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US 12,411,358 B2Granted
Eyewear device lens retention mechanism
AssigneeSnap Inc.
InventorsJohn Bernard Ardisana, II, Teodor Dabov, Mathias Andreas Hintermann, Douglas Wayne Moskowitz, Ashutosh Y. Shukla
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An eyewear device has a lens retention mechanism that establishes electrical contact between onboard electronics and a lens ring by a resiliently compressible electrical contact member, such as a spring washer, located within a housing defined by a body of the eyewear device. The retention mechanism can further include a lock screw that is selectively engageable with the lens ring to allow disposal between retention and release of a lens by the lens ring, the lock ring being captured in the housing such as to resist removal of the lock screw from the housing when the lens ring is released for lens removal.
Claims15
An eyewear device comprising:
- an eyewear frame;
- onboard electronics housed by the eyewear frame;
- an eyewear lens mounted on the eyewear frame;
- a lens retainer by which the eyewear lens is releasably retained on the eyewear frame, the lens retainer comprising a lens ring that extends circumferentially along a periphery of the eyewear lens, the lens ring being an electrically conductive component that is configured for co-operative connection to the onboard electronics and that is disposable between:
- a retention condition in which the lens ring engages a peripheral edge of the eyewear lens to prevent removal of the eyewear lens from the eyewear frame, and in which a releasable end of the lens ring is anchored against circumferential movement relative to the eyewear lens to effect dilation of the lens ring, and
- a replacement condition in which the lens ring is dilated relative to the retention condition, permitting removal and/or replacement of the eyewear lens, disposal of the lens ring from the retention condition to the replacement condition comprising circumferential movement of the releasable end of the lens ring relative to the eyewear lens to cause dilation of the lens ring;
- and
- a locking mechanism that provides a releasable physical coupling and a persistent electrical coupling with the lens ring, the locking mechanism comprising:
- a fastener configured for engagement with a complementary locking formation defined by the lens ring, the fastener being operable between:
- a locked condition in which the fastener is engaged with the locking formation of the lens ring such that the fastener anchors the releasable end of the lens ring circumferentially in a position in which the lens ring is in the retention condition, thereby releasably locking the lens ring in the retention condition, and
- an unlocked condition in which the fastener is free from the locking formation of the lens ring, permitting circumferential movement of the releasable end of the lens ring relative to the eyewear lens to allow disposal of the lens ring from the retention condition to the replacement condition;
- and
- a conductive contact element that is electrically connected to the onboard electronics and that is in engagement with the lens ring to complete a conductive path which provides an electrical connection between the onboard electronics and the lens ring;
- and
- a spring-loaded bias mechanism configured to resiliently urge the contact element towards contact engagement with the lens ring, thereby to maintain said electrical connection both when the lens ring is locked in the retention condition and when the lens ring is unlocked and is in the replacement condition.
12 more elements
An eyewear device comprising:
- an eyewear frame that comprises a lens holder configured to hold a lens;
- a processor device housed by the eyewear frame and configured to provide one or more electronics-enabled functionalities to the eyewear device;
- a metal retention ring housed by the lens holder and disposable between a retention condition in which it mechanically retains the lens in the lens holder, and a replacement condition in which removal or replacement of the lens is permitted;
- a locking formation fixed to the retention ring;
- an electrically conductive electronics launch element that is conductively coupled to the processor device;
- an elongate fastener that passes axially through the electronics launch element and that is engageable with the locking formation to lock the retention ring in the retention condition;
- and
- a spring washer that is received on the fastener and that is sandwiched between the retention ring locking formation and the electronics launch element, the spring washer being in a resiliently compressed state in which it bears against both the electronics launch element and the retention ring locking formation, thereby providing an electrically conductive connection between retention ring and the electronics launch element.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.