JP3532459B2 - Colored contact lenses - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a colored contact lens having a natural appearance, and more particularly to a pattern applied to a colored contact lens that changes the color of a user's iris while giving the user's iris a natural appearance. .

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Contact lenses are useful vision correction devices for people with impaired vision. Contact lenses make it possible to avoid the inconvenience of eyeglasses. Recently, "tinted" contact lenses have been widely welcomed by contact lens users. Colored contact lenses are those that have a colored or opaque pattern or are embedded. The pattern consists of a number of sub-patterns of the same or different colors. Depending on the pattern, tinted contact lenses change the color and / or appearance of the user's iris. As a result, tinted contact lenses act as a vision correction device and a face accessory.

US Pat. No. 4,582,402 discloses a colored contact lens having a colored pattern in the opaque areas within the iris area of the lens. This pattern consisted of points with diameters, which were randomly distributed in the iris region. Only one color was colored at the point of the pattern. The contact lens invention can enhance the iris pattern, and Knapp has had commercial success with this contact lens.

US patent application Ser. No. 07 / 430,222 relates to tinted contact lenses having a very natural appearance. This application discloses a lens having a transparent pupil portion and an at least partially opaque two-part iris portion. A pattern is designed from two sub-patterns. These two sub-patterns are
They are of different colors, separated by jagged boundaries, and distributed in the outer and inner parts of the iris region. Different patterns and shades of color are applied to the sub-patterns. According to this patent application, the tinted contact lens has a "very natural" appearance.

In accordance with the trend to provide tinted contact lenses with a natural appearance, there is a need for new patterns of tinted contact lenses to provide a natural look to users of contact lenses.

[0006]

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new tinted contact lens to provide the user with a more natural appearance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a colored contact lens having a pattern consisting of a background subpattern and a major subpattern. Another object of the present invention is to provide a tinted pattern for a contact lens to provide a natural appearance to the iris of the user.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a naturally appearing colored contact lens comprises a transparent pupil portion and an at least partially opaque iris portion. A pattern with color is applied to the iris portion. The pattern is
It is composed of a background sub-pattern and a main sub-pattern, and the background sub-pattern is composed of an inner sub-pattern and an outer sub-pattern, each having a color. The main sub-patterns of the present invention consist of radial patterns. That is, the main sub-pattern is composed of line patterns arranged in a radial pattern, and the lengths and widths of the individual lines may be random, and the lines do not necessarily have to be straight lines. The tinted contact lens of the present invention provides a pattern that resembles the iris pattern of the human eye and has a very natural appearance. The above and other objects and advantages will be more clearly understood from the detailed description with reference to the following drawings.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, a natural-appearing tinted contact lens according to the present invention comprises a transparent pupil portion and a partially opaque iris portion. The transparent part is located in the center of the lens, corresponding approximately to the pupil of the eye. The partially opaque portion is at least partially opaque and is located around the pupil, substantially corresponding to the iris and its periphery. For convenience, in the following description, the transparent part is called the "pupil part" and the opaque part is called the "iris part". In order to change the color and appearance of the user's iris, this iris part is given a specific coloring pattern.
The coloring pattern is the background sub-pattern and the main
It is divided into sub patterns.

In some of the embodiments of the present invention, the background sub-pattern comprises an inner sub-pattern and an outer sub-pattern. FIG. 1 illustrates the outer sub-pattern of the background sub-pattern of one embodiment of the natural looking tinted contact lens of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates the inner sub-pattern. As shown in these figures, the background sub-pattern consists essentially of a pattern of two rings.

Here, the outer sub-pattern shown in FIG.
It basically consists of a pattern of lightly hazy rings with a shadow ratio of about 65-75%. The outer boundary of the outer sub-pattern forms a substantial circle, and the inner boundary is jagged (or serrated) with arcuate edges.

The inner sub-pattern shown in FIG. 2 basically consists of a ring of lightly hazy patterns having a width of about 25-60% of the radius of the iris part. The inner boundaries of the inner sub-pattern form a substantial perimeter with a diameter of about 45-60 mm. The outer boundary of the inner sub-pattern is jagged (or sawtooth-shaped) with arc-shaped edges. The shadow ratio of the inner sub-pattern is about 25-60%. Preferably, the pattern of the inner sub-patterns mimics the pattern of the iris.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the function of the background sub-pattern is to provide light and dark to the main sub-patterns. This sub-pattern is not limited to any particular pattern or design. A random distribution of colors may provide such functionality. The background sub-pattern may consist of one or more colors. In creating the pattern, it is possible to use a rough stool plate to design the background sub-pattern. Another method is to generate a random distribution of colored dots that act as a background sub-pattern.

FIG. 3 illustrates the major sub-patterns for the tinted pattern of the natural looking tinted contact lens of the present invention. The main sub-pattern is applied to the iris part surrounding the pupil part.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main sub-patterns are
It consists of a plurality of radial intermittent lines of different width. This partial line has a constant or varying width and does not necessarily have to be a straight line. The length of the individual part lines can also vary. The position and width of the main sub-pattern is approximately 20-80% of the width of the background sub-pattern. The color of the main sub-pattern is preferably different from that of the background sub-pattern,
More preferably, it provides a strong contrast with that of the background sub-pattern, complementing the iris pattern and brightness.

These three sub-patterns are applied to the contact lens sequentially or simultaneously using any of the conventional equipment and processing methods such as secondary transfer. The sub-pattern is applied or embedded in the lens. The patterned contact lens of the present invention provides a very similar appearance to the iris pattern.

Basic materials for contact lenses suitable for practicing the present invention include those that include a hydrophilic polymer such as hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA).
The pigment comprises a pigment composition containing a pigment, a dispersant and / or a binder. Particularly suitable pigment compositions according to the invention are those which comprise at least one pigment, dispersant and / or binder agent. The preferred amount of the pigment composition is 10 to 50% by weight of pigment and 50 to 7%.
It is 0 (wt)% binder agent and 0-10 (wt)% dispersant. With such a composition, it is possible to form a color pattern which forms a part of the contact lens surface and is hard to peel off.

Dispersants suitable for the present invention include acrylic resin monomers or prepolymers and other suitable dispersants. Examples include hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HE
MA), hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPM
A), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and glyceryl methacrylate (GMA).

Binder agents suitable for the present invention include acrylic emulsion prepolymers, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), 2-ethoxyethyl methacrylate (E).
OEMA), methylmethacrylic acid (MMA), isopropanol (IPA) and cyclopentanone. The function of the binder agent includes under UV light to form hydrogen bonds between the lens material and the pigment composition, and to create Van der Waals forces between the lens material and the plastic mold. Due to Van der Waals forces, the pigment composition adheres to the plastic mold during lens processing without dissolving in the lens material.

For example, when the spin casting method is used, the pigment composition is first placed on the surface of a mold having a concave surface made of plastic or the like, and the contact lens material is dripped on the pigment composition to rotate the mold. Further, the contact lens material is cured by irradiating it with ultraviolet light. After that, the contact lens is completed through processes such as annealing, edging, and hydration. Of course, other contact lens manufacturing methods such as a casting method can be used.

Suitable pigments include CI Pigment White 6, C
I pigment blue 15: 4, CI pigment green 7, CI pigment violet 23, CI pigment yellow 42, and CI pigment brown. As an embodiment of the present invention, the pigment composition should be prepared according to actual needs. (Note that CI is an abbreviation for color index.)

[0021]

EXAMPLES Table 1 shows pigment combinations for background subpatterns of certain embodiments of the present invention's natural appearance tinted contact lenses. As shown in this table, the background sub-pattern consists of two or more colors.

[0022]

[Table 1]

Table 2 shows the pigment combinations for the major subpatterns of the natural appearance tinted contact lens embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this table, in this embodiment, the background sub-pattern is composed of two or more colors, and in many cases three colors.

[0024]

[Table 2]

[0025] As a result of the test, the clothes selected from Table 1
Background sub-pattern of colorant composition and Table 2
Of the coloring composition selected fromMainA pattern consisting of subpatterns
Contact lenses with turns give the iris a natural look
I was able to confirm that it will be provided.

Table 3 shows the natural-looking colored contours of the present invention.
The combination of pigments for the pattern of another embodiment of the
Indicate Of the background, as shown in this table
The side sub-pattern and the outer sub-pattern have different colors.
It is applied with a colorant composition. As a result of the test,
It can be confirmed that the octrens have a natural appearance on the iris.
It was

[0027]

[Table 3]

While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that these and other changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Let's do it.

[Brief description of drawings]

In one embodiment of the wearing colored contact lens of the present invention; FIG show the outer sub-pattern of the background sub-pattern.

FIG. 2 likewise shows the inner sub-pattern.

FIG. 3 also shows major sub-patterns.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-64-73314 (JP, A) JP-A-3-15020 (JP, A) JP-A-2002-507001 (JP, A) JP-A-4-505972 (JP, A) European Patent Application Publication 390443 (EP, A 1) (58) Fields searched (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02C 7/04 B29C 39/02 B29C 41/02 B29D 11/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pattern comprising a transparent portion located on the surface of a pupil of an eyeball and a partially opaque portion surrounding the transparent portion, the pattern being distributed over the entire surface of the partially opaque portion,
And background sub-pattern comprising an inner sub-pattern and outer sub-pattern, composed of a main sub-pattern, the background sub-pattern, the major subparameter
Providing light and dark on the turn, the outer sub-pattern has a shading ratio of about 50-75% ,
Substantially has the inner boundary of the outer boundary and the arc edge of the circular is jagged, the inner sub-pattern, shading ratio of about 25% to 60%,
Substantially has an outer boundary circle of the inner boundary and the arc edge is jagged, the major sub-pattern is a series of radial intermittent that has spread up approximately 20-80% of the width of the width of the partially opaque portion Ri Do from a line pattern, the line pattern is constant or varying widths, constant or varying
A colored contact lens, characterized in that it consists of individual partial lines having a length of 2. A sub-pattern of the background with the same color as that of the major sub-patterns, that
The colored contact lens according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A sub-pattern of the background has a color different from the color of the major sub-patterns, that
The colored contact lens according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The inner sub-pattern, the outer sub-pattern and the main sub-pattern have different colors .
The colored contact lens according to claim 1, wherein: