In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,775, issued Apr. 1, 1975, there is shown, described and claimed a spectacle frame with temples which are angularly adjustable while the spectacle frame is being worn on the head of a person, or when the spectacle frame is removed from the head. For this purpose, a threaded adjusting member, such as a thumb screw or rotor having a knurled or notched operating head, is threaded either into the frontal lens support or into the inner end of a temple for adjustable positioning therein, and has an outer end engageable with the other element of the lens frame, such as the temple or the frontal lens support, so that, by fingertip rotation of the knurled or notched head, the thumb screw or rotor can be threaded in or out. The rotor is so located that it is outwardly of the hinge or pintle of a hinge connecting a temple to a frontal lens support. Thereby, by threaded adjustment of the rotor, the temple can be swung inwardly relative to the lens support to increase the pressure with which the temple bears against the head of the wearer. The adjustable pressure prevents the frames from slipping on the wearer's nose, and provides the wearer with a control of the comfort or fit of the frame while additionally providing a sufficient pressure of the temples against the head to prevent the frame from uncomfortably slipping down over the wearer's nose during wearing of the spectacle frame. Preferably, a bore is formed in the frontal lens support adjacent its outward end and outwardly of the hinge pintle, or alternatively the bore is formed in the inner end of the temple, and an internally threaded sleeve is inserted in this bore for threaded engagement with the thumb screw, rotor, or the like.
While the techniques and embodiments of the invention shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,775 are easily applied during the manufacture of spectacles, as before the lens support and the temples are provided with the respective half hinges, the usefulness of the arrangement shown in the patent can be greatly extended if the adjustment means can be applied to already manufactured spectacle frames. The term "already manufactured spectacle frames", as used herein, is intended to cover a lens support, having half hinges at each end, and a pair of temples, each having a half hinge at one end, both before connection of the temples to the lens support or after the temples have been connected to the lens support to provide full hinge connections between the lens support and the two temples.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds