Eyewear and lenses with multiple molded lens components

• US 10,871,661 B2
• Filed: 11/22/2016
• Issued: 12/22/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oakley, Inc. (EssilorLuxottica SA)
• Original Assignee: Oakley, Inc. (EssilorLuxottica SA)
• Inventors: Saylor, Ryan, Meunier, Benjamin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Thomas K
• Assistant Examiner(s): Oestreich, Mitchell T
• Application Number:
  US15/359,317
• Publication Number:
  US 20170075143A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,491 Days
• Field of Search: 35115956
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00413 made by moulding between two mould parts which are not in direct contact with one another, e.g. comprising a seal between or on the edges B29D11/00019 - B29D11/00355, B29D11/00423, B29D11/00432 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00644 polarizing
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/0073 Optical laminates
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2995/0026 Transparent
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2995/0034 Polarising
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 2202/16 Laminated or compound lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/02 Lenses; Lens systems ; Methods of designing lenses
• 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 7/108 Colouring materials
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/12 Polarisers

Abstract

Certain embodiments disclosed herein include lenses for eyewear with a molded wafer and a molded clear resin lens component integrated onto a surface of the molded wafer. The molded wafer can include an optical filter that enhances one or more properties of filtered light. The optical filter can be, for example, a contrast-enhancing, color-enhancing, and/or chroma-enhancing filter. The clear resin lens component can be shaped such that the lenses have optical power. In some embodiments, the molded wafer is integrated onto a surface of a polarizing wafer.

Claims

1. Eyewear comprising:

a lens with optical power, the lens comprising;

a non-laminate wafer, wherein the non-laminate wafer comprises a non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer having a thickness less than 1.1 mm, and wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer comprises one or more chroma enhancement dyes disposed in a synthetic resinous material, and wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer is configured to increase an average chroma value of uniform intensity light stimuli having a bandwidth of 30 nm transmitted through the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer within a spectral range of 440 nm to 510 nm as compared to a neutral filter that uniformly attenuates the same average percentage of light as the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer within the spectral range of 440 nm to 510 nm; and

a base layer integrated with the non-laminate wafer, the base layer comprising;

a concave boundary surfaced to provide the lens with a desired amount of optical power, and

a convex boundary at which the base layer is physically in contact with the non-laminate wafer,

wherein an absorption spectrum of the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer is substantially uniform across the surface of the lens for light incident along a direction parallel to a line of sight of a wearer, and wherein the non-laminate wafer further comprises an exposed surface opposite to the base layer.

2. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer has a blue light absorbance peak comprising:

a spectral bandwidth;

a maximum absorbance;

a center wavelength located at a midpoint of the spectral bandwidth; and

an integrated absorptance peak area within the spectral bandwidth;

wherein the spectral bandwidth is equal to the full width of the blue light absorbance peak at 80% of the maximum absorbance of the blue light absorbance peak;

wherein the center wavelength of the blue light absorbance peak is between 440 nm and 510 nm;

wherein an attenuation factor of the blue light absorbance peak is greater than or equal to about 0.8 and less than 1.0, and

wherein the attenuation factor of the blue light absorbance peak is obtained by dividing the integrated absorptance peak area within the spectral bandwidth by the spectral bandwidth of the blue light absorbance peak.

3. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the lens further comprises:

a static attenuation filter; and

a user-controlled and/or sensor-controlled variable attenuation filter, the variable attenuation filter configured to switch among a plurality of states comprising a faded state and a darkened state based on a signal provided by a user and/or based on input from one or more than one sensors,

wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer further comprises at least one of the variable attenuation filter or the static attenuation filter.

4. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the lens comprises a functional layer configured to provide variable light attenuation.

5. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer comprises an electrochromic material.

6. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer comprises a photochromic material.

7. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the lens has non-zero cylindrical power.

8. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the lens has negative optical power.

9. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the lens has positive optical power.

10. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more chroma enhancement dyes has a solubility from 0.6 gm/L to 14 gm/L in toluene.

11. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more chroma enhancement dyes has a solubility from 2.6 gm/L to 25 gm/L in chloroform.

12. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more chroma enhancement dyes has a dye strength between 44 L/(g·

cm) and 10,000 L/(g·

cm) in methylene.

13. The eyewear of claim 1, further comprising a polarizing wafer, the polarizing wafer comprising:

a first insulating polymeric layer;

a second insulating polymeric layer; and

a polarizing film disposed between the first insulating polymeric layer and the second insulating polymeric layer.

14. The eyewear of claim 13, wherein the first or the second insulating polymeric layer comprises a stretched polycarbonate sheet.

15. The eyewear of claim 13, wherein the polarizing wafer is disposed between the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer and the base layer.

16. The eyewear of claim 13, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer has a thickness greater than 0.3 mm and less than 1.1 mm.

17. The eyewear of claim 13, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer has a concave boundary conformed to the convex boundary of the base layer and the polarizing wafer has a concave boundary conformed to a convex boundary of the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer.

29. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the non-laminate wafer has a coating.

30. The eyewear of claim 29, wherein the coating comprises a mirror coating.

18. Eyewear comprising:

a lens with optical power, the lens comprising;

a non-laminate wafer, wherein the non-laminate wafer comprises a non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer having a thickness less than 1.1 mm, and wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer comprises one or more chroma enhancement dyes disposed in a synthetic resinous material, and wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer is configured to increase the average chroma value of uniform intensity light stimuli having a bandwidth of 30 nm transmitted through the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer within a spectral range of 560 nm to 600 nm as compared to a neutral filter that uniformly attenuates the same average percentage of light as the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer within the spectral range of 560 nm to 600 nm; and

a base layer integrated with the non-laminate wafer, the base layer comprising;

a concave boundary surfaced to provide the lens with a desired amount of optical power, and

a convex boundary at which the base layer is physically in contact with the non-laminate wafer,

wherein an absorption spectrum of the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer is substantially uniform across the surface of the lens for light incident along a direction parallel to line of sight of a wearer, and wherein the non-laminate wafer further comprises an exposed surface opposite to the base layer.

19. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer has a yellow light absorbance peak comprising:

a spectral bandwidth;

a maximum absorbance;

a center wavelength located at a midpoint of the spectral bandwidth; and

an integrated absorptance peak area within the spectral bandwidth;

wherein the spectral bandwidth is equal to the full width of the yellow light absorbance peak at 80% of the maximum absorbance of the yellow light absorbance peak;

wherein the center wavelength of the yellow light absorbance peak is between 560 nm and 600 nm;

wherein an attenuation factor of the yellow light absorbance peak is greater than or equal to about 0.8 and less than 1.0, and

wherein the attenuation factor of the yellow light absorbance peak is obtained by dividing the integrated absorptance peak area within the spectral bandwidth by the spectral bandwidth of the yellow light absorbance peak.

20. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the lens further comprises a functional layer configured to provide variable light attenuation.

21. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer comprises an electrochromic material.

22. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer comprises a photochromic material.

23. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the lens has non-zero cylindrical power.

24. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the lens has negative optical power.

25. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the lens has positive optical power.

26. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the lens further comprises a polarizing wafer, the polarizing wafer comprising:

a first insulating polymeric layer;

a second insulating polymeric layer; and

a polarizing film disposed between the first insulating polymeric layer and the second insulating polymeric layer.

27. The eyewear of claim 26, wherein the polarizing wafer is disposed between the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer and the base layer.

28. The eyewear of claim 26, wherein the non-laminate chroma enhancement wafer has a thickness greater than 0.3 mm and less than 1.1 mm.

31. The eyewear of claim 18, wherein the non-laminate wafer has a coating.

32. The eyewear of claim 31, wherein the coating comprises a mirror coating.