DE20016266U1 - Glasses case - Google Patents

Description

Dipl.-Ing. A. Wasmeier Dipl.-Ing. H. Graf

Authorized before the European Patent Office + Trade Mark Office · Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office + Trade Mark Office

Patent Attorneys PO Box 10 08

German Patent and Trademark Office Zweibrückenstr.

80297 Munich

93008 Regensburg D-93008 REGENSBURG P.O. BOX 10 08 26

D-93055 REGENSBURG GREFLINGERSTRASSE 7

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(0941)79 20 (0941)79 20 (0941)79 5106

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E-mail:
wasmeier-graf@t-online.de

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U/g 19,809

Date
Date

14.09.2000 w-el

Applicant:

EBM DESIGN GmbH Max-Emanuel-Strasse 94036 Passau

Title:

Glasses case

Accounts: HypoVereinsbank (bank code 750 200 73) 5 839 Postgiroamt München (bank code 700 100 80) 893 69-801 Place of jurisdiction Regensburg A19809.DOC 19.09.00 06:42

Glasses case

The innovation relates to hard-shell spectacle cases according to the preamble of claim 1.

Conventional hard-shell glasses cases usually consist of two roughly identical shell halves that are connected to each other by hinges parallel to their longitudinal axis and have a snap fastener in the middle of the opposite long side. Glasses cases of this type are used to store glasses safely and protect them from mechanical stress and dirt.

The glasses that can be stored in such cases are usually designed in such a way that the temples can be folded using joints integrated into the frame. However, high-quality frames are increasingly being made from modern, particularly high-performance and elastic materials, in which the temples are attached to the frame or lens without a joint, i.e. are not attached in a foldable manner, and therefore are not designed to be attached to the lenses in the traditional way, but always have the shape specified for wearing and remain elastically flexible. Conventional cases are not suitable for storing such and similar frames.

The aim of the innovation is to provide a hard-shell spectacle case which has a significantly larger opening width than previously known spectacle cases and which can accommodate, in particular, special spectacle frames, preferably those whose temples are pre-formed to be flexible and designed without joints.

·

According to the innovation, this is achieved with the features of the characterizing part of claim 1. Further embodiments of the innovation are the subject of the subclaims.

The arrangement of the hinge point on a narrow side of the case means that when the case lid is opened, the case can be opened considerably further than is the case when opening the lid of a corresponding conventional case, which is connected to the bottom part via a hinge on the long side of the case. This provides free access to the inside of the case, which is not available and is not possible with known cases. In the new proposal, only a short hinge is provided on the narrow side of the glasses case, compared to a long hinge or several hinge sections on one long side. Furthermore, the side opening makes it possible to accommodate hinge-free, highly flexible glasses temples, which are elastically compressed when the case is closed, especially glasses frames made of stainless steel, e.g. titanium.

The innovation is explained below in conjunction with the drawing using an example of implementation. It shows:

Fig. 1 shows a conventional hard-shell spectacle case from above, Fig. 2 shows a case according to Fig. 1 from the side in the opened state (section l-l), Fig. 3 shows a case according to Fig. 1 from the front in the opened state, Fig. 4 shows a spectacle case according to the invention from above in the closed state, Fig. 5 shows a case according to Fig. 4 in a side view and opened (section ll-ll), Fig. 6 shows a front view of the case according to the invention in the opened state, Fig. 7 shows a detail of an embodiment of the case according to the invention, Fig. 8 shows a detail of a case closure, and

Fig. 9 shows schematically a connection of the two hard shell edges in a special embodiment of the invention.

ai9809.doc

In a conventional hard-shell glasses case, the lower shell 1 and upper shell 2 are connected to one another by a hinge 3 on the long side of the case, so that the upper part 2 can be brought into the open position by folding it up relative to the lower part 1 and the glasses can be inserted from the front or removed from the top. In Fig. 1, a pair of glasses 4 is shown with both temples 5 and 6 folded in.

In the innovative embodiment according to Figures 4, 5 and 6, the lower part 7 and the upper part 8 are designed in the form of optionally congruent or differently shaped hard shell bodies 7, 8, both of which are connected to one another on the narrow side of the case by a hinge or joint 9. The spectacle frame 11 housed in the case has temples 12, 13 which are attached to the frame or the lenses without a hinge connection, i.e. are shaped in such a way that the temples, which are made of particularly high-quality materials, e.g. stainless steel, are springy or elastically flexible and cannot be folded, i.e. without joints or hinges. Such glasses cannot be accommodated in conventional glasses cases because the temples 12 and 13 always assume and retain the shape required for wearing the glasses.

According to the illustration in Fig. 7, the two shell halves 7, 8 of the case are provided with flanges 14, 15 on their peripheral edges, which lie snugly and sealingly on one another when the case is closed. The opposite sides of the flanges 14, 15 can have sealing material in order to achieve a dust-tight connection. In Fig. 8 it is shown that the flanges 14, 15 have magnetic strips 16, 17 on or in their surfaces facing one another, which at the same time provide a closure for the case (not visible from the outside).

In the schematic representation according to Fig. 9, the peripheral edges of the half-shells 7, 8 are designed and bent in such a way that they interlock (at 18, 19) to form the sealing surfaces of the case and at the same time represent a closure.

Claims (7)

1. Spectacle case comprising a lower part accommodating the spectacles and an upper part matching therewith, a joint connecting the upper part and lower part on one side of the case and a closure on the other side of the case, characterized in that the joint (9) is arranged on one narrow side of the case (7, 8) and the closure (10) is arranged on the opposite narrow side. 2. Spectacle case according to claim 1, characterized in that the joint (9) is a hinge. 3. Spectacle case according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the case (7, 8) consists of two preferably congruent hard shells made of plastic or metal or a combination of both. 4. Spectacle case according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the usable internal height of the case (7, 8) is smaller than the height of the folded spectacle frame (11) to be stored in the case, such that the joint-free temples (12, 13) of the spectacle frame (11) are held under tension when the case is closed. 5. Spectacle case according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the mutually facing hard shell edges (7, 8) are designed as circumferential flange surfaces (14, 15) which, lying one inside the other and locking (18, 19), represent the sealing surfaces of the case. 6. Spectacle case according to claim 5, characterized in that magnetic elements (16, 17) are integrated in the circumferential flange surfaces (14, 15) of the upper and lower hard shells (7, 8), which represent the concealed closure of the spectacle case. 7. Spectacle case according to claim 6, characterized in that the magnetic elements (16, 17) are magnetic strips attached to the flange surfaces (14, 15).