New research and development project for Sover

A company's strength lies in its ability to use technological innovations to make exclusive products. The presence of leather in the eyewear collections created by Sover clearly demonstrates how a material can become an example of Made in Italy excellence.

Sover is one of the eyewear sector's ten leading companies for the production of vision frames and sunglasses. Its consolidated national and international image is attributable to the continual improvement of the technologies it uses to produce eyewear, to the search for new designs, and to its strong and constant predisposition for innovation.

The eyewear sector is going through a phase of deep change driven by the relentless thrust of globalization, especially in terms of the search for increasingly top range solutions that are attractive from the point of view of geometries and that of technological solutions.However, the crisis in the sector as a result of competition from countries in the Far East puts the future under serious pressure if actions oriented toward real product innovation are not taken.

The state of the art in the eyewear sector shows that a huge variety of materials has been used: metal, plastic, wood, bone. This has made it possible to achieve high levels of flexibility with regard to geometries and colors. This flexibility was a synonym for 'made-in-Italy' creativity. Currently, a lull in product innovation has been observed and this project aims to shake it up by introducing leather as a surface decoration and to use all the advantages that this material offers:
• extreme color variety;
• extreme flexibility of the shapes achievable;
• strength over time;
• absolute lack of allergies from contact;
• the Veneto Region's worldwide leadership in the production of skins which therefore facilitates the availability of semi-finished products.

The objective of the research project is to develop a design procedure that will take into consideration the esthetic and functional aspects of frames where leather is integrated with metal and plastic polymers.

To this end, current 3D designs will be analyzed in terms of the production of virtual prototypes that are consistent with the real ones from an esthetics viewpoint. Solid 3D models and the most advanced rendering techniques will be used to create virtual, hyper-realistic samples.
In addition to the research part of the project, attention will be paid to the techniques for adhering the leather to metal and plastic, especially as far as concerns the forecast 2D development required for correctly cutting the leather needed for the semi-finished products that will be joined to the surfaces of the frame's parts:
• circles;
• temples;
• front pieces;
• bridges;
• nose pieces.

Gluing techniques will be analyzed with regard to material and the treatments required to guarantee the reliability of the gluing.