U.S. patent application number 10/760325 was filed with the patent office on 2005-07-21 for eyeglass case with clip and pivotable cover.
Invention is credited to Cheng, Hsi-Chou.
Application Number | 20050155872 10/760325 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34749971 |
Filed Date | 2005-07-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050155872 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cheng, Hsi-Chou |
July 21, 2005 |
Eyeglass case with clip and pivotable cover
Abstract
An eyeglass case includes a case body, a cover connected
pivotally to the case body, and a clip. The cover has a surrounding
wall extending downwardly from a top wall and formed with an
inclined bottom surface that abuts against an inclined top surface
of a surrounding wall of the case body. The clip is connected
fixedly to an outer surface of the surrounding wall of the
cover.
Inventors: |
Cheng, Hsi-Chou; (Tainan
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BENESCH FRIEDLANDER COPLAN & ARONOFF LLP
2300 BP TOWER
200 PUBLIC SQUARE
CLEVELAND
OH
44114-2378
US
|
Family ID: |
34749971 |
Appl. No.: |
10/760325 |
Filed: |
January 20, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/6 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45F 2200/0541 20130101;
A45C 13/007 20130101; A45C 13/1084 20130101; A45F 5/02 20130101;
A45C 11/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/006 |
International
Class: |
A45C 011/04 |
Claims
I claim:
1. An eyeglass case comprising: a case body including a bottom wall
and a surrounding wall extending integrally and upwardly from an
outer periphery of said bottom wall to define an eyeglass-receiving
space therebetween, said surrounding wall of said case body
including an inclined top surface having an uppermost surface
portion and a lowermost surface portion, a pivotal portion adjacent
to said uppermost surface portion of said inclined top surface, and
a retaining portion adjacent to said lowermost surface portion of
said inclined top surface; a cover including a top wall and a
surrounding wall extending integrally and downwardly from an outer
periphery of said top wall, said surrounding wall including an
inclined bottom surface that abuts against said inclined top
surface of said case body and that has an uppermost surface portion
and a lowermost surface portion, a pivotal portion that is adjacent
to said uppermost surface portion of said inclined bottom surface
and that is connected pivotally to said pivotal portion of said
case body, and a retaining portion that is adjacent to said
lowermost surface portion of said inclined bottom surface and that
is locked releaseably on said retaining portion of said surrounding
wall of said case body; and a clip having a fixed portion connected
fixedly to an outer surface of said surrounding wall of said cover,
and a clamping portion extending downwardly from said fixed portion
and disposed adjacent to said cover; whereby, a pair of eyeglasses
can be received between said case body and said cover.
2. The eyeglass case as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
spring that is connected to said case body and said cover so as to
bias said retaining portion of said surrounding wall of said cover
to turn away from said retaining portion of said surrounding wall
of said case body when said retaining portion of said surrounding
wall of said cover is released from said retaining portion of said
surrounding wall of said case body.
3. The eyeglass case as claimed in claim 1, wherein said retaining
portion of said surrounding wall of said cover is spaced apart from
said top wall by a distance which is larger than that between said
pivotal portion of said surrounding wall of said cover and said top
wall.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to an eyeglass case, and more
particularly to an eyeglass case that includes a clip and a
pivotable cover.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Referring to FIG. 1, a first conventional eyeglass case 1 is
shown to include a case body 11, a cover 12, a horizontal pivot pin
13 extending through the case body 11 and the cover 12 so as to
permit rotation of the cover 12 relative to the case body 11, a
torsional spring 14 for biasing the cover 12 to turn upwardly, and
a locking member 15 for locking the cover 12 releaseably on the
case body 11.
[0005] The case body 11 includes an elliptical bottom wall 110, a
surrounding wall 111 extending integrally and upwardly from an
outer periphery of the bottom wall 110 to define an
eyeglass-receiving space 112, a pivotal portion 113 for extension
of the pivot pin 13 therethrough, and a retaining portion 114, on
which the locking member 15 is mounted. The pivotal portion 113 is
formed with a notch 115. The retaining portion 114 is formed with a
hole 116 therethrough.
[0006] The cover 12 includes an elliptical top wall 121, a
surrounding wall 122 extending integrally from an outer periphery
of the top wall 121 to define an eyeglass-receiving space 123, and
a lug 124 extending integrally from the surrounding wall 122 into
the notch 115 in the case body 11 and permitting extension of the
pivot pin 13 therethrough. The surrounding wall 122 has a retaining
portion 125 that is formed with a groove 126 in an inner surface
thereof. The locking member 15 has a lower end fastened to an inner
surface of the surrounding wall 122, a push button portion 151
extending through the hole 116 in the retaining portion 114, and a
retaining hook 152 extending integrally and upwardly from the push
button portion 151 and disposed outwardly of the surrounding wall
122. When the cover 12 is disposed at an open position shown in
FIG. 1, a pair of eyeglasses 10 can be placed into the case body
11. Subsequently, the cover 12 is turned downwardly against the
biasing action of the spring 14 to permit the retaining hook 152 to
move into the groove 126 in the cover 12 so as to lock the cover 12
on the case body 11. Thereafter, the push button portion 151 of the
locking member 15 can be pressed to remove the retaining hook 152
from the groove 126 in the cover 12 so that the spring 14 rotates
the retaining portion 125 of the cover 12 away from the retaining
portion 114 of the case body 11, thereby reopening the cover 12.
However, it is inconvenient to carry the conventional eyeglass case
1 due to the fact that the cover 12 cannot be attached to a pocket
or a belt.
[0007] Referring to FIG. 2, a second conventional eyeglass case 2
is shown to include a case body 21, a cover 22, and a clip 23. The
case body 21 has a bottom wall 210, and a surrounding wall 211
extending integrally and upwardly from an outer periphery of the
bottom wall 210 to define an eyeglass-receiving space 212. The
surrounding wall 211 is formed with a neck portion 213 at an upper
end thereof. The cover 22 has a top wall 221, a surrounding wall
222 extending integrally and downwardly from an outer periphery of
the top wall 221 to define an eyeglass-receiving space 223. The
neck portion 213 of the case body 21 is press fitted within a lower
end of the cover 22. The second conventional eyeglass case 2
suffers from the following disadvantages:
[0008] 1. When it is desired to open the cover 22, the user must
hold the case body 21 using one hand and remove the cover 22 from
the case body 21 using the other hand. As such, it is difficult to
open the cover 22.
[0009] 2. The cover 22 tends to be misplaced due to the fact that
it is not retained on the case body 21 when the cover 22 is
opened.
[0010] 3. As the cover 22 needs to have a sufficient length for
mounting the clip 23 thereon, the case body 21 is relatively short
so that a pair of eyeglasses 20 has a portion projecting outwardly
of the case body 21, thereby resulting in difficult assembly of the
cover 22 on the case body 21.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The object of this invention is to provide an eyeglass case
that can overcome the disadvantages associated with the
above-mentioned conventional eyeglass cases.
[0012] According to this invention, an eyeglass case includes a
case body, a cover, and a clip. The case body includes a bottom
wall and a surrounding wall extending integrally and upwardly from
an outer periphery of the bottom wall to define an
eyeglass-receiving space therebetween. The surrounding wall of the
case body includes an inclined top surface having an uppermost
surface portion and a lowermost surface portion, a pivotal portion
adjacent to the uppermost surface portion of the inclined top
surface, and a retaining portion adjacent to the lowermost surface
portion of the inclined top surface. The cover includes a top wall
and a surrounding wall extending integrally and downwardly from an
outer periphery of the top wall. The surrounding wall includes an
inclined bottom surface that abuts against the inclined top surface
of the case body and that has an uppermost surface portion and a
lowermost surface portion, a pivotal portion that is adjacent to
the uppermost surface portion of the inclined bottom surface and
that is connected pivotally to the pivotal portion of the case
body, and a retaining portion that is adjacent to the lowermost
surface portion of the inclined bottom surface and that is locked
releaseably on the retaining portion of the surrounding wall of the
case body. The clip has a fixed portion connected fixedly to an
outer surface of the surrounding wall of the cover, and a clamping
portion extending downwardly from the fixed portion and disposed
adjacent to the cover. A pair of eyeglasses can be received between
the case body and the cover.
[0013] Preferably, the eyeglass case further includes a spring that
is connected to the case body and the cover so as to bias the
retaining portion of the surrounding wall of the cover to turn away
from the retaining portion of the surrounding wall of the case body
when the retaining portion of the surrounding wall of the cover is
released from the retaining portion of the surrounding wall of the
case body.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] These and other features and advantages of this invention
will become apparent in the following detailed description of a
preferred embodiment of this invention, with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first conventional eyeglass
case that is provided with a pivotable cover biased to turn to an
open position;
[0016] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a second
conventional eyeglass case that is provided with a clip;
[0017] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred
embodiment of an eyeglass case according to this invention;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred
embodiment, illustrating a closed position of a cover;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred
embodiment, illustrating an open position of the cover; and
[0020] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment,
illustrating how a pair of eyeglasses is received within a case
body when the cover is disposed at the open position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the preferred embodiment of an
eyeglass case according to this invention is shown to include a
case body 3, a cover 4 connected rotatably to the case body 3 by a
pivot pin 40, a torsional spring 5, a locking member 6, and a clip
7.
[0022] The case body 3 includes a circular bottom wall 31 and a
surrounding wall 33 extending integrally and upwardly from an outer
periphery of the bottom wall 31 to define an eyeglass-receiving
space 32. The surrounding wall 33 includes an inclined top surface
331 that has two uppermost surface portions 332, a lowermost
surface portion 333, and two curved surface portions 334, each of
which is located between the lowermost surface portion 333 and the
corresponding uppermost surface portion 332. The surrounding wall
33 further includes a pivotal portion 335 adjacent to the uppermost
surface portions 332, a retaining portion 336 adjacent to the
lowermost surface portion 333, a notch 337 located between the
uppermost surface portions 332, two lugs 338 flanking the notch
337, and a hole 339 formed through the surrounding wall 33 and
located just under the lowermost surface portion 333.
[0023] The cover 4 is rotatable relative to the case body 3 between
a closed position shown in FIG. 4 and an open position shown in
FIG. 5, and includes a circular top wall 41 and a surrounding wall
43 extending integrally and downwardly from the top wall 41 to
define an eyeglass-receiving space 42. The surrounding wall 43 has
an inclined bottom surface 431 with two uppermost surface portions
(431U) (only one is shown in FIG. 4) and a lowermost surface
portion (431L), a pivotal portion 432 adjacent to the uppermost
surface portions (431U), a retaining portion 433 adjacent to the
lowermost surface portion (431L), a U-shaped projection 434 formed
on the pivotal portion 432 and extending between the lugs 338 of
the case body 3, and a groove 435 formed in an inner surface of the
retaining portion 433. The retaining portion 433 is spaced apart
from the top wall 41 by a distance that is larger than the distance
between the pivotal portion 432 and the top wall 41. The pivot pin
40 extends through the projection 434 and the lugs 338 so as to
permit rotation of the cover 4 relative to the case body 3 about
the pivot pin 40.
[0024] The torsional spring 5 has a coiled portion 51 disposed
around the pivot pin 40, and two ends 52, 53 pressing respectively
against inner surfaces of the case body 3 and the cover 4 so as to
bias the retaining portion 433 of the cover 4 to turn away from the
retaining portion 336 of the case body 3. As such, the cover 4 is
biased to rotate to the open position. The torsional spring 5 can
be replaced with any other suitable springs to perform the same
functions.
[0025] The locking member 6 is unitary, and includes a lower end 61
fastened to the retaining portion 336 of the case body 3 by a rivet
60, a push button portion 62 extending through the hole 339 in the
case body 3, and a retaining hook 63 extending upwardly from the
push button portion 62 and disposed outwardly of the case body
3.
[0026] The clip 7 has a fixed portion 71 connected fixedly to an
outer surface of the surrounding wall 43 of the cover 4, and a
clamping portion 72 extending downwardly from the fixed portion 71
and disposed adjacent to the outer surface of the surrounding wall
43. The clip 7 can be attached to a pocket or a belt.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 6, when the cover 4 is disposed at the
open position and when the case body 3 is in a somewhat inclined
position, a pair of eyeglasses 8 can be placed into the case body 3
such that an upper end of the eyeglasses 8 abuts against an inner
surface of the surrounding wall 33 of the case body 3. As such,
when the retaining portion 433 of the cover 4 is pressed toward the
retaining portion 336 of the case body 3 against the biasing action
of the spring 5, the eyeglasses 8 will not be clamped between the
case body 3 and the cover 4. Hence, the retaining hook 63 will
engage the groove 435 so as to lock the cover 4 on the case body
3.
[0028] Subsequently, for the purpose of reopening the cover 4, it
is only necessary to press the push button portion 62 of the
locking member 6 to unlock the cover 4 from the case body 3 in a
known manner.
[0029] With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that
numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing
the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended
that this invention be limited only as indicated by the appended
claims.
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