Contrast Enhancing Glass Composition for Sunglass Lenses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contrast enhancing glasses for sunglasses face challenges in achieving sufficient UV protection and color perception while maintaining high visible light transmission, often requiring expensive rare earth materials and complex production processes, and they fail to provide adequate contrast enhancement for red and green colors.
Innovation Solution
A glass composition comprising 45-65 wt.% SiO2, 1-12 wt.% Nd2O3, 1-10 wt.% Er2O3, 0.5-8 wt.% Ho2O3, and 0.00-0.05 wt.% NiO, which allows for easy melting and production without copper and bromine, providing three main absorption bands for enhanced contrast and UV protection without the need for tempering, and maintaining high visible light transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If copper and bromine are used to achieve UV protection and contrast enhancement, then UV filtering capability is improved, but production complexity increases due to required tempering processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes copper and bromine from the glass composition, eliminating the need for tempering processes while maintaining UV protection through alternative rare earth oxide components. This extraction of problematic substances simplifies the production process while preserving the essential UV filtering function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters by substituting copper-bromine-based UV filters with rare earth oxide-based filters (neodymium, erbium, holmium). This parameter change allows UV protection to be achieved through a different mechanism that does not require thermal tempering, thereby reducing production complexity.
2Illumination intensity
If high concentrations of holmium oxide are used to achieve contrast enhancement, then color perception is improved, but manufacturing costs increase due to expensive rare earth materials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite rare earth oxide system combining neodymium oxide, erbium oxide, and holmium oxide in specific proportions. This composite approach distributes the contrast enhancement function across multiple materials, allowing lower individual concentrations of each oxide (particularly the expensive holmium oxide) while achieving the same overall optical performance, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses moderate concentrations of rare earth oxides (1-12 wt% neodymium, 1-10 wt% erbium, 0.5-8 wt% holmium) rather than high concentrations, achieving sufficient contrast enhancement through the synergistic effect of the combination. This partial action approach reduces material costs while maintaining functional performance.
3Illumination intensity
If neodymium oxide is used in high concentrations to achieve contrast enhancement, then color filtering is improved, but visible light transmission decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the neodymium oxide concentration parameter to a specific range (1-12 wt%) that balances contrast enhancement with visible light transmission. By precisely controlling this parameter and combining it with other rare earth oxides, the patent achieves adequate color filtering without excessive absorption of visible light, maintaining transmission above 60%.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The glass composition achieves high contrast enhancement with a neutral color, maintaining over 60% visible light transmission and meeting international standards for sunglass lenses, while reducing production complexity and costs by eliminating the need for tempering and using lower concentrations of expensive holmium oxide.
Implementation Method 1
The glass composition comprises 1-12 wt.% Nd2O3, 1-10 wt.% Er2O3, 0.5-8 wt.% Ho2O3... providing three main absorption bands for enhanced contrast and UV protection
Implementation Method 2
providing three main absorption bands for enhanced contrast and UV protection... The glass has three main interferences at about 446 nm, 521 and approximately 585 nm
Data Source
AI summary
A glass composition, including contrast enhancing glass and contrast enhancing sunglass, having approximately 45-65 wt.-%, SiO2, 0-12 wt.-% B2O3, 0-15 wt.-%, Na2O, 0-10 wt.-% K2O, and 10 0-7 wt.-% ZnO, 1-12 wt.-% Nd2O3, 1-10 wt.-% Er2O3, 0.5-8 wt.-% Ho2O3, and 0.00-0.05 wt.-% NiO, and methods of making the same.