Multilayer Contact Lens Recess Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in manufacturing multilayer contact lenses with cavities is the difficulty in achieving accurate alignment of features, leading to misalignment and sub-optimal optical performance due to unintentional rotation of lens layers during manufacturing, resulting in many lenses being discarded.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating one or more recesses on a single layer of the multilayer contact lens allows components to be placed within these recesses, eliminating the need for precise alignment of features between layers, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and improving optical performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple lens layers are constructed with features on each layer to enhance optical performance, then the optical performance is improved, but the alignment precision between layers deteriorates due to unintentional rotation during manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates multiple alignment-critical features onto a single lens layer, merging what would otherwise be separate features on different layers. This eliminates the alignment precision requirements between layers while maintaining the optical performance enhancements, directly resolving the contradiction between improved optics and deteriorating alignment precision
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the alignment-critical features from the multi-layer structure and places them all on one layer. By taking out the alignment requirements from the layer-to-layer interface, the patent maintains optical performance benefits while eliminating the manufacturing precision problem caused by layer rotation
2Reliability
If careful alignment of features on each lens layer is implemented, then optical performance is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
By merging all alignment-critical features onto a single lens layer, the patent dramatically simplifies the manufacturing process. Instead of requiring precise alignment between multiple layers, the invention combines all necessary features on one layer, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining optical performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by placing all features on a single layer rather than distributing them across multiple layers. This inversion eliminates the need for complex alignment procedures between layers, reducing manufacturing difficulty while preserving optical performance benefits
3Reliability
If multiple lens layers with cavities are constructed to accommodate components, then optical performance is enhanced, but the manufacturing precision deteriorates due to stress from different physical properties of layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cavity formation process from the multi-layer construction, creating cavities on a single layer rather than forming them through multiple layered assemblies. This eliminates the stress-induced precision problems that arise from combining layers with different physical properties, while still accommodating optical components effectively
Data Source
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AI summary
Multilayer contact lenses and methods of making the same are described. A contact lens (100) includes a lens assembly (103). The lens assembly (103) includes a plurality of flexible lens layers. A first layer (101) has a uniform or smooth anterior surface (106), and a second layer (102) has a structured posterior surface that includes one or more recesses (105). The anterior surface (106) of the first layer (101) and the structured posterior surface of the second layer (102) define a first cavity (107) for containing one or more components.