Friday, April 7, 2017

Motorcycle "Fast Glasses" Project Is Dialed In And Completed!

I was happy to find in my mailbox yesterday the smaller Neodymium magnets that I had ordered about a week ago.  I did not expect them for at least another week.  So with a happy grin on my face I got back to work on refining my motorcycle "Fast Glasses".  For those of you who just found this post and have not seen the previous news I had posted about this project I have been working on designing and building an easier way to wear glasses when I ride my motorcycle.  I cannot wear contacts and do not want to get eye surgery but I still wanted and easier way to wear glasses when I had my helmet on.  To put my regular glasses on once my helmet is on is a hassle to say the least and after a couple of hours riding become uncomfortable on top of it all.  So this project was born.   The idea was to design a new set of glasses mounts that hold the glasses to the helmet instead of my face.  Here is the final design.



All of the plastic components for the glasses I designed and made on my 3D printer. The glasses are held into my helmet using Velcro mounting straps and in turn the glasses are held securely into the mounts using very small Neodymium magnets.  The glasses are standard prescription glasses that I had set up for my eyes without any arms on them so that they could be mounted to the side frame mounts using small wire clips that I bent into shape by hand.  These mounts also hold mating Neodymium magnets that allow me to quickly and easily put on or take off the glasses after I have put on my motorcycle helmet.


I went through several different designs of the "Fast Glasses" to get the bugs worked out of them.  On the design previous to the final one I was happy with the mount (shown above on the left) worked but was to thick and caused an effect when driving like having "Blinders" on.  Distracting and not good at all.  I went back to work and refined the mount to use the smaller (1/8" x 1/8" x 1/2") Neodymium magnets which did the trick.  The new mounts (shown above on the right) are only 1/4" thick now and with no "Blinder" effect when wearing them.  The new magnets are also plenty strong as each will hold a pound of weight.  More than enough to hold my glasses in place while cruising down the road.




Here you can see my happy face as I model the new specs with my helmet on.  I worked on a few minor changes to the mounts all day yesterday and finished up with what you see here this morning. The glasses are very comfortable and are solidly mounted inside the helmet now instead of being smashed against my face when I am wearing them with the helmet. It takes me less than a second to put the glasses on or take them off so I've succeeded in accomplishing what I've set out to do.  With no "Blinder Effect" now I'm all set to do some comfortable cruising instead of some uncomfortable cursing as I go down the road. 


3 comments:

  1. Hi Dave, I'm having the same trouble with my glasses and although I've read about cutting the 'ear hugging' part off the arms, your invention seems so much more creative. Would you consider making a set for me and if so how much would you want for them. Or do you already have a site where you sell your products. Grateful for your response. Kind Regards Paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Paul,
      The Fast Glasses that I created and have posted on my site are the only set that I own. I designed and built them for my own use. I have never gone forward to put these into production. The fact that I am retired I simply have not had the time to take that on with everything else that I am in to. That and the fact that I do not want to start another business at this point in my life. As far as making you a set I had to go back to where I got the magnets from online for the glasses. They are neodymium magnets that are quite small that serve this project very well. The cost to get four little magnets in my hands after paying shipping is $9.00. So to make you a set this cost would of course be passed on to you. Then there is the cost of materials, time, and shipping to put a set together for you. I would have to say it would have to be $40 total. This would cover everything. But before you even start you would have to make sure that Velcro will stick to the inside of your helmet as shown in the photos of me wearing my helmet. I have found several manufactures that use a material in their helmets that simply would not work with my glasses because the material used does not stick to Velcro. Secondly I would need the glasses in my hands to mount the magnets directly to the lens frames. This again could cause problems depending on how the arms of your glasses are designed and mounted to the lens frames. My glasses are metal framed. If your glasses do not match up with what I am wearing now then the design to mount the magnets would have to be redesigned to fit your lens frames. A lot to consider for these glasses. Even metal framed glasses are not all the same. I found this out while working out the design that I am now using. I went through at least five different designs before I finally got it working the way I wanted them to. So if I have to redesign the mount again the cost would go up farther depending on the number of hours it would take to get them to work for your glasses. The cost could add up even more which could get crazy. This is another reason why I have never considered going into production for the Fast Glasses. A new design would have to be created that would fit many different lens frames in order to simplify the process. If I still have not turned you off from this idea then please contact me at my email address. Davecc@mediacombb.net Then we can go from there and I will see what I can do for you. Thanks for the comment and question.

      Delete
  2. Hi, I find reading this article a joy. It is extremely helpful and interesting and very much looking forward to reading more of your work.. best-daiquiri-glasses

    ReplyDelete