Optics: eye examining – vision testing and correcting – Eye examining or testing instrument – Subjective type
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-16
2003-10-21
Manuel, George (Department: 3737)
Optics: eye examining, vision testing and correcting
Eye examining or testing instrument
Subjective type
Reexamination Certificate
active
06634754
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an eyeglass frame selecting system in which a selected eyeglass frame image and an eyeglass lens image are overlapped and synthesized with a customer's facial image.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As this kind of eyeglass frame selecting system, for example, there is an eyeglass making apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 61-80222, an eyeglasses wearing simulation equipment disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 63-76581, or an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. Sho 62-306998.
In the above-mentioned eyeglass frame selecting system, a plurality of eyeglass frame images are recorded in a recording means, the recorded eyeglass frame images are successively called out to be displayed on a displaying screen, and at the same time, the called eyeglass frame images are synthesized with the customer's facial image photographed by a television camera to be displayed, thereby, the customer can look at the state when wearing the eyeglass frame on the displaying screen, though the customer does not wear the selected eyeglass frame actually.
However, in case of shortsightedness, a concave lens is used as the eyeglass lens, and in case of long-sightedness, a convex lens is used as the eyeglass lens. And, the customer's eye size viewed through the eyeglass lens is different from the customer's actual eye size. For example, the customer's eye size viewed through the concave lens seems to be smaller than the actual size, and the customer's eye size viewed through the convex lens seems to be larger than the actual size.
In this phenomenon, if the shortsightedness or the long-sightedness degree of the customer is small, the customer's eye size viewed through the eyeglass lens is almost the same as the actual size.
However, if the shortsightedness or the long-sightedness degree of the customer is large, the spherical diopter or the cylindrical diopter of the eyeglass lens prescribed based on the refraction property of the objective eye becomes high. When the eyeglass lenses made based on this prescription value (the eyeglasses prescription value, that is, the lens prescription value) are inserted to the eyeglass frame and the customer wears the eyeglass frame, the customer's eye size viewed through the eyeglass lens seems to be different from the customer's actual eye size.
However, since the above-mentioned eyeglass frame selecting system simply synthesizes the eyeglass frame image with the customer's facial image without considering the refraction property of the eyeglass lens, the eye image size synthesized with the eyeglass lens image is different from that of the eye image viewed through the actual eyeglass lens.
Accordingly, in case where the eyeglass lenses based on the actual prescription value are inserted to the eyeglass frame selected by the above-mentioned eyeglass frame selecting system and the customer wears the eyeglass frame to which the eyeglass lenses are inserted, the relationship between the customer's eye size viewed through the eyeglass lens and the appearance of eyeglass frame is very different from the relationship between the eye size and the eyeglass frame selected by the eyeglass frame selecting system.
As the result, when the customer wears the eyeglass frame which is selected by the eyeglass frame selecting system and is attached with the actual eyeglass lenses, the customer may express a complaint because the appearance is different from an image of the eyeglass frame image when the eyeglass frame is selected.
In addition, the edge thickness varies according to the material of the eyeglass lens, though the lens prescription value is equal. Namely, when the lens prescription value is equal, the edge thickness of the eyeglass lens becomes thin in the order of the material of low refraction, middle refraction, and high refraction. However, the eyeglass lens becomes expensive in the order of the material of the low refraction, the middle refraction, and the high refraction.
In addition, in case where the refraction degree of the eyeglass lens is high, since the edge thickness becomes very thick in a glass lens or low refractive lens, the edge of the eyeglass lens is too protruded from the lens frame (rim) of the eyeglass frame in the forward or backward direction when the eyeglass lenses are inserted to the eyeglass frame, and thus, the appearance becomes deteriorated
Accordingly, in case where the customer selects the eyeglass lens, the customer must consider the relationship between the price and the edge thickness.
However, the above-mentioned eyeglass frame selecting system simply synthesizes the eyeglass frame image with the customer's facial image to select the eyeglass frame only from the synthesized picture without considering the edge thickness of the actual eyeglass lens based on the lens prescription value.
As the result, the material of the eyeglass lens is selected without recognizing the relationship between the edge thickness of the eyeglass lens and the eyeglass frame to which the actual eyeglass lenses are inserted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide an eyeglass frame selecting system in which the eyeglass lens picture can be synthesized with the eyeglass frame image and the customer's facial image so that the effect for the eyeglass lens based on the lens prescription value of the customer can be known.
In order to accomplish the object of the present invention, in an eyeglass frame selecting system comprising an eyeglass frame inputting means for inputting a plurality of eyeglass frame images including the eyeglass frame of a rimless frame, an eyeglass frame recording means for recording a plurality of eyeglass frame images inputted by said eyeglass frame inputting means, a photographing means for photographing the customer's facial image, a display means for displaying said facial image photographed by said photographing means, a frame picture selecting means for selecting one of the plurality of eyeglass frame images recorded in said eyeglass frame recording means, and a picture synthesizing means for synthesizing the eyeglass frame image selected by said frame picture selecting means with the facial image displayed on said display means, the eyeglass frame selecting system of the present invention comprises a data inputting means for inputting a lens prescription value of the eyeglass lens based on the refraction property of said customer's objective eye, an operation control means for obtaining the sizes of the facial image and the eyeglass lens image of the lens prescription value inputted by said data inputting means, synthesizing the eyeglass lens image and the facial image having the obtained sizes with said eyeglass frame image through said picture synthesizing means so as to display the synthesized image on said display means.
Also, said picture synthesizing means may be set so that an eye image having the eye size viewed through the eyeglass lens of said lens prescription value data in said facial image is synthesized in the eyeglass lens image of said eyeglass frame to display the synthesized image on said display means.
Further, said picture synthesizing means may be set so that the lateral image of the eyeglass lens obtained from said lens prescription value data and the lens mold contour data are synthesized with a lateral facial image as said facial image together with said eyeglass frame image and the eyeglass lens image to display the synthesized image on said display means.
In addition, said operation control means may obtain said lens mold contour data by an operation from the size and contour of the eyeglass frame displayed on the display means and the display magnification thereof.
In case where said operation control means may obtain the lateral image of the eyeglass lens from the lens mold contour data inputted by a lens mold contour measuring device and said lens prescription
Fukuma Yasufumi
Kato Takeyuki
Chapman and Cutler
Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon
Manuel George
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