Marked contact lens bearing optical marking element

Details Marked contact lens bearing optical marking element Marked contact lens bearing optical marking element

2000-01-31

2001-02-27

Manuel, George (Department: 3737)

Optics: eye examining, vision testing and correcting

Spectacles and eyeglasses

Ophthalmic lenses or blanks

Reissue Patent

active

RE037071

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a marked lens, and more particularly to a marked contact lens and a method of making same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
During the past 10 to 15 years, contact lenses have tended to replace glasses for correcting vision problems. These days, an entire industry exists for contact lens manufacturing and retailing.
One of the problems associated with contact lenses is marking the lens in order to allow the users to wear them properly, in the right position. Some lenses have to be worn in an “upright” orientation while soft lenses must be worn without inverting them, i.e. wearing them inside-out. Generally, identification and orientation marks applies to all kinds of contact lenses.
Various methods of contact lens identification are known in the prior art. One method is printing a visible mark on the periphery of the lens. However, this method is not suited for wet molded soft lenses since the printing must be performed on a dry surface and the lenses are never in a dry state. Furthermore, the dark mark printed on lenses may be too visible, so observers may even see the mark when the lens is worn by a person.
Another method is to engrave or impart a mark on a lens producing an opaque surface. However, this surface is necessarily rough and may be felt by the wearer, thus producing discomfort. The engraved mark may also attract and retain proteinaceous and other types of deposits creating propitious conditions for an infection.
Another method of marking contact lenses is to mark them using a laser. However, this method cannot be employed for wet molded soft contact lenses. It is also time-consuming and expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a broad object of the present invention to provide a method of marking transparent and semi-transparent thin surfaces by providing optical means by way of varying the form of such surfaces on small areas.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a method of marking contact lenses using a number of optical elements.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a marked contact lens with markings appearing to be bright or dark (depending on the focal length of the optical element and the distance at which the lens is held by the viewer) when viewing a light source through the lens.
According to the invention, it is an object of the present invention to provide an identification, orientation or inversion marking method for contact lenses using at least one optical element.
In a broad aspect of the present invention, the identification method using optical elements is not restricted to lenses. Even if the invention is applicable to all kinds of lenses, including dry or wet lenses as well as soft or rigid lenses, the present method may also be used for marking any other kind of transparent or semi-transparent material that needs to be marked.
For clarity, this text uses the term “surface orientation” to designate the orientation of a lens with its concave surface toward the wearer's eye, as it should be worn. The main object of the present invention is to provide an easy information to the lens user concerning the right surface orientation of the lens, before the lens is applied on the eye's surface.
Inversion identification is applicable to soft lenses, where the concave side is frequently inverted outwardly into a convex shape in which state the lens is not suitable to be worn. However, such a state of the lens is not clearly visible to the observer and oftentimes people may incorrectly wear their lenses.
According to the invention, instead of marking contact lenses as in the prior art by adding a color on them such as by printing or engraving a mark on them, the present invention uses microstructure surface variations, such as dot or cylindrical microlenses, having the form of concave or convex semi-spheres or semi-cylinders (the cross-section may also be elliptical or aspheric), which are applied on the surface of the contact lens in order to provide identification and orientation marks for allowing the user to wear the lenses in the adequate position. The surface variations are small and their surface is smooth and highly polished therefore these microlenses do not attract and do not retain proteinaceous and other deposits. Furthermore, these microlenses are not felt by the wearer's eyelid. The dimensions of the microlenses are chosen so as to avoid any irritation when worn by the user. However, when removed and held up toward a light source, they permit to the user to clearly see them, thus providing information on the right position they have to be worn in.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, such optical elements are used to form letters or other distinctive signs at specific locations on the contact lens surface and these letters or signs provide position information to the user.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the optical elements may be located on a single side of the lenses or on both sides of the lenses. In the latter case, the optical elements may be even smaller in depth or height if they are applied in conjunction to one another, one on each face of the lens, thus superposing the optical effect seen by the human eye when looking to the lens toward a light source.
According to the invention, there is provided a marked contact lens comprising at least one microlens optical marking element integrally formed on a surface of the contact lens in a peripheral area thereof.
The invention also provides a method of manufacturing a marked contact lens comprising the steps of: forming at least one microformation in a contact lens manufacturing mold for integrally forming a microlens optical marking element; and molding a lens in the mold to obtain the marked contact lens.
The invention further provides a marked lens comprising at least one microlens optical marking element integrally formed on a surface of the lens in a non-image forming area thereof.


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