4a, 4b is provided with an opening 8 and a recess 9, each receiving one of the leaf spring arms 7 (see also fig. 3). The first leaf spring arm 7a of each attaching element 5a, 5b is provided near its free end with an L-shaped portion 10 for limiting the pivotal movement of the attaching element 5 a, 5b with respect to the connecting element 4a, 4b during opening and closing of the eyeglasses frame 2. The leg of L-shaped portion extends at least over the width of a base portion of the first leaf spring arm 7 a, but preferably this leg extends over the whole width of the connection element 4.

[21] The pivot axis between the attaching element 5 a, 5b and the connecting element 4a, 4b is realized by an edge 10a of the L-shaped portion 10 and a recess 11 (see also fig.6) located adjacent to this portion 10, which cooperates with the edges of the recess 9 in the connecting element (see also fig. 2).

[22] The second leaf spring arm 7b is provided near its free end with a notch or projection 12 and is movable through the opening 8 of the connecting element 4, the projection 12 is able to abut against the surface of the upper part 6a of the connecting element 4, limiting the pivotal movement of its attaching element 5a, 5band preventing a disengagement of the leaf spring arm 7b from the connecting element. The second leaf spring arm 7b comprises an indent 13 which in the operative position of the attaching element 5 a, 5bextends through the opening 8 of the connecting element 4a, 4b to the edge of the connecting element facing the attaching element 5a, 5b(fig.3). Also the first leaf spring arm 7a comprises an indent 14 which in the operative position of the attaching element (fig. 2, 3) extends from the L-shaped portion 10 through the recess 9 of the connecting element 4a, 4b to the edge 15 of the connecting element 4a, 4b facing the attaching element 5 a, 5b.

[23] In a preferred embodiment a binding element 17 is added for further stability. This binding element is preferably made of sheet metal. As shown in fig. 4 and 5 is each connecting element 4a, 4b provided with a partly curved, preferably hook shaped slit 16 extending between the edge 4c of the connecting element facing the lense-holding frame portion and a side edge 4d of the connecting element. The connection between the connecting element 4a, 4b and the attaching element 5a, 5b is secured by the binding element 17; bridging the curved part of the slit and thereby fixing the position of the upper 6a and lower part 6b of the connecting element 4a, 4b. The binding element 17 is provided with an opening 18 aligned with the opening 8 of the connecting element 4, whereas the second leaf spring arm 7b extends through both openings 8, 18, locking the binding element on the connecting element.

[24] For connecting the attaching elements 5 a, 5bto the connecting elements 4a, 4b the second leaf spring arm 7b is positioned with respect to the surface of the connecting element 4, followed by aligning both recesses 9, 11 in the connection element and in the first leaf spring arm. The next step is engaging the attaching element 5 a, 5b by a sliding movement of the attaching element substantially parallel to the pivot axis 10a, followed by pivoting the attaching element 5 a, 5b around the pivot axis enabling a movement of the second leaf spring arm 7b over the free end edge of the connecting element and followed by a sliding movement of the second leaf spring arm from the edge over the surface of the connection element into the opening 8 and to be locked into the smaller part of the opening with the help of the projection 12. Once the two leaf spring arms are in place, the binding element 17 can be slided downwards. In this state the upper side of the opening 18 in the binding element now covers a part of the larger part of the opening 8 in the connecting element so that the second leaf spring arm 7b cannot be removed unless the binding element 17 is slided upwards. Furthermore, the binding element takes up some of the space in the recess of the connecting element, thereby stabilizing the first leaf spring arm 7a of the attaching element.

[25] It is noted that the stability in the operative state is provided through a combination of the recess before the leg of the L-shaped portion 10 and the leg of the L itself on the first leaf spring arm 7a of the attaching element 5, which restricts any sideward movement of the attaching element, as well as the projection 12 at the second leaf spring arm 7b which restricts any remaining movement of the attaching element upwards. Furthermore the indents 13, 14 provide additional stability.

[26] The aesthetic form of both the connecting elements 4a, 4b and the attaching elements 5a, 5b provide the eyeglasses frame 2 with its unique design. In the operative state the attaching elements 5 a, 5b are fitted to the connecting elements 4a, 4b in a way that a very thin and flat design remains.

[27] In an alternative embodiment of the invention (not shown) the accessory is a headphone, in which the ends of the attaching elements 5 a, 5b are provided with audio shells and the main frame portion 3 is covered with a cushion material. This embodiment shows the same advantages as described before such as the stability of the construction.

[28] The accessory is preferably made of sheet metal. Alternatively it can be made of materials with similar attributes.