Cosmetic contact lens
Description
Technical field
The present invention relates to a cosmetic contact lens according to the features set forth in the preamble of the main claim.
Technological background
Contact lenses of the above-mentioned type, which, as an alternative or in addition to an action correcting eyesight, are also intended to modify the overall aesthetic impact of the eyes of the user, are enjoying increasingly widespread popularity, particularly among young people.
In order to effect the desired aesthetic modifications, coloured contact lenses are known that have various shades and configurations so that, once inserted, they confer on the user's eye a novel visual impact by concealing partially or completely the natural colouring of the user's iris.
Typically, cosmetic contact lenses are coloured at the location of an iris region thereof which is to be superposed on the user's iris when inserted, while the central region and optionally the peripheral region, which are superposed on the pupil and on the sclera portion adjacent to the iris, respectively, are substantially transparent.
That type of lens has also been the subject of numerous technical variations, some of which aim to make the visual impact of the eye when the lens is worn as "natural" as possible, and others of which, on the contrary, aim to make it more unconventional and deliberately unnatural.
The contact lenses mentioned above with reference to the prior art, however, have some disadvantages.
A first disadvantage is the fact that the colouring at the location of the iris tends to interfere with an optimum peripheral vision of the user, particularly in
conditions of reduced light. It is known that, under those conditions, the pupil tends to widen in order to permit a greater ingress of light radiation. However, in doing this, the outermost ring of the pupil interferes with the innermost portion of the iris region of the lens, which portion, being coloured with opaque pigments in order to conceal the iris beneath, prevents (or at least interferes with) the passage of light to the inside of the eye.
A second disadvantage is the fact that sometimes the iris (coloured) region of the lens does not completely cover the iris of the eye, thus greatly impairing the desired aesthetic effect. This occurs particularly in conditions of high luminosity, as a consequence of which the pupil tends to contract to reduce the ingress of light radiation, which involves the movement of the innermost portion of the iris to beyond the iris region of the lens.
As may be readily inferred from the above explanation, the two disadvantages have their origin in conflicting requirements. The dimensions of the iris region of the cosmetic contact lens are determined on the basis of a compromise between those two requirements, with the consequence that it is impossible to fulfil them definitively and completely.
Cosmetic contact lenses are also known where the aesthetic effect is conferred by a plurality of reflective particles which have various dimensions and which are dispersed in the lens at the location of the iris region. Since these reflective particles, which are generally referred to as "glitters" in the art, are substantially opaque to light, their behaviour is entirely comparable to that indicated above in connection with coloured lenses, interference with the peripheral vision being encountered in this case too under conditions of poor light.
Description of the invention
The problem upon which the present invention is based is that of producing a cosmetic contact lens which is structurally and functionally designed to overcome the limitations explained above with reference to the mentioned prior art.
In the context of that problem, it is an object of the invention to produce a cosmetic contact lens which produces a novel aesthetic impact.
A further object of the invention is to produce a cosmetic contact lens whose aesthetic effect and visual capacity are substantially independent of the light conditions.
That problem is solved and those objects are achieved by the present invention by means of a cosmetic contact lens produced in accordance with the claims which follow.
Brief description of the drawings
The features and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings in which:
- Figure 1 is a front view of a cosmetic contact lens produced in accordance with the present invention,
- Figure 2 is a front view of the lens of Figure 1 in the condition of use,
- Figure 3 is a contact lens produced in accordance with a variant of the present invention.
Preferred embodiment of the invention
In the drawings, 1 generally indicates a cosmetic contact lens produced in accordance with the present invention.
Preferably, the contact lens 1 is of the soft type, even more preferably of the disposable type, and is produced using polymers based on HEMA or its derivatives and is worked in accordance with techniques known p_er se in the art.
The contact lens 1 comprises main surfaces 2a, 2b which are convex and concave, respectively, and which may advantageously be in a form such as to permit correction of any visual defects, such as myopia, astigmatism, etc.
Also identified on the lens 1 are a central region 3, an iris region 4, which is arranged annularly around the central region 3, and also a peripheral ring 5, which is in turn arranged annularly around the iris region 4.
Referring to Figure 2, in which the lens 1 is represented in conditions of use, those regions are to be superposed on the pupil, the iris and the sclera portion adjacent to the iris, respectively, which are marked 3a, 4a and 5a, respectively, in the above-mentioned Figure 2.
The central region 3 and the iris region 4 are substantially transparent, this term also being intended to cover the case in which those regions are "tinted", that is to say, are very slightly coloured (generally blue or green). In the present description, as in the technical field of reference, the term "tinted" means a lens (or a portion thereof) which contains a quantity of pigments such as not substantially to impair the passage of light through the lens.
The lens 1 also comprises means that are opaque to light and that are capable of conferring an aesthetic effect on the eye of a user thereof and, according to a principal feature of the invention, those opaque means are concentrated at the location of the peripheral ring 5.
With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the opaque means of the lens 1 comprise an amount of pigment such as to render the peripheral ring 5 "coloured", this term being intended to indicate, in conformity with the terminology of the art,
a lens (or a region thereof) in which the amount of pigment used is such as to prevent the passage of a substantial portion of the light through the lens (as opposed to the term "tinted").
Thus, when the lens 1 is being worn (Figure 2), the sclera portion 5a appears to have the colour of the peripheral ring 5, while the iris 4a appears to have substantially its own natural colour. Overall, the effect achieved will thus be that of an iris having a natural appearance surrounded by a coloured ring. The radial dimension A of the peripheral ring 5 is from 0.5 to 3 mm, preferably from 1 to 2 mm, and is dimensioned so as slightly to cover also the outer edge of the user's iris in order to ensure continuity between the natural colouring of the iris and the colouring of the peripheral ring 5, even if the lens 1 moves slightly relative to the eye (possible, for example, in the case of winking). The colouring of the peripheral ring 5 may be effected in accordance with techniques that are conventional p_er se in the art, using various colours and models, depending on the desired effect. For example, the above-mentioned colouring may be such as to provide a lively contrast with the natural colouring of the iris or, on the contrary, it may be of a shade similar to the natural shade of the iris. In this second case, the iris appears to be enlarged, thus achieving an interesting aesthetic effect.
It will be appreciated that the use of the contact lens 1 does not in any way affect the user's vision because the coloured region of the lens, placed at the periphery thereof, is relatively far away from the pupil, which can therefore expand and contract without any interference with the opaque portion of the lens.
Figure 3 shows a variant of the lens 1 in which the means that are opaque to light and that are concentrated at the location of the peripheral ring 5 comprise a plurality of reflective particles generally indicated 10. The use of
those reflective particles, or glitters, makes it possible to obtain an attractive sparkling effect around the iris. The glitters used may vary in number and size in accordance with the overall effect desired.
Naturally, the glitters in the peripheral ring 5 may or may not be associated with an opaque colouring.
The present invention thus solves the problem discussed above with reference to the mentioned prior art, at the same time offering numerous other advantages, including an aesthetic impact of the contact lens which is entirely novel and special, without any possibility of interfering with the correct peripheral vision of the user in any light condition whatever. In particular, an effect of enlarging the natural iris can be obtained.