Reversible Carrier and Harness System for Eye Patch Constraints

Abstract

The invention is an eye patch harness used to hold eye patches in place during athletic exertion, using a cloth worn on the head with eyelets in the cloth that position the eye patch precisely. Such a harness does not move easily, and allows a wearer to move without concern that the patch will lose proper position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

None.

The Names of the Parties to a Joint Research Agreement

None.

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention: The invention pertains to eye patches and structures to hold them in place on a user's during exercise or other physical exertion.

Background Art: Eye care professionals have long recognized that humans tend to have a dominant eye and a weaker eye. Competitors in many sports find that they perform better when they improve the strength of the weaker eye. Ophthalmologists often find that children and occasional adults with Amblyopia (“Lazy Eye”) and Strabismus (“Cross-Eyed”) can find some benefit from strengthening a weaker eye.

Common approaches to strengthening a weaker eye are 1) eye drops in the stronger eye, which blur the images from the strong eye to the brain, which forces the brain to work with the images sent by the weaker eye, and 2) use of an eye patch on the stronger eye, which denies the brain any image at all from the stronger eye, and also forces the weaker eye to strengthen.

Eye patches are known in the art. They may be held in place with a string, strap, or elastic band that fits around the user's head. Less used are adhesive strips or patches attached to a pair of eyeglasses. However, an eye patch held in place by a strap can easily fall off or change position during athletic events. Eye patches held in place with adhesives can be irritating to the skin, and also fail to hold the eye patch in place when a wearer is playing sports such as basketball. Similarly, eye patches affixed to a pair of glasses tend to slide or lose proper position during strenuous exercise.

Coaches often need to evaluate an athlete's abilities, and occasionally desire to test performance with a patch over the strong eye. Today if a coach wants to conduct such an evaluation, he must have an eye patch that fits reliably on the athlete's head, is not overly bothersome to a wearer that is not familiar with use of an eye patch, and can be used on either eye. Existing eye patches are not always reversible, are very distracting, and tend to dislodge during sporting events. Thus, there is a continuing need for an eye patch addressing one or more of these problems.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a harness worn on an athlete's head that is constructed to carry an eye patch and maintain its proper position during heavy physical exertion. The harness includes a wide head band and cinch to hold the band snugly to the user's head. It is built to be reversible, in that it can be used on either eye. In using a head band as part of the structure, the user does not have to worry about fragile glasses, bothersome adhesives, or the single string that is so often used to hold an eye patch in place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1—A view of the invention from a wearer's front side.

FIG. 2—A view of the invention form the back of the wearer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a eye patch harness 11 that holds an eye patch 13 in place.

As shown in the figures, an eye patch 13 is worn so that it covers up one eye, using the traditional string 15, but rather than allowing the string to move, it is held in place by the harness 11. The harness 11 has eyelets or loops 17 through which the eye patch string 15 is threaded. In this embodiment, the eye patch string 15 is not elastic, and the string must be tied at the back or restrained from loosening with some sort of cinch 19.

The figures in the drawings show the eye patch on the left eye, but the invention can be constructed with the loop positions reversed to cover up the right eye, or built with a dual-purpose to reverse the eye position from the right to the left, or vice versa, by making the head-band reversible, and the loops placed symmetrically.

Loops 17 built into the harness 11 are not evenly spaced or positioned, as they are designed to place the eye patch 13 over the eye in a particular place by holding the eye patch string 15 so the patch sits just below the harness 11 while covering an eye. Another set of loops 17 are on the reverse side of the harness 11 which provide spacing and positioning for the eye patch string 15 when a user wishes to cover the other eye, making the device more flexible.

The harness 11 maintains the eye patch 13 position during heavy physical exertion. The harness 11 includes a wide head band and cinch 15 to hold the band snugly to the user's head. It is built to be reversible, in that it can be used on either eye. In using a wide head band as part of the structure, the user does not have to worry about fragile glasses, bothersome adhesives, or the slippage that occurs when the patch is held in place by a single string that is the most commonly used method of securing an eye patch.

While this invention has been described as it is currently built, the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but can be employed in various equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An athletic eye patch harness, comprising: a cloth which encircles a wearer's head, eyelets or loops located in the cloth through which an eye patch's string is interlaced, an eye patch held in place by a string or elastic band that interlaces through the harness loops, said loops located in the cloth such that an eye patch is kept in proper position over a user's eye.

2. An athletic eye patch harness, as in claim 1, with a cinch included to hold the eye patch string at the proper tautness.

3. An athletic eye patch harness, as in claim 1, constructed so that the harness is reversible, meaning that when the harness is worn with one side out, the loops are positioned to hold an eye patch over the right eye, but when the harness is worn with the other side out, the eye patch is positioned over the left eye.