Colored lens

• US 5,120,121 A
• Filed: 03/28/1989
• Issued: 06/09/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Novartis Ag
• Original Assignee: Allergan, Inc. (Canada) (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Inventors: Bao, Qi-Bin, Rawlings, David L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sugarman, Scott J.
• Application Number:
  US07/329,431
• Time in Patent Office: 1,169 Days
• Field of Search: 351/160 R, 351/160 H, 351/161, 351/162
• US Class Current: 351/162
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 37/0032 the coating being applied upon the mould surface before introducing the moulding compound, e.g. applying a gelcoat B29C44/14 and B29C44/32 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00038 Production of contact lenses
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00317 Production of lenses with markings or patterns
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00894 colouring or tinting
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 11/00903 on the surface
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/043 Contact lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/046 Contact lenses having an iris pattern

Abstract

A molded plastic cosmetic contact lens made in a repetitive manner comprising a cosmetic pattern of clustered networks of interconnected thin colored lines radiating from and about the periphery of the pupil portion in a direction inclined towards and in contact with the periphery of the iris portion and residing within the iris portion. The lens can be made by molding in a manner that the cosmetic pattern becomes part of the body of the lens.

Claims

1. A molded plastic cosmetic contact lens made in a repetitive manner comprising an open sclera portion, a decorative iris portion and an open pupil portion, in which the iris portion circumscribes the pupil portion and, in turn, is circumscribed by the sclera portion, wherein the iris portion comprises a predetermined pattern of repeating clusters of substantially interconnecting networks of colored lines with the lines in the networks varying in thickness throughout the pattern, which clusters radiate from and about the periphery of the pupil portion in a direction inclined towards and in contact with the periphery of the iris portion, and the pupil portion is transparent and free of such pattern.

2. The molded plastic contact lens of claim 1 wherein the aforesaid cosmetic contact lens possesses a desirable level of texture by virtue of the variation in thickness and the length of the lines comprising the networks.

3. The molded plastic contact lens of claim 1 wherein the concentration of colored lines within the iris portion are sufficient to give the appearance, in the absence of optical magnification of the lens, of an essentially uniform color pattern across the whole of the iris portion, but the concentration of colored lines within the iris portion are insufficient to give the appearance of a textureless colored iris pattern.

4. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 1 wherein the lens is a monofocal lens.

5. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 1 wherein the lens is a bifocal lens.

6. The molded cosmetic contact lens of claim 1 wherein the lens body is made of a thermoset resin and the cosmetic pattern on the iris portion of the lens is made from a thermoplastic.

7. The molded cosmetic contact lens of claim 1 wherein the cosmetic pattern is opaque.

8. The molded cosmetic contact lens of claim 2 wherein the cosmetic pattern is opaque.

9. The molded cosmetic contact lens of claim 3 wherein the cosmetic pattern is opaque.

10. A cosmetic contact lens having an iris portion which comprises clusters of substantially interconnecting networks of irregular colored opaque lines radiating in a snaked pattern from and about the periphery of the pupil portion in a direction inclined towards and in contact with the periphery of the iris portion and residing within the iris portion, with the thickness of the lines in the networks varying in a predetermined manner throughout the network to create texture by virtue of the variation in thickness and shape of the lines and in the length of the lines, existing at either the anterior or posterior surface or both surfaces thereof, and the pupil portion is transparent and free of such network.

11. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 10 wherein the iris portion comprises clusters of substantially interconnecting networks of irregular colored lines radiating in a number of snaked patterns, wherein each pattern stems and spreads from a common trunk from and about the periphery of the pupil portion, in a direction inclined towards and in contact with the periphery of the iris portion and residing within the iris portion.

12. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 11 wherein there are spaces between the lines of the networks and the spaces are generally irregular in shape and spaces between the lines are not interconnected.

13. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 12 wherein open space between the lines serves to accent the form of the lines thereby providing textural highlights to the pattern.

14. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 13 wherein the networks comprise opaque matrices for the open spaces between the lines of the networks.

15. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 14 wherein the opaque solid network matrices comprise from about 50 percent to about 95 percent of the area of the iris portion.

16. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 15 wherein the opaque solid network matrices comprises from about 60 percent to about 90 percent of the area of the iris portion.

17. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 16 wherein the opaque solid network matrices comprises from about 65 percent to about 85 percent of the area of the iris portion.

18. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 10 wherein the lens is a molded contact lens and the lines of the clustered networks are embedded within the body of the lens at the anterior, posterior or both surfaces of the lens such that the surfaces have their regular shape.

19. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 18 wherein the texture is provided by irregular or interrupted line patterns in the iris portion that extends into the depth of the contact lens body and utilizes the differences between the refractive index of the clear portion of the lens and the refractive index of the colored portion of the lens constituting the lines to contribute to the textured appearance of the lens.

20. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 10 wherein the pattern comprises clusters of interconnected networks of thin colored lines which vary in the concentration of the lines radiating from and about the periphery of the pupil portion in a direction inclined towards and in contact with the periphery of the iris portion and residing within the iris portion, with a lesser concentration of the lines in the region of the iris portion closest to the pupil portion and a greater concentration of the lines outside of said region.

21. The cosmetic contact lens of claim 20 wherein there is a less dense line pattern about the periphery of the pupil which serves to effect a more natural appearance for defining the transition between the pupil and the iris portions.