US2817845A

US2817845A - Artificial eye

Info

Publication number: US2817845A
Application number: US410225A
Authority: US
Inventors: Eric D Clarke
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1944-07-27
Filing date: 1954-02-15
Publication date: 1957-12-31
Anticipated expiration: 1974-12-31

Description

E. D. cL-ARKE ARTIFICIAL EYE.

Dec. 31, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed July 27, 1944 a m A? T %%vrgr m f N I hf... .RNN AQ E. D. CLARKE ARTIFICIAL EYE Dec. 31, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 27, 1944 E. D. CLARKE ARTIFICIAL EYE Dec. 31, 1957 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed July 27, 1944 nvmvron. Z19. 6/

Dec. 31, 1957 Original Filed July 27, 1944 E. D. CLARKE ARTIFICIAL EYE 4 Sheets- -Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

United States atentUfifice 2,817,845 Patented Dec. 31-, 1 957 ARTIFICIAL EYE Eric D. Clarke, Cleveland, Ohio Original application July 27, 1944, Serial No. 546,763,

new Patent No. 2,673,984, dated April 6, 1954. Divided and .this application February v1'5, 1954, Serial No. 410,225

12 .Claims. .(Cl. '3-13) This invention involves new improvements :in the art of producing or manufacturing artificial eyes.

,Aprirnary object of the :invention lhasAbeen-to provide an artificial .eye structure embodying .a novel assemblage lofjsecti'ons orparts corresponding largely to .those of the natural eye, capable .of being madeona production basis, so .to speak, and so combinable .in the final assemblage .as tofacilitate the obtaining of .anlartificial product close- Ily imitative ofthe human eye tobe reproduced.

A further object of this invention :is to useasectional structure, in putting together the parts of myartificial eye, such that .a .more naturalistic article .is produced, especial- .ly .in reference to avoiding in .the formation of :the eye structure the stare appearance so common in artificial eyes as they aremade today. To this end my-newproduct is .amademoreclosely after rthe manner of the natural human eye formation :than heretofore resorted to.

By .reasomoftmy making my new eye in-sectional pants, I achie-ve'an especialaadvantage incident to ability to interchangeably assemble the parts, and particularly .-the sclera and iris members, "which are :the, peculiar colored members required to be matched, before the final fusing together oftthe eye structure till the completed formation :for ruse. -On the above :a'ccountl amenabledto so interchangeably arrange the parts of .the artificial -eye, preliminarily, iin (such a Wide .range :of combinations, as to :more quickly and accurately arrivewat the (determination of the tfinal matched colored 'membersthatwwill provide itheicl'osestspossible imitation .of the tnatural -eye 'of the .person :being fitted.

-My formation of thelparts of my artificial eye is d'urthermore designedly conducive to the production "thereof tfrom sheet materiaL-preferably plastics such asehave been foundvsuitable for the *purpose -in this art, and, indeed, in manufacturing 'recoursemay be had to punching and die pressingttechnique or practice such as employed in sheet metal manufactures. Moldingtpractice may also he used, though that tfirst mentioned 'is desirable because of ability .to avail of standard machinery.

Mywsectional artificial eye construction contemplates the use of a prefabricated or assembled sclera and cornea \unit, *or units, "for. interchangeable preliminary assembly with'aqprefabricated iris .and pupil unit, or units, ifor facilitating I116 color .matchings of the sclera and iris members to provide the ultimate assembled eye structure. When the :matchingof-said parts or units is satis'factor-yito rthe patient'the will "be fused or permanently connectedltogether'to constitute'thefinaleye to be used. Thisfeature ofamy inventionenables a great "reduction .in rthe stocks of eye parts necessary .to be maintained at the selling -outlets.

I know of no artificial eye made todayin which this facility of variablematching maybe carried out, .as rob- '-tained with my invention, respecting the prefabricated isclera unit audthe prefabricatedtiris andpupil tunit, 11in combinations thereof, and the advantageous results "50f zthe foregcin'g will become apparent hereinafter.

According to my invention, I may use plastic material entirely for my eyeconstruction, or I may use plastics or glass parts in combination, the use of some plastic being desirable because .of .the facility for final fusing or welding together of the properly assembled combinations of colored units, .thus obtained, using ordinary heat and pressure methods known to the art.

As regards the prefabricated 'sclera and iris units, of my inventioml contemplate using alternative types of "construction. In-one ,form the iris unit-may be assembled posteriorly, or into the hollow of the ball member ,(sclera and cornea unit) from the rear. Or, acccording to another form of my -.artificia1 eye, I may apply .the iris unit to the outside .front portion of the sclera and cornea unit 1(-e ye .ball proper), and weld or :fuse it in place there, whether. ttheiris unit :is made largely of plastic or made toftplasti'c, ,glass, and other suitable material.

.My invention comprises additionally other detail features, the purpose of which will appear more fully in the IfOIlQWiIlg detailed description and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which latter:

.Fig-ure il-is about-elevation of an artificial eyeembodywing my invention, in one preferred form thereof.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2of Figured.

Figure 3 is a sectional view :showing the cornea mem- -ber -only of the iformtin Figures -1 to 4.

Figure 4.is a firont view of the sclera member alone.

Figure 5 is iaventical cross sectional view of the sclera member :alone.

Figure :6 :is :-'a front =vi'ew of the assembled iris and pupil lunitnas when ready for insertion -to combine with the cornea, sclera, and other parts of the Figure 2 type of structure.

Figure 7 is a detail-sectional view of tbje iris and pupil :unit, as usedin the structure of the previous figure.

Figure 8 is a sectional view illustrating the combined cornea, humor, and sclera unit in "the condition ready to receive the unit which is shown in Figure l0, byposterior insertion therein.

Figure '9 is a View similar to Figure "2, illustrating a modification-of the invention.

Figure L0 is a sectional view of "the pupil and iris 'unit as used'in the modification of'Figure-9.

*Figure 11 is a sectional view of a modified "form of ir'is and pupil insertable unit formed with a single layer of a plastic for cheapening of cost.

Figure l2'is a detail section of a modified form of iris, pupil and humor unit, of glass, adapted for use in ball or scleraunits likethose of FiguresZ, l8, and 19.

Figure 13 shows a modification in which the iris and pupilunit illustrated may beapplied externally to the ball or corneamem'ber and comprises a glass unit of transparenthumor and colored glass iris andpupil.

Figure 14 is a view ofthe scleraand. cornea unit .used with the structure of Figure 13.

BigureJLSLi-s asection oftthe partstof Figures -13 :and 14 when :asserribled and fused, after :required preliminary matching.

Figure T6 is a secti'onal View of another modification of the iris unit-applicable 'to'the ball unit of Figure 14.

Figure 1'7 shows the unitoff Figure 16 assembl d with its ball or scleraunit.

formedtsclera ,having a c centering hole or opening to receive an iris .and,pupil unit asshown inFigures 2-1 and 22,

:oritohe assembled cwith attire-formed iris pupil and cornea unit as shown in Figure 23, the structure of Figure 23 to be emplaced in front of that of Figure 19.

Figure 20 is a view of the parts of Figures 19 and 22 assembled, no cornea member provided.

Figure 21 is a view of a modified form of a fabricated iris, pupil and cornea member wherein the pupil member is weldable and would be emplaced from the posterior side, the pupil member being made of black plastic material.

Figure 22 is a view of a modified form of a fabricated iris, pupil and humor member, wherein the humor member is weldable and would be placed from the anterior side into the constructions of Figures 18 or 19, the pupil being black plastic, or it may be constructed as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 23 is a view of a modified form of a fabricated iris, pupil, and humor member to be made integral with the cornea member and adapted to be fitted over the constructions of Figures or 19 for color matching and welding into place. The pupil is made of black plastic.

The views of the drawings are exaggerated or much enlarged as compared with the normal size of an artificial eye made in accordance with the invention, in order that the structural characteristics of the composite parts of the eye may be clearly depicted.

Referring to Figures 1 to inclusive, and specifically describing my artificial eye, it is notable that I employ for providing the body or ball of the eye the outer shell or cornea member 1 which is substantially a continuous sheet of plastic material, preferably, and embodies a rounded partial ball-like formation of hollow nature. This plastic of the cornea member 1 is transparent and to conform with the natural eye is slightly bulbous at 1a approximately at the front axis thereof. Adapted to fit into the cornea member 1 is the sclera member 2. which, as clearly seen in the drawings, is formed with an approximately central opening 3, the axis of the opening in fact being disposed slightly lateral of the axis of the cornea member as apparent from Figures 1 and 4, dependent upon whether the eye is left or right, in this respect necessarily conforming to the natural eye of a person. The members 1 and 2 fit together in close contact when assembled as will be clear from Figure 2. At the inner side of the bulbous portion 1a of the cornea 1 I provide what I term the humor member 5, the front of which is curved to conform with the inner curvature of the part 1a and the rear of which is curved on an are approximately similar.

The parts above described, when assembled, are adapted to receive from the rear or into the hollow portion of the eyeball structure provided thereby, the iris and pupil unit which is depicted best in Figures 2 and 7, the same shown by itself in the latter figure. The iris and pupil unit is made up of an outer plastic layer 5 at its thickest portion of substantially the thickness of the cornea member 1, a middle layer of plastic 6 of substantially the thickness of the sclera member 2, and an inner layer of plastic 7 of sufiicient size to overlap the inner portion of the sclera member 2 at the part surrounding the opening 3. The layers 5 and 6 of plastic are of transparent material, whilst the layer 7 may be of transparent or opaque material, this not being consequential.

Between the layers 5 and 6 there is received the iris member 8 which is of generally circular form to correspond with the roundness of the iris of the human eye, and is provided with a central opening as illustrated.

Between the layers of material designated 6 and 7 and in rear of the opening in the iris member 8 is provided the pupil member 9. This pupil member may be formed by India ink or a black or suitably colored pigment resembling the eye pupil, and is spaced a slight distance from the opening in the iris member 8 for the special purposeof providing a depth factor for the pupil member in rear of the iris member. It is found that this is advantageous in that it tends to eliminate the staring appearance that is incident to ordinary artificial eye structures. It is within the purview of the invention that if the layer 7 of the pupil and iris unit is made of a substantially black opaque material, such coloring of the material may eliminate the separate formation of the pupil member as by stamping or use of special pigment for such purpose.

The sclera member 2 is of course of one of the color variations of white that corresponds with the sclera of the human eye, and as seen in Figure 1 this member will be provided on its outer surface with imitation veins or lines corresponding with the veins or blood vessels in the sclera of the human eye. These veins may be obtained by using suitable colored ink lines or ravelings of silk or wool and they will of course be provided of a color that matches the natural eye of the person who is being fitted with the artificial eye.

In like manner, it is contemplated that the iris member 3 shall be of the color of the iris of the natural eye of the person to whom the artificial eye is supplied, and of course varying colors running from blue, gray, greenish-gray, brown, brownish-green, brown in lighter or darker tints, and other colors corresponding with human eye coloring of the iris will be employed in the making of the iris member 8. This iris member may be color-printed upon paper or a thin plastic or cellulose layer, within the contemplation of the invention. The transparent cornea member 1 attached, fused or welded to the colored sclera member 2 may constitute one prefabricated unit of the eye. The unit of Figure 7 may constitute the second or other prefabricated unit. The two units are those required to be matched before assembling finally.

A special feature of the invention lies in the peculiar manner in which the edges of the relatively round layers 5 and 6 of the pupil and iris unit are chamfered or bevelled. This structure is calculated to more readily afford the complete simulation of the natural eye structure in that the coloring at the outer periphery of the iris member 8 is caused to thus merge into the blue-white coloring of the sclera member. The blending achieved is most natural in appearance.

The pupil and iris unit as seen in Figure 7 may be said as a whole to be generally concave-convex with the concave at the rear side. In Figure 9 I have provided a modified construction wherein the rear side of the humor member is convexed toward the rear of the eye and the pupil and iris unit is of similar conforming curvature. In this modification, however, the iris member 8a has a line of curvature substantially in line with the plane of the pupil member 9a. In this construction, furthermore, I utilize only two layers of plastic, the outer transparent layer 6a and the inner transparent or opaque layer 7a, between which layers the pupil member 9a and the iris member 8a lie or are received and held. Figure 10 illustrates the pupil and iris unit of the Figure 9 construction alone and more clearly. In this construction the final fusing of the various parts of the eye by pressure and heat will effect blending of the color areas of the iris and sclera.

In Figure 11 a single fiat plastic layer 10 carries the iris member 81; and pupil member 9b. Being made of plastic, it may be curved if desired while subjected to heat and/ or pressure.

In both of the constructions of my artificial eye as above set forth the prefabricated welded pupil and iris unit is insertable into the prefabricated or welded unit of the cornea and sclera structure from the rear of the eye. The making of these separate units affords the capability of divers color combinations, for simulating the natural eye, not heretofore obtained, and when the desired combination is made and approved by the patient, the two units may be connected in union by resorting to common heat and pressure operations, thus completing the artificial eye ready to be used. As regards the detail forming of the iris and pupil unit as one, the same technique may be employed in uniting the plastic layers 5 and 6. If desired, the

layers

6 and 7 may be permanently united after the provision of the pupil member 9 therebetween, and subsequently the

layers

6 and 7 will be welded together by the heating technique previously referred to, the .iris having been mounted between the layers 5 and 6 these correspondingly united.

'Various modifications in the bringing-together technique for the various plastic members may be resorted to within the purview 'of the invention.

In describing the parts of my artificial eye, I have used terms having certain appropriateness because of .the relation of the parts to corresponding parts of the human eye, these terms being purely descriptive and definitive so as to enable .an understanding of the invention. So far as the humor member 4 is concerned, it .is.a member which in effect supplies the physical nature and action of the aqueous humor which is posterior to the cornea in the actual .human eye. This humor member 4 may be integral with the layer of plastic from which the cornea is made, though it is preferred that it be separate and united by heat weld to the part 1.

A great advantage of course of my invention is the adaptability to selectively combine the

color members

2 and 8 in many ditferentcombinations, and a further advantage lies in the fact that the various laminae of the eye described by Inc may be made from sheet material stamped out with punched openings where required and formed to contour by pressure. The welded connection, so to .speak, between the member 7 and the sclera member 2 may be such as to provide. for the ready breaking of the -weld should itbe desired to change the iris unit because of the requirement for better eye-matching than may be originally obtained in the first assembly and welded com- -bination of parts.

Exemplifying the advantage of my invention from the vie-wpoint of ability to carry reduced amount of stock of parts, I might note that where heretofore, because of the assembly orcombining of the artificial eye structure into a unit before fitting, tremendous stocks of eyes or complete eyeswere required to be kept-on hand, .mytinvention elimihates such requirement to a large extent. For instance, it is my object to keep the standard artificial eyeball com- .prising the parts 1 and 2 separate from the iris "unit, also prefabricated, until the time of fitting the patient. Then the eyeballr'st-ructure of the parts 1 and 2 maybe selected, and, becauseplastic is used, itma-y be grounder cut away for fitting purposes with readiness. The eyeball sections,

as I term them, could be made in about four sizes in rights and lefts for providing eight artificial eyes, which would fitmost patients. Thelarger sizes can be cut down to intermediate "or small sizes, and about four different sized holes may be formed in the sclera members for the iris, as readily evident. About six sclera colors for these members would usually suifice, and about five patterns of veins would be ample for the stock. Thus, about a stock of 960 eyes would be suificient and from this stock a patient could be very readily fitted for size, shaped for :adhesions, size of cornea, oriris, color of sclera and vein patterns. The iris could be made in about 72 colors and shades of colors which'would usually match nearly all human eyes, and in four sizes, so that 288 irises might be used with four sizes of pupils, so that about 1152 combination units of this character might be availed of. With approximately 960 eyeball members and 1152iris units, substantially 1,105,000 different combinations may be obtained without cutting or grinding. This may be compared with the tremendous stock of eyes usually required to be kept at the producing or manufacturing place, rangingoften up to 20,000 in number, which cannot possibly affordthe eyematching combinations of the sclera and iris units obtainable in the practice of my invention. A very large percentage of artificial eyes of present known complete or finished constructions are required to be kept in stock by selling stores today.

.In known types of artificial eyes there is no way of allowing for the variation of size of either the iris member op pupil member such as exists in the human eye. With my invention the .iris member may be made of three or four sizes to accommodate for close rmatching of the human -eye. Since the pupil usually varies in size with the size of the iris, .my iris and .pupil unit will obviously provide for this correspondence of variation .-in practice of manufacture.

Referring to Figure .1201. the drawing, it .is notable that I illustrate thereina form of iris and pupil unit of modified construction, including the humor member 4a, that may .all be made from glass, and properly shaped ofcourse to conform with the inner portion of the bulbous part 1a of the cornea member as illustrated in Figure 2. In this modified construction the humor member 4a is applied to a layer of plastic designated t0 which layer has 1peripheraledge portions arranged to overlap the inner surface of the sclera member 2 when the unit of Figure 12 is placed within the sclera and cornea unit which would be :of the general construction illustrated in Figure .2.

The plastic memberlo enables the welding of the unit of Figure 12 within the sclera and cornea unit.

Now it is contemplated further, within my invention, that I may provide an iris and pupil unit which may be applied to the sclera and cornea unit externally thereof, instead of according to the construction shown particularly in the first described form of my invention. In Fig- .

ures

13 and 14 the last mentioned construction is illustrated, Figure 14 showing at 11 the :sclera member and 12 designates the cornea member. ln this construction the central portion of the cornea member is formed with an opening and into said opening may be .emplaced the inner- .most portion of the external 'iris and pupil unit which is shownin Figure 13 ascomprisin'g the outer plastic transparent layer 13, the humor member 14, which is also trans- :parent glass, the iris member 15, and the pupil member 16, the last :two of colored glass. The plastic layer 13 at its peripheral portion may be joined by heating and "pressure technique to the peripheral portion of the open- :ing in the cornea member 12 which will of course also be made of transparent plastic so that the color of the sclera member .11 will be visibletherethrough. Since the sclera-member 11 is also made of plastic material, when sume the condition illustrated in Figure 15. The humor member 14 may be made of glass, as shown, or transparent plastic, if desired.

In the modified form of my invention as illustrated in Figures 16 and 17, the pupil member 17 is inset from the plane of the iris member 19, the two being disposed at opposite sides of a plastic layer which is transparent and designated 20. In this instance, according to the Figure 16 construction, the humor member is external and made of plastic and designated 18. The plastic layer 20 permits the uniting at its peripheral edge thereof with the material of the cornea member 21 at the inner side of which is disposed the sclera member 22 somewhat according to the construction illustrated in Figures 14 and 15.

According to the modifications of my invention in Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17, it is possible to preliminarily eifect the matching of the appropriate colored iris and pupil unit in relation to the appropriately colored sclera and cornea unit much after the manner which has been explained in regard to my first described constructions of my invention. The facility of matching is the same, practically speaking, and the advantages are apparent.

It is notable in reference to the practice of my invention, that, because of the welding of the sclera and cornea unit to the iris and pupil unit in the manner set forth hereinbefore, the naturalistic elfects of the human eye are obtained to a degree not heretofore achieved in reference to the blending of the sclera with the iris member. This is true whether the iris and pupil unit is disposed gems is on the posterior side of the body or ball of the eye or upon the anterior side, and the result is achieved very largely due to the fact that the iris member is disposed 1n an opening of the body or ball member, comprising of course the sclera and cornea, which opening is slightly larger than the iris member. Thus when the pressure and heat of the welding operation is performed, the blending action is obtained with a closeness of imitation of the human eye that has not been secured so far as I am aware in artificial eyes produced heretofore. Of course when the pupil member and the iris member are disposed in different planes as contemplated according to my invention, in many of its forms when the artificial eye is actually viewed the pupil has the appearance of a real hole in the iris, as is the customary appearance in respect to the natural eye. The foregoing, in addition to the convexity of the pupil and iris unit, all tend to obtaining the desired obliqueness which enhances the desired objective of eliminating the appearance of stare in the fixed eye.

In Figure 18 there is provided a unit comprising the welded or connected plastic cornea and sclera members 25 and 26 respectively. This unit is formed with an approximately central hole or opening 27 to receive from the anterior side an iris, pupil, and humor unit as seen in Figure 22, the iris being 28, the pupil 29, of black plastic, the transparent humor 30. The humor member 36 is extended somewhat at its peripheral edge to provide for overlapping and welding merging joinder to the cornea member 25. Or, the unit of Figure 21 may be inserted posteriorly in the unit of Figure 18, in which event this unit comprises the black plastic pupil member 31, the colored iris member 34, and the humor member 33. The member 31 in this form is extended at its periphery to be welded to the sclera 26, see Figure 18.

In the forms of both Figures 21 and 22 there is a plastic layer designated 32 and 35 in these figures, respectively, located between the pupil members and iris members, thus insetting the pupil member from the iris member.

I may employ a sclera member 36 alone, as shown in Figure 19, that is, omitting the transparent covering hereinbefore called the cornea member. The units of Figures 21 and 22 may be applied and welded to that of Figure 19 as described in regard to the construction in Figure 18, as shown in Figure 20 in respect to the combination of the Figure 22 construction.

When either of the units of Figures 21 and 22 is assembled with the sclera 36 of Figure 19, the

iris disc

34 or 28, as the case may be, will lie within the opening of the sclera as (see Figure 30 for example), and on final fusing together of the assembly under heat and pressure will afiord blending of the color areas of the iris and sclera.

In Figure 23 I show a combined fabricated cornea member 37, humor 38, iris member 41, transparent plastic uniting layer 40 (like 3?. and 35 previously mentioned), and pupil member 39 of black plastic. This structure as a unit may be readily united to the sclera member 36 of Figure 19, or corresponding member 2 of Figure constructions, and emplaceable anteriorly of such sclera members.

From the foregoing it will be apparent according to the various modifications of my invention that variable matching of the iris units and sclera members or units is obtainable to the end of securing imitations of the human eye never heretofore available, to my knowledge. And the advantages derived are largely due to the detachability and attachaoility of the units above referred to, with the additional advantage of accurate centering of the iris members derived from the provision of the centering openings in the sclera and/or cornea members.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. An artificial eye construction comprising a body including an outer transparent cornea member of hollow spherical form, a sclera member fitted to and within the cornea member and of a color simulating that of the natural sclera of the eye, the cornea member having a central opening, and a pupil and iris unit including pupil and iris members positioned in said opening and attachable to the sclera member, said unit comprising layers of material between which the pupil and iris members are disposed.

2. An artificial eye construction comprising a body including a prefabricated hollow cornea and sclera unit, the sclera member of the unit having a central opening, and a prefabricated pupil and iris unit including pupil and iris members and positioned at said opening and attachable to the sclera member, said unit comprising layers of material between which the pupil and iris members are disposed, one of the said layers being weldable to the sclera member.

3. An artificial eye construction comprising a body including a prefabricated hollow cornea and sclera unit, the sclera member of the unit having a central opening, and a prefabricated pupil and iris unit including pupil and iris members and positioned at said opening and attach able to the sclera member, said unit comprising layers of material, including two outer layers disposed coincident with the general arcs of curvature of the cornea and sclera members respectively, and between which the iris member is held, and a posterior third layer of material between which and the inner of said two outer layers the pupil member is held.

4. An artificial eye construction comprising a body including an outer transparent cornea member of hollow spherical form, a sclera member fitted to and Within the cornea member and of a color simulating that of the natural sclera of the eye, said members being connected, the sclera member having a central opening, and a pupil and iris unit including pupil and iris members positioned in said opening and attachable to the sclera member, the said unit including a first layer of material of a thickness approximating that of the sclera member and received in the opening of the latter, and a second layer of material posterior to the first layer and overlappingly applied to the posterior surface of the sclera member.

5. That improvement in the art of artificial eye construction comprising circular layers of different colored plastics, one simulating an iris in color and the other simulating the pupil of an eye in color, united together to form an iris and pupil unit, the circular edges of certain of said layers being chamferred, combined with a semibulbous transparent humor simulating layer disposed anterior to the iris layer and unified therewith, and a prefabricated plastic sclera member having a circular opening adapted to receive the iris and pupil unit and unified therewith to provide a combined sclera, iris and pupil structure, the iris and pupil layers being unified with the sclera member by heat and pressure.

6. An artificial eye comprising, in combination, a preformed plastic sclera memberprovided with an iris opening generally centrally thereof, a preformed plastic iris colored disc having the simulation of an iris on its anterior side, centered in said opening of the sclera, a transparent plastic humor member anterior to said iris member, all of said member being unified together by fusing under heat and pressure.

7. A plastic unit for artificial eyes, comprising a bulbous transparent humor member, an iris colored disc member having the simulation of an iris of a natural eye on its anterior side, said disc having a centrally disposed pupil opening, and a circular pigmentized member of substantial thickness simulating the pupil of a natural eye centered in respect to said pupil opening.

8. A plastic unit as claimed in claim 7, in which the pupil area is greater than the pupil opening in the iris.

9. A plastic unit as claimed in claim 8, in which the humor member extends into the pupil opening. 1

10. A plastic unit for artificial eyes, comprising a bulbous transparent humor member and iris disc member having the simulation of an iris of a natural eye on its anterior side, said disc having a centrally disposed pupil opening, and a circular pigmentized member of substantial thickness simulating the pupil of a natural eye centered in respect to said pupil opening.

11. An artificial eye construction comprising a body including an outer prefabricated transparent cornea member of hollow spherical form, a sclera member removably fitted to, conforming to the shape of, and disposed within the cornea member, to permit of interchanging with others of such members, and of a color simulating that of the natural sclera of the eye, the sclera member having a central opening, and an iris and pupil member including iris and pupil parts, said member being removably held in place in said opening to permit of interchanging with others of such members, the pupil member being inset from the plane of the iris member to give depth ap pearance.

12. In the art of artifical eye construction, that improvement in iris and pupil unit which comprises, in combina' tion, an iris colored plastic disc having the simulation References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,808 Borsch May 17, 1892 1,963,129 Grubman June 19, 1934 1,979,321 Dunner Nov. 6, 1934 1,993,121 Travers Mar. 5, 1935 2,322,117 Dimitry June 15, 1943 2,391,305 Galeski Dec. 18, 1945 2,394,400 Noles Feb. 5, 1946 2,673,984 Clarke Apr. 6, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 175,212 Great Britain Feb. 16, 1922 522,945 France Apr. 11, 1921