Abstract
Disclosed herein is a coupler to be connected to a face mask of the kind having a pair of lenses surrounded by a frame. The face mask is worn by a user (e.g., a swimmer or an underwater diver) so that an appliance (e.g., a light source or a camera) can be attached to the coupler and carried by the face mask to allow the user's hands to remain free. The coupler includes an upstanding attachment leg detachably connected to the frame of the face mask and an appliance support that is joined to the top of the attachment leg. The appliance support of the coupler is held up by the attachment leg of the coupler so as to be accessible above the frame of the face mask. The appliance is attached to the appliance support of the coupler by a removable appliance fastener that extends therethrough.
Claims
1. A combination comprising: a face mask to be worn against the face of a user, said face mask including a frame having a pair of lenses located at opposite sides thereof to cover the eyes of the user and a bridge extending between the pair of lenses; an appliance to be attached to and carried by the face mask; and a coupler by which to connect the appliance to the face mask, said coupler including an attachment leg to be connected to the face mask and an appliance support joined to said attachment leg, said appliance being attached to said coupler at said appliance support.
2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the attachment leg of said coupler is connected to the frame of the face mask at the bridge thereof such that the appliance support of said coupler is held up by said attachment leg so as to lie above said frame.
3. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein the bridge of the frame of the face mask has a recess formed therein such that the attachment leg of said coupler is received within said recess.
4. The combination recited in claim 3, further comprising a coupler fastener receiving hole formed in the attachment leg of said coupler, a mounting hole formed in said bridge at the recess thereof, and a coupler fastener extending through each of said coupler fastener receiving hole and said mounting hole such that said attachment leg is held within said recess and said coupler is thereby connected to the frame of the face mask at said bridge.
5. The combination recited in claim 4, wherein said coupler fastener is removable from each of said mounting hole and said coupler fastener receiving hole such that the attachment leg of said coupler is removed from the recess formed in said bridge and said coupler is detached from the frame and separated from the face mask.
6. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein said coupler has a top, a bottom and a pair of sides, said coupler also including a pair of wings extending outwardly and in opposite directions from said pair of sides to lay on top of the frame of said face mask to prevent said coupler from rocking back and forth on the frame.
7. The combination recited in claim 1, further comprising an appliance fastener extending through each of the appliance support of said coupler and said appliance in order to attach said appliance to said coupler so that said appliance is carried by said face mask.
8. The combination recited in claim 7, wherein the appliance support of said coupler has at least first and second support portions that are aligned side-by-side and separated from one another by a space, and said appliance has at least one coupling tab projecting therefrom and being sized for receipt within the space between the first and second support portions of said appliance support, said appliance fastener extending through the first and second support portions of said coupler and the coupling tab of said appliance to attach said appliance to said coupler.
9. The combination recited in claim 8, wherein said appliance fastener is removable from each of the at least one coupling tab of said appliance and the first and second support portions of the appliance support of said coupler such that said appliance is detachable from said coupler.
10. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein said appliance to be attached to and carried by said face mask is a light source.
11. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein said appliance to be attached to and carried by said face mask is a camera.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 shows a face mask ready to be worn against the face of a user with an appliance mated to a coupler that is detachably connected to the face mask so that the appliance is carried by the face mask;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the face mask shown in FIG. 1 with the appliance positioned to be moved into mating engagement with the coupler so as to be carried by the face mask;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a front view showing the face mask of FIG. 1 with the coupler detachably connected thereto;
[0010] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the coupler which forms the present invention detached from the face mask;
[0011] FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of the coupler shown in FIG. 4; and
[0012] FIG. 6 shows the face mask of FIG. 1 with the coupler detached from the face mask so that the appliance to be mated to the coupler can be correspondingly removed from the face mask.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Referring concurrently to FIGS. 1-6 of the drawings, there is shown a face mask 1 to which the coupler 10 which forms the present invention is detachably connected. According to a preferred embodiment, the mask 1 is of the kind that will be worn by a swimmer or an underwater diver. In this regard, FIG. 1 shows the mask 1 with the coupler 10 connected thereto and ready to be worn by such a swimmer or diver to shield the wearer's eyes from the water. In this case, the mask 1 will be held against the face of the wearer by a strap 3 and a flexible band 4 (best shown in FIG. 3) that surrounds the back of the wearer's head. The mask 1 has a frame 5 by which a pair of protective lenses 6 that are located at opposite sides of a bridge 7 are positioned so as to cover the wearer's eyes. A flexible water-tight seal 8 extends continuously from the top of the mask 1 above the pair of lenses 6 at which to press against the wearer's forehead to the bottom of the mask below the lenses 6 at which to press against the wearer's upper lip. A nose pocket 9 within which the wearer's nose is received protrudes outwardly from the water-tight seal 8 between the pair of lenses 6.
[0014] Although the face mask 1 to which the coupler 10 is detachably connected has been described above as having particular application to be worn by a swimmer or an underwater diver, this application should not be considered a limitation of this invention. That is, and for the reason to be described hereinafter, the mask 1 can also be worn, for example, by one walking through a smoky or dusty environment and/or an environment in which natural or electrical lighting is not readily available, such as a cave or an abandoned structure.
[0015] As shown in FIG. 4, the aforementioned coupler 10 includes an upstanding attachment leg 12 and a (e.g. cylindrical) appliance support 14. The appliance support 14 is best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 having a plurality of (e.g., three) appliance retaining rings 16, 17 and 8 that are joined to one another at the top of the attachment leg 12 of coupler 10. The appliance retaining rings 16-18 are held side-by-side and in spaced parallel alignment. The widths of the retaining rings are shown with one ring 16 having a thickness that is greater than the others 17 and 18 so as to be able to accommodate the wide head of an incoming appliance fastener. A pair of wings 20 extend outwardly and in opposite directions from the coupler 10 at the intersection of the attachment leg 12 with the appliance support 14. A coupler fastener receiving hole 22 runs through the attachment leg 12, and an appliance fastener receiving hole 24 runs longitudinally through each of the plurality of appliance retaining rings 16-18 of the appliance support 14.
[0016] The coupler 10 is detachably connected to the face mask 1 by first laying the attachment leg 12 of the coupler within a recess (designated 46 in FIG. 6) that is formed in the bridge 7 of the frame 5. A coupler fastener 26 (best shown in FIGS. 4 and 6) is then moved through each of the fastener receiving hole 22 that is formed in the attachment leg 12 and a mounting hole (designated 48 in FIG. 6) that is formed in the bridge 7 of mask 1 and axially aligned with the fastener receiving hole 22. Both the fastener 26 and the mounting hole 48 of the bridge 7 in which fastener 26 is received may be threaded to enable fastener 26 to be tightened so that the attachment leg 12 of coupler 10 is held within the recess 46 and flush against the bridge 7 of the frame 5 of mask 1.
[0017] At the same time that the upstanding attachment leg 12 of the coupler 10 is connected to the bridge 7 of the face mask 1 as just described, the pair of wings 20 which extend outwardly from opposite sides of coupler 10 are seated against the top of the frame 5 above respective ones of the pair of lenses 6. Each wing 20 preferably has a U-shape so as to surround and embrace that portion of the frame 5 on which it is seated. The U-shaped wings 20 stabilize the coupler 10 carried by the frame 5 of the mask 1 and prevent the coupler from rocking back and forth at the coupler fastener 26 in response to any rotational forces that may be applied to the appliance support 14 of the coupler.
[0018] With the coupler 10 detachably connected to the face mask 1 by means of the coupler fastener 26 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the appliance support 14 of the coupler is held up by the attachment leg 12 so as to stand above the top of the frame 5 and between the lenses 6 thereof. The appliance support 14 is thusly accessibly to be mated to an appliance 30 such as a lamp or a similar source of light. To this end, an appliance fastener 32 (best shown in FIG. 4) can be moved through the appliance fastener receiving hole 24 that is formed in the appliance retaining rings 16-18 of the appliance support 14. Both of the appliance fastener receiving hole 24 and the appliance fastener 32 to be received therein ideally have a (e.g., hexagonal) shape to prevent the appliance fastener from rotating within the fastener receiving hole in order to correspondingly prevent a rotation of the appliance 30 out of its intended position. An end cap (designated 50 in FIG. 1) is attached to the protruding end of the appliance fastener 32 to prevent an unintended removal thereof.
[0019] FIG. 1 shows the face mask 1 being worn by a user with the coupler 10 detachably connected to the mask frame 5 and the appliance 30 attached to the coupler to be carried by the mask. When the appliance 30 is not needed or the mask 1 is not being worn, and as is best shown in FIG. 6, the coupler 10 may be detached from the mask by removing the coupler fastener 26 from each of the coupler fastener receiving hole 22 of the attachment leg 12 and the mounting hole 48 formed in the bridge 7 of the frame 5. The attachment leg 12 of the coupler 10 is then removed from the recess 46 in the bridge 7 so that the appliance 30 can be separated from the face mask.
[0020] The appliance 30 that is shown in FIG. 1 and mated to the appliance support 14 of the coupler 10 to be carried by the face mask 1 may be, for example, a commercially available, lightweight battery powered light source. In this case, by virtue of being able to mount a light source on the face mask 1 by means of the herein disclosed coupler 10, the wearer of the mask will be advantageously provided with a supply of light to see his whereabouts while having both hands free to swim, dive or perform other tasks whether in or out of the water. In the alternative, the appliance 30 may be a lightweight portable camera to allow the wearer of the mask to take photographs of his surroundings.
[0021] The particular application of the appliance 30 to be coupled to the face mask 1 should not be regarded as a limitation of this invention. Nevertheless, the casing 34 of the appliance 30 shown in FIG. 2 is ideally manufactured to have a pair of coupling tabs 36 and 38 projecting downwardly therefrom. The coupling tabs 36 and 38 are sized to fit in respective spaces (designated 40 in FIGS. 4 and 5) located between each pair of the appliance retaining rings 16, 17 and 17, 18 of the appliance support 14 of the coupler 10. The appliance fastener 32 that is removably received within the appliance fastener receiving hole 24 that runs longitudinally through the appliance support 14 is also received through axially aligned holes formed in the coupling tabs 36 and 38 and designated 42 in FIG. 2, whereby to hold the tabs in place within the spaces 40 and thereby attach the appliance 30 to the appliance support 14 above the face mask 1 to provide the wearer of the mask with the aforementioned hands free advantage.
[0022] FIGS. 1-6 of the drawings show a coupler 10 to be detachably connected to one example of a face mask 1 so that an appliance 30 may be mated to the coupler and carried with the mask. Another example of a face mask to which the coupler of this invention may be detachably connected is goggles (not shown) also having a frame that surrounds a pair of protective lenses and a bridge at which the coupler can be removably attached and which extends between the lenses to connect one lens to the other.
