Apparel – Guard or protector – For wearer's head
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-17
2001-08-21
Calvert, John J. (Department: 3741)
Apparel
Guard or protector
For wearer's head
C002S015000, C351S045000, C600S027000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06275998
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to vision occluding devices, such as eye shields or blinders, which are worn on a person's head and are to used to block out or reduce a portion of the normal field of vision. More particularly, the invention relates to such devices which are primarily concerned with occluding peripheral vision. Even more particularly, the invention is related to such devices which also occlude all of the peripheral field of vision and most or all of the superior field of vision while allowing for unobstructed vision over all or most of the inferior field of vision.
Many persons suffer from nausea or queasiness while riding as passengers in a moving vehicle, a condition often referred to as motion or car sickness. Motion sickness is usually intensified when the passenger attempts to read or concentrate on objects within the interior of the vehicle, and it has been estimated that up to 40 percent of passengers who read in a moving vehicle experience some degree of discomfort. Motion sickness is primarily caused by the mixed messages being sent to the brain from the sensory system—the body seems to be at rest yet the inner ear detects some forward motion and objects pass by in the peripheral field of vision. Treatment includes the use of drugs such as Bonine or Dramamine, herbal remedies or acupressure devices, all of dubious efficacy. The typical recommendation is to focus out the front window while turning away from or shielding the vision to the side windows coupled with an admonishment not to read. Researchers theorize that blocking out one of the conflicting sensory messages will greatly reduce the likelihood of motion sickness. Since the actual body motion is restrained due to the confinement of the passenger compartment and since the actual forward motion sensed by the inner ear will be present as long as the vehicle is in motion, it is the visual sensory problem that must be addressed.
Various occluding devices are known, although none of the prior known devices are fully suitable for solving the problem of passenger motion sickness. Some devices are translucent, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,047 to Badewitz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,119 to Taupin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,022 to Gilson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,673 to Gilson et al., and are mainly directed at reducing glare from incidental or ambient lighting and from the headlights of approaching vehicles, or to simulate varying degrees of visibility in flight training. Other devices are opaque and block out all light transmission and vision through the opaque sections, such as sown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,566 to Kislin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,224 to Terrasi and U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,534 to Gill—the first two patents having lower edges of specific shape in order to match the configuration of an aircraft instrument panel cowl for training purposes and the latter patent showing an awkward rectilinear configuration having forward telescoping segments to define an elongated tunnel. None of these configurations are suitable for solving the problems of passenger vehicle motion sickness.
It is an object of this invention to provide a vision occluding device or eye shield which solves the visual sensory problem when a passenger is riding in a vehicle, and which is especially useful when the passenger desires to read, write or perform another focused activity in the vehicle, where the device completely occludes the peripheral field of vision such that the wearer is not visually aware of the blurred objects passing through the peripheral field of vision. The device allows the wearer to view objects in the forward field of vision but blocks out all or a significant portion of the superior field of vision above the mid sight line, thereby allowing the wearer to have an unobstructed view of all or most of the inferior field of vision for reading while blocking normal sight lines through the side and forward windows of the vehicle. It is a further object to provide such a device which is physically comfortable for the wearer and which minimizes psychological discomfort or what may be called the blinder effect. These and other objects will be clear from the more detailed disclosure below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is in general an eye shield or vision occluding device to be worn by passengers in an automobile or other moving vehicle to block out the field of vision through the side windows and the front window while the wearer is focusing on the interior of the vehicle, and in particular when the wearer is reading a book or magazine, playing portable video games, writing or the like. The eye shield has a means to mount the device on the wearer's head in a secure and stable manner, such as with temple members and a nose bridge to rest the device on the ears and nose of the wearer, or by head straps, means to connect the device to eyeglasses or sunglasses, or incorporation in a hat or the like. The eye shield comprises in general a pair of opaque-to-motion peripheral shield members which block the field of vision to the side and an opaque-to-motion front shield member, angled outwardly downward from the brow line, joined to the peripheral shield members to create a solid occluding device over a lateral range of at least 180 degrees, where the term opaque-to-motion is used to define a condition where passage of light is so restricted that the wearer cannot discern or perceive movement of objects through the shield members. The lower edge of the front shield member is configured to block the major portion of the superior field of vision above the mid sight line, preferably at least approximately the upper 80 degrees, and most preferably to block all of the superior field and at least approximately 20 degrees of the inferior field of vision below the mid sight line, thus defining an unobstructed field of vision suitable for focusing on interior objects yet blocking vision through the windows when the wearer maintains the head in a normal position. The configuration allows the wearer to have limited or no forward vision out the front window with the head maintained in a generally vertical or slightly reclined position, so that the wearer does not to need to remove the device to focus on other objects or to look out of the vehicle by raising or turning the head.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2537768 (1951-01-01), LaPorte
patent: 2946133 (1960-07-01), Williams
patent: 3330051 (1967-07-01), Pambello
patent: 3577566 (1971-05-01), Kislin
patent: 3629870 (1971-12-01), Paisley
patent: 4106119 (1978-08-01), Taupin
patent: 4411263 (1983-10-01), Cook
patent: 4470673 (1984-09-01), Gilson et al.
patent: 4644588 (1987-02-01), Zawacki
patent: 4698022 (1987-10-01), Gilson
patent: 4859047 (1989-08-01), Badewitz
patent: 5100224 (1992-03-01), Terrasi
patent: 5570144 (1996-10-01), Lofgren-Nisser
patent: 5647835 (1997-07-01), Martineau
patent: 5661534 (1997-08-01), Gill
patent: 5715030 (1998-02-01), Quaresima
Calvert John J.
Moran Katherine
Saitta Thomas C.
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