Spectacle Spacer Device Prevents Arm Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Spectacle frames made from cellulose acetate often suffer from 'unbalancing of the arms' due to deformation caused by asymmetrical packaging and transport, leading to comfort issues and perceived poor quality, as the arms are subjected to non-uniform tensions and plastic deformation during storage and transport in minimized packaging.
Innovation Solution
A spacer device with a 'U'-shaped channel is positioned between the central bridge of the front mount and the first folded arm, maintaining them spaced apart to prevent loading transfer and plastic deformation, using a flexible and adaptable material like expanded polymer or rubber to securely hold the arm in place across various dimensions and thicknesses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the frame is packaged in minimized dimensions to reduce transport costs, then productivity and cost-efficiency are improved, but the frame is subjected to asymmetrical loads causing arm unbalancing deformation
Solution Approach 1:
A spacer element is introduced as an intermediary component between the first arm and the front mount. This spacer maintains a predetermined distance, preventing the first arm from contacting the front mount and thereby eliminating the asymmetrical loading that causes deformation. The spacer acts as a mediator that preserves arm symmetry while allowing compact packaging.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer element is positioned in advance during the packaging process, before the frame is subjected to transport loads. By pre-establishing the correct spatial relationship between the arm and front mount, the spacer prevents deformation from occurring during storage and transport, ensuring the frame arrives at its destination without arm unbalancing.
2Volume of stationary object
If the frame is packaged in minimized dimensions, then storage space and transport costs are reduced, but plastic deformation of the arm occurs due to non-uniform tensions
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer serves as a protective intermediary that distributes and equalizes the loads acting on the frame during compact packaging. By maintaining a predetermined distance between the first arm and front mount, the spacer prevents concentration of non-uniform tensions that would otherwise cause plastic deformation, thereby preserving arm structural integrity within minimized packaging volume.
3Volume of moving object
If the arms are folded for packaging, then compactness is achieved, but asymmetrical loading during transport causes deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer element is specifically designed to be positioned during the arm-folding process, acting as a mediator that maintains the correct spatial relationship between the first arm and front mount. This ensures that even when arms are folded for compact packaging, the predetermined distance prevention mechanism remains effective, preserving arm position accuracy throughout transport.
4Manufacturing precision
If a spacer element is introduced to prevent arm deformation, then arm symmetry is maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer element is designed as a simple, inexpensive, and potentially disposable component. Rather than creating a complex reusable packaging system, the invention uses a basic spacer that can be easily manufactured and discarded or reused if needed. This minimizes the increase in device complexity while effectively maintaining arm symmetry.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer's primary function is to maintain a predetermined distance parameter between the first arm and front mount. By focusing on this single critical parameter rather than controlling multiple variables, the solution achieves arm symmetry maintenance with minimal added complexity. The spacer translates a complex deformation prevention requirement into a simple distance-maintaining component.
Data Source
AI summary
A spacer device for spectacles maintains the pair of arms of the frame spaced apart from each other with respect to the front of the frame when they are folded in a closing manner. The device includes a spacer member having a thickness defined between a pair of opposing surfaces, the member extending in a main direction, between a pair of opposing faces, which contact with the front mount of the frame and the arm of the pair of arms which is folded last onto the mount, respectively. A channel extends transversely to the main direction and is provided in a position between the faces, the channel delimited by a pair of walls which face each other in a mutually spaced apart relationship and are connected at an end thereof to a base surface of the channel.