Electro-active lenses with raised resistive bridges
First Claim
1. An electro-optic lens comprising:
- a first substantially transparent substrate;
a plurality of electrodes disposed on a surface of the first substantially transparent substrate, the plurality of electrodes comprising a first electrode disposed on the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate and a second electrode disposed on the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate;
an insulating layer disposed on the first electrode, the second electrode, and on a portion of the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode; and
a resistive bridge disposed on the insulating layer over the portion of the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode, the resistive bridge connecting the first electrode with the second electrode via holes patterned into the insulating layer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Resistive bridges can connect many ring electrodes in an electro-active lens with a relatively small number of buss lines. These resistors are usually large to prevent excessive current consumption. Conventionally, they are disposed in the same plane as the ring electrodes, which means that the ring electrodes are spaced farther apart or made discontinuous to accommodate the resistors. But spacing the ring electrodes farther apart or making them discontinuous degrades the lens'"'"'s optical quality. Placing the ring electrodes and resistors on layers separated by an insulator makes it possible for the ring electrodes to be closer together and continuous with resistance high enough to limit current consumption. It also relaxes constraints on feature sizes and placement during the process used to make the lens. And because the resistors and electrodes are on different planes, they can be formed of materials with different resistivities.
253 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An electro-optic lens comprising:
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a first substantially transparent substrate; a plurality of electrodes disposed on a surface of the first substantially transparent substrate, the plurality of electrodes comprising a first electrode disposed on the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate and a second electrode disposed on the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate; an insulating layer disposed on the first electrode, the second electrode, and on a portion of the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode; and a resistive bridge disposed on the insulating layer over the portion of the surface of the first substantially transparent substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode, the resistive bridge connecting the first electrode with the second electrode via holes patterned into the insulating layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of operating an electro-optic lens comprising a plurality of electrodes, the plurality of electrodes comprising a first electrode disposed on a surface of a substrate and a second electrode disposed on the surface of the substrate, the method comprising:
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applying voltage to the first electrode via a buss line connected to the first electrode via a first hole in an insulating layer disposed on the plurality of electrodes; and applying voltage from the buss line to the second electrode via the first electrode and a resistive bridge spanning a portion of the insulating layer on the surface of the substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A method of making an electro-optic lens, the method comprising:
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forming a plurality of electrodes on a substrate, the plurality of electrodes comprising a first electrode and a second electrode on a surface of the substrate; depositing a layer of insulating material on the plurality of electrodes and on a portion of the surface of the substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode; forming a plurality of through holes in the layer of insulating material, the plurality of through holes comprising a first through hole connecting to the first electrode and a second through connecting to the second electrode; depositing a resistive material on the layer of insulating material over the portion of the surface of the substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode and in the plurality of through holes; and patterning the resistive material to form a plurality of resistors, the plurality of resistors comprising a first resistor connecting the first electrode to the second electrode and disposed on the insulating material extending over the portion of the surface of the substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An electro-active contact lens comprising:
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a base optical element; an electro-active element embedded within the base optical element, the electro-active element comprising; a plurality of electrodes comprising a first electrode and a second electrode on a surface of a substrate; an insulating layer disposed on the plurality of electrodes and on a portion of the surface of the substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode; and a resistive bridge disposed on the insulating layer on the portion of the surface of the substrate between the first electrode and the second electrode, the resistive bridge connecting the first electrode in the plurality of electrodes with the second electrode in the plurality of electrodes via holes patterned into the insulating layer. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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Specification