US 11,988,900 B2
Nose support for eyeglasses
Laurent Froissard, Cottage Grove, MN (US); Keith E. Fecteau, Hudson, WI (US); Gilbert R. Igo, Hugo, MN (US); and Jimmy L. Wong, Oakdale, MN (US)
Assigned to 3M Innovative Properties Company, St. Paul, MN (US)
Appl. No. 17/638,883
Filed by 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY, St. Paul, MN (US)
PCT Filed Sep. 11, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/058434
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 28, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/053471, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 25, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/901,488, filed on Sep. 17, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0276504 A1, Sep. 1, 2022
Int. Cl. G02C 5/12 (2006.01)
CPC G02C 5/122 (2013.01) [G02C 5/124 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A nose support for a pair of eyeglasses, the nose support being elongated with an elongate axis and a proximal end and a distal end and comprising a main body with at least one flexing section that is reversibly deflectable between a first, unflexed state and a second, flexed state;
wherein the flexing section comprises first and second elongate ribs that each extend along the elongate axis of the nose support and are transversely separated from each other by an elongate gap located transversely between the first and second ribs, the first elongate rib comprising a first generally planar inner major surface and the second elongate rib comprising a second generally planar inner major surface,
wherein when the flexing section is in the first, unflexed state the first and second inner major surfaces of the first and second ribs are positioned at an angle θ1 that is between 120 and 175 degrees, and when the flexing section is in the second, flexed state the first and second inner major surfaces are positioned at an angle θ2 that is greater than θ1 and that does not substantially exceed 180 degrees, at least at some location along the elongate extent of the first and second ribs;
wherein the nose support comprises a soft resilient organic polymeric shell that encases at least 80% of an elongate length of the first and second elongate ribs and that occupies at least 80% of an elongate length of the elongate gap between the ribs;
and
wherein the main body is in the form of a single, integral piece of sheet metal and the main body further comprises a contact section that is distal to the flexing section and that extends integrally from the flexing section along the elongate axis of the nose support.