TEMPLE BAR WITH BALL AND SOCKET HINGE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME

摘要

A novel hinge assembly for eyeglasses (10) is provided wherein a first structural member (73) for the hinge structure is formed in a first molding step and a second structural member (71) of the hinge structure is formed directly over a portion of the first structural member (73) in a second molding step. The present invention utilizes in-mold-assembly techniques to reduce the assembly steps required to form such a hinge assembly while further resulting in a hinge assembly that has increased adjustability and utility. Specifically, the overmolded components form a ball and socket type joint allowing a large degree of lateral rotation in one direction and a limited amount of freedom in a second direction. This hinge allows the temple portion (18) of the eyeglasses (10) to be folded against the brow bar (12) and the inclination angle between the temples (18) and the brow bar (12) to be adjusted.