WO1998028652A2 - Method of forming colored contact lens having very natural appearance and product made thereby - Google Patents
Method of forming colored contact lens having very natural appearance and product made thereby Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO1998028652A2 WO1998028652A2 PCT/US1997/023297 US9723297W WO9828652A2 WO 1998028652 A2 WO1998028652 A2 WO 1998028652A2 US 9723297 W US9723297 W US 9723297W WO 9828652 A2 WO9828652 A2 WO 9828652A2
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- contact lens
- forming
- mold
- colorant
- sided
- Prior art date
Links
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 27
- 239000003086 colorant Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 42
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 24
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 238000005266 casting Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 9
- 238000003754 machining Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 238000007639 printing Methods 0.000 claims description 8
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000000049 pigment Substances 0.000 claims description 4
- 239000000975 dye Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000007649 pad printing Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- 229920000642 polymer Polymers 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000000985 reactive dye Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000002904 solvent Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000000984 vat dye Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000000178 monomer Substances 0.000 description 7
- 210000003786 sclera Anatomy 0.000 description 3
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000006116 polymerization reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000004040 coloring Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002537 cosmetic Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000007787 solid Substances 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02C—SPECTACLES; SUNGLASSES OR GOGGLES INSOFAR AS THEY HAVE THE SAME FEATURES AS SPECTACLES; CONTACT LENSES
- G02C7/00—Optical parts
- G02C7/02—Lenses; Lens systems ; Methods of designing lenses
- G02C7/04—Contact lenses for the eyes
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29D—PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE
- B29D11/00—Producing optical elements, e.g. lenses or prisms
- B29D11/00865—Applying coatings; tinting; colouring
- B29D11/00894—Applying coatings; tinting; colouring colouring or tinting
- B29D11/00903—Applying coatings; tinting; colouring colouring or tinting on the surface
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02C—SPECTACLES; SUNGLASSES OR GOGGLES INSOFAR AS THEY HAVE THE SAME FEATURES AS SPECTACLES; CONTACT LENSES
- G02C7/00—Optical parts
- G02C7/02—Lenses; Lens systems ; Methods of designing lenses
- G02C7/04—Contact lenses for the eyes
- G02C7/046—Contact lenses having an iris pattern
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to a method of forming a colored contact lens having an opaque colored portion that provides a cosmetic improvement to the wearer's eye while imparting a very natural appearance.
- the present invention relates to a method of forming a contact lens containing a colored ring which covers a portion of or the entire limbus area of the eye when the contact is worn, thereby improving the wearer's appearance.
- the limbus area is the area of the eye located between the iris area and the sclera area.
- the limbus area is usually darker in color than the iris area, especially on light colored eyes, and as a person begins to age or becomes sick, the limbus area can lighten in color or begin to cloud.
- a darker limbal area therefore provides an enhanced appearance.
- a contact lens containing a limbal ring increases the contrast at the limbus and provides better definition at the junction of the iris and sclera.
- the limbal ring may be of constant or variable thickness and may be composed either of solid colorant or an intermittent array of colorant elements. Examples of limbal rings utilized on contact lenses are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,414,477 to Jahnke, and U.S. Patent Nos.
- the process of forming a contact lens containing a colored ring around the limbus area is accomplished by first printing a colorant onto the surface of a one-sided contact lens mold.
- the colorant is positioned such that it will cover a portion of or the entire limbal area of the eye when the finished contact lens is inserted into the eye.
- the mold is then filled with a monomer or other polymerizable substance, which is then polymerized.
- the colorant which had become swollen in the monomer is embedded into the finished contact lens.
- the contact lens mold utilized in this invention has only one finished surface, which will form an exterior surface of the finished lens. This exterior surface may either be the front of the contact lens or the base, depending on the type of contact lens mold utilized.
- the side opposite to the finished surface of the molded side is formed by machining or lathing the unfinished portions of the casting.
- Fig. 1 illustrates a one-sided mold with a colorant applied in accordance with the present invention
- Fig. 2 illustrates a one-sided mold used in conjunction with an unfinished casting surface in accordance with the present invention
- Fig. 3 illustrates a one-sided mold containing a polymerized material after the unmolded surface has been machined; and Fig. 4 illustrates a side view and a top view of a contact lens formed in accordance with the present invention.
- Fig. 1 shows a one-sided contact lens mold 10 utilized in the manufacture of contact lenses. Although the half of the mold shown in Figure
- a contact lens i.e., the side of the contact lens that makes contact with the wearer's eye
- the half of a one-sided contact lens mold used to form the front side of a contact lens i.e., the side of the contact lens that does not make contact with the wearer's eye
- a colorant 12 is initially printed on to the surface 14 of the one-sided contact lens mold 10.
- the colorant 12 is applied in a pattern on the mold such that when the finished contact lens is placed on the eye, the colorant 12 will be positioned to cover a portion of or all of the limbus area of the eye, the area between the iris and the sclera.
- a description of the limbal area and the placement of the colorant necessary to cover the limbus area can be found in U.S. Patent No. 5,414,477 to Jahnke, and U.S. Patent Nos. 5,160,463 and 5,302,978 to Evans.
- the pattern may be made up of a solid line of colorant, concentric circles of colorant, or dots of colorant of uniform or varying shapes and sizes. Depending on the type of contact lens mold utilized, the colorant may be applied to the base or the front of the contact lens.
- the colorant may be selected from a wide variety available for coloring contact lenses including pigments, vat dyes, reactive dyes, and conventional soluble dyes, among others.
- the different applications of these colorants to a mold are known to one having ordinary skill in the art.
- a preferred method of printing a colorant to the surface of a one-sided contact lens mold is to suspend a mixture of pigments in a polymer dissolved in solvent. The mixture is applied to the surface of the mold by transfer pad printing. As shown in Fig. 1 , this mixture would be applied to the surface 14 of the one-sided contact lens mold 10 in a limbal pattern.
- Methods of printing colorant on a contact lens have been described in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,582,402; 4,704,017 and 4,720,188 to Knapp and U.S. Patent Nos. 5,034,166; 5,116,112; and 5,120,121 to Rawlings et al. As shown in Fig.
- a polymerizable material 16 such as a monomer
- the colorant becomes swollen in the monomer.
- the monomer 16 is casted or polymerized as understood by one having ordinary skill in the art, thereby creating a molded surface 14 on one side of the contact lens (in this example, the base side of the contact lens is the mold finished side).
- the polymerization process also results in an unfinished casting surface 18 on the side of the polymerized material opposite to the mold finished side.
- the one-sided contact lens mold 10 containing the polymerized material is mounted on a lathe (not shown), and the polymerized material is machined or lathed to specification resulting in a polymerized material with a machine finished surface 20 on the side opposite to the mold finished surface, as shown in Fig. 3.
- Fig. 4 shows the resulting contact lens 22 after removal from the onesided contact lens mold 10.
- the contact lens 22 contains a limbal ring pattern 24, with one surface 20 of the contact lens 22 machined, and the other surface 26 of the contact lens 22 mold finished.
- An alternative embodiment to the printing method described above would include applying an initial amount of monomer or polymerizable material to the surface of the one sided contact lens mold. Then, the colorant material is applied to the polymerizable material in the limbal ring pattern as described above. The combination of the initial polymerizable material and the colorant material may be casted either after the application of the polymerizable material, after the application of the colorant material, after the application of each material, or no casting need be done to the combination. After the colorant material has been printed on to the one sided contact lens mold, the contact lens can be finished as described above.
- Another alternative embodiment to the present invention would utilize a one-sided mold that would form a mold finished surface on the front side, instead of the mold shown in the figures and described above.
- the limbal ring colorant would again be applied to the molded finished surface; however, the molded surface would be on the front side while the machined or lathed surface would be on the base, opposite to that shown in the preferred embodiment.
Landscapes
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Ophthalmology & Optometry (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Optics & Photonics (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Eyeglasses (AREA)
- Casting Or Compression Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
- Surface Treatment Of Optical Elements (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (5)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
BR9713600-0A BR9713600A (en) | 1996-12-20 | 1997-12-17 | Colored contact lens formation method, having a very natural appearance and product made in this way |
AU56088/98A AU728584B2 (en) | 1996-12-20 | 1997-12-17 | Method of forming colored contact lens having very natural appearance and product made thereby |
JP52890798A JP2001507473A (en) | 1996-12-20 | 1997-12-17 | Method of forming a colored contact lens having a very natural appearance and articles made thereby |
CA002274848A CA2274848A1 (en) | 1996-12-20 | 1997-12-17 | Method of forming colored contact lens having very natural appearance and product made thereby |
EP97952497A EP0953163A4 (en) | 1996-12-20 | 1997-12-17 | Method of forming colored contact lens having very natural appearance and product made thereby |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US08/770,251 US20020060777A1 (en) | 1989-11-01 | 1996-12-20 | Method of forming colored contact lens having very natural appearance and product made thereby |
US08/770,251 | 1996-12-20 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO1998028652A2 true WO1998028652A2 (en) | 1998-07-02 |
WO1998028652A3 WO1998028652A3 (en) | 1998-08-13 |
Family
ID=25087937
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US1997/023297 WO1998028652A2 (en) | 1996-12-20 | 1997-12-17 | Method of forming colored contact lens having very natural appearance and product made thereby |
Country Status (12)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20020060777A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP0953163A4 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2001507473A (en) |
KR (1) | KR20000062251A (en) |
AR (1) | AR008544A1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU728584B2 (en) |
BR (1) | BR9713600A (en) |
CA (1) | CA2274848A1 (en) |
CO (1) | CO4920196A1 (en) |
ID (1) | ID22544A (en) |
TW (1) | TW353724B (en) |
WO (1) | WO1998028652A2 (en) |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1226465A2 (en) * | 1999-11-01 | 2002-07-31 | Praful Doshi | Tinted lenses and methods of manufacture |
EP1756655A2 (en) * | 2004-05-12 | 2007-02-28 | Johnson and Johnson Vision Care, Inc. | Tinted contact lenses with combined limbal ring and iris patterns |
US7985366B2 (en) | 2005-03-15 | 2011-07-26 | Inmold Biosystems A/S | Transferring materials to polymer surfaces |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
KR100335720B1 (en) * | 2000-11-22 | 2002-05-09 | 김쌍기 | twinkling, fluorescent, or glow contact lens for beauty and method of manufacturing it |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5116112A (en) * | 1988-07-21 | 1992-05-26 | Allergan, Inc. | Colored lens and method of manufacture |
US5302978A (en) * | 1990-10-30 | 1994-04-12 | Pilkington Visioncare, Inc. | Contact lens |
Family Cites Families (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3679504A (en) * | 1968-04-05 | 1972-07-25 | Ceskoslovenska Akademie Ved | Method of forming color effects in hydrogel contact lenses and ophthalmic prostheses |
US4555372A (en) * | 1981-03-23 | 1985-11-26 | Bausch & Lomb Incorporated | Rotational molding of contact lenses |
US4704017A (en) * | 1984-04-16 | 1987-11-03 | Schering Corporation | Process for manufacturing colored contact lenses |
AR248194A1 (en) * | 1988-09-02 | 1995-06-30 | Pfoertner Cornealent S A C I F | Contact lenses that can change the perceived colour of the iris of the wearer and a procedure for making them. |
CA2009668A1 (en) * | 1989-02-16 | 1990-08-16 | Ashok R. Thakrar | Colored contact lenses and method of making same |
EP0472496A3 (en) * | 1990-08-20 | 1992-12-02 | Ciba-Geigy Ag | Method of producing a contact lens and contact lens produced thereby |
EP0593528A4 (en) * | 1991-05-09 | 1996-10-02 | Allergan Inc | Pad printing coating composition and printing process |
-
1996
- 1996-12-20 US US08/770,251 patent/US20020060777A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
1997
- 1997-12-17 AU AU56088/98A patent/AU728584B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1997-12-17 WO PCT/US1997/023297 patent/WO1998028652A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1997-12-17 BR BR9713600-0A patent/BR9713600A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1997-12-17 ID IDW990519A patent/ID22544A/en unknown
- 1997-12-17 JP JP52890798A patent/JP2001507473A/en active Pending
- 1997-12-17 EP EP97952497A patent/EP0953163A4/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1997-12-17 KR KR1019997005591A patent/KR20000062251A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1997-12-17 CA CA002274848A patent/CA2274848A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 1997-12-19 AR ARP970106060A patent/AR008544A1/en active IP Right Grant
- 1997-12-22 CO CO97074463A patent/CO4920196A1/en unknown
-
1998
- 1998-02-17 TW TW086119429A patent/TW353724B/en active
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5116112A (en) * | 1988-07-21 | 1992-05-26 | Allergan, Inc. | Colored lens and method of manufacture |
US5302978A (en) * | 1990-10-30 | 1994-04-12 | Pilkington Visioncare, Inc. | Contact lens |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
See also references of EP0953163A2 * |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1226465A2 (en) * | 1999-11-01 | 2002-07-31 | Praful Doshi | Tinted lenses and methods of manufacture |
EP1226465A4 (en) * | 1999-11-01 | 2003-05-14 | Praful Doshi | Tinted lenses and methods of manufacture |
EP1756655A2 (en) * | 2004-05-12 | 2007-02-28 | Johnson and Johnson Vision Care, Inc. | Tinted contact lenses with combined limbal ring and iris patterns |
US7985366B2 (en) | 2005-03-15 | 2011-07-26 | Inmold Biosystems A/S | Transferring materials to polymer surfaces |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
AU728584B2 (en) | 2001-01-11 |
CO4920196A1 (en) | 2000-05-29 |
JP2001507473A (en) | 2001-06-05 |
CA2274848A1 (en) | 1998-07-02 |
WO1998028652A3 (en) | 1998-08-13 |
AU5608898A (en) | 1998-07-17 |
BR9713600A (en) | 2000-06-13 |
TW353724B (en) | 1999-03-01 |
EP0953163A2 (en) | 1999-11-03 |
KR20000062251A (en) | 2000-10-25 |
US20020060777A1 (en) | 2002-05-23 |
EP0953163A4 (en) | 2000-01-05 |
ID22544A (en) | 1999-11-04 |
AR008544A1 (en) | 2000-01-19 |
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