UNIVERSAL WASHING APARATUS FOR EYEGLASSES
The present invention is directed towards a universal washing apparatus with water or cleaning liquid inside for eyeglasses, or sunglasses, and frame of any size or shape. A cleaning container with sealing cover and mounting structure is provided to securely retain the eyeglasses and fame in the container without leakage. The cleaning container is an open-top case, sealed with a cover having a sealing groove tightly fitting the open edges of the case. The sealing cover may be a separated from or attached to the open-top case, and may be further secured to the case with pairs of snap locking keys. An elastic cushion or band spring is on the inner side of the sealing cover to securely press and retain the eyeglasses on the mounting structure inside the case. In one embodiment, the mounting structure is a mounting bar between the two long walls of the open-top case, with shape matching the nose pads of eyeglasses so that the eyeglasses can stay on. In another embodiment, the mounting bar has a slot and pairs of positioning holes long the slot walls, so that two arch-shaped blocks with positioning key matching the positioning holes can stay securely in the slot and prevent the eyeglasses from moving.
The present invention relates generally to eyeglasses or sunglasses cleaning.
More specifically, the invention relates to the cleaning of eyeglasses or sunglasses, and their frames, secured in a sealed container filled with water or other cleaning
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONEyeglasses are essential to daily life of many people with vision defects, such as Myopia or Hyperopia. Sunglasses are also frequently used by people to protect vision from the sunshine. However, eyeglasses and sunglasses are prone to contamination such as from dust in the environment, dirt and grease from fingers human skin, Such combination of contaminations often accumulates on lenses and their frames, and especially in fine gaps in them, causing degradation of transparency and unneatness of appearance.
There are several prior arts of cleaning eyeglasses, such as wiping with a cloth, brushing, or applying some compounds to the surfaces of eyeglasses. Those methods cannot remove the dirt or contaminations accumulated in fine gaps of eyeglasses and frames, and even worse, involve direct contact of cleaning tools with the lens surfaces and can usually cause damages over the long term. Ultrasound is also used in prior arts to clean eyeglasses submerged in water in a container. However, ultrasound cleaning apparatus is bulky and expensive, requires electricity, and can generate energy high enough to damage the coating of lenses. A simple and straightforward way to clean eyeglasses is to wash them in a container with water or cleaning liquid by shaking the container with hands, In U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,941, a receptacle with a pair of holders at both ends is used to clean the eyeglasses inside. However, it is difficult to securely hold eyeglasses when the eyeglasses are shaken in such a structure in practice. In addition, due to large variation of eyeglasses lengths, shapes and styles, it is difficult to fit all of them in a single-size receptacle of such structures. Especially when the legs of the eyeglasses are longer than the frame, eyeglasses in such a receptacle can not be securely retained and can be damaged when being shaken.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a universal container and methods to fit and clean eyeglasses or sunglasses of any size, shape or style. The apparatus is composed of an open-top case, a mounting structure inside the case, and a sealing cover with elastic cushion or spring attached to inner side of the sealing cover. The container is large enough to accommodate eyeglasses of any size and shape.
In practice, a pair of eyeglasses is placed on the mounting structure in the open-top case. The open-top case is sealed with the sealing cover. The eyeglasses and frame are securely retained on the mounting structure by the elastic cushion or spring on the inner side of the cover at the same time when the open-top case is sealed. Water or cleaning liquid can be filled in the container for eyeglasses washing. The contamination on the surfaces and in the fine gaps of the eyeglasses and frame can be resolved and washed out in the cleaning liquid or water in the container when the container is being shaken. The volume of water or cleaning liquid may not be full in the container in order to optimize the fluid dynamics to achieve best washing result when being shaken.
The apparatus in this invention is easy to be used in any domestic environment, in travel, and in the situation of no electricity, and can also be used as storage case of eyeglasses when not filled with liquid.
The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of the invention, in which:
Referring now to the drawings, where similar elements are labeled the same,
In practice, the sealed container, partially filled with water or cleaning liquid, with the eyeglasses placed and secured on the mounting structure inside, is shaken by hands. Shaking the liquid inside will generate washing forces to remove dirt or contamination accumulated on the surfaces and gaps of the eyeglasses and frame. The selection of water or cleaning liquid, their volume and sequence in use are determined by the condition of the contamination. For example, the eyeglasses can be washed with cleaning liquid first. Then the used cleaning liquid is disposed. The eyeglasses can be washed more times with refilled fresh cleaning liquid if there are more dirt and contamination to be removed. Then as a final step, water can be used to rinse and remove the residue of the cleaning liquid. Neutral non-corrosive cleaning liquid should be used in order to protect the eyeglasses, coating, frame and their components such as metal screws. Distilled or purified water preferred in the last washing step in order to avoid traces from the impurity in water. The size of the universal cleaning container should be large enough to accommodate eyeglasses or sunglasses of any size and style.
The above described invention is applicable to cleaning of eyeglasses and sunglasses of all kinds of size, shapes, and styles, with the help of water or cleaning liquid in the container, The cleaning container can also serve as a storage case without water or liquid inside. Different combinations of the covers, cases, and mounting structures in the embodiments described above can form a cleaning container to achieve the same or better cleaning results. The container in the invention can be made into various fashion styles or convenient shapes.
The above description and drawings are only illustrative of preferred embodiments and methods, and the present invention is not intended to be limited thereto. Any modification of the present invention that comes within the spirit and scope of the following claims is considered part of the present invention.
Claims
1. A container for cleaning eyeglasses with water or cleaning liquid, composing:
- an open-top case, said open-top case having a mounting structure inside for the eyeglasses to rest on in an appropriate position in the open-top case;
- a sealing cover, said sealing cover having a sealing groove to match the top edges of said open-top case and tightly seal the open-top case without leakage, and an elastic cushion on the inner side of the sealing cover to press the eyeglasses securely on to the mounting structure in the open-top case.
2. A cleaning container according to claim 1, wherein said open-top case has one locking key on each outer surface of the four vertical walls of the open-top case, and said sealing cover has one locking lid attached on each edge of the sealing cover to match and lock to the four locking keys of the open-top case.
3. A cleaning container according to claim 1, wherein said elastic cushion on the inner side of said sealing cover is replaced by a curved band spring installed into two sockets on the inner side of the sealing cover to press the eyeglasses on to the mounting structure when the sealing cover is closed on to said open-top case.
4. A cleaning container according to claim wherein said mounting structure is a mounting bar between the two longer walls of said open-top case, and has an isosceles trapezoid shape in cross-section to match the nose-pads of eyeglasses so that the eyeglasses can rest on the mounting bar in a appropriate position in the open-top case.
5. A cleaning container according to claim 4, wherein fine v-grooves are made on the surface of said mounting bar to prevent the mounted eyeglasses from moving.
6. A cleaning container according to claim 4, wherein said mounting bar is lower in the central portion and higher at the two ends so as to prevent the eyeglasses mounted on the mounting bar from touching the ails of the said open-top case.
7. A cleaning container according to claim 4, wherein said mounting structure is a mounting bar having a slot along the mounting bar with certain number of positioning holes in pairs through the two opposite walls of the slot, and a pair of elastic arch-shape blocks capable of being locked in appropriate positions along the slot by mating a pair of button-shape keys on the blocks to the corresponding positioning holes on the slot walls to prevent the eyeglasses mounted on the mounting bar between the two blocks from moving along the mounting bar.
8. A cleaning container according to claim 1, wherein said sealing cover is attached to said open-top case at their mating edges via a thin connection, and seals the open-top case without leakage by snap-locking three locking lids, attached to the other three edges of the sealing cover via thin connections, to three corresponding locking keys on the walls of the open-top case.
9. A cleaning container according to claim 8, wherein said elastic cushion on the inner side of said sealing cover is replaced by a curved band spring installed into two sockets on the inner side of the sealing cover to press the eyeglasses on to the mounting structure when the sealing cover is closed on to said open-top case.
10. A cleaning container according to claim 8, wherein said mounting structure is a mounting bar between the two longer walls of said open-top case, and has an isosceles trapezoid shape in cross-section to match the nose-pads of eyeglasses so that the eyeglasses can rest on the mounting bar in a appropriate position in the open-top case.
11. A cleaning container according to claim 10, wherein fine v-grooves are made on the surface of said mounting bar to prevent the mounted eyeglasses from moving.
12. A cleaning container according to claim 10, wherein said mounting bar is lower in the central portion and higher at the two ends so as to prevent the eyeglasses mounted on the mounting bar from touching the walls of the said open-top case.
13. A cleaning container according to claim 10, wherein said mounting structure is a mounting bar having a slot along the mounting bar with certain number of positioning holes in pairs through the two opposite walls of the slot, and a pair of elastic arch-shape blocks capable of being locked in appropriate positions along the slot by mating a pair of button-shape keys on the blocks to the corresponding positioning holes on the slot walls to prevent the eyeglasses mounted on the mounting bar between the two blocks from moving along the mounting bar.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 25, 2013
Publication Date: Dec 25, 2014
Inventor: Dennis Chi Zhou (Campbell, CA)
Application Number: 13/925,843
International Classification: A45C 11/04 (20060101);