The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 01, 1992
Filed:
Jul. 19, 1991
Simcha Borovsky, Fair Lawn, NJ (US);
American Vision, Inc., Glen Rock, NJ (US);
Abstract
A contact lens cleaning and disinfecting system is formed as a compact unit with an upper housing portion containing a UV lamp and a lower base portion containing a cleaning/disinfecting chamber which is filled with saline solution, a lens holder, a turbulence mechanism for inducing turbulence in the fluid, and an electronic control unit for operating the UV lamp and the turbulence mechanism in a single cleaning/disinfecting cycle of comparatively short duration. The lens holder has a pair of lower lens holder portions for the lenses and an upper bracket for shading the lenses from direct UV radiation. The turbulence mechanism is a magnetic pedal, tethered on the end of a flexible spring, which is driven by a magnetic flux generator to create a whirlpool in the fluid which swirls in and around the lens holder portion. Particles, films, and other deposits dislodged from the lenses are carried by the whirlpool above the upper bracket of the lens holder where they are disinfected by the UV radiation. The pedal is driven in oscillation in a sub-sonic range of about 50-120 cyc/sec. An electrical contact interlock between the upper housing and the lower base prevents accidental operation and irradiation by the UV lamp. The whirlpool turbulence cleans deposits from the lenses, thereby avoiding the need for manual scrubbing and detergent chemicals. The UV radiation disinfects the dislodged deposits and fluid quickly, without heating, and without the need for preservatives and disinfectant chemicals.