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
  • G02C7/046—Contact lenses having an iris pattern
• • 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
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
  • B41M1/00—Inking and printing with a printer's forme
  • B41M1/26—Printing on other surfaces than ordinary paper
  • B41M1/30—Printing on other surfaces than ordinary paper on organic plastics, horn or similar materials

Definitions

• the invention relates to tinted contact lenses.
• the invention provides contact lenses with iris patterns that either enhance or change the color of a lens wearer's iris and which patterns have an appearance of depth.
• tinted, or colored, contact lenses to either or both alter the natural color of the iris and to mask ophthalmic abnormalities is well known.
• these lenses use either or both opaque and translucent colors to change the color of an iris, as for example, from brown to blue.
• tinted lenses have been manufactured that attempt to enhance the color of a dark-eyed person without changing the color of the iris.
• the conventional tinted lenses are disadvantageous in that they lack the three-dimensional appearance of the natural iris. This results in a flat, unnatural appearance when the lens is worn on-eye.
• Figure 1 is a pattern for use in the invention.
• Figure 2 is a second pattern for use in the invention.
• Figure 3 is a pattern of the invention composed of the patterns of Figures 1 and 2.
• the invention provides tinted contact lenses, and methods for their manufacture, that enhance the color of the lens wearer's iris.
• the lenses of the invention have a pattern that has an appearance of added depth when compared to conventional patterns and a more natural appearance to the pattern when the lens is worn on-eye.
• the lenses of the invention will find utility as cosmetic lenses for either or both enhancing an individual's iris color or changing the color of the iris.
• the invention provides a contact lens comprising, consisting essentially of, and consisting of at least one first pattern comprising a first color and a first shape and at least a second pattern capable of imparting a shadow- effect to the first pattern.
• an appearance of depth may be imparted to a tinted pattern of a contact lens by use of one or more pattern layers that impart a shadow-effect to another pattern layer of the lens.
• shadow-effect is meant that one or more layers of patterns resemble a shadow of a pattern of another layer of the lens.
• the shadow-effect may be achieved by any convenient method.
• a first pattern having a first color and a first shape may be provided.
• a second pattern having a second color and the shape of the first pattern is then provided.
• one of the first and second patterns overlays the other pattern, but the rotational position of one of the patterns is offset from that of the other.
• Pattern 10 having a first color and a first shape.
• the first shape is the result of a plurality of pattern elements 11 and a solid band of color 12.
• Pattern 10 may be of a size so that it composes substantially the entire iris portion of the lens, or portion of the lens that overlies the wearer's iris, while the lens is on-eye and centered.
• pattern 10 may be of a size so that it composes a portion of the iris portion of the lens.
• pattern 20 which pattern is of a second color, but has the size and shape of pattern 10.
• pattern 20 is substantially identical to pattern 20 except in color.
• Pattern 20 may be printed onto a surface of a lens by known methods.
• Pattern 10 is then printed onto the lens surface so that it overlays pattern 20, but pattern 10 is offset by rotating it between about 0.025 mm and 1.00 mm clockwise or counterclockwise relative to the 90 degree point on the lens, Point A, of Figure 3.
• the result as shown in Figure 3 is that the darker colored pattern 10 appears to impart a shadow to pattern 20.
• a first and second layer of patterns may be printed onto a lens. Portions of the top-most layer pattern are omitted so that underlying portions of the other pattern are rendered visible.
• Yet another method of producing a shadow-effect is by providing a first pattern and a second pattern that is composed of elements that, when combined with the first pattern, result in providing a shadow- effect to all or a portion of the elements of the first pattern without the need for offsetting.
• the patterns used in the invention may include any of a number of components.
• the components may include, without limitation, geometric structures, such as dots and lines, or fanciful structures including, without limitation, striae, feather-like shapes, and the like, and combinations thereof.
• a limbal ring may be added to form the outermost periphery of the pattern.
• limbal ring is meant an annular band of color that, when the lens is on-eye and centered, partially or substantially completely overlies the lens wearer's limbal region, or the junction of the sclera with the cornea.
• the limbal ring substantially completely overlies the wearer's limbal region.
• the innermost border, or edge closest to the geometric center of the lens, of the limbal ring may be at a radius of about 4 mm to about 6 mm, preferably about 4.5 to about 5.5 mm, from the lens 'geometric center.
• the ring may be of any suitable width and preferably is about 0.5 to about 2.5 mm in width, more preferably about 0.75 to about 1.25 mm in width.
• the pupil portion preferably is clear. However, the pupil portion may be an area of translucent or opaque color or any combination of opaque and translucent colors.
• the elements of the pattern are of an opaque color.
• the elements may be translucent, or a combination of translucent and opaque elements may be used depending on the desired on-eye result.
• translucent is meant a color that permits an average light transmittance ( % T) in the 380 to 780 nm range of about 60 to about 99 %, preferably about 65 to about 85 % T.
• opaque is meant a color that permits an average light transmittance ( % T) in the 380 to 780 nm range of 0 to about 55, preferably 7 to about 50 % T.
• additional elements of the pattern may be opaque, translucent or a combination thereof
• the color of the pattern used to impart the shadow-effect preferably is of a darker color than the other pattern. More preferably, the shadow-effect imparting pattern is of a darker and complementary color when compared to the color of the other pattern. Preferably, all elements of a pattern are of the same color and the pupil portion is clear, meaning that it is colorless.
• patterns may be any color including, without limitation, any of a variety of hues and chromas of blue, green, gray, brown, black yellow, red, or combinations thereof.
• Preferred colors for the limbal ring include, without limitation, any of the various hues and chromas of black, brown and gray.
• the elements may be made from any organic or inorganic pigment suitable for use in contact lenses, or combinations of such pigments.
• the opacity may be controlled by varying the concentration of the pigment and titanium dioxide used, with higher amounts yielding greater opacity.
• Illustrative organic pigments include, without limitation, pthalocyanine blue, pthalocyanine green, carbazole violet, vat orange # 1, and the like and combinations thereof.
• useful inorganic pigments include, without limitation, iron oxide black, iron oxide brown, iron oxide yellow, iron oxide red, titanium dioxide, and the like, and combinations thereof.
• soluble and non- soluble dyes may be used including, without limitation, dichlorotriazine and vinyl sulfone-based dyes. Useful dyes and pigments are commercially available.
• the dye or pigment selected may be combined with one or more of a pre- polymer, or binding polymer, and a solvent to form the colorant used to produce the translucent and opaque layers used in the lenses of the invention.
• a pre- polymer, or binding polymer, and a solvent to form the colorant used to produce the translucent and opaque layers used in the lenses of the invention.
• Other additives useful in contact lens colorants also may be used.
• the binding polymers, solvents, and other additives useful in the color layers of the invention are known and either commercially available or methods for their making are known.
• the patterns may be incorporated into a contact lens by any convenient method including, without limitation, printing on one or more surfaces of a lens or printing onto one or more surfaces of a mold into which a lens forming material will be deposited and cured.
• a thermoplastic optical mold made from any suitable material including, without limitation, cyclic polyolefms and polyolefins such as polypropylene or polystyrene resin is used.
• the elements are deposited onto the desired portion of the molding surface of the mold.
• molding surface is meant the surface of a mold or mold half used to form a surface of a lens.
• the deposition may be carried out by spraying, pad printing, tampo printing, brushing or stamping.
• the deposition is carried out by pad printing as follows.
• a metal plate preferably made from steel and more preferably from stainless steel, is covered with a photo resist material that is capable of becoming water insoluble once cured.
• the elements are selected or designed and then reduced to the desired size using any of a number of techniques such as photographic techniques, placed over the metal plate, and the photo resist material is cured.
• the plate is subsequently washed with an aqueous solution and the resulting image is etched into the plate to a suitable depth, for example about 20 microns.
• a colorant containing a binding polymer, solvent, and pigment or dye is then deposited onto the elements to fill the depressions with colorant.
• a complementary mold half is then used to complete the mold assembly and the mold assembly is exposed to conditions suitable to cure the lens material used. Such conditions are well known in the art and will depend upon the lens material selected. Once curing is completed and the lens is released from the mold, it is equilibrated in a buffered saline solution.
• a clear, pre-polymer layer is used, which pre- polymer layer overlays at least the pattern elements and preferably forms the entirety of the lens' outermost surface.
• the pre-polymer may be any polymer that is capable of dispersing the pigment and any opacifying agent used and may be applied over the pattern elements once the elements are incorporated into the lens.
• the pre-polymer layer may be printed onto the molding surface of a lens mold prior to application of the pattern elements to the mold.
• the invention may be used to provide hard or soft contact lenses made of any known lens material, or material suitable for manufacturing such lenses.
• the lenses of the invention are soft contact lenses having water contents of about 0 to about 90 percent.
• the lenses are made of monomers containing hydroxy groups, carboxyl groups, or both or be made from silicone-containing polymers, such as siloxanes, hydrogels, silicone hydrogels, and combinations thereof.
• Material useful for forming the lenses of the invention may be made by reacting blends of macromers, monomers, and combinations thereof along with additives such as polymerization initiators. Suitable materials include, without limitation, silicone hydrogels made from silicone macromers and hydrophilic monomers. Examples of such silicone macromers include, without limitation, polydimethylsiloxane methacrylated with pendant hydrophilic groups; polydimethylsiloxane macromers with polymerizable function; and combinations thereof. They may also be made using polysiloxane macromers incorporating hydrophilic monomers; or macromers comprising polydimethylsiloxane blocks and polyether blocks.
• Suitable materials also may be made from combinations of oxyperm and ionoperm components.
• Hydrophilic monomers may be incorporated into such copolymers, including 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (“HEMA”), 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, N,N-dimethylacrylamide (“DMA”), N-vinylpyrrolidone, 2-vinyl-4,4 ⁇ - dimethyl-2-oxazolin-5-one, methacrylic acid, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylamide.
• Additional siloxane monomers may be incorporated such as tris(trimethylsiloxy)silylpropyl methacrylate, or the siloxane monomers.
• the materials for making the contact lenses are well known and commercially available.
• the material used is a HEMA based hydrogel, more preferably etafilcon A, and the binding polymer is formed from linear random block copolymers of MAA, HEMA and lauryl methacrylate ("LMA"); linear random block copolymers of MAA and HEMA; linear random block copolymers of HEMA and LMA; or a HEMA homopolymer.
• Etafilcon A generally is a formulation of 100 parts by weight (“pbw”) HEMA, about 1.5 to about 2.5 pbw MAA, approximately 0.3 to about 1.3 pbw ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, about 0.05 to about 1.5 pbw 1,1,1,-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate, and about 0.017 to about 0.024 pbw of a visibility tint.
• etafilcon A is used with a linear random block copolymer of MAA, HEMA and LMA in a ratio of 0.47 MAA to 100 HEMA to 4.14 LMA, or with a linear random block copolymer of HEMA and MAA in a ratio of 99.9 HEMA and 0.1 MAA to 99.5 HEMA and 0.5 MAA.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Ophthalmology & Optometry (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Eyeglasses (AREA)

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Citations (6)

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• 2006
  • 2006-06-23 US US11/426,038 patent/US20070296917A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2007
  • 2007-06-20 JP JP2009516702A patent/JP5638241B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-06-20 WO PCT/US2007/071665 patent/WO2007149916A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-06-20 KR KR1020097001703A patent/KR101323576B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-06-20 AU AU2007260934A patent/AU2007260934B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-06-20 SG SG2011069176A patent/SG175557A1/en unknown
  • 2007-06-20 BR BRPI0713524-6A patent/BRPI0713524A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2007-06-20 CA CA2657443A patent/CA2657443C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-06-20 RU RU2009102054/28A patent/RU2429510C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-06-20 CN CN2007800235857A patent/CN101479645B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-06-20 EP EP07798819A patent/EP2035885A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-06-22 AR ARP070102778A patent/AR061621A1/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2007-06-22 TW TW096122402A patent/TWI484248B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2013
  • 2013-12-24 JP JP2013265191A patent/JP2014056274A/ja active Pending

Patent Citations (6)

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