JP2720714C - - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact lens disinfecting device, and more particularly to a contact lens disinfecting device provided with a cleaning solution temperature control means for effectively performing cleaning and sterilization. It is about a vessel. 2. Description of the Related Art As described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 58-190617, for example, a conventional contact lens disinfecting device has a steep rise in heater temperature by energizing a heater using a low-temperature heating element. Accordingly, the temperature of the solution in which the contact lens was immersed was also continuously increased to the heat sterilization temperature, and sterilization was performed. In this case, the sterilization temperature is generally about 80 ° C. to about 100 ° C., and various improvements have been made in temperature management and heating time management in consideration of deformation of the contact lens during sterilization. Further, the above-mentioned conventional method is intended only for heat sterilization. However, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 64-1773, cleaning of a contact lens using a solution containing a proteolytic enzyme is performed. And sterilization in a single step have also been proposed. In this prior art, a cleaning agent containing at least proteolytic enzyme is mixed in a solution to wash and sterilize a contact lens. However, in the case of this prior art, the temperature of the solution rises rapidly. Since the time to reach the sterilization temperature is short, the enzyme is quickly deactivated, which causes a problem that the activation time of the detergent is short and sufficient washing is not performed. [0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is intended to perform cleaning and sterilization more effectively so that the enzyme cleaning action of a detergent is maximized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a contact lens disinfecting device capable of performing a disinfection. Means for Solving the Problems The present inventor has made it possible to increase the activation time of an enzyme detergent by controlling a temperature rise process in a heating step of a solution containing the detergent in a specific pattern. It has been found that the cleaning effect of the contact lens can be remarkably improved by increasing the efficiency of the enzyme cleaning step as long as possible, thereby completing the present invention. That is, a contact lens disinfecting apparatus according to the present invention includes a lens case for dipping and sealing a contact lens in a solution containing a cleaning agent, a heater for heating at least the solution, and a control circuit for the heater. The control circuit, when heating the solution in which the contact lens is immersed, after maintaining the solution temperature for a certain time in a temperature range in which the enzyme-based detergent in the solution is activated , It is a control circuit having a function of raising a sterilization temperature through an inflection point . In the conventional contact lens disinfecting device, the solution temperature continuously rises to the sterilization temperature after the heater is energized. In such a contact lens disinfecting apparatus, the time until the deactivation of the enzyme becomes very short, and the cleaning effect of the solution cannot be sufficiently obtained. The contact lens disinfecting apparatus of the present invention has control means for maintaining the solution temperature within a temperature range in which the cleaning agent is activated for a certain period of time and then raising the temperature to the sterilization temperature. Is turned on / off to control and maintain the solution temperature at an activation temperature before reaching 70 ° C., preferably 30 to 70 ° C., thereby generating an optimum washing temperature at which the enzyme detergent is activated, and The enzymatic cleaning effect of the agent can be maximized, and thus the cleaning effect can be significantly enhanced. An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. As shown in an assembled sectional view of FIG. 1, a contact lens 3 is provided in a lens case body 1.
And a solution 2 for immersing the contact lens 3 in two places.
Are sealed. A circuit 6 for controlling the heater 7 is housed inside the main body case 5, and a heat shield plate 8 for shielding heat from the heater 7 is fixed above the circuit 6. A heater 7 is attached to the back surface of the heating plate 9, a screw receiving foot 12 is hung down, and an O-ring 11 is fitted in a groove on the outer periphery. The heating plate 9 is fitted into the main body case 5 and is fixed to the screw receiving feet 12 from the back of the main body case 5 with screws 22, and the main body has a substantially waterproof structure. The lens case 13 is mounted on the upper portion of the heating dish 9 and has a structure capable of keeping the temperature by the upper case 10.
When the heater 7 is energized, the heater 7 generates heat and conducts heat to the heating dish 9 and the lens case 13, so that the solution 2 reaches a sterilization temperature of approximately 100 ° C., and the contact lens 3 is sterilized. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the circuit 6. The commercial power input from the power plug 14 is rectified by the diode 15 and is applied to the heater 7 to generate heat. A switching element 16 for turning ON / OFF the energization of the heater 7 is connected to the end of the heater 7. On the other hand, a DC converter 17, which is a means for stabilizing the voltage rectified by the diode 15 to a direct current, is connected thereto, and further, a transmission circuit 21 supplied with power from the DC converter 17 and a control waveform generating means for generating control timing of the heater. A signal is transmitted to a waveform forming means 19 and a drive circuit 20 for driving the switching element 16, and the switching element 16 is controlled.
The ON / OFF control of the heater 7 can be performed as intended. Further, a lamp 26 for monitoring the state of the contact lens disinfecting device is controlled by the waveform forming means 19. The temperature detecting means 18 is similarly supplied with power from the DC converter 17, is composed of at least a temperature detecting element and an A / D converter, and transmits temperature information to the waveform forming means 19. The temperature detecting means 18 will be described later,
It is not directly related to heater control for activating the cleaning agent, and the object of the present invention can be achieved without it. Next, FIGS. 3A and 3C show waveforms for controlling ON / OFF of energization of the heater 7, and FIGS. 3B and 3D show temperature rise curves of the solution 2. FIG. FIGS. 3A and 3B show a conventional example, in which the heater 7 is continuously turned on simultaneously with turning on the power. Accordingly, the temperature of the solution 2 continuously increases to the sterilization temperature 25. The heater 7 may be energized once, or may be turned on / off several times thereafter to prevent the temperature from rising excessively. In this example, by using the heater 7 using the constant temperature heating element, it is possible to obtain a required sterilization temperature 25 saturated by continuous energization. When the sterilization temperature 25 is higher than the required temperature by continuous energization, the intermittent energization may be performed after reaching the substantially required sterilization temperature 25.
A substantially constant required sterilization temperature 25 can be achieved by the FF ratio. The illustrated conventional example is one in which the power is continuously supplied, and has a sterilization temperature of about 100 ° C.
Up continuously. Therefore, in this conventional example, no inflection point exists before the sterilization temperature is reached. FIGS. 3C and 3D show an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the power supply is turned on for about 4 minutes, then turned off for about 2 minutes, and turned on for about 5 seconds. The energization is repeated several times. Accordingly, the temperature of the solution 2 rises to about 60 ° C., and the substantially constant cleaning temperature 24 is maintained for about 15 minutes by intermittent energization. Thereafter, the liquid temperature rises sharply to approximately 100 after passing through an inflection point 23 where the temperature is continuously turned on and the temperature rise changes to a steep gradient again.
It reaches a sterilization temperature of 25 ° C. and sterilizes. After reaching approximately the sterilization temperature, the energization of the heater 7 is intermittently performed, the sterilization temperature 25 is maintained for about 15 minutes, and then the energization of the heater 7 is turned off. That is, the operation period of the contact lens disinfecting device is completed in about 45 minutes in total. After that, the liquid temperature drops and the contact lens is ready for wearing.
The cleaning temperature and the cleaning time are set to the ON time after turning on the power and the ON / OF
Arbitrary setting is possible by setting the F time and the number of intermittent times. The result of confirming the contact lens cleaning effect of this embodiment will be described below. First, 0.2 g of bovine serum γ-globulin and 0.1 g of egg lysozyme were dissolved in 100 ml of physiological saline to prepare an artificial stain. A CSI soft lens (manufactured by Seiko Contact Lens Co., Ltd.) is immersed in this artificial soil solution and treated at about 60 ° C. for 30 minutes.
The lens is taken out and dried in a dryer at 40 ° C. for 30 minutes, and this is repeated three times.
A soft contact lens to which artificial dirt with cloudy lens surface adhered was prepared.
The cleaning agent is Bioclean Ace and Bioclean-2 (manufactured by Offtex Corporation).
A microriser (manufactured by Seiko Contact Lens Co., Ltd.) was used for the conventional contact lens disinfecting device and lens case, and the contact lens disinfecting device of this example used was an improved version of the microriser. Twelve lenses having artificial dirt attached are prepared, and at ambient temperature of 20 ° C., two drops of Bioclean Ace and about 2.5 ml of Bioclean-2 are placed in each lens case and sealed with a cap. After setting the conventional and improved micro risers in three units, the micro risers were operated. The evaluation of the cleaning effect was performed by measuring the absorbance at 280 nm of each lens before, after, and after the sterilization of the artificial soil, and the detergency = ｛(after the artificial soil was attached-before the adhesion)-(after the cleaning and sterilization was completed-the artificial soil). (Before attachment) 後 / (after attachment of artificial stain-before attachment) × 100 was determined and compared. As a result, 41%, 38
%, 27%, 31%, 33%, 36%, and 73%, 81%, 71%,
58%, 65% and 69%. Therefore, it can be seen that the method shown in this example has a significantly higher cleaning effect. Although the exact mechanism of the washing reaction is not always clear, the active state in which the enzyme detergent denatures proteins and removes them from the lens surface depends on the temperature, and the activity increases as the temperature increases. It is considered that the activity decreases from a specific temperature. At higher temperatures the enzyme is inactivated. Although it depends on the type of the enzyme detergent used, according to the findings of the present inventors, the washing temperature is preferably in the range of 30 ° C to 70 ° C. 30
If the temperature is lower than 70 ° C., the activity is not sufficient. If the temperature is higher than 70 ° C., the activity may be low, which is not preferable. If the temperature range is too narrow, the burden on the apparatus for controlling the cleaning temperature increases, so that the temperature is preferably 45 ° C to 70 ° C, more preferably 60 ° C to 70 ° C.
70 ° C. Further, the washing time (holding time of the washing temperature range) is about 20 minutes from the viewpoint of sufficiently obtaining the washing effect, shortening the operation time of the contact lens disinfecting device as much as possible, and responding to the demand of the user's convenience. Appropriate, but usually 10-
It is 30 minutes, more preferably 10 to 16 minutes. From this, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 3B, the time required to reach 70 ° C. is 7 minutes, whereas in the present example shown in FIG. It is. Therefore, in the conventional example, the time until the enzyme is deactivated is short, and the activation period of the cleaning agent is short, and as a result, the cleaning effect is reduced. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the time to reach 70 ° C. is long and the holding time at about 60 ° C. is long, the activation period of the detergent is long, so that the cleaning effect can be maximized. Become. In this embodiment, the cleaning temperature 24 is controlled so as to be substantially constant. However, after reaching the required cleaning temperature, the power may be turned off and the temperature may be controlled to decrease. Control may be performed so that the temperature rise is gradually increased. In other words, in the present invention, the cleaning agent is characterized in that the time during which the cleaning agent is in the active state is prolonged to enhance the cleaning effect, and the most preferred embodiment is
In this method, the cleaning temperature is kept substantially constant at the activation temperature in order to enhance the cleaning effect and shorten the cleaning time. In a conventional contact lens disinfecting apparatus, the circuit for controlling the heater as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-190617 has a function of turning off the heater after turning on the heater for a certain period of time irrespective of the ambient temperature. Therefore, the temperature of the solution is generally easily affected by the ambient temperature. When used at a low temperature, the required temperature of the solution is low, and conversely, the required temperature is high at a high temperature. Therefore, as an example, in an environment of 20 ° C., the cleaning temperature is set to about 40 ° C. for 10 minutes and about 65 ° C. for 10 minutes.
In the case of stages, when the ambient temperature is 0 ° C. and 40 ° C., the washing temperature is affected by the environmental temperature, respectively, and the cleaning temperature is about 15 ° C. and 50 ° C. at 0 ° C., and about 65 ° C. and 80 ° C. at 40 ° C. . In this case, if two-stage cleaning temperatures are set, one of the cleaning temperatures can enhance the cleaning effect even under environmental conditions, and has an effect that the environmental resistance can be improved. Further, depending on the control of energization of the heater, the liquid temperature can be set to substantially the same required temperature without being affected by the ambient temperature. An embodiment in this case will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the sterilization temperature will be described, but a similar method can be used for controlling the cleaning temperature. In this embodiment, the temperature detecting means 18 is mounted on the substrate of the circuit 6, measures the ambient temperature, controls the heater according to the ambient temperature, and makes the required temperature substantially constant without being affected by the ambient temperature. However, other methods are also applicable, for example, by directly measuring the liquid temperature or by measuring the temperature of the heating dish and controlling the heater so that each object to be measured reaches a required temperature. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a program using a microprocessor for the waveform forming means 19. At the same time when the power plug 14 is input to the commercial power supply, the program starts, and first, a lamp lighting 30 indicating that the circuit is functioning normally is performed. Next, an ambient temperature reading 33 is performed by the temperature detecting means 19, and 10 ° C. or less.
It branches to 20 ° C / 30 ° C / 30 ° C or more. The heater ON / OFF time and timing are changed according to each branch temperature, and the heater control A37 to the heater control F42 are made to correspond. With such a method, the required liquid temperature can be substantially the same as the ambient temperature from winter to summer. In the present embodiment, four control waveforms are used. However, the control waveform can be finely changed according to the read temperature. In this case, the required temperature can be made more constant. next,
Immediately after the end of the heater control, since the lens case is at a high temperature and there is a risk of burns, for example, the lamp blinks 43 for a certain period of time to promote danger. The blinking operation of the lamp does not have to be performed, and the lamp may be turned off when the energization control of the heater is completed. The operation described above will be specifically described with reference to a control waveform and a liquid temperature rise curve. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 (a) shows a heater control B38 at an ambient temperature of 20 ° C.
5B is a diagram showing a control waveform 56 of the heater control D40 at an ambient temperature of 40 ° C., and FIG. 5C is a diagram showing a liquid temperature rise curve of the solution 2. . The solid line is a liquid temperature rise curve 57 according to the control waveform 55 in FIG.
Similarly, a dashed line is a diagram showing a liquid temperature rise curve 58 based on the control waveform 56. The control waveform 55 and the control waveform 56 include a continuous ON period 60 in which the control waveform 55 is first turned ON for a certain time,
And an intermittent waveform section 61 that repeats OFF / ON a plurality of times. ON / OFF may be finely repeated near the rising portion of the continuous ON period 60 (ON: OFF is preferably in the range of 1:25 to 40). In this case, there is also an effect that the rush current of the heater is suppressed. During the continuous ON period 60, the liquid temperature continuously rises and reaches the sterilization temperature 64, and the intermittent waveform 61 maintains a substantially constant temperature. This is because if the sterilization temperature is set lower than the saturation temperature of the solution 2 when continuously turned on (in the embodiment, the ambient temperature is set to about 120 ° C. at an ambient temperature of 25 ° C.), the required temperature can be maintained with an intermittent waveform. Will be. Since the temperature of the solution 2 is easily increased if the ambient temperature is high, the energization time of the heater 7 may be short. Therefore, the control waveform 56 having the higher ambient temperature is the same as the control waveform 55 and the control waveform 56 in the continuous ON period 60. The ON time of the intermittent waveform portion 61 can be shortened, and the sterilization temperature 64 of the temperature rise curve 57 and the temperature rise curve 58 can be made substantially the same. As described above, contrary to the example under the high temperature, at the low temperature, the continuous ON period 60 and the ON time of the intermittent waveform section 61 may be set to be long. As described above, by controlling the energization of the heater, the required temperature of the solution 2 can be made substantially the same without being affected by the ambient temperature. The control waveform will be specifically described.
In ° C., the time of the continuous ON period 60 is 12 minutes, and the intermittent waveform portion 61 is ON 22 seconds / OF.
F is 38 seconds, and at 40 ° C. in FIG. 5B, the continuous ON period 60 is 9 minutes, and the intermittent waveform section 61 is ON 14 seconds / OFF 46 seconds. In this case, the ambient temperature, the continuous ON time 60, and the time setting of the intermittent waveform section 61 are in a substantially proportional relationship. In this embodiment, only the ambient temperatures of 20 ° C. and 40 ° C. have been described, but a graph of the sterilization temperature 64 over a wide ambient temperature range will be described below. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the saturation temperature of the liquid temperature and the ambient temperature at a commercial power supply of 100 V according to one embodiment, and a sterilization temperature curve 71 shows a case where only one control waveform is used. In this case, the saturation temperature is low at low temperatures and the sterilization temperature is high at high temperatures under the influence of the ambient temperature. On the other hand, the sterilization temperature curve 70 shows a case where a control waveform corresponding to the ambient temperature is selected, and saw-like steps are generated at the portions of 10 ° C., 20 ° C., and 30 ° C. A constant sterilization temperature is reached. Further, if the branch temperature is subdivided, a smoother curve can be obtained. A lens case of a conventional contact lens disinfecting device is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-190.
As described in No. 617, a disinfecting apparatus having a heater for heating a contact lens, a solution, and a lens case having a flat back surface using a commercial power supply and a heating plate having a flat top surface and a heater fixed to the back surface. The contact lens was placed on a heating dish of the main body, and the heat generated by the heater was conducted to the heating dish and the lens case to heat the solution to sterilize the contact lens. In the prior art, a lens case is placed on a heating dish,
In the case of conducting heat from the heating dish to the lens case, the heat conduction was deteriorated due to the flatness and warpage of the contact surfaces of the two, and the time required to reach the required temperature and the variation in temperature were large. Therefore, by providing corresponding irregularities on the upper surface of the heating plate and the back surface of the lens case, the contact surface area between them is increased, so that the heat conduction from the heating plate to the lens case can be further improved. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the mounted state of the lens case 13 and the heating dish 9. On the back surface of the lens case 13, a triangular ridge continuous in a saw blade shape is provided, while on the upper surface of the heating dish 9, a triangular ridge similar to the back surface of the lens case 13 is provided, so that both ridges and valleys are in close contact. Further, although the present embodiment is an example of a saw blade shape, the shape may be a spiral shape or a concentric shape, and may not be a triangular mountain, but may be a corner, a trapezoid, an arc, or the like. It is a concentric circular triangle mountain. According to this preferred aspect of the present invention, the lens case back surface and the heating dish upper surface are provided with corresponding irregularities,
By increasing the contact surface area over a flat surface, it is possible to increase the heat conduction and prevent the required time to reach the required temperature and to prevent the temperature distribution from fluctuating. Can be provided. In the above-described method in which the cleaning and heat sterilization steps are performed during the same heating step, the method can be used not only as a soft contact lens but also as a cleaning device for hard contact lenses and dentures. At this time, the heat sterilization step after the cleaning step may be omitted. As described above, according to the present invention, the control of the optimum cleaning temperature and time can be performed by maintaining the temperature at which the cleaning agent is activated for a certain period of time and then increasing the temperature to the sterilization temperature. It has an excellent effect that it can be easily performed and the cleaning effect by the cleaning agent can be enhanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an assembled sectional view showing the structure of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a waveform for controlling a conventional heater. (B) is a diagram showing a temperature rise curve of a conventional solution. (C) is a figure which shows the waveform which controls the heater of one Example. (D) is a figure which shows the temperature rise curve of the solution of one Example. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microprocessor. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a heater control waveform at an ambient temperature of 20 ° C. according to one embodiment. (B) is a diagram showing a heater control waveform at an ambient temperature of 40 ° C. in one embodiment. (C) is a figure which shows the liquid temperature rise curve of the solution of one Example. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a saturation temperature of a liquid temperature and an ambient temperature in a commercial power supply of 100 V according to an embodiment. FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing a mounted state of a lens case and a heating dish. [Description of Signs] 2 Solution 3 Contact Lens 5 Body Case 6 Circuit 7 Heater 9 Heating Dish 13 Lens Case 23 Inflection Point 24 Washing Temperature 25 Sterilization Temperature

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A lens case for immersing and sealing a contact lens in a solution containing an enzyme-based cleaning agent, a heater for heating at least the solution, and a control circuit for the heater. The control circuit, when heating the solution in which the contact lens is immersed,
The solution temperature was maintained for a certain time within the temperature range in which the enzyme-based detergent in the solution was activated.
A contact lens enzyme washer-disinfector characterized by being a control circuit having a function of raising the temperature to a sterilization temperature via an inflection point . 2. The contact lens enzyme cleaning / disinfecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for turning on / off the power supply to the heater before the solution temperature reaches 70 ° C. 3. The contact lens enzyme washer-disinfector according to claim 1, further comprising control means for allowing the temperature of the solution to reach a sterilization temperature via an inflection point between 30 ° C. and 70 ° C. 4. The contact lens enzymatic cleaning and disinfecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising temperature detecting means for detecting an ambient temperature, and means for changing a control waveform of the heater according to the ambient temperature. 5. The contact lens enzyme cleaning and disinfecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the irregularities on the back surface of the lens case correspond to the irregularities on the upper surface of the heating dish for conducting heat radiation from the heater to the lens case. 6. A contact lens enzyme washer-disinfector according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the solution at which the enzyme-based cleaning agent is activated is kept substantially constant. 7. The contact lens enzyme cleaning / disinfecting apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the activation temperature of the enzyme-based cleaning agent is 30 to 70 ° C. 8. A contact lens enzyme cleaning / disinfecting kit comprising a combination of the contact lens enzyme cleaning / disinfecting device according to claim 1 and a solution containing an enzyme-based cleaning agent for cleaning / sterilizing the contact lens. 9. The enzyme detergent according to claim 8, wherein the enzyme detergent is an enzyme detergent containing a protease.
4. The kit for cleaning and disinfecting contact lenses according to claim 1.