Touchless Contact Lens Package with Adhesive Plug
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional contact lens packaging requires manual handling that is unsanitary and mechanically stressful, leading to potential contamination and damage to the lens, as users often need to touch and manipulate the lens multiple times during transfer.
Innovation Solution
A contact lens package design featuring a plug with an adhesive exterior surface and a surface film on the interior surface to hold the lens by surface tension, allowing the user to insert the lens into the eye without direct contact, using a container with a reservoir and a lid for sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the contact lens is stored in a conventional molded plastic base with the concave side up, then the lens can be easily accessed, but the user must touch and manipulate the lens multiple times, causing contamination risk and mechanical stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediate holder device that serves as a mediator between the lens storage package and the user's finger. The holder contains the lens in a pre-oriented position and transfers it to the eye without requiring direct finger contact with the lens, thus eliminating contamination risk while maintaining ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The lens is pre-oriented in the correct convex-side-up position within the holder before use. This preliminary orientation eliminates the need for users to manually flip or reposition the lens, reducing mechanical stress and manipulation steps while maintaining easy accessibility
2Ease of operation
If the lens is presented in a convex-side-up orientation to eliminate flipping, then the need for lens manipulation is reduced, but the lens still requires 'fishing' from packaging solution or multiple touches for transfer
Solution Approach 1:
The holder acts as an intermediary that completely isolates the lens from the packaging solution during transfer. The lens remains in the holder which is removed from the solution container, allowing users to transfer the lens without any contact with packaging solution, thereby eliminating this source of contamination
Solution Approach 2:
The lens is extracted from the packaging solution and placed into the holder in a controlled manufacturing environment. This extraction separates the lens from the solution permanently, allowing the holder to be used as a sterile transfer device without requiring the user to fish the lens from solution
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a touchless package design is implemented, then contamination risk is reduced, but the device complexity increases with additional components like holders and adhesive mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The holder is designed to perform multiple functions: it stores the lens in correct orientation during transport, serves as a sterile barrier against packaging solution, acts as a transfer mechanism to the eye, and provides structural support for the adhesive mechanism. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, managing device complexity while achieving touchless transfer
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
Facilitates a 'no-touch' lens transfer process, reducing contamination risks and mechanical stress on the lens, while maintaining the lens in a consistent orientation for easy insertion, ensuring a sanitary and convenient handling experience.
Implementation Method 1
the contact lens is held by surface tension to the interior facing surface in a convex orientation with respect to the interior facing surface
Implementation Method 2
The plug may have an adhesive that temporarily holds the plug to the user's fingertip while the contact lens is inserted into the wearer's eye
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to improved contact lens packages and methods of use, manufacture, and assembly. A contact lens package houses a contact lens and packaging solution in which the contact lens may be held by surface tension to an intermediate plug, by which the user may insert the contact lens into the wearer's eye. The plug may have an adhesive that temporarily holds the plug to the user's fingertip while the contact lens is inserted into the wearer's eye.