CA2596466A1

CA2596466A1 - Conforming decorative vision occluding patch and system

Info

Publication number: CA2596466A1
Application number: CA 2596466
Authority: CA
Inventors: Lyse-Anne Roy
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-08-01
Filing date: 2007-08-01
Publication date: 2009-02-01
Also published as: WO2009015489A1

Abstract

The present invention is concerned with a decorative reusable vision occluding patch adapted for removable self-adhesion to a lens of eyeglasses, the patch comprising a flexible substrate having a light transmission reduction property and a self-adhesion property, and artistic indicia applied on a surface of said substrate, whereby the patch may be removably adhered to an eyeglasses lens so that the indicia would be visible from an outer side of the lens and would not be visible from an inner side of the lens. The invention further contemplates a decorative vision occluding patch system comprising at least one flexible opaque sheet comprising a self-adhering substrate defining a plurality of areas, each area bearing distinct printed indicia, whereby a portion of an area may be cut to a shape and size closely conforming to those of a lens of eyeglasses to which the patch is to be removably applied. Patches are preferably adhered to lenses by electrostatic attraction force.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

CONFORMING DECORATIVE VISION OCCLUDING PATCH AND SYSTEM
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention generally relates to articles for occluding vision for treatment of certain malfunctions of the eye. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a reusable conforming self-adhesive flexible patch adapted for mounting on an eyeglass lens and bearing decorative indicia for improving an aesthetic aspect of the patch and promoting acceptance and use by patients.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Certain vision impairments, such as amblyopia (lazy eye), and strabismus (crossed eyes), can be treated by occluding the vision of a stronger eye in order to stimulate the development of the weaker eye by forcing it to compensate for the stronger eye's loss by taking over the area of sight not visible by the stronger eye.

[0003] Different techniques have been provided in the prior art to enable such eye occlusion. Besides unaesthetic patches applied directly about the wearer's eye, the use of opaque or translucent contact lenses aiming at such therapeutic purposes have been taught namely in Us patents No 6,352,345 (Zolten -2002) and No 6,062,687 (Lofgren-Nisser - 2002), in the US patent application 2005/0033210 by Shahinpoor and in the European patent application No 0002663 by Bragard. Although such contact lenses may provide a discrete means for vision occlusion, their use is not adapted to the treatment LAIz-of young patients, from six month to five years old, representing the most important segment of potential users for the treatment of amblyopia and strabismus.

[0004] Amongst removable eye occlusion devices, Kurup (US patent 6,786,601 - 2004) provides a mask wherein lenses or patches may be mounted in eye openings, and Grindle in US patent No 4,582,401 granted in 1986, provides an example of a visual field and lens occluder adapted to be mounted over the lens and frame of eyeglasses. Still, these solutions lack aesthetic concems and show evidence of vision impairment, attracting attention of the entourage on the wearer thus limiting acceptance by potential users.
Eyeglasses lens provided with liquid crystal devices (LCD) as described in US
patent No 5,264,877 (Hussey - 1993) enable electronic control of light transmission through the lens, which allows designing special eyeglasses with fairly good appearance. However, such a specialized device would be expensive, could be offered in only a limited range of designs since it can not be retrofitted into existing eyeglasses and it comprises an electronic control unit connected to the eyeglasses by wire, which is not likely to be wearied and used by young patients.

[0005] Direct application of a thin and flexible self-sticking membrane on a user's existing eyeglasses lens in order to modify optical properties have also been taught in the prior art. US patents No 3,628,854, 4, 698,022, 6,003,990 and 6,942,336 and the international patent application No WO 2007/019686 provide such membranes adapted to be applied directly on a lens using an adhesive or an electrostatic attraction force to modify optical properties.
Namely, in US patent 6,942,336 granted to Foulke et al in Sept. 2005, the membrane used for training in sports may be opaque and cut to the appropriate shape and size from a sheet of an electrostatic plastic material.
Nevertheless, using such a film in the context of an everyday usage for the treatment of a L AR_ visual impairment lacks aesthetic properties in order to make it attractive for the user, promoting acceptance by the wearer and by its entourage.

[0006] It would therefore be a significant advance in the art of vision occlusion patches to provide a reusable conformable patch that may be readily cut from a sheet of material to the proper shape and size for removable conforming mounting on a user's eyeglasses lens, while presenting an aesthetic and decorative appearance so to diminish the perception of the therapeutic aspects of the patch and promote acceptance by the wearer.

[0007] Actually, experiences carried-out by the inventor showed with evidence that young patients that were reluctant to wear conventional vision occluding patches showed greatly improved motivation to wear eyeglasses wherein an attractive decorative patch was implemented. This results in a very significant contribution to the parents and treating professionals for the successful treatment of children. Similar results are also obtainable from older users by diminishing and/or modifying the attention drained from the entourage by the user.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a decorative reusable vision occluding patch sharply conforming to an eyeglass lens contour and a system obviating the limitations and drawbacks of the prior art devices and systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] More specifically, in accordance with the present invention as broadly claimed, there is first provided a decorative reusable vision occluding 4Afi--patch adapted for removable self-adhesion to a lens of eyeglasses, the patch comprising a flexible substrate having a light transmission reduction property and a self-adhesion property, and artistic indicia applied on a surface of said substrate, whereby the patch may be removably adhered to an eyeglasses lens so that the indicia would be visible from an outer side of the lens and would not be visible from an inner side of the lens.

[0010] In an embodiment of the invention, the substrate is substantially opaque. The substrate may be made from an opaque base material or from a light transmitting base material coated with a substantially opaque layer. The opaque layer may be an opaque ink layer or a thin film such as a metallic film applied to at least one side of the base material.

[0011] In an embodiment of the invention, the substrate comprises a self-adhering base material adapted to removably adhere to miscellaneous flat surfaces by electrostatic attraction force. The base material may be a cling vinyl in sheet form, and may be an opaque black or white cling vinyl material.
Alternatively, the substrate may comprise a base material having intrinsic adhesion capability. The base material may be a naturally sticky material in sheet form, and may be in the thermoplastic polyurethane family. In a still alternate embodiment, the substrate may comprise a layer of a reusable adhesive material. The substrate may be shaped for exact conforming to the contour of a lens of eyeglasses.

[0012] In an embodiment of the invention, artistic indicia cover most of the lens area and form a decorative illustration. In a further embodiment, the decorative illustration may represent a figurative illustration comprising visual elements in connection with a visual impairment condition. Indicia may be printed or hand drafted. Printed indicia may comprise a plurality of ink layers of different colors applied using an appropriate printing process such as serigraphy (silk screening).

~Q2 [0013] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a system comprising at least one flexible opaque sheet comprising a self-adhering substrate supported on a removable backing and defining a plurality of areas, each area bearing a distinct printed indicia, whereby a portion of an area may be cut to a shape and size matching those of a lens of eyeglasses to which the patch is to be conformingly and removably applied. In a further embodiment, the substrate comprises cling vinyl material and at least some indicia represent artistic illustrations having elements in connection with a visual impairment or malfunction condition. In a still further embodiment, the system may comprise a piece of clear material for calquing a lens contour and transferring contour information on an area to enable cutting to a conforming shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In the appended drawings:

[0015] Figures la through 1 d show four examples of decorative vision occluding patches according to the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 shows a decorative vision occluding patch in use, applied to a lens of eyeglasses worn by a young user;

[0017] Figure 3a through 3c show first, second and third embodiments of a patch laminate structure according to the invention;

[0018] Figure 4 shows a vision occluding patch bearing a decorative artistic illustration having elements in direct connection a visual impairment condition, prior to cutting to match the shape and size of an eyeglass lens;

L4/Z.

[0019] Figure 5 is a first example of a sheet having a plurality of decorative vision occluding patch areas according to a system of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 6 is a second example of a sheet having a plurality of decorative vision occluding patch areas according to a system of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The invention as broadly claimed consists in a reusable flexible and shape conforming vision occluding patch 10 as shown in Figures 1 a through 1 d. The patch 10 comprises a flexible substrate 11 on which attractive decorative indicia 12 are applied to provide an attractive self-adhering vision occluding device. Each of these figures shows a patch 10 cut to a shape and size for exact conforming mounting onto a lens of eyeglasses 100 (see Figure 2) and bearing different artistic decorative indicia 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d. A
plurality of different indicia 12 are intended to be provided as a system, since it is an important aspect of the present invention to provide reusable patches 10 that can be easily and repetitively applied to and removed from lenses successively to ensure variability and adaptability, although the primary function the patch 10 is to cause visual occlusion of an eye for therapeutic purposes, by providing a barrier opaque to visible light transmission. It shall be noted that providing attractive indicia 12 in the patch 10 not only responds to an aesthetic goal but rather performs a second important function which is to make the patch 10 accepted and used by the patients, especially children, in order to ensure treatment effectiveness. It actually helps converting shame into pride and changing the entourage's attitude into positive interest with respect to the patch, thereby effectively contributing to the success of the treatment, in an as extensive way as the basic structural characteristics of the product.

[0022] Figure 3a shows a first embodiment of the laminate structure of patch 10. The substrate 11a is preferably a self-adhering opaque material such as a black cling vinyl material available in sheet form from different suppliers. The cling vinyl material has the capacity to adhere to glass and plastic surfaces by creating an electrostatic attraction force. The patch structure further comprises a first layer of white opaque ink 13, on which indicia 12 may be applied by successive applications of colored ink layers 14, 15 and 16, using a printing process such as serigraphy (silk screening) to provide the multicolor decorative illustration 12 on the black substrate 11 a.
Therefore, the patch 10 has a black opaque side to be viewed from the inner side of the lens 101 of eyeglasses 100 and a decorative color illustration 12 to be viewed from the outer side of the lens 101. The substrate 11a may also be made from sticky material availabie in sheet form, such as certain thermoplastic polyurethanes or other solid materials having the natural characteristic of adhering to certain surfaces such as glass and plastics.

[0023] Alternatively, as shown in Figure 3b, a more conventional clear cling vinyl substrate 11b can be used provided it is coated with an opaque black ink layer 17 prior to application of the opaque white base 13 and the color inks 14, 15, 16 according to a typical four color printing process. The opaque layer 17 may alternatively be another type of layer with good light transmission limiting property such as a laminated or printed metallic film.

[0024] Figure 3c illustrates a further embodiment of the patch structure, wherein a substrate 11c having intrinsic adhesion property has its side opposite to the indicia bearing side coated with a layer of an adhesive compound 18. Adhesive 18 is selected to enable repetitive mounting and removal of the patch 10 onto a lens 101 to allow a user to change at will a patch design by another by choosing from a bank of differently illustrated patches 10 (see Figures 1 a through 1 d).

[0025] Another important aspect of the patch 10, as best shown from Figure 4 is to provide decorative indicia 12 that represent a figurative illustration susceptible to stimulate the user interest in wearing patch bearing eyeglasses and thereby cooperate in his vision impairment treatment program. Therefore, illustrations 12 may be correlated with the patient visual condition in a more or less direct manner to demystify that condition and stimulate its acceptation by the young patient. For example, Figure 4 illustrates an attractive character C
wearing eyeglasses 100' having one of its lenses bearing a patch 10' exhibiting an attractive decorative design 12'. Such an illustration may be implemented as indicia 12 into a patch 10 that may be cut to appropriate shape and size for precise conforming application to a lens 101 of a young patient's eyeglass 100.

[0026] In order to supply users with a plurality of inexpensive changeable and reusable patches to choose from, the present invention further contemplates providing a plurality of patches in kit form as a system, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. A system may be comprised of at least one sheet 20 having a laminated patch membrane structure as described above, mounted on a supporting and protecting backing (not shown), and defining a plurality of different indicia 12 bearing areas 21 (nine shown in both illustrated embodiments), each area having a shape and size enabling a user to replicate (trace) the exact shape and size of a lens 101 in a selected area 21 and cut from that area with household scissors a patch 10 that conforms to a lens of his eyeglasses 100.

[0027] The patch can than be easily conformingly and removably attached to the lens. After a desired period of use, the patch may be removed and put aside for eventual reuse, while a new patch may be created by the same simple process to replace the first one for another desired period of time, and so forth. Unused patches may be stored supported on a piece of protective backing. The backing material can be a thin glassy material such as cardboard or plastic that may be easily cut by a user with household hand tools, while providing enough rigidity to prevent excessive deformation so to enable good contact and adhesion with patch membranes.

[0028] The system may comprise a plurality of sheets 20 sold by groups or separately according to miscellaneous themes, or ages of users groups. The system may further comprise documentation such as a story book for providing the user with information about vision impairment conditions under the form of a tale presenting characters and situations that may be included as elements of the artistic illustrations of indicia 12 implemented into the accompanying sheet (s) 20 of patch material. Thereby, a young user may collaborate to the selection and fabrication of a particularly attractive patch and may lean about his condition in such as way to make it less dramatic and more acceptable to him or her.

[0029] The system may further comprise a piece of clear or translucent membrane, as an integral part of a patch sheet or as a separate sheet, to help the user in capturing and transferring the exact shape of a lens. The user may position (the clear membrane is preferably self-adhering to a lens; for example a piece of clear cling vinyl) a portion of the clear membrane on the lens of an eyeglass and trace the contour of the lens on the membrane. The membrane may then be adhered on an area of a sheet of patch material to show the lens contour and enable cutting of a patch to an exact lens contour conforming shape.

[0030] One can thus easily appreciate that the above described embodiments of the lens conforming decorative vision occluding patch and system according to the present invention obviate the limitations and drawbacks of the prior art devices and systems. Namely, the invention provides a simple and inexpensive reusable vision occluding patch for neat conforming and removable attachment onto eyeglasses' lenses, the patch 1.AP-having an attractive look provided by artistic printed or hand drafted indicia to stimulate user participation in a visual impairment therapeutic treatment and improve the perception of the wearer's entourage.

[0031] Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of preferred embodiments thereof, it can be modified, without departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A decorative reusable vision occluding patch adapted for removable self-adhesion to a lens of eyeglasses, the patch comprising a flexible substrate having a light transmission reduction property and a self-adhesion property, and artistic indicia applied on a surface of said substrate, whereby the patch may be removably adhered to an eyeglasses lens so that the indicia would be visible from an outer side of the lens and would not be visible from an inner side of the lens.

2. A decorative vision occluding patch system comprising at least one flexible opaque sheet comprising a self-adhering substrate defining a plurality of areas, each area bearing distinct printed indicia, whereby a portion of an area may be cut to a shape and size matching those of a lens of eyeglasses to which the patch is to be removably applied.