Oh, patents! Altina Schinasi design for a spectacle frame

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The search for Altina Schinasi spectacle frame designs returned one additional US design patent. The US design patent USD135510S, titled Design for  a spectacle frame, was granted on April 20, 1943. The patent was granted to Altina Sanders, also known by her maiden name as Altina Schinasi. 

The patent Figure 1 depicts a front view of the spectacle frame, showing the Schinasi design. As a reminder, a design patent covers the ornamental aspects of an invention, or how an invention looks. In contrast, a US utility patent covers the functional aspects of an invention, or how the invention works, and/or is fabricated.  Per the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)  Manual of Patent Examination Procedure (MPEP):

 “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]].

Reference

USPTO MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent.
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Oh, patents! Altina Schinasi curved and angular eyeglass frame design

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The below patent Figure 1 was extracted from USD134418S, titled Design for a pair of spectacles. A US design patent awarded to Altina Sanders, also known by her maiden name as Altina Schinasi. The patent was granted on  November 24, 1942.

The patent Figure 1 depicts a perspective view of the Schinasi spectacle frame design. A frame designed with an angled upper portion and a curved lower portion. A design in stark contrast to the prevalent round spectacle frames of the first half of the 20^th century.  

Reference

Altina Schinasi, The Harlem Girl Who Knew Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Salvador Dali And Invented Cat-Eye Glasses. Harlem World Magazine

https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/altina-schinasi-the-harlem-girl-who-knew-martin-luther-king-rosa-parks-salvador-dali-and-invented-cat-eye-glasses/

Oh, patents! Hexogonal Altina Schinasi eyeglass frame design

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Altina Schinasi designed several other spectacle frames, beyond the enduring cat-eye spectacle frame. The below hexagonal Schinasi spectacle frame was granted a US design patent on August 4, 1942. The hexagonal Schinasi design also accessorized the traditionally round-spectacle frame design that dominated the optometric market of the first half of the 20^th century. 

The US design patent, USD133263, titled Pair of spectacles, was granted to Altina Sanders, also known by her maiden name, Altina Schinasi. Below, the patent Figure 1, showing a perspective view of the hexagonal Altina Schinasi spectacle frame design. 

 Reference

Altina Schinasi 1924 (1907-1999)

https://library.danahall.org/archives/danapedia/alumnae/altina-schinasi-1924-1907-1999/ 

Oh, patents! Altina Schinasi cat-eye spectacle frames

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

On Aug. 4, 2023, the Google splash page Doodle was designed to celebrate the 116th birthday of Altina Schinasi. Altina Schinasi was the 1930s inventor of the cat-eye-shaped, spectacle frame design for women, also called Harlequin eyeglass frames. Harlequin because their shape was inspired by the mystery and romance of Venice Carnaval Harlequin masks. 

Altina Schinasi, a trained artist, with Sephardic roots in Turkey and Greece, lived and worked in New York City, initially as a window-display designer for Fifth Avenue stores in Manhattan. Thus, the ingenuity of her cat-eye spectacle frame invention is said to have also stemmed from having noticed, in optician window displays, that eyeglass frames for women were all boringly round.

Altina Schinasi was married in 1928 first to a renowned architect called Morris B. Sanders, whose name she took to publish all her patented designs. The following are two US design patents that were granted to Altina Sanders, aka Altina Schinasi, specifically for the Altina Schinasi cat-eye-shaped spectacle frames.

• USD113882S, titled Design for a spectacle frame, awarded March 21, 1939
• USD118391, titled Spectacle frame, awarded January 2, 1940

Altina Schinasi brought her spectacle design invention to market, securing contracts with department stores and setting up a production and distribution office. Eventually, Schinasi also expanded her spectacle frame production company to the West Coast, when she moved to Los Angeles, where she lived for 17 years. 

Schinasi's cat-eye-shaped spectacle frame design was by far her most successful design, and is still in vogue to date. In the 1940s, such famous people as Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn wore her cat-eye-shaped spectacles. Schinasi was also the recipient of the Lord & Taylor American Design Award in 1939, for having transformed eye-glass frames for women into a fashion accessory. 

Below, the patent Figures 1, extracted respectively from each of the two cat-eye-shaped spectacle patents, as well as the vibrant Google Doodle celebratory cat-eye-shaped spectacle frame design, which brought Schinasi back into the limelight.

Google Doodle - August 4th 2023

USD118391

USD113882S

References

Google Doodle (August 4, 2023)

https://g.co/doodle/a2jnf27

Google Doodles

https://www.google.com/doodles 

Doodle 4 Google Archive: Altina Schinasi’s 116^th birthday

http://www.google.com/doodles/altina-schinasis-116th-birthday 

Gergely, J. (Aug, 4, 2023). Google Doodle celebrates the Jewish designer of cat-eye glasses, Altina Schinasi. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 

https://www.jta.org/2023/08/04/ny/google-doodle-celebrates-the-jewish-designer-of-cat-eye-glasses-altina-schinasi  

Oh, patents! Child Vision™ Project variable focus lenses

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The dearth of medical specialists in Third World countries is well documented (e.g.; at the WHO and the World Bank). For example, considering the ratio of 1:2 million optometrists per capita, in countries like Mali, it is estimated that an optometry appointment would take up to 200 years. In response to this crisis, the Child Vision™ Project, an Oxford University spin-off, distributes Harry Potter-looking spectacles with patented, fluid-filled and self-adjustable lenses, to youth 12 to 18 years in Third World countries, for less than one Euro ($1) per pair. 

The spectacles are equipped with a small wheel, on the temple of the frame. Adjusting the wheel, one way, pushes the fluid contained in a chamber between two plastic lenses outwards, creating convex plus lenses for longsighted people. Adjusting the wheel the other way, pushes the fluid inwards, creating concave minus lenses for shortsighted people.

Masterminded by physics Professor Joshua David Silver, at Oxford University in the UK, the many aspects of this invention are recited in several patent families. One member of the patent families is the US utility patent US7085065, titled Variable focus optical apparatus.

US7085065 recites a variable focus lens apparatus, suitable for spectacles, comprising a rigid lens and a flexible lens, forming a sealed chamber, wherein both lenses are secured with adhesive between two engaging rings, connected to the lens frame. The recited invention differs from the prior art of variable focus lenses, in that only one of the lenses is flexible, and the rings securing the two lenses do not have to be made of ductile material, even though they still have to be light and resistant enough for use in spectacles. This inventive aspect of the variable focus lens apparatus expands the range of possible materials used, while reducing the costs of production. The variable focus lens apparatus, thus designed for spectacles, is also suitable for lenses that are not necessarily circular. In this case, some cylindrical compensation for astigmatic errors, introduced in non-circular lenses, is carried over to the rigid lens.

Below, the abstract of this invention together with the patent Figure 2, depicting a cross-sectional view of a first preferred embodiment of the variable focus lens apparatus, suitable for spectacles. Specifically, the patent Figure 2 drawing shows the variable focus lens apparatus 10, comprising a rigid lens 22, and a flexible lens 16, forming the sealed cavity, in which clear fluid will be injected. The rigid lens 22 is secured with adhesive 24 to the rings 12 and 14. The flexible lens 16 is stretched tightly between the engaging rings 12 and 14, at the step point 18 on ring 12, and recessed point 20 on ring 14, as indexed on the right side of the apparatus, and shown on both sides.

A variable focus lens apparatus for use in spectacles or the like is formed from a fluid envelope comprising two sheets, at least one of which is flexible. The flexible sheet is retained in place between two rings, which are directly secured together. This may be by means of adhesive, ultrasonic welding, or any similar process. If the other sheet is rigid, then it may be directly secured to one of the rings. [Abstract US7085065]

References
Child vision™ Project

http://www.vdwoxford.org/childvision/

World Bank Data

Physicians, hospital beds, surgical specialists, midwives, health care workers  -- per 1000 people

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS

WHO - World Health Report

https://www.who.int/whr/2006/overview/en/

https://www.who.int/whr/2006/overview_fig6_en.pdf?ua=1

Oh, patents! Specs4us

Copyrighted © Françoise Herrmann

Who could better design eyeglasses for children with special needs than a professional optometrist, who happens to be Mom to a child born with Trisomy 21 Syndrome?

Succinctly, this is the story of Specs4Us, of Maria Dellapina, founder of the company and inventor of eyewear for kids with special needs. Indeed, Dellapina has mapped the territory in optometry for kids with special needs, together with her daughter Erin, whose name eponymizes the line of frames.  (Both Dellapina and daughter Erin are shown in the inserted image.) 

Specs4US offers glasses specially designed for children born with Trisomy 21 Syndrome. Trisomy 21 Syndrome, formerly known as Down’s syndrome, is a condition that affects approximately 1 in 1000 live births worldwide, according to the WHO (World Health Organization). Children born with Trisomy 21 Syndrome have an extra 3^rd chromosome in position No. 21. This means that every cell in the person’s body has an extra chromosome. An extra 3rd chromosome, which in turn creates a vast array of symptoms and conditions, most of which are extensively described in the literature connected to this syndrome.

Among the vast array of symptoms and conditions of this syndrome, 87% of Trisomy 21 children need glasses. A condition compounded by the fact that Trisomy 21, also affects facial features relevant to the design of eyewear. Thus, Dellapina's invention addresses the problem of conventional eye frame design, which uses a single model of facial features, termed “normal Caucasian”, to inform the design of eyewear. In response, Dellapina takes into consideration those specific features of Trisomy 21 identified, such as a low set nose, closer pupillary distance (PD), wider distance between temples, shorter distance to ears, which together prevent a Trisomy 21 child from correctly seeing through the optical center of regular lenses. The resulting informed design of Erin’s World frames enables a Trisomy 21 child to see normally through the optical center of lenses, mounted on a frame with a lowered bridge that contacts the child’s nose, including lowered and shortened arms for a perfect fit.

Incidentally, in designing primarily for children with special needs, in response to the “normal Caucasian model”, the scope of this invention actually lays claim far beyond. The invention is claimed for all children and adults, for example Asian or African, or of Asian or African descent, who might otherwise, for varying reasons, fail to fit the single model of facial features, informing the prior art of eyewear design.

The Specs4US invention is recited in US20090310080A1 titled Eyeglass frames for people with special needs. 

Included below, the abstract of this invention, together with a figure drawing, extracted from the patent. The figure drawing shows some of the aspects of the invention eyewear. For example, the patent drawing shows extensions (13) to accommodate the wider temple to temple distance, pivoting nose pads (7) that sit on the user's nose to prevent the glasses from slipping, and the bridge (5) of the frame, positioned at a distance (P) on the lenses that is half the height of the lenses (B). The bridge (5) position (P) is much lower than for regular eyewear. It enables a user, with a lower set nose to see correctly through the optical center (OC) of the lenses, instead of incorrectly through the upper portion. 

Eyeglass frames for people with Down syndrome, for others having facial characteristics similar to those with Down syndrome, and those with a depressed nasal bridge or a low nasal bridge, the eyeglass frames having a bridge lower than the normal higher placed bridge and in general aligmnent with the optical center of lenses mounted in the lens frames, extensions to widen the temple distance to accommodate the broader temples of people having Down syndrome or facial characteristics similar to those with Down syndrome, lower temples to maintain the general alignment of the location of the optical center with the pupils of the person wearing the eyeglass frames; and shorter temples than temples for normal caucasians to accommodate the ears as located on persons with normal facial features. [Abstract US20090310080A1]

Maria Dellapina was named Toyota Mother of Invention in 2016 for her Specs4US invention. An invention, which stands for Superior Precision Eyewear for Children who are Special.

References

Specs4Us

https://www.specs4us.com/

Toyota Mothers of Invention – Maras Dellapina

http://toyotamoi.com/portfolio/marina-dellapina-specs4us/

WHO – Genes and human disease: Genes and Chromosonal diseases http://www.who.int/genomics/public/geneticdiseases/en/index1.html