Optics: eye examining – vision testing and correcting – Spectacles and eyeglasses – Ophthalmic lenses or blanks
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-27
2004-09-07
Sugarman, Scott J. (Department: 2873)
Optics: eye examining, vision testing and correcting
Spectacles and eyeglasses
Ophthalmic lenses or blanks
C351S177000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06786595
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a thin novel prescription lens, which is manufactured flat but is being used arched, curved, concaved, or convexed, and a method which the design is synthesized from its specification.
2. Terms Definition
The term “eyewear” as used herein is defined as any light-transmitting element or elements in front of the eyes.
The term “prescription” as used herein is defined as a specific combination of optical parameters that meets the needs of a particular person in purpose to solve a large variety of treatments and diagnostic problems known to eye specialists, or the required optical function/properties whenever the article is not an ophthalmic lens.
The term “Thieberger-design-lens” as used herein is defined as the novel lens of my Co-Pending PCT Patent “Application “Ophthalmic lens synthesized from its specifications”, date Aug. 31, 1998 Number PCT/IL98/00420, incorporated herein by reference.
The term “flat-Thieberger-design-lens” as used herein is defined as the novel thin lens of this invention.
The term “arched” as used herein is defined as any curved shape which can be made by folding or curving a flat sheet, or by folding or curving a sheet which has at-least one flat surface. For example: half a cylinder (cut through its main axis) will be called herein “an arched shape” because it can be made from a flat sheet. For purposes herein, folding, curving, and arching are meant the same.
The term “flat” as used heroin is not limited to the geometric definition of flat surface (i.e. all the points on the flat sure are on the same geometric plane) but it indicates any abase” three dimensions structure that by folding or curving it we get a required predetermined shape (which will be called herein “arched” shape although it is not made by folding or curving a “geometric” flat sheet).
The term “saw-toothed surface” as used herein is defined as a surface having a plurality of discontinuities. That surface may be characterized by having a saw-toothed surface, and/or having a steps function nature, and/or having a plurality of grooves or protrusions or saw-teeth, and/or may be defined as a surface that contains a plurality of points or lines or zones wherein the surface is not being at least twice continuously differentiable. Herein all these terms are equivalent.
3. Description of Prior Art
In 1748, Count Buffon proposed to grind out of a solid piece of glass a lens in steps or concentric zones, in order to reduce the thickness of the lens to a minimum. In 1822, Augustin Fresnel, for whom the Fresnel lens is named, conducted a lens in which the centers of curvature of the different rings receded from the axis according to their distances from the center.
Modern flat Fresnel lenses consist of a series of concentric prismatic grooves, designed to cooperatively direct incident light rays to a common focus or focuses. This type of lens is thin, lightweight, can be made elastic, shook resistance, and almost unbreakable. Modern flat Fresnel lenses can be inexpensively and accurately mass-produced using known replication techniques. The problem with Modern flat Fresnel lenses is that they are designed to be flat. As a result, when a designer design an eyewear which contains Fresnel lens, one of his considerations must be the lens' flat shape.
U.S. Pat Nos. 3,698,854 and 3,904,281, each issued to Jampolsky, discloses a thin, fully conformable, planarly smooth, plastic membrane which applied and made to adhere with finger pressure to a conventional spectacle lens. The step quickly changes one or more optical characteristics of the spectacle lens or provides a change in the light transmission across the field of view. Those two patents force a thin flat Fresnel lens, which was designed to be used as a flat lens, to adhere to any light-transmitting element Jampolsky did not disclose a flat Frenel-type lens which is designed especially to be used arched or concaved or convexed. Consequently, when that lens was adhered to the spectacles, there were optical imperfections, distortions, and aberrations visible to the wearer.
In my co-pending PCT Patent Application “Ophthalmic lens synthesized from its specifications”, from date Aug. 31, 1998 Number PCT/IL98/00420, I disclosed a lens having very good optical quality that can be made to almost any shape and almost any thickness the designer whishes. That lens can convert any unprescription eyewear to prescription eyewear, and/or manufacture prescription eyewear which has any desired shape, and/or manufacture prescription lenses which are enough thin and flexible to enable people to cut and shape their lenses. In addition, that lens can be laminated.
It was found out that it is less expensive to manufacture a flat saw-toothed lens than to manufacture a not flat saw-toothed lens.
There was a need to develop an ophthalmic lens which is on the one hand as inexpensive as a flat Fresnel lens when mass-manufactured, and on the other hand will not suffer from optical imperfections, distortions and aberrations visible to the wearer when it will be arched. With that inexpensive lens we can convert a large amount of unprescription eyewears to prescription eyewears, or make an inexpensive lens that can be very thin, lightweight, flexible, and unbreakable, in a large variety of arched shapes.
The previous art prescription lenses are rigid and thick. Shaping and cutting those lenses require expensive tools which are not accessible to most of the people. As a result, most of the people don't have unique eyewears. People cannot cut their lenses to the shape they want, fashioners cannot cut the lenses to shapes that will fit to the dress, the haircut, the car . . . they designed, etceteras, herein after refer to “recreational stuff”.
Similarly to lenses, It was found out that it is less expensive to manufacture a flat saw-toothed mirror than to manufacture a not flat saw-toothed mirror. There was a need to develop a mirror which is on the one hand as inexpensive as a flat Fresnel mirror when mass-manufactured, and on the other hand will have an arched shape and will not suffer from optical imperfections and distortions and aberrations visible to the observer.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an arched optical surface and more specifically an arched prescription optical surface, such as an arched optical device and arched ophthalmic lens. Novel arched mirrors are also considered a part of this invention. These products are commonly referred to as Flat-Thieberger-design-lenses, including mirrors, that can have almost any desired arched shape.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a less expensive arched Thieberger-design-lens. Most of the design process of Flat-Thieberger-design-lens is similar to the design process of Thieberger-design-lens, but it is manufactured as a flat lens and after or while manufacturing it is folded to the predetermined arched shape. Because flat-Thieberger-design-lens is manufactured as a flat lens, it is usually less expensive than Thieberger-design-lens.
The surface can have any thickness as long it can be arched. There is almost no connection between the thickness and the arched macroscopic shape of flat-Thieberger-design-lens to its optical characteristics
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method which the design is synthesized from its specification. The design method permits generation of different families of arched lenses, embodying different selections of other parameters such as zones size and placement, eye path, etc.
Flat-Thieberger-design-lens has three main preferred embodiments. An Add-on type Flat-Thieberger-design-lens, a Stand-alone type Flat-Thieberger-design-lens, and a composition of the former.
Add-on type Flat-Thieberger-design-lens is bonded or attached to an eyewear that contains an arched lens. Its main purpose is to convert an unprescription arched eyewear to a prescription eyewear or to change one or more optical characteris
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