Convertible eyeglasses

#The invention relates to eyewear, particularly to devices for altering the appearance of eyeglass frames and to sets comprised of one or more such devices coupled with a primary frame and lenses, and, in some cases, a clip-on sunglasses or other accessories.

#My U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,707 discloses CONVERTIBLE EYEGLASSES. In that patent, I provide means for converting ordinary eyeglasses to sunglasses stylishly.

#An object of this invention is to provide means by which a primary frame and lenses can be given different looks for different occasions. For instance, one may desire a businesslike appearance during working hours and then a more striking or glamorous appearance for a dinner date. Neither case ordinarily requires the wearing of sunglasses.

#In the accompanying drawings, which show a number of embodiments of the invention as examples, in which like parts bear like reference characters:

#FIGS. 1 and 8-11 are exploded perspective views of eyewear sets of the present invention;

#FIGS. 2 and 3 are top and front views of the cover clip-on of FIG. 1;

#The primary eyeglasses of FIG. 1 include frame 10 with frame front portion 12, a pair of eyeglass lenses 14, 14′, left and right temples 16,16′, and left and right hinges 18,18′. Front portion 12 holds the pair of eyeglass lenses 14, 14′ in spatial alignment with respect to each other and, during use, also with respect to the eyes of the eyeglass wearer. Front portion 12 includes bridge section 20 connecting left and right eyeglass rim sections 22, 22′, and left and right end pieces 21,21′ on the outer sides of the left and right eyeglass rim sections 22,22′. Teft and right temples 16, 16′ are pivotally attached to front portion 12 by, respectively, left and right hinges 18, 18′ thereby allowing left and right temples 16, 16′ to be folded inwardly to make eyeglass frame 10 more compact when not in use. The front portion 12 and the left and right temples 16, 16′ are preferably made of metal but may be made of any material or combination of materials known to one skilled in the art.

#The embodiment of FIG. 1 also includes a cover clip-on 60 of the present invention. Clip-on 60, which is configured to clip onto the front portion 12 of frame 10, comprises a bridge clip 64, left and right rim sections 66, 66′, and left and right retainer clips 68, 68′. The rim sections 66, 66′ are preferably made of plastic material and are most preferably made of zyl.

#Bridge clip 64 connects left and right rim sections 66, 66′. Bridge clip 64 and left and right retainer clips 68, 68′ cooperate to permit cover clip-on 60 to be detachably attached to cover the top eye rim sections of frame front portion 12. Bridge clip 64 may be any type of a resilient metal clip known to one skilled in the art that is adaptable to releasably engage eyeglass frame bridge section 20 so as to aid in the retention of cover clip-on 60 to eyeglass front portion 12.