Summary of ALvention
When using power tools it is often necessary to wear not only safety glasses but hearing protection. The following ALvention helps a user keep their safety glasses and hearing protection handy at all times.

Product Description
When using power tools it is often necessary to wear not only safety glasses but hearing protection. Often one has difficulty locating both safety devices and does the work without them. This invention integrates earplugs into a lanyard that can be attached to existing safety glasses. When the ear plugs are not in use, the plugs are encapsulated in a plastic container to keep them clean and dry. The encapsulation completes the lanyard which is then available to hold the glasses around the users neck.

Here the lanyard is shown in the closed position. It can be draped over the users neck to keep the safety glasses handy.

When the case is opened, the ear plugs can be removed and inserted in the ears for hearing protection.

Current Solutions
The current solution to this problem is to use a separate eyeglasses strap (which is readily available) and either ear plug or ear muff type hearing protectors (also readily available). A product that integrates the utility of an eyeglass strap AND hearing protection is not currently available.

Job Identification and Market Appeal
It is estimated that there are about 75 million pairs of safety glasses sold each year in the United States alone (Reference 1). The largest provider of safety eyewear and hearing protection (Aearo Technologies - now owned by 3M) listed sales in excess of $500M for 2006. (Reference 2) The ability to integrate hearing protection with eye protection is a need currently not being served by the market.

Competition
Current research shows that there is no product that directly competes with this ALvention. The closest product that turned up during a patent search was an integrated hearing protection/eyeglass device that DOES NOT allow for the strap to be used as a lanyard and DOES NOT provide clean storage for the ear plugs. (Reference 3)

Suggested Distribution
Retail sales via large home retailers (Home Depot, Lowes) and hardware stores (True Value, etc.). This product could also be sold via catalog/website distribution and could be a product extension to the sales of safety glasses.

Intellectual Property
A patent search yielded limited prior art that interferes with obtaining a utility patent for this ALvention. The most prominent prior art is US Patent # 630211 described above. Provisional patent application # 60/977,191 was filed in October of 2007 and a full utility patent application will be filed in early 2008.

Stage of Development
Prototypes completed. Offshore sourcing started.

Estimated Price/Cost

Product Extensions
Extensions to this product line could be eyeglass cases and eyeglass cleaning supplies.

References
(Reference 1) http://shopspecs.com/
(Reference 2) http://seekingalpha.com/article/54360-3m-enhances-personal-protection-gear-with-1-2b-aearo-acquisition
(Reference 3) http://www.google.com/patents?id=aoAHAAAAEBAJ&dq=6302111