Contact lens fitting kit components and automatic recognition technology

Abstract

A system and technique for automatically replenishing any shortage of trial contact lenses in a user-friendly manner. The system includes an assembly stocked with trial lenses of known types, which can be used up from known compartment locations within the assembly. Furthermore, the natural process of distributing trial lenses to a customer generates an automatically displayed visual indicator at the corresponding compartment location when a compartment is empty. Therefore, the type of lens that has been used up can be immediately determined using an imaging application in front of the assembly. Consequently, the image can be used to facilitate the automatic replenishment of such empty trial lenses.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Over the years, the contact lens business has evolved in a variety of ways that have resulted in industry standard ways of providing new lenses to customers. This is especially true in the case of new contact lens customers. That is, a customer may be seeking contact lenses for the first time after previously being a dedicated eyeglass wearer or someone who has not used corrective lenses at all. Alternatively, a customer may need a new contact lens prescription, whether due to a natural need for increased power or to address a newly emerging vision problem.

[0002] In either case, such customers of an eye care professional (ECP) facility may be provided with a "trial pack" of contact lenses. In this way, the customer is able to leave the ECP facility with a set of contact lenses that can be safely used for a brief period of time (perhaps a week). Assuming that there are no problems after the initial trial period, the new customer can order new daily or extended wear lenses to cover a period far beyond the initial trial period. Of course, if problems arise, the new customer can revisit the ECP to obtain different sizes and / or powers, or even alternative brands and types of contact lenses options.

[0003] In the above case, the standard business practice of providing contact lens trial packs depends on the brands and types of trial packs available to the office ECP. More specifically, the skilled management of the ECP staff is likely to obtain new contact lens prescriptions from the ECP during the customer visit and revert to the available trial pack sets. For example, different companies may provide the ECP with trial pack arrays of different types, focal lengths, etc. The ECP or ECP administrator can quickly view the different arrays to determine which company brand has a trial pack available for the newly provided prescription. The brand with a trial pack available for the prescription can be the brand provided to the customer. Depending on the length of the customer's trial period, this may eventually become a long-term or even permanent brand choice for the customer in the next few years. The specific brand selected may be a matter of chance, or the selected brand may be the last available trial pack of any potential brand in the ECP office.

[0004] Of course, administrators and ECPs may expect that there will be an adequate supply of all types of trial packs available from the various corporate providers. In practice, however, there is currently no user-friendly way for administrators to track available and unavailable trial packs of all types and prescriptions for all corporate brands provided to ECP offices. Generally speaking, corporate brand trial packs are provided to ECP offices as a courtesy. When any given type of trial pack from a given company is depleted, restocking of the brand and type requires the administrator to note the shortage of the brand and type and manually place a new trial pack order with the supplier company.

[0005] Often, reordering of trial packs of a particular brand and type depends on how many other brands are available for the prescription and type of trial pack being sought. That is, if trial packs for a given prescription of a certain type are available in all brands except one, then the administrator may prioritize other tasks over restocking the one brand that has run out. Unfortunately, this means that potential customer and / or ECP brand preferences often take a backseat to the administrator's task time and random events.

[0006] Of perhaps even greater concern is that restocking any given prescription and type for all potential brands may give an administrator a false sense of security. For example, an administrator may pull a trial of a given prescription and type from a given brand array and note that it is the last trial available for that brand in the noted type and prescription. However, the perception that other such trials may be available in the array for other brands may be a factor in the administrator's failure to reorder trials for the brand that ran out. This is unfortunate when that belief turns out to be wrong. This may be the case due to the administrator's memory being faulty, other administrators running out of other brand trials, or a host of other human factors.

[0007] As an alternative, each brand's array of samples could be equipped with auto-tracking sensors and other high-cost features to automatically alert administrators in real time of all sample availability. Of course, given the relatively cheap cost of any given disposable sample, this may not be cost-effective. In practice, therefore, customers and ECPs may be faced with taking advantage of any sample being available, regardless of preference. Indeed, there is often a realistic possibility that a customer will leave an ECP without a sample because of other administrators' priorities. Summary of the invention

[0008] A user-friendly system for identifying a shortage of any trial-fit contact lens of a given type among a plurality of trial-fit lenses is provided. The system includes a modular try-fit kit assembly having a plurality of separate compartment positions, each compartment position being used to accommodate one of the plurality of lenses of a given type. Further, the system includes a plurality of indicators having an indicator at each compartment position. When activated, each indicator can automatically provide an indication of a shortage of a given trial-fit lens type at a corresponding position in the event of such a shortage. The system also includes hardware, such as for accommodating a smartphone application. The application can image the visible front of the modular try-fit kit assembly to provide a user-friendly image of the assembly indicating a shortage of the trial-fit lens type. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a modular try-on kit assembly having a unique try-on kit indicator feature.

[0010] Figure 2A yes Figure 1 A cross-sectional side view of a compartment of a try-on kit assembly with the try-on kit being removed.

[0011] Figure 2B yes Figure 2A Cross-sectional side view of the compartment with the try-on kit removed and the visual indicator activated.

[0012] Figure 3A Is Figure 1 A front view of an array of contact lens try-in kits housed in a modular try-in kit assembly.

[0013] Figure 3B is from Figure 3A A three-dimensional image of a trial contact lens taken out of the packaging of an array of trial kits.

[0014] Figure 4 is a diagram depicting a mobile electronic device having a graphical user interface (GUI) for imaging the front of the assembly when removing a trial contact lens.

[0015] Figure 5 is a flow chart summarizing the use of Figure 4 An embodiment of a GUI to track and manage restocking of components for trial contact lenses. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] In the following description, many details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the described embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Further, many variations or modifications may be employed that are still contemplated by the specifically described embodiments.

[0017] Embodiments are described with reference to certain types of systems in the contact lens field having exemplary modular try-in kit components. In particular, a three-layer modular system is presented that accommodates a number of known try-in kit lenses of known sizes, prescriptions, types, and layouts. Specifically, as Figure 1The sixty unit try-in kit shown is an industry standard layout. As used herein, the terms "try-in kit," "trial lens," and other similar terms are used interchangeably and are not meant to infer any distinction therebetween. Further, the system can utilize a variety of different layouts that can be used for any number of different types of contact lens try-in kits, regardless of prescription range, size, type, brand, etc. That is, there is no need to customize and utilize the system using industry standards in terms of layout. As long as the assembly utilizes a known layout and combines an automatic visual indicator for any lens type shortage of the assembly, considerable benefits can be achieved.

[0018] Reference now Figure 1 , shows a front perspective view of a modular try-on kit assembly 100. Assembly 100 includes unique try-on kit indicator features. In the illustrated embodiment, these features are implemented by drop-down visual indicators 110. More specifically, assembly 100 is a housing made of different modular components 101, 105, 107. Each of these components houses an array of compartments 125. Compartments 125 may alternatively be empty slots, drawers, or a plurality of compartments for housing contact lenses 301 of a given type (e.g., see Figure 3B ) or other suitable locations. In any case, each compartment 125 either accommodates a lens package 175 or does not accommodate a lens package.

[0019] like Figure 1 As shown, when there are lens packages 175 for any given compartment 125, this is visually apparent. However, when packages 175 are no longer available at any given compartment location, a visual indicator 110 automatically appears to provide an immediate indication that the lens type at the compartment location is no longer available. In the illustrated embodiment, this automatically appearing indicator 110 may be a hinged door or a spring-loaded door that is not visible when any packages 175 are present at the compartment location. However, once the compartment 125 is depleted of packages 175, the door indicator 110 may be as shown. Figure 2A and Figure 2B It falls into view as shown.

[0020] Of course, the indicator 110 can be a variety of indicator types. That is, it does not need to be a drop-down door as specifically described herein. Again, the term "visual" is intended to infer that the indicator is specific to the hardware and its application (such as Figure 4400). However, in other embodiments, the type of indicator may be visible relative to the camera function, but not necessarily obvious to the application user. This may include an indicator that illuminates electronically or otherwise when an empty compartment appears. Again, as a user aid, note that the prescription strength is displayed on the front of each drop drawer indicator 110. However, the system may be used entirely without such user-friendly illustrative aid. Such aid may be provided solely as a manual cross-check. Additionally or alternatively, in place of such a numbered manual visual cross-check, an electronic application cross-check in the form of a barcode, QR code, or other visual indicia may be placed on the face of the indicator 110.

[0021] Continue to refer Figure 1 , note that, as provided to the ECP, the assembly 100 is arranged into stacked modules 101, 105, 107 of lens packages 175. These modules can be arranged to have different mating sizes for each module 101, 105, 107 and stacked in a predetermined order. Again, the assembly 100 itself can include packages 175 that are dedicated to a specific brand and type (e.g., trial lenses for a particular extended wear product line of a given company). With the assembly 100 appropriately arranged at the ECP and this predetermined arrangement information known, a user-friendly trial pack replenishment method can be employed, as further detailed below.

[0022] It is also worth noting that, except the availability of space, there is no specific requirement to the quantity of initially available packages 175 for each compartment 125. For example, all compartments 125 can comprise single trial packages 175. Alternatively, all compartments 125 can comprise multiple packages 175, or only those packages used more frequently can be multiple, and this depends on prescription, size and other historical user data. When multiple packages are provided, compartment 125 can be equipped with spring propulsion or other suitable propulsion assistance, to ensure that as long as compartment 125 is not empty, any packages 175 are visible and can be touched manually. In any case, as long as the visual indicator of the shortage of packages 175 at any compartment position can be automatically obtained, the user-friendly system described in detail below is all beneficial.

[0023] Reference now Figure 2A , showing Figure 1 1 is a cross-sectional side view of the compartment 125 of the try-in kit assembly 100, wherein the try-in kit or trial lens package 175 is being removed. In the embodiment shown, the compartment 125 is Figure 1 A compartment of the uppermost module 101. Further note arrow 275, indicating the removal of package 175 from compartment 125 by, for example, an ECP employee administrator.

[0024] Continue to refer Figure 2A , also note that due to the presence of the package 175 before it is removed, the door indicator 110 is held back and retained within the compartment 125. Additional References Figure 1 , at this time, the compartment position will not provide any notification or indication of a shortage of packages. Instead, the compartment position will expose the package 175, as in Figure 1 The modular position is obvious in the upper left corner.

[0025] Reference now Figure 2B , showing Figure 2A 125, wherein the lens sample package 175 has been removed. As a result, the door indicator 110 can swing downward about the hinge 250. Figure 1 To anyone in front of the assembly 100, the visual indicator that any more packages 175 are missing will now be apparent. That is, the appearance at this compartment location will now resemble Figure 1 The second compartment from the left position in the uppermost row of components 100 (see the indicator "-0.75" at the door 110 at this position). Figure 2A and Figure 2B The embodiment of the present invention assumes that a single package 175 in the compartment 125 is removed and then the door indicator 110 is exposed. However, as described above, additional packages 175 of the same trial lens type may be found in the compartment 125, which may be assisted in advancing even when the previous package 175 is removed, for example by spring loading the compartment 175. In these cases, the door indicator 110 will be kept in place by these subsequent packages 175. Figure 2A until the last subsequent package is removed (e.g. Figure 2B shown).

[0026] It is worth noting that the visual indicator "-0.75" is not useful for example for Figure 1 100 is user-friendly for the ECP administrator of the assembly 100. However, as further described below, even without such user-friendly markings, the single open door position can still be used as an indicator for a smartphone application that can distinguish a closed door 110 from a package 175.

[0027] In short, provide Figure 3A and Figure 3B To show the actual aspects of the package 175 and contact lens 301 that are ultimately provided to the end user (see finger 310). More specifically, Figure 3A FIG. 1 is a front view of an array of contact lens fitting kits (e.g., packages 175). Packages 175 are shown to be loaded into Figure 1The modules 101 , 105 , 107 of the assembly 100 are stacked together in one of the ways.

[0028] Figure 3B is from Figure 3A 3D view of a trial contact lens 301 taken out of a package 175 of a trial fitting kit of an array of contact lenses. Note that this "array" of packages 175 is organized into known columns 325 and rows 350, with each package 175 containing a known predetermined type of lens 301 to be loaded into a Figure 1 Thus, even without user-friendly markings, the presentation of indicator 110 in place of packaging 175 may be sufficient for the smartphone application to recognize that the smartphone application is in the form of a display. Figure 1 Component 100 for which contact lens types are no longer available.

[0029] Reference now Figure 4 , shows a diagram depicting a mobile electronic device 400 having a graphical user interface (GUI) 410 in various stages of running an application 401 through the system detailed above. Specifically, the application 401 is configured to, when a package 175 of a trial contact lens 301 is removed during the normal course of business of the ECP, Figure 1 Specifically, the application icon 401 of the smartphone 400 may be selected to start running the application. Note that the login screen 425 is used to confirm specific ECP information. This means that when running the application 401, information about the assembly 100, its specific layout, and the details of the trial lens package 175 and the contact lens 301 are known in advance (see Figure 1 , Figure 3A and Figure 3B ). That is, historical data regarding such information may be stored at the smartphone 400 itself, in a contact lens component provider's database, or both. In any case, when the application 401 is run, any comparison between the component 100 provided to the ECP and its current state may be immediately determined, as described below.

[0030] Continue to refer Figure 4 , and additional references Figure 1Once logged in, the application 401 may present various options, one of which is an option to place a replenishment order 450 for the trial lens 301 (see FIG. 3 ). In the illustrated embodiment, selecting this option may present a camera-type function to the interface 410 (see display 480 ). Note the image corners of display 480 . These corners may help visually align the camera of the front of the assembly 100 for imaging by the application 401 . In fact, as shown at the display at 490 , an image or photograph of the front of the assembly 100 has been captured by the smartphone 400 . In this regard, note the proofreading mark confirmation of the image capture on the display 490 .

[0031] Using the image of the front of the assembly 100 captured by the smartphone 400, the order can be placed, as confirmed by the display of the confirmation display 495. Note that the images of the assembly 100 shown at 480 and 490 do not include reference to any markings at the drop door indicator 110. In these figures, this is only Figure 1 175 or the drop-down door indicator 110 is now visible to both the user and the application imaging function of the smartphone 400, as described above. Thus, even in the absence of any actual markings, conventional calculations, either at the processor of the smartphone 400 or, perhaps more likely, at the provider, can be employed to accurately obtain the identification of the empty lens compartment 125 and the lens itself. As described above, due to the stored information about the lens 301 and the packaging 175 (see Figure 3B ) is possible. Thus, when a replenishment order is placed, the specific lenses 301 to be re-supply will be automatically known, even without the ECP management staff noticing any details. In fact, in embodiments where no marking is provided (or even if a marking is provided), the staff may never need to record. The submission of the captured image alone is sufficient to effectuate replenishment of the lenses without any further action by the management. Of course, in other embodiments, the staff may be presented with the option of order verification before the order is placed. In this case, the marking may be a useful aid for a quick cross-check before the order is placed.

[0032] A number of advantages are achieved by employing the described trial pack order replenishment techniques. For example, from a staff perspective, utilizing an automated application to facilitate replenishment not only reduces the potential for human error when placing an order, but also significantly reduces the time it takes staff to initially place the order. As a result, staff time can be better spent on other tasks that are not available with such automation. This may have several positive impacts on the business. For example, not only is staff time better optimized, it also means that, given the choice of multiple provider brands, providers employing the system described herein may be more likely to keep adequate inventory of trial packs. This may inherently bring additional downstream business benefits to providers in the long term.

[0033] Reference now Figure 5 , presents a flowchart summarizing the Figure 4 GUI to track and manage the replenishment of trial contact lenses of the components described above. Specifically, as described above and shown at 510, a fully stocked component is provided. In the normal course of business, the component may steadily use up trial packs from known compartment locations (see 530). That is, each compartment is initially filled with trial pack contact lenses of known size, type, prescription, etc.

[0034] With the compartment location and lens information stored for all locations, a display of an indicator can be presented whenever a given compartment location is emptied of all trial size lenses (see 550). Thus, recording all component locations as shown at 570 provides an instantaneous record of all inventory and empty compartment locations. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an image of the front of the assembly with a door indicator presented only for empty compartments may be a sufficient record. That is, submitting this image to a provider as shown at 590 may be sufficient to automatically restock the empty compartments with trial size contact lenses.

[0035] Note that no sophisticated electronics or sensors are required to implement the replenishment techniques detailed above. A simple component image using a conventionally available smartphone may be sufficient to implement automatic replenishment. However, by the same token, more sophisticated advantages may be obtained. For example, a smartphone application or a provider's calculation may take into account historical replenishment activity. For example, this may be beneficial to the ECP and the provider before initially stocking components, building replenishment forecasts, customizing future orders, informing the supply chain, or any number of other additional benefits.

[0036] The embodiments described above include systems and techniques for tracking the use-up of trial-size lenses at an ECP in a user-friendly manner. Further, these techniques do not require complex, elaborate, or expensive tracking systems that incorporate sensors into the used-up or remaining products. Instead, the system utilizes readily available visual appearance, smartphones, and messaging tools to minimize administrative staff work and enable replenishment in an almost fully automated manner.

[0037] The foregoing description has been given with reference to the present preferred embodiments. However, other embodiments and / or features of embodiments disclosed above but not described in detail may be adopted. In addition, those skilled in the art and technology related to these embodiments will appreciate that other changes and variations may be made to the described structures and methods of operation without meaningfully departing from the principles and scope of these embodiments. In addition, the foregoing description should not be interpreted as being related only to the precise structures described and shown in the drawings, but should be interpreted as being consistent with and as support for the appended claims, which will have their fullest and fairest scope.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a shortage of a given type of trial contact lens from among a plurality of different types of trial contact lenses, the method comprising: obtaining a trial fit kit assembly in stock, the trial fit kit assembly comprising a housing for providing to an eye care professional, the trial fit kit assembly containing at least one lens package for each of the different types of trial fit contact lenses at corresponding known compartment locations of the housing; wherein the at least one lens package for a given type of trial contact lens in a corresponding known compartment location is used to retain the visual indicator out of sight within the corresponding known compartment prior to the visual indicator being automatically displayed, the visual indicator being a drop-down door; depleting lens packages of the given type of trial contact lenses from the corresponding known compartment locations; automatically displaying the drop door at the corresponding known compartment location of all lens packages emptied of trial-in contact lenses of the given type due to the use-up to provide an indication of a shortage of trial-in contact lenses of the given type, wherein displaying the drop door exposes the drop door in front of the corresponding compartment location; and An image of the front of the assembly is recorded, the image including all compartment locations having lens packages of the different types of trial fit contact lenses therein and all compartment locations where drop-down doors are displayed reflecting visual evidence of a shortage of all lens packages of each given type of trial fit contact lens therein.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising submitting the recorded image of the front of the component to a provider of the component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: The drop door includes human-readable indicia, and the method further includes a supervisor reviewing one of the front of the component and the recorded image of the front of the component in a manual cross-checking manner before submitting the recorded image.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein: The recorded image is obtained via a smartphone, and the step of submitting the recorded image of the front of the component to the component provider includes sending a message to the component provider to automatically replenish the trial contact lenses in the compartment location where the drop-down door is displayed.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein: One of the smartphone and the provider's database is employed to store historical data regarding automatic replenishment orders, the method further comprising customizing subsequent replenishment orders based on the historical data.

6. A trial-fitting kit assembly, comprising: A housing for providing to an eye care professional; A plurality of compartment positions of the housing, each compartment position being used to accommodate at least one lens package of each known type of trial-fit contact lens from a trial-fit kit of a plurality of different types of trial-fit contact lenses; as well as a visual indicator at each compartment location, the visual indicator being a drop-down door, each drop-down door being configured to be invisibly retained within the corresponding compartment by the at least one lens package of the respective known type of trial-fit contact lens when the at least one lens package of the respective known type of trial-fit contact lens is present in the compartment, wherein each drop-down door is further configured to automatically visibly display the corresponding empty compartment location to provide an indication that the respective known type of trial-fit contact lens is short, thereby exposing the visual indicator in front of the corresponding compartment location; as well as Therein, the front view of the try-in kit assembly provides a single visual record of all compartments of the try-in kit assembly with the drop-down doors displayed and emptied of all corresponding lens packages for the various known types of try-in contact lenses.

7. The fitting kit assembly according to claim 6, wherein: The compartment locations and the at least one lens package for each known try-in contact lens have a predetermined layout.

8. The try-on kit assembly according to claim 6, wherein: The visual record is in a format that is electronically transmitted to a provider of the trial fit kit components to place a replenishment order for lens packages.

9. The try-on kit assembly according to claim 8, wherein: The drop door includes one of human-readable and electronically-readable indicia for confirmation prior to placing an order.

10. The try-on kit assembly according to claim 6, wherein: The housing is of a three-layer modular variety for accommodating a total of sixty compartment locations and eyeglass packaging.

11. A system comprising: The fitting kit assembly according to any one of claims 6 to 10; as well as Hardware for recording an image of the front of the try-in kit assembly, the image reflecting a complete photograph of all emptied lens packages for each respective known type of try-in contact lens of the try-in kit assembly based on the displayed drop-down door.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein: The hardware in question is an eye care professional administrator smartphone.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein: The smartphone includes a graphical user interface having a replenishment order application for managing an image of the front of the try-on kit components.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein: The application stores the eye care professional's login information to confirm the layout of the try-on kit components to ensure proper replenishment.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein: The drop-down door includes indicia thereon to allow an administrator to confirm that lens packages of corresponding known types of trial contact lenses have been used up from corresponding compartments to ensure proper restocking.

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