WO2001042847A1 - Visual aid - Google Patents

Visual aid Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2001042847A1
WO2001042847A1 PCT/GB2000/004670 GB0004670W WO0142847A1 WO 2001042847 A1 WO2001042847 A1 WO 2001042847A1 GB 0004670 W GB0004670 W GB 0004670W WO 0142847 A1 WO0142847 A1 WO 0142847A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
visual aid
aid according
arm
person
unit
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2000/004670
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Caroline Maher
Anthony Johnson
Original Assignee
C-Kesp Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by C-Kesp Limited filed Critical C-Kesp Limited
Priority to AU21892/01A priority Critical patent/AU2189201A/en
Publication of WO2001042847A1 publication Critical patent/WO2001042847A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02C—SPECTACLES; SUNGLASSES OR GOGGLES INSOFAR AS THEY HAVE THE SAME FEATURES AS SPECTACLES; CONTACT LENSES
    • G02C11/00—Non-optical adjuncts; Attachment thereof
    • G02C11/10—Electronic devices other than hearing aids

Definitions

  • This invention relates to visual aid, and in particular to spectacles or goggles
  • a pair of spectacles or goggles usually has one or more of three purposes, to improve the vision of the wearer, to reduce glare from the sun or other bright source of light and/or to protect the eyes from water, the air or airborne matter
  • spectacles and goggles There are many designs of spectacles and goggles currently available, but the differences between the different designs are usually cosmetic, i e they are intended to enhance the appearance of the wearer
  • Most of these designs comprise a lens arrangement, i e a pair of lenses or a single lens, which may be mounted in a frame or on a support, with the frame or support retained on the face of the wearer by means of arms which either grip the side of the head or wrap around the wearer's ears
  • a resilient strap may be attached to the lens arrangement, frame or support and placed around the back of the head of the wearer
  • the weight of the lens arrangement and frame or support is usually taken by means of a shaped portion of the frame or lens arrangement resting on the bridge of the wearer's nose
  • the invention provides a visual aid comprising a lens arrangement mounted to extend laterally from a headset arrangement, the headset arrangement comprising a support unit adapted to be supported around the upper part of the head of a person
  • the visual aid may comprise a pair of lenses
  • the lenses may be adapted to improve the vision of the person, and/or to reduce glare from the sun or other bnght source of light and/or tp protect the eyes from water, the air or airborne matter
  • Each lens may be supported by a respective arm that is attached to the support unit
  • the support unit may comprise a band formed to extend around the top of the head
  • the band may be resilient
  • Each arm may be pivotally attached to the support unit, and may be pivotally attached to its respective lens
  • Each arm may be formed of a plurality of parts, each part pivotally attached to an adjacent part.
  • Each arm may be of a resilient material, and may be of a metal or plastics material.
  • Arms on opposed sides of the support unit may be resiliently biased towards each other.
  • the headset arrangement may comprise a pair of headphones.
  • the visual aid may also comprise an audio system.
  • An audio device may be connected to the headphones, and the audio device may be a radio and/or a tape or disc player.
  • the audio device may be adapted to be worn on a belt of the person.
  • the visual aid may comprise a control unit, which may be operable to control the volume and the operating mode of the audio device, e.g. radio/cassette, radio programme.
  • the control unit may be adapted to be worn by the person, and may be adapted to be worn on the wrist of the person.
  • the control unit may comprise a watch.
  • the control unit may be electrically connected to a power unit, and the power unit may be adapted to be worn by the person.
  • the power unit may be adapted to be worn on the belt of the person, and may be integral with the audio unit.
  • Fig. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic of the control system
  • a visual aid 10 which has a head unit 11 consisting of a resilient headband 12 which is worn over the head of a person using the visual aid 10.
  • a headphones ear pad 13 To each end of the headband 12 is attached a headphones ear pad 13 and one end of an arm 14.
  • a lens 15 mounted in a frame 16.
  • the lenses 15 may be adapted optically to assist the vision of the wearer of the visual aid 10 as in the case of conventional spectacles, or may adapted to reduce the glare from sunlight or other bright source of light, or may be of clear plane material to serve as protection of the eyes of the wearer from water, the air or airborne matter. With such an arrangement there is no pressure on the nose of the wearer.
  • An audio lead 17 connects the headphones ear pad 13 to an audio unit 18 such as a radio, cassette player and/or disc player, which comprises its own power pack.
  • the audio unit 18 has a clip 19 by means of which it may be worn on a belt around the person's waist.
  • the audio unit 18 has controls 20 by means of which the received signal and/or the volume of the signal received by the headphones 13 may be varied.
  • the audio lead 17 may be connected to a separate audio unit 21 such as personal stereo radio/cassette/CD player (Fig. 2)
  • a controller 22 is provided which is adapted to be worn on the person's wrist and is combined with a watch 23
  • the controller 22 generates infrared signals which are received by a signal receiver 24 connected to one or each of the headphones ear pads 13
  • the arms 14 are rotatably attached to the ear pad 13 and headband 12, so as to be positionally adjustable relative thereto as shown by arrow A
  • the arms 14 are also s dable relative to the ear pad 13 and head band 12 as shown by arrows B, such that the lenses 15 may be moved relative to each other in order to place them on the face over the eyes in the most comfortable position for the wearer
  • the arms 14 are preferably made from a polyethylene extrusion to provide springiness to grip the person's face Alternatively or in addition the arms 14 may be resiliency biased towards each other by means of springs 26
  • the travel of the lenses 15 relative to the ear pads 13 may be up to 15 mm
  • the audio unit 18 compnses a battery pack 27 which provides elect ⁇ cal power to a radio, cassette player and/or disc player 28 connected by the audio lead 17 to the ear pads 13
  • the audio lead 17 is connected to separate audio unit 21 such as personal stereo radio/cassette/CD player
  • the controls 25 (Fig 1) of the controller 22 create an infra-red (IR) link 29 to the signal receiver 24 to control the volume of the signal received by the headphones 13
  • the watch 23 may also display the chosen setting Control of the audio unit 21 may be by controls on the unit itself, and/or by the controls 25 of the controller 22
  • a visual aid is provided which is convenient for home as well as for outdoor use
  • the person wearing the visual aid can move around and perform other activities such as domestic chores, using exercise apparatus, walking, travelling by vehicle or the like
  • the person can also listen to music or other radio programme
  • the arms 14 may comprise one part as described above or two or more mutually articulated parts Alternatively they may be resiliency deformable to a shape that is suitable for the wearer
  • a belt or strap may be attached to the audio unit 18
  • the head unit 11 may comprise a hat, for example a baseball cap, instead of the headband 12

Abstract

A visual aid (10) consists of a pair of lenses (15) in frames (16) mounted on arms (14) extend laterally from a headset (11). The headset (11) is in the form of a support unit (12) adapted to be supported around the upper part of the head of a person, thereby eliminating pressure on the nose. The support unit is a resilient headband (12) to each end of which is attached a headphones ear pad (13). The lenses (15) are adapted optically to assist the vision of the wearer of the visual aid (10) as in the case of conventional spectacles, or to reduce the glare from sunlight or other bright source of light, or are of clear plane material to serve as protection of the eyes of the wearer from water, the air or airborne matter. An audio lead (17) connects the ear pads (13) to an audio unit (18) that has a battery pack (27) providing power to a radio, cassette or disc player (28). A controller (22) controls the signal from the audio unit 18 to the ear pads (13).

Description

VISUAL AID
This invention relates to visual aid, and in particular to spectacles or goggles
A pair of spectacles or goggles usually has one or more of three purposes, to improve the vision of the wearer, to reduce glare from the sun or other bright source of light and/or to protect the eyes from water, the air or airborne matter There are many designs of spectacles and goggles currently available, but the differences between the different designs are usually cosmetic, i e they are intended to enhance the appearance of the wearer Most of these designs comprise a lens arrangement, i e a pair of lenses or a single lens, which may be mounted in a frame or on a support, with the frame or support retained on the face of the wearer by means of arms which either grip the side of the head or wrap around the wearer's ears Alternatively a resilient strap may be attached to the lens arrangement, frame or support and placed around the back of the head of the wearer The weight of the lens arrangement and frame or support is usually taken by means of a shaped portion of the frame or lens arrangement resting on the bridge of the wearer's nose
One problem is that of listening to headphones whilst wearing such visual aid, since the arms or strap and the headphones tend to interfere with each other, particularly if the wearer wishes to remove and replace the visual aid or the headphones at frequent intervals In addition the weight of the visual aid on the nose can cause discomfort and even soreness over a penod of time, particularly if the wearer does not wear a visual aid on a regular basis
It is an object of the present invention to provide a visual aid that avoids the abovementioned disadvantages
The invention provides a visual aid comprising a lens arrangement mounted to extend laterally from a headset arrangement, the headset arrangement comprising a support unit adapted to be supported around the upper part of the head of a person
The visual aid may comprise a pair of lenses The lenses may be adapted to improve the vision of the person, and/or to reduce glare from the sun or other bnght source of light and/or tp protect the eyes from water, the air or airborne matter Each lens may be supported by a respective arm that is attached to the support unit The support unit may comprise a band formed to extend around the top of the head The band may be resilient Each arm may be pivotally attached to the support unit, and may be pivotally attached to its respective lens Each arm may be formed of a plurality of parts, each part pivotally attached to an adjacent part. Each arm may be of a resilient material, and may be of a metal or plastics material.
Arms on opposed sides of the support unit may be resiliently biased towards each other.
The headset arrangement may comprise a pair of headphones. In this case the visual aid may also comprise an audio system. An audio device may be connected to the headphones, and the audio device may be a radio and/or a tape or disc player. The audio device may be adapted to be worn on a belt of the person. The visual aid may comprise a control unit, which may be operable to control the volume and the operating mode of the audio device, e.g. radio/cassette, radio programme.
The control unit may be adapted to be worn by the person, and may be adapted to be worn on the wrist of the person. The control unit may comprise a watch. The control unit may be electrically connected to a power unit, and the power unit may be adapted to be worn by the person. The power unit may be adapted to be worn on the belt of the person, and may be integral with the audio unit.
The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment, and
Fig. 2 is a schematic of the control system
Referring now to Fig 1 there is shown a visual aid 10 which has a head unit 11 consisting of a resilient headband 12 which is worn over the head of a person using the visual aid 10. To each end of the headband 12 is attached a headphones ear pad 13 and one end of an arm 14. At the other end of each arm 14 is a lens 15 mounted in a frame 16. The lenses 15 may be adapted optically to assist the vision of the wearer of the visual aid 10 as in the case of conventional spectacles, or may adapted to reduce the glare from sunlight or other bright source of light, or may be of clear plane material to serve as protection of the eyes of the wearer from water, the air or airborne matter. With such an arrangement there is no pressure on the nose of the wearer.
An audio lead 17 connects the headphones ear pad 13 to an audio unit 18 such as a radio, cassette player and/or disc player, which comprises its own power pack. The audio unit 18 has a clip 19 by means of which it may be worn on a belt around the person's waist. The audio unit 18 has controls 20 by means of which the received signal and/or the volume of the signal received by the headphones 13 may be varied. Alternatively the audio lead 17 may be connected to a separate audio unit 21 such as personal stereo radio/cassette/CD player (Fig. 2) In this case a controller 22 is provided which is adapted to be worn on the person's wrist and is combined with a watch 23 The controller 22 generates infrared signals which are received by a signal receiver 24 connected to one or each of the headphones ear pads 13
Using the controls 25 of the controller 21 , the volume of the signal received by the ear pads
13 may be vaπed
The arms 14 are rotatably attached to the ear pad 13 and headband 12, so as to be positionally adjustable relative thereto as shown by arrow A The arms 14 are also s dable relative to the ear pad 13 and head band 12 as shown by arrows B, such that the lenses 15 may be moved relative to each other in order to place them on the face over the eyes in the most comfortable position for the wearer The arms 14 are preferably made from a polyethylene extrusion to provide springiness to grip the person's face Alternatively or in addition the arms 14 may be resiliency biased towards each other by means of springs 26 The travel of the lenses 15 relative to the ear pads 13 may be up to 15 mm
Refernng now to Fig 2, the audio unit 18 compnses a battery pack 27 which provides electπcal power to a radio, cassette player and/or disc player 28 connected by the audio lead 17 to the ear pads 13 In the alternative arrangement, the audio lead 17 is connected to separate audio unit 21 such as personal stereo radio/cassette/CD player The controls 25 (Fig 1) of the controller 22 create an infra-red (IR) link 29 to the signal receiver 24 to control the volume of the signal received by the headphones 13 The watch 23 may also display the chosen setting Control of the audio unit 21 may be by controls on the unit itself, and/or by the controls 25 of the controller 22
By means of the invention a visual aid is provided which is convenient for home as well as for outdoor use The person wearing the visual aid can move around and perform other activities such as domestic chores, using exercise apparatus, walking, travelling by vehicle or the like The person can also listen to music or other radio programme There is no difficulty expenenced by wearers of spectacles in putting on and removing the spectacles whilst wearing headphones
Other embodiments of visual aid within the scope of the invention will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art For example the arms 14 may comprise one part as described above or two or more mutually articulated parts Alternatively they may be resiliency deformable to a shape that is suitable for the wearer Instead of the belt clip 19, a belt or strap may be attached to the audio unit 18 The head unit 11 may comprise a hat, for example a baseball cap, instead of the headband 12

Claims

1 A visual aid comprising a lens arrangement mounted to extend laterally from a headset arrangement, the headset arrangement comprising a support unit adapted to be supported around the upper part of the head of a person
2 A visual aid according to claim 1 , comprising a pair of lenses
3 A visual aid according to claim 2, wherein the lenses are adapted to improve the vision of the person
4 A visual aid according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the lenses are adapted to reduce glare from the sun or other bright source of light
5 A visual aid according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the lenses are adapted to protect the eyes from water, the air or airborne matter
6 A visual aid according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein each lens is supported by a respective arm, which is attached to the support unit
7 A visual aid according to claim 6, wherein the support unit comprises a band formed to extend around the top of the head
8 A visual aid according to claim 7, wherein the band is resilient
9 A visual aid according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein each arm is pivotally attached to the support unit
10 A visual aid according to claim 9, wherein each arm is pivotally attached to its respective lens
11 A visual aid according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein each arm is formed of a plurality of parts
12 A visual aid according to claim 11 , wherein each part is pivotally attached to an adjacent part
13. A visual aid according to any one of claims 6 to 12, wherein each arm is of a resilient material
14. A visual aid according to claim 13, wherein each arm is of metal.
15. A visual aid according to claim 13, wherein each arm is of a plastics material.
16. A visual aid according to any one of claims 6 to 15, wherein arms on opposed sides of the support unit are resiliency biased towards each other.
17. A visual aid according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the headset arrangement comprises a pair of headphones.
18. A visual aid according to claim 17, also comprising an audio system.
19. A visual aid according to claim 18, wherein an audio device is connected to the headphones
20. A visual aid according to claim 19, wherein the audio device is a radio.
21. A visual aid according to claim 19 or claim 20, wherein the audio device is a tape or disc player.
22. A visual aid according to claim 19, wherein the audio device is adapted to be worn on a belt of the person.
23. A visual aid according to any one of claims 19 to 22, comprising a control unit.
24. A visual aid according to claim 23, wherein the control unit is operable to control the volume of the audio device.
25. A visual aid according to claim 23 or claim 24, wherein the control unit is operable to control the operating mode of the audio device.
26. A visual aid according to any one of claims 23 to 25, wherein the control unit is adapted to be worn by the person
27. A visual aid according to claim 26, wherein the control unit is adapted to be worn on the wrist of the person.
28. A visual aid according to claim 27, wherein the control unit comprises a watch.
29. A visual aid according to any one of claims 20 to 28, comprising a power unit.
30. A visual aid according to claim 29, wherein the power unit is integral with the audio unit.
31. A visual aid substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
PCT/GB2000/004670 1999-12-09 2000-12-07 Visual aid WO2001042847A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU21892/01A AU2189201A (en) 1999-12-09 2000-12-13 Visual aid

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9929117.1 1999-12-09
GB9929117A GB9929117D0 (en) 1999-12-13 1999-12-13 Visual aid

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2001042847A1 true WO2001042847A1 (en) 2001-06-14

Family

ID=10866003

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB2000/004670 WO2001042847A1 (en) 1999-12-09 2000-12-07 Visual aid

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU2189201A (en)
GB (1) GB9929117D0 (en)
WO (1) WO2001042847A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113476279A (en) * 2021-06-30 2021-10-08 胡柳俊 Eyesight improving device

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2559279A1 (en) * 1984-02-08 1985-08-09 Binotto Serge Adjustable folding multipurpose spectacle frames
EP0291913A2 (en) * 1987-05-16 1988-11-23 Polaroid Corporation Head phones for a miniature cassette player
EP0385002A1 (en) * 1989-02-28 1990-09-05 Yoshiro Nakamatsu Spectacles
US5327178A (en) * 1991-06-17 1994-07-05 Mcmanigal Scott P Stereo speakers mounted on head
US5367345A (en) * 1992-02-14 1994-11-22 Da Silva Jean Pierre M Audio-adapted eyeglass retainer
US5737436A (en) * 1995-09-19 1998-04-07 Interval Research Corporation Earphones with eyeglass attatchments

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2559279A1 (en) * 1984-02-08 1985-08-09 Binotto Serge Adjustable folding multipurpose spectacle frames
EP0291913A2 (en) * 1987-05-16 1988-11-23 Polaroid Corporation Head phones for a miniature cassette player
EP0385002A1 (en) * 1989-02-28 1990-09-05 Yoshiro Nakamatsu Spectacles
US5327178A (en) * 1991-06-17 1994-07-05 Mcmanigal Scott P Stereo speakers mounted on head
US5367345A (en) * 1992-02-14 1994-11-22 Da Silva Jean Pierre M Audio-adapted eyeglass retainer
US5737436A (en) * 1995-09-19 1998-04-07 Interval Research Corporation Earphones with eyeglass attatchments

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN113476279A (en) * 2021-06-30 2021-10-08 胡柳俊 Eyesight improving device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9929117D0 (en) 2000-02-02
AU2189201A (en) 2001-06-18

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