Abstract
A device and method for altering the appearance of eyewear with an eyewear appliqué to cover a frame face and temple legs. Users may alter eyewear aesthetics without investing in new glasses. Appliqué designs may be based on standard frame shapes or custom-made using images of special frames. Appliqués arc manufactured with a cutter, injection molding or 3D printing by using data derived from 3D scan files, images manually entered by a user and stored in a frame library or by artificial intelligence. The appliqué may be removed from and reapplied to eyewear frames multiple times. Users may also rotate between different eyewear appliqué designs to change the appearance of eyewear on a whim. Appliqué adhesive solution securely attaches appliqué to eyewear and maintains its tackiness during wear and while stored on a release liner for future use.
Claims
1) An eyewear alteration system, comprised of an eyewear frame, wherein said eyewear frame consists of a frame face front, a frame left temple leg, and a frame right temple leg; and an eyewear appliqué with adhesive solution, wherein said eyewear appliqué includes both a front surface of said eyewear appliqué and a rear surface of said eyewear appliqué, wherein said rear surface of said eyewear appliqué is coated with said adhesive solution, and an eyewear appliqué release liner.
2) The eyewear alteration system of claim 1, wherein said eyewear appliqué consists of a frame face front appliqué, a frame left temple leg appliqué, and a frame right temple leg appliqué; and an eyewear appliqué release liner.
3) The eyewear alteration system of claim 2, wherein said eyewear appliqué release liner consists of a length of material equal to or larger than at least one section of said eyewear appliqué, wherein said adhesive solution is positioned between said eyewear appliqué release liner and said back surface of said eyewear appliqué such that said eyewear appliqué coated with adhesive solution may be peeled away from said eyewear appliqué release liner prior to placement on said eyewear frame.
4) The eyewear alteration system of claim 3, wherein said eyewear appliqué release liner is formed in a shape selected from the group consisting of: a rectangle or shape larger than a single eyewear appliqué, a rectangle or shape larger than at least two eyewear appliqué, a shape with at least three edges, in the shape of and slightly larger than a frame face front appliqué, in the shape of and slightly larger than frame left temple leg appliqué, and in the shape of and slightly larger than a frame right temple leg appliqué.
5) The eyewear alteration system of claim 4, wherein said adhesive solution with removable and reusable, or permanent attributes is selected from the group consisting of: emulsion acrylic adhesive, pressure-sensitive, water-based emulsion acrylic adhesive, tape, glue, polymer, and hot melt adhesive.
6) The eyewear alteration system of claim 4, wherein said release liner may further be selected from the group consisting of: a sheet of wax paper, a booklet of wax paper, a plastic card, silicone release paper, vinyl, paper, acrylic, parchment and metal.
7) A method of repeatedly altering the appearance of eyewear, consisting of: Peeling an appliqué of an appliqué release liner, Aligning the adhesive-coated back surface of said appliqué with the corresponding eyewear frame section, Pressing the adhesive coated back surface of said appliqué against the corresponding eyewear frame section, Peeling an appliqué off of said eyewear frame section, Pressing the adhesive-coated back surface of said appliqué against said appliqué release liner for storage and later use.
8) A process for creating an appliqué for an eyeglass frame comprising the steps of: Capturing a digital representation of a frame; Processing said digital representation of a frame to derive a surface rendering of said frame; Importing said surface rendering of said frame into design software to create an outline of said frame; Creating an appliqué file of said surface rendering of said frame from said outline of said frame; Exporting said appliqué file to a manufacturing machine; Importing user design specifications into said manufacturing machine; Manufacturing an appliqué with said manufacturing machine using said appliqué file and said user design specifications; and Applying additional embellishments to said appliqué by hand.
9) The process of claim 7, wherein said appliqué is made of a material selected from the group consisting of: aux leather, leather, hard acrylics, plastics, textiles, sustainable organic fibers, metal, vinyl, polyurethane, and paper.
10) The process of claim 7, wherein said manufacturing machine is selected from the group consisting of cutter, additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, and injection molding.
11) The process of claim 7, wherein said user design specifications are selected from the group consisting of color, texture, shape, and materials.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] For a more complete understanding of this disclosure and its features, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0030] FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system.
[0031] FIG. 2 shows a rear view of the eyewear appliqué system, release liner partially peeled back to expose adhesive side.
[0032] FIG. 3 shows side perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system, components separated, in relation to a pair of eyeglasses.
[0033] FIG. 4 shows a front view of the eyewear appliqué system, components attached to a pair of eyeglasses.
[0034] FIG. 5 shows a right-side view of the eyewear appliqué system, components attached to a pair of eyeglasses.
[0035] FIG. 6 shows a top perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system, components attached to a pair of eyeglasses.
[0036] FIG. 7 shows a front perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system, components attached to a pair of eyeglasses.
[0037] FIG. 8 shows a front view of the nonstandard eyewear appliqué system.
[0038] FIG. 9 shows a rear view of the nonstandard eyewear appliqué system.
[0039] FIG. 10 shows an overview of the eyewear appliqué system.
[0040] FIG. 11 shows multiple frame face appliqués placed on a release liner sheet
[0041] FIG. 12: shows the frame face appliqué on first release liner sheet and left temple appliqué With right temple appliqué on a second release liner sheet, partially peeled.
FIGURE REFERENCE NUMBERS
[0042] 1. Frame face front appliqué [0043] 2. Left temple appliqué [0044] 3. Right temple appliqué [0045] 4. Frame face front appliqué release liner [0046] 5. Left temple appliqué release liner [0047] 6. Right temple appliqué release liner [0048] 7. Frame race front [0049] 8. left temple frame [0050] 9. Right temple frame [0051] 10. Release liner
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0052] FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system featuring the appliqués for the front face 1, left temple 2 and right temple 3. The appliqué is indicated by speckles. The frame face appliqué is shaped in the style of the front face of a pair of eyeglasses. The left temple appliqué is shaped in the style of the left temple of a pair of eyeglasses. The right temple appliqué is shaped in the style of the right temple of a pair of eyeglasses. The rear surfaces, also speckled in these drawings, of the appliqués are covered with adhesive, which is clear in this embodiment and not visible in these drawings. This view does not show a release liner, which is on the rear surface of the eyewear appliqué system.
[0053] FIG. 2 shows a rear view of the eyewear appliqué system featuring the appliqués and release liners frame face appliqué 1, left temple appliqué 2, and right temple appliqué 3. The appliqué is again indicated by speckles on the rear acing side of the frame face and temples. The appliqué is positioned on the protective release liner (or other amenable receptacle). The frame face appliqué release liner 4 is folded back to reveal the appliqué with adhesive layer, which is between the release liner and the appliqué. The left temple appliqué release liner 5 and the right temple appliqué release liner 6 are folded back to reveal the appliqué with adhesive layer. The adhesive layer remains attached to the appliqué alter the appliqué is removed from the liner. The adhesive layer connects the appliqué to the eyeglass frame.
[0054] FIG. 3 shows side perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system with components separated, said components being a standard eyeglass frame with frame face front portion 7, a left temple frame portion 8 and a right temple frame portion 9, exterior surface of frame front appliqué 1, exterior surface of left temple appliqué 2, and interior surface of right temple appliqué 3. The release liner 10 is not visible in this view. The eyewear appliqué system is fully customizable for each user's pair of glasses. The eyewear appliqué system is shaped to mimic the frame surface and cover the frame face front 7, left temple frame (8), and/or right temple frame (9) of the eyeglasses frame. The appliqué may be customized by the user with various design elements such as color, texture, shape, material, and quantity. These specific design elements are determined by the user personalization data for each specific user within the appliqué application or alternate system used to produce the appliqué. The appliqué may be secured to the front of the eyeglasses frame 7 to customize that particular pair of frames. If the user has chosen temple appliqués 2, 3, then those appliqués may also be secured to the temples of the frame 8,9. A user may decide between one (frame or temple), two (frame and temple or two temples) or three (frame and two temples) appliqués to customize the user's frame using the appliqué system or application. The appliqué may be quickly separated from the protective release liner, which in this embodiment is a paper coated with a release agent used for protection of adhesive surfaces of various adhesive products. Once the appliqué (1, 2, 3) is lifted from the release liner (4, 5, 6), the adhesive backing may be pressed against the frame (7, 8,9) to create a new appearance for the frame. The appliqué pieces are shown with speckles only to distinguish the appliqué from the frame in these figures.
[0055] FIG. 4 shows a front view of the eyewear appliqué system with frame face front appliqué 1 and a standard eyeglasses frame attached. The frame face front appliqué 1 is attached to the front of the frame 7 is shown in this view. Temple appliqués are not visible in this view.
[0056] FIG. 5 shows a right, side view of the eyewear appliqué system with appliqués and a standard eyeglasses frame. In this view, the side of the frame face front 7 with frame face front appliqué 1 and right temple 9 with right temple appliqué 3 are shown. Once the appliqué is produced by the appliqué application (as shown in FIG. 10) or with another production method, the user will fill the appliqué (1, 2,3) from the protective release liner 10. The exposed appliqué may be pressed against the frame face 7 and frame right temple 9 to change the appearance of the frame. The left temple and optional appliqué are not shown in this view.
[0057] FIG. 6 shows a top perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system with appliqués and a standard eyeglasses frame. In this view, the surface of the frame front 7 with frame face front appliqué 1, left temple frame 8 with left temple appliqué 2, and right temple frame 9 are shown. Once the appliqué is produced by the appliqué application (as shown in FIG. 10) or other production method, the user will remove the appliqué from the protective release liner or other amenable release surface. The exposed appliqué may be pressed against the frame face and frame right temple to change the appearance of the frame. Removable, reusable adhesive material, not shown, facilitates the attachment of the appliqué and the frame.
[0058] FIG. 7 shows a front, bottom perspective view of the eyewear appliqué system with appliqués and a standard eyeglasses frame. In this view, the surface of the frame face front 7 with frame face front appliqué 1, right temple frame 9 with right temple appliqué 3, and left temple 8 are shown. The user will remove the appliqué (1, 2, 3) from the protective release liner 10 or other amenable release surface to expose the adhesive on the back surface of the appliqué. The exposed appliqué may be pressed against the frame face 7 and frame right temple 9 to change the appearance of the frame. Removable, reusable adhesive material, not shown, facilitates the attachment of the appliqué and the frame.
[0059] FIG. 8 shows a front view of the nonstandard eyewear appliqué system unique frame face appliqué and a release liner for this unique appliqué. A user desiring a nonstandard or unique frame shape, such as cat-eye or flower, may also use the present eyewear appliqué system to alter the appearance of the standard frame if the user wishes to maintain the option far standard frame use. Alternatively, a user with a nonstandard frame shape may also use the present invention, which may be manufactured to match any frame shape, standard or traditional or nonstandard frame shapes. The appliqué system in this view is shown without a base frame. When the user is ready to apply this nonstandard shaped frame face front appliqué 1 to the user's frame face front 7, the user would lift the appliqué from frame face front appliqué release liner 4 surface to expose the removable, reusable adhesive side of the appliqué. The user would then attach the nonstandard frame face front appliqué 4 to the user's frame 7. In between uses of the appliqué, the removable, reusable adhesive side of the appliqué may be protected by a release liner 10 or other amenable surface receptacle that preserves the attributes of the adhesive such as tackiness and stickiness.
[0060] FIG. 9 shows a rear view of the nonstandard eyewear frame face front appliqué 1 with protective frame face front release liner 4 folded buck to expose the backside of the unique frame face front appliqué 1 covered in adhesive (not shown). In use, the user will remove the frame face front appliqué 1 from the frame face front release liner 4 to expose the adhesive attached to the back of appliqué. In this view, the appliqué 13 is folded to expose the adhesive on the back side of the appliqué. The frame face front appliqué release liner 4 is opposite the adhesive to protect the adhesive until the user removes the protective frame face front appliqué release liner 4 prior to applying the frame face front appliqué 1 to the frame face front to alter the appearance of the frame.
[0061] FIG. 10 shows an overview of the eyewear appliqué application and method of generating the appliqués. The present invention describes two methods to generate and produce appliqués: by using data derived from a 3D scan file or using data derived from 2D images manually entered by a user. The present appliqué application stores a varied collection or library of appliqués compatible with various brands, sizes and styles of frames available in the marketplace. These appliqués are collected in the library via frame scan files for appliqués generated from user eyewear scans or user uploads as well as directly from eyewear manufacturers, who may share their CAD data files for their frames in distribution deals with the creators of the appliqué application. Appliqué files may also be generated by artificial intelligence. After a user accesses the appliqué application, the user would input the brand, size and style of their desired frame into the appliqué application. (10.A) The brand, sire and style of frame is cross-referenced with the existing appliqués within the appliqué library. (10.B) However, if the appliqué application locates a frame brand, size and style match for a particular user already stored within the appliqué library (10.C2). then that user would forego the scanning process and move ahead to selection of specific appliqué design and cosmetic elements such as color, texture, shape and material. (10.II) If there is no pre-stored match for the user's desired brand, size and style of frame in the appliqué library of the appliqué application. (10.C1) then the user would need to input their frame specifications into the appliqué application via a digital representation of the desired frames. (10.D) The user would first scan their chosen eyewear or eyeglasses frame using a three-dimensional (3D) scanner, 3D camera, 3D enabled-enabled smartphone application, or high-resolution camera (10.D) creating either a two-dimensional or three-dimensional frame scan file with the captured data (“frame surface rendering”). (10.E) This frame scan file or frame surface rendering would be saved and processed within that user's profile in the appliqué application. (10.E)
[0062] If the user inputs a three-dimensional file, the appliqué application would process the frame scan file to derive/determine the surface specifications of the frame into a format readable by CAD (computer aided design). (10.1) The surface specification data of the frame is then imported into a CAD system to create an outline of the frame surface (10.F), which is used to create a vector appliqué file. (10.G) If the user instead inputs two-dimensional image(s), the appliqué application would instead use graphic design software to create an outline of the frame surface to create the vector appliqué file (10.F). The resulting appliqué file is then exported to the STL file format (STL is an acronym for stereolithography, a file format native to STL CAD software from 3D Systems) or a similar file type, to be read by the manufacturing machine. (10.G) which creates an outline of the frame surface, which directs the manufacturing machine to cut or build material, depending on machine, along the outline of the frame surface or produce an injection mold or three-dimensional print. STL files describe only the surface geometry of a 3D object without representation of the user's personalization data such as color, texture, or other common CAI) attributes. (10.II)
[0063] Once the user selects the custom elements for the desired appliqué, such as color, texture, shape, material, along with a host of other design elements (10.II), the adhesive backed material will be created according to the specifications indicated by the vector file (10.1). The manufacturing machine may be a laser cutter, die cutter, water jet cutter, flash cutter, plotter or other similar cutting mechanism, other subtractive manufacturing machine or an additive manufacturing machine such as a 3-D printer or injection molding machine (10.I), which is used by the appliqué application to generate the appliqué from adhesive backed vinyl or some other amenable material. Once the appliqué has been created by the appliqué application, the newly generated appliqué may be hand embellished as needed (10.J) after which fulfillment (10.K) of the order may take place via shipping, customer pickup, delivery, or in-house production if the customer has the required machinery and appliqué application in their possession.
[0064] FIG. 11 shows multiple frame face front appliqués 1 placed on a release liner 10 sheet. Alternatively multiple appliqués may also be stored on a release liner 10 sheet, which facilitates storage for later use, instead of release liners shaped in the style of the individual component of the eyeglass frame (face front or temple). An appliqué may be removed from the release liner sheet, worn on an eyeglass frame for a period of time, removed from the eyeglass frame and placed on the release liner sheet for future use. The release liner sheet preserves the integrity and stickiness of the adhesive solution on the rear surface of the appliqué.
[0065] FIG. 12 shows the frame face front appliqué 1 on first release liner 10 sheet and left temple appliqué 2 with right temple appliqué 3 on a second release liner 10 sheet. Different types of appliqués may also be stored on individual release liner sheets. Users may mix and match designs or colors for frame face fronts and frame temples. The appliqués may be removed from the liner, attached to a portion of an eyeglass frame, removed from the eyeglass frame, reattached to the release liner and stored for use at a future date. The adhesive on the rear surface of the appliqué maintains its stickiness for future use of the same appliqué.
[0066] Other technical features may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the above-described figures and descriptions.
