Technical field

The present invention concerns the technical field relative to frames for glasses which include incorporated to them a light source, for example to favor reading at night .

In particular, the invention refers to innovative frames provided with a light source which is fed by a battery that is rechargeable.

Background art

Frames for glasses with integrated to them a light beam have long been known. These are particularly adapted for eyeglasses or reading glasses since they permit to irradiate and direct a light beam. In this way, such glasses permit to illuminate a pre-determined area relative, for example, to a reading page, avoiding to have to illuminate an entire room and thus bothering eventual persons nearby. Such glasses can therefore be used in multiple situations, such as during travel (by car, train, plane), at night, at home, etc.

To that aim, US patent US6863416 describes a frames for glasses which foresee, in correspondence of the stems, the application of a box element which foresees each one a LED and a feeding for the LED in the form of batteries. Each box element is fixed with ordinary screws at the sides of the stems in such a way that from that position the light beam is irradiated in front of the lenses, thus enhancing reading in the dark. A switch permits the switch on and the switch off of the light. In this way, the user can read in a dark room directing a specific beam to the chosen spot and therefore without having necessarily to switch on a more intense light (for example, the light of the room) , bothering a person nearby, or also to enhance visibility in general.

Other US patents represent an evolution of the present solution described.

For example, US patent US7938553 describes a similar solution in which, however, the battery pack and the light source are integrated directly in the stems of the frames. An openable and closable cover permits the access to the batteries and their substitution when dry.

Other similar solutions are described in US7377644 and in US6612695 in which are also foreseen batteries that feed a light source and that, when dry, have to be substituted.

It is therefore clear that all said solutions of the background art present a common technical problem.

The batteries, when dry, are substituted with new batteries, the whole creating various technical inconveniences. Above all, if the batteries become dry during use the user cannot take advantage of the light anymore unless he has replacement batteries at hand. If there are not replacement batteries he will have to buy them and he will be able to re-use the light beam only when such batteries will be substituted.

Moreover, the purchase of new batteries obviously implies an additional cost for the user and the operation of change of the batteries is not always easy since it requires the opening of the containment seat of the batteries and their substitution.

Disclosure of invention

It is therefore the aim of the present invention to provide a new type of frames for glasses that solves these and other technical inconveniences.

In particular, it is the aim of the present invention to provide a new type of frames for glasses which is furnished with a fed light beam in such a way as not to require the substitution of the dry batteries with new batteries.

These and other aims are reached with the present frames (100) for glasses as per claim 1.

Such frames comprise:

- At least an electric light source (105) and;

- An electric feeding (2, 3, 4, 7, 8) for said light source (105) ;

In accordance with the invention, said electric feeding comprises:

- One or more batteries (7, 8) of the rechargeable type and;

- A receiving electrical inlet (9) arranged in the frames (100) in electrical communication with said batteries (7, 8) suitable for connecting electrically with an assembly of external recharge (2, 3, 4) .

Such a solution solves easily the technical problems set out.

In this way, the recharge of the batteries can be easily made by simply connecting said external recharge assembly (2, 3, 4) to the receiving electrical inlet (9) .

The use of rechargeable batteries permits to recharge them every time it becomes necessary, making that the user does not have necessarily to substitute the dry ones with new ones that have to be bought. Moreover, the receiving inlet 9 arranged in the frames makes that the batteries are charged when directly applied to the frames, that is without the need to have to remove them to insert them, for example, in a specific battery charger. Clearly, this is a significant advantage that simplifies significantly the recharge operation.

Advantageously, said one or more batteries (7, 8) are housed in the frames.

This has the advantage of rendering the frames themselves very compact .

Advantageously, said batteries (7, 8) are housed in the stem (102) of the frames.

The stem is obviously the more idoneous position and that offers more space to place the batteries and the necessary components.

Advantageously, said batteries are housed in a specific receiving seat obtained in the frames, preferably in the stem (102) .

Advantageously, the batteries are unmovable from the frames where they are housed.

In this way, not only are the frames compact but their use is comfortable. The user only has to worry about connecting the external recharge assembly in the specific inlet and there is no risk of an accidental or fraudulent removal of the battery.

The battery is therefore selected in such a way as to have a screw near the one of the frames themselves.

Advantageously said external recharge assembly (2, 3, 4) is foreseen.

Advantageously, said external recharge assembly comprises a photovoltaic panel (2) provided with an electric wire (3) for connecting to said receiving electrical inlet (9) .

This solution is extremely advantageous from the economic point of view because, although other electric recharge systems can be used, the use of the photovoltaic panel guarantees an economic saving and respect for the environment . Advantageously, said electric wire (3) of the photovoltaic panel (2) terminates with an attachment (4), preferably of the jack or minijack type, suitable for being inserted in the receiving electrical inlet (9) .

Advantageously, the photovoltaic panel (2) can for example be integrated to the containment case (1) of the frames .

Although the panel can in fact be on any support, its application to the case is advantageous since in this way it is possible to recharge the light every time the frames are placed again in their case.

Alternatively, advantageously, said assembly of external recharge (2, 3, 4) comprises an electric wire (3) having, at one of its ends, an attachment (4) of connection to the receiving electrical inlet (9) arranged in the frames (100) and on the opposite part a USB attachment.

In a further alternative, advantageously, the assembly of external recharge (2, 3, 4) comprises an electric wire (3) having, at one of its ends, an attachment (4) of connection to the receiving electrical inlet (9) arranged in the frames (100) and on the opposite part an electric attachment for a connection to a home socket.

In a further alternative, advantageously, the assembly of external recharge (2, 3, 4) comprises an electric wire (3) having, at one of its ends, an attachment (4) of connection to the receiving electrical inlet (9) arranged in the frames (100) and on the opposite part an electric attachment for a connection to an electronic device, preferably an electronic processor.

It is also described here a case (1) for containing frames (100) and characterized in that said case comprises a photovoltaic assembly (2) provided with an electric wire (3) provided with an attachment (4) for being connected to a receiving electrical inlet (9) provided in the frames (100) as described above.

It is also described here the combination of frames (100) for glasses with an assembly of external recharge (2, 3, 4), said frames (100) comprising:

- At least an electric light source (105) and;

An electric feeding (2, 3, 4, 7, 8) for said light source (105) ;

and wherein said electric feeding comprises:

- One or more batteries (7, 8) of the rechargeable type and;

- A receiving electrical inlet (9) arranged in the frames (100) in electrical communication with said batteries (7, 8) in such a way as to make a recharge of said batteries by connecting said assembly of recharge (2, 3, 4) to said receiving electrical inlet (9) .

Advantageously, said recharge assembly (2, 3, 4) comprises a photovoltaic panel (2) provided with an electric wire (3) for being connected to said receiving electrical inlet (9) .

Advantageously, said photovoltaic panel (2) is arranged on a case (1) for containing the frames.

Brief description of drawings

Further features and advantages of the present frames for glasses, according to the invention, will result clearer with the description that follows of some preferred embodiments, made to illustrate but not to limit, with reference to the annexed drawings:

- Figure 1 shows schematically, in an axonometric view, a case for glasses provided with a photovoltaic panel;

- Figure 2 schematizes a front view for better highlighting the electric wire 3 that branches off from the photovoltaic panel 2 and that terminates with an attachment 4;

- Figure 3 and 4 are examples of a case provided with photovoltaic panel;

- Figure 5 shows an open case with frames housed inside it, to which are connected the recharge wires for the internal battery;

- Figure 6 instead shows an axonometric view of frames for glasses, according to the invention, provided with a light source (two LED placed at the ends of the two stems) and fed by a rechargeable battery;

- Figure 7 shows a stem of frames where inside it the necessary components for feeding the 105 are housed;

- Figures 8 and 9 show a detail of insertion of the attachment 4 in the specific receiving seat obtained in a stem for recharging the batteries.

Description of some preferred embodiments

In accordance with the invention, the figures attached show a first preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 shows schematically a case 1 for glasses.

The case, well known in the state of the art, is a container that can be opened which forms inside it a housing for the glasses.

There exist of different shapes, sizes and materials; these can be opened and closed in different ways, for example by means of a magnet, a latch or a zipper. The type of case is obviously not the object of the present invention and therefore is not to be considered limiting for the present invention. To that aim, any type of case, in the sense of shape, materials and closing, can be used.

For example, both figure 3 and figure 4 show a prototype of case in accordance with the invention, both that can be closed with a zipper and of different materials and decorative topics.

The case of the present invention foresees, integrated to it or arranged on it, a photovoltaic panel 2.

The photovoltaic panel 2 can be arranged in any predetermined position. For example, as represented schematically in figure 1 or figure 3 or figure 4, the panel is arranged on the superior part of the case, that is in such a position that, when placed again on a support surface, a greater quantity of sun light is irradiated.

Obviously, different positionings can be foreseen without for this moving apart from the present inventive concept .

The photovoltaic panel 2 is well known in the state of the art and comprises one or more photovoltaic cells 10 which, when irradiated by sun light, convert it in electric current.

Such a photovoltaic panel can be therefore easily found in the market and for this reason it is not here further described in technical details.

As shown in the front view A of figure 2, the photovoltaic panel 2 terminates with an electric wire 3 in which the current produced by the panel itself circulates.

The wire, which comes from the photovoltaic panel, can be connected to the panel in such a way as to be housed in the internal containment volume of the case or be connected in such a way as to branch off outside the case. For example figure 2 schematizes the case in which the wire branches off from the panel towards the outside of the case, while figure 5 shows a wire 3 that from the panel (not visible because arranged on the external part of the cover of the open case) has access to the inside of the containment volume for the glasses through a hole obtained in the case in the point of application of the panel. This solution, as we will see, is advantageous because it permits to comfortably recharge the lights of the glasses, keeping them comfortably housed in their own case (as shown in figure 5, for example) .

As schematized in figure 2, the wire, in turn, terminates with an attachment 4, for example in the form of a jack or mini-jack, which is suitable for coupling electrically to a receiving seat 9 of the frames of the glasses .

In particular, as clarified immediately below, a receiving electric hole 9 is foreseen, for example arranged in the stem of the glasses and to which the jack is connected (see figure 8, for example) .

Figures 8 and 9 show very clearly the insertion of the attachment 4 in said pre-established point of the frames, for example in the stems.

In particular, just for clarity purposes, figure 8 shows such an insertion of the jack and shows a rechargeable battery 7 which is placed outside its seat just to render it visible. The battery 7 can therefore be seen, which is provided with two wires (8', 8'')·

The first electric wire 8' permits the battery to absorb the electric energy coming from the photovoltaic panel through the wire 3 and the jack 4. The first wire is therefore destined to make that the battery absorbs the energy produced by the panel to charge itself by connecting to the inlet port 9 of figure 8. The second wire 8'' is destined to direct the current accumulated by the battery towards the LED to feed the LED during its functioning.

Figure 6 therefore shows the glasses 100 in accordance with the present invention. Such glasses foresee frames formed by two stems 102, by a front part 103 that foresees two openings where the lenses are inserted and obviously conformed in such a way as to rest on the bridge of the nose. The stems are hinged to said front part 103.

In accordance with the invention, the glasses foresee, in correspondence of both or just one of the stems 102, an assembly of lighting comprising a light source 105, for example of the LED type, and a feeding assembly.

Said feeding assembly is specifically housed in a retractable way, therefore integrated in the stems 102.

To that aim, figure 7 extrapolates a single stem and highlights the components housed inside it. The rechargeable battery 7 is therefore highlighted, arranged inside a specific receiving seat. It is then represented an inlet port 9, that is that represented as well in figure 8 and that serves to hold the jack 4. It is then shown the "switch" 18 for the switch on and switch off of the LED 105 and the feeding wire 8'' that fees the LED. Interposed between the LED 105 and the wire 8'' a control card 120 is foreseen that commands the switch on and the switch off through the switch 18. The same figure foresees (although it is not visible) the wire 8' that is connected to the inlet 9 to recharge the battery.

The inlet 9 of figure 7 is of the USB type since, as clarified below, it is obvious that the inlet 9 for connecting to the frames a recharge device does not have to be necessarily in the form of a jack but could be of any other nature.

Going back to figure 6, this shows a panel 110 which closes the internal components shown in figure 7. The panel 110 can be indistinctly of the fixed or removable type. The preferred embodiment foresees a door closed in a fixed way and with the battery that will result immovable. The product will therefore be sold ready for use. In this way, the user does not have the problem of having to remove the battery to recharge it since, as said, inside it the connection that permits the recharge is foreseen.

On the contrary, a version with access to said seat can be obtained to be able to change the battery, for example in case of fault of it or to be able to recharge it also through a specific external recharge component.

In use, therefore, the user arranges the case in a convenient position, in such a way that it becomes irradiated by sun rays, and connects the terminal 4 to the frames. In this way, the batteries become charged in an economic way, assuring a good autonomy for the lights.

It is obvious that the attachment that permits to connect electrically the photovoltaic panel to the frames can obviously be of any nature, that is not only a jack or mini-jack. In that sense, the photovoltaic panel can be used for the recharge of electronic components currently existing on some versions of frames and comprising, for example, an incorporated videocamera, an incorporated "bluetooth" device, etc.

A second embodiment of the invention instead foresees a solution in which the rechargeable battery is not charged through the solar panel 2 but for example through an ordinary battery charger, such as the one in use for mobile phones. In this case, the jack 4 provided with its wire 3 terminates in a transformer that is connected to the home socket through an ordinary electric plug.

In a third variant of the invention, the charging device of the batteries foresees the jack 4, which is however connected, on the opposite part to its wire 3, to a socket of the USB type in such a way as to result connectable to an electronic processor such as a PC, palmtop and the like to make the recharge.

A fourth variant instead comprises a jack that on the opposite part foresees an attachment for a connection to a mobile phone, Iphone, palmtop or the like to make the recharge .

As already said, the jack or minijack attachment 4 can obviously be substituted by any type of electric attachment capable of feeding a recharge current to the battery 7, for example a USB inlet as per figure 7.

Although the use of the Led results preferred, any type of light source can obviously be used, also the incandescence one.