METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONSTRUCTING A CONTACT LENS WITH OPTICS

• US 20100053549A1
• Filed: 06/16/2009
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innovega Inc.
• Original Assignee: Innovega Inc.
• Inventors: SPRAGUE, RANDALL, LEGERTON, JEROME
• Granted Patent: US 8,142,016 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 351/162
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00038 Production of contact lenses
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00048 composed of parts with dissimilar composition B29D11/00057 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00634 Production of filters
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0123 comprising devices increasing the field of view
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/015 involving arrangement aiming to get less bulky devices
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/30 Polarising elements light-modulating devices with active elements G02F1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 2202/04 Lenses comprising decentered structures
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 2202/16 Laminated or compound lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 2202/20 Diffractive and Fresnel lenses or lens portions
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/04 Contact lenses for the eyes disinfection or sterilisation of contact lenses A61L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/086 Auxiliary lenses located directly on a main spectacle lens or in the immediate vicinity of main spectacles
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/10 Filters, e.g. for facilitating adaptation of the eyes to the dark; Sunglasses
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/101 having an electro-optical light valve electro-optical elements per se G02F
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/102 Photochromic filters
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/104 having spectral characteristics for purposes other than sun-protection
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/12 Polarisers

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods, and processes for constructing a contact lens. In one embodiment, a contact lens assembly is provided, comprising: a curved polymer polarizer with an aperture; a lenslet disposed inside the aperture, wherein the lenslet enables imaging near objects; and a filter attached to the lenslet. In further embodiments, a method for fabricating a flexible contact lens is provided, comprising: fabricating an element having an extrusion; providing a front concave mold, wherein the front mold has an intrusion to accommodate the extrusion of the optical element; affixing the extrusion of the optical element to the intrusion of the front mold; attaching a back convex mold to the front concave mold, thereby forming a mold cavity; and filling the mold cavity with a pre-polymerized liquid, whereby upon polymerization, the pre-polymerized liquid forms the flexible contact lens and the optical element is partially encapsulated within the lens.

Claims

1. A contact lens assembly, comprising:

a curved polymer polarizer with an aperture;

a lenslet disposed inside the aperture, wherein the lenslet enables imaging near objects; and

a narrow band optical bandpass filter attached to the lenslet.

2. The contact lens assembly of claim 1, wherein the lenslet is a refractive lens or a diffractive lens.

4. A contact lens assembly, comprising:

a curved polymer polarizer having an aperture and a first polarization;

a second polymer polarizer having a second polarization; and

a lenslet disposed inside the aperture;

wherein the lenslet enables imaging near objects.

5. The contact lens assembly of claim 4, wherein the lenslet is a refractive lens or a diffractive lens.

6. The contact lens assembly of claim 4, wherein the lenslet is substantially wider in a horizontal direction than in a vertical direction, thereby enabling wider viewing angles in the horizontal direction.

7. A contact lens assembly, comprising:

a curved transparent substrate having at least one patterned filter; and

a lenslet attached to the curved transparent substrate.

8. The contact lens assembly of claim 7, wherein the patterned filter is a patterned polarization filter or a patterned spectral filter.

9. The contact lens assembly of claim 7, wherein the lenslet is a refractive lens or a diffractive lens.

10. The contact lens assembly of claim 7, wherein the patterned filter is a patterned spectral filter and the contact lens further comprises perforations or slots in one patterned spectral filter that allows gasses to permeate through the filter.

11. The contact lens assembly of claim 7, wherein the lenslet is substantially wider in a horizontal direction than in a vertical direction, thereby enabling wider viewing angles in the horizontal direction.

12. A contact lens assembly, comprising:

a substrate made of a molded contact lens material, comprising;

a curved transparent substrate having at least one optical filter, wherein the curved transparent substrate has an index of refraction less than an index of refraction of the molded contact lens material, and

an indent in the curved transparent substrate that is filled with the molded contact lens material such that the indent forms an optical power capable of viewing close objects.

13. The contact lens assembly of claim 12, wherein the lens is substantially wider in a horizontal direction than in a vertical direction, thereby enabling wider viewing angles in the horizontal direction.

14. A contact lens assembly, comprising:

a substrate comprising;

a lenslet, and

a surrounding region that encircles the lenslet and has a power sufficient to correct normal vision, wherein the lenslet has a power that is at least 25 diopters greater than the surrounding region.

15. The contact lens of claim 14, wherein the lenslet has a power that is 40 or more diopters greater than the surrounding region.

16. A contact lens assembly, comprising:

a substrate including a display information optical path to receive display information and a non-display optical path to receive non-display information, the non-display information optical path including an attenuator that blocks display information.

3. The contact lens assembly of claim 17 wherein the lenslet is substantially wider in a horizontal direction than in a vertical direction, thereby enabling wider viewing angles in the horizontal direction.

17. The contact lens assembly of claim 16, wherein the attenuator is a gray filter.

18. A method for fabricating a flexible contact lens, comprising:

fabricating at least one optical element having an extrusion;

providing a front concave mold, wherein the front mold has an intrusion to accommodate the extrusion of the optical element;

affixing the extrusion of the optical element to the intrusion of the front mold;

attaching a back convex mold to the front concave mold, thereby forming a mold cavity; and

filling the mold cavity with a pre-polymerized liquid, whereby upon polymerization, the pre-polymerized liquid forms the flexible contact lens and the optical element is partially encapsulated within the lens.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one optical element is a refractive lenslet, a diffractive lenslet, a pinhole aperture, a selective chromatic filter, a circular polarizing filter, a linear polarizer filter, a gray attenuator filter, a zone plate, or a birefringent filter.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the pinhole aperture has a diameter from about 0.5 to about 2 millimeters.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the refractive lenslet has an optical power sufficient to provide a multifocal capability that corrects presbyopia.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the refractive lenslet has an optical power sufficient to allow a retina to focus on an object in a spectacle plane.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the diffractive lenslet has a focal power for distance and near viewing such that the focal power corrects presbyopia.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the extrusion of the optical element is affixed to the intrusion of the front mold using a material that is not soluble by the pre-polymerized liquid.

25. The method of claim 18, wherein the extrusion of the optical element is affixed to the intrusion of the front mold using a material that is removable upon extracting and hydrating the polymerized lens.

26. A method for fabricating a flexible contact lens, comprising:

fabricating at least one optical element;

partially encapsulating the optical element in a first flexible material;

affixing the optical element to a front mold at a central zone;

attaching a back convex mold to the front concave mold, thereby forming a mold cavity; and

filling the mold cavity with a pre-polymerized liquid, whereby upon polymerization the pre-polymerized liquid forms the flexible contact lens.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the optical element is affixed to the front mold and the front mold is configured such that the optical element is located at a geometric center of the contact lens.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the optical element is affixed to the front mold and the front mold is configured such that the optical element is displaced from a geometric center of the contact lens.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the optical element is fabricated to be concave, convex, or non-curved on a posterior surface.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein the front concave mold and back convex mold are configured such that the flexible contact lens formed is a spherical contact lens or a toric contact lens.