Contact lens holding container

The subject of the invention is a contact lens storage package, especially a bladder or plastic injection molded packaging for the storage of hydrophyte or soft contact lenses immersed in sterile saline.

Hydrophyte or soft contact lenses have become quite popular for their comfort and convenience. These hydrophyte lenses usually contain 20-90 wt. water. To maintain this high water content, hydrophyte lenses are usually immersed in a sterile aqueous solution during storage, in a watertight package. Many different packages have been used to store the hydrophyte contact lenses.

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The first packaging for storing contact lenses was corked glass bottles. These bottles were usually sealed with silicon stoppers and metal foil caps for protection. Each bottle with a capacity of about 10 cm contained one contact lens immersed in about 7 cm³ sterile saline solution. The lens was removed by breaking the metal foil, pulling out the cork and grasping the lens with pliers.

Improvements to contact lens storage packages include injection-shaped or "bladder" shaped packaging, known e.g. from US Pat. No. 4,691,820. There is described a contact lens storage package comprising a bladder portion that forms a cavity for receiving the contact lens and saline solution. This bladder portion includes an outwardly extending collar around the perimeter of the cavity. The cover material is attached to the collar for watertight closing. The sidewall portion of the bladder portion is inclined from a lower supporting surface of this bladder portion. The package is opened by pulling the cover off the collar to reveal the recess containing the contact lens. Although such packaging introduces some improvements, neither the packaging nor the cover part can easily be gripped when opening.

There is therefore a need for packaging for storing a hydrophilic contact lens with improved packaging gripping elements. There is also a need for a contact lens storage package having improved means for gripping and removing the cover.

The object of the invention is to provide a container for storing a contact lens with improved gripping and stabilizing elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a contact lens storage container having improved access to the lens.

A further object of the invention is to improve the user's comfort when opening the contact lens package.

Still another object of the invention is to improve the positioning of the stabilizing elements of the contact lens packaging relative to the sealing elements, thereby reducing the likelihood of losing the lens or solution when the package is opened.

The packaging for storing a contact lens according to the invention is characterized in that the container has at least two notches disposed on opposite sides of the container, while the flexible lid has a gripping tongue.

The indentations allow the container to be gripped between the thumb and forefinger, while the grip tongue allows the lid to be removed manually and access to the contact lens.

The flexible cover is preferably a flexible plate made of a liquid impermeable material, especially a metal foil. The flexible cover is, optionally, attached to the peripheral collar on the container by means of an adhesive placed between the flexible cover and the container collar. Preferably, the flexible lid protrudes beyond the edge of the container to form a tongue to which erected parts are optionally attached, the erected parts having a plurality of raised ribs thereon. This allows you to manually grip the flexible cover. The tongue preferably protrudes about 5 mm - 50 mm beyond the edge of the container.

The container is, in particular, made of transparent plastic. The container has, optionally, a flattened surface opposite the lid. Thanks to this, the packaging can be placed on a flat surface and kept in a certain orientation.

Preferably, the container is approximately hemispherical in shape, and the flattened surface lies in a plane approximately parallel to the periphery of the hemisphere, and the collar extends from the periphery of the hemisphere to points outside the hemisphere in the plane of the hemisphere periphery.

Preferably, the indentations have approximately the same radius of curvature of 5-30 mm.

The package, optionally, has a pair of rims attached to the indentations, the rims extending approximately perpendicular to the flange and having an approximately

177 670 in accordance with the shape of the indentation. In particular, the edges have ridges extending from the surface of these edges.

The contact lens storage package according to the invention is shown, in an exemplary embodiment, a drawing in which Figure 1 shows one embodiment of a contact lens storage package in cross section, Figure 2 shows the container part of a contact lens storage package in a top view Fig. 3 is a top view of the flexible plate for sealing the contact lens packaging. 4 shows a second example of a packaging for storing a contact lens in longitudinal section, Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment of a package for storing contact lens in a top view, Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of a package for storing contact lens in a side view, and Fig. 7 shows a second embodiment of a package for storing a contact lens in cross section.

Figure 1 shows, in cross section, a package 10 according to the invention for storing a contact lens. The container 12 comprises a container 22 for a contact lens. 24 and the surrounding liquid, e.g. , sterile isotonic saline. The container 12 is preferably hemispherical in shape for compatibility with the convex surface of the contact lens. Preferably, the container has a flattened surface 14 opposite the lid 18. This flattened surface allows the container to be positioned and held in a specific position on a flat surface, e.g. on a table. The container 12 further includes a flange 16 for peripherally securing the cover 18 to it. The collar 16 extends from the periphery of the container 12 outwardly, preferably in a plane defined by the perimeter, to a dimension sufficient to allow attachment of the lid 18 to it. Cover 18 is a flexible sheet of material suitable for providing liquid tightness to the container 12 when attached to it. Preferably, the lid 18 is substantially in line with the shape of the collar 16 of the container 12, except that at least one part, the tongue 20, protrudes beyond the collar 16. The tongue 20 (see also Fig. 3) provides the user with an easy grip when opening the device for access stored contact lens.

Figure 2 shows a top view of the container 30 according to one embodiment of the invention. The indentations 32 in the container 30 (preferably in the collar) are made to allow the user to grip the container during removal of the sealing means, are means for stabilizing the container when opening it. Figure 3 shows the preferred shape of the flexible plate 40. The plate 40 generally has a shape consistent with the shape of the container except for the tongue 20 which extends beyond the perimeter of the container.

The user can remove the contact lens by gripping the indents 32 (see Fig. 2) with the thumb and forefinger of one hand while simultaneously gripping the tongue (see Fig. 3) with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand. The tongue 20 can then be displaced in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, thereby breaking the seal (preferably provided by gluing or welding) between the container flange and the flexible sealing plate.

The term "indentation" as used herein means cutouts, notches, dents, grooves or other shapes that create a sufficient diversity in circumference to allow the user to easily grasp the contact lens storage device. The indentation can be made by cutting, stamping, forming or other shaping of the flexible plate. Preferably, the indentations are curves in the periphery of the container, especially the container flange, which are substantially in line with the radius of curvature of the human thumb and forefinger. More preferably, the indentations have approximately the same radius of curvature of about 5 mm - 30 mm.

Figure 4 shows a more preferred second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the tongue 52 has surfaces with increased gripping friction caused by ribs or raised parts 54 (see Fig. 5) on the tongue 52. The tongue 52 is detachably attached to the container body 58 by attachment (e.g., glue or welding) to the lid (not shown in Fig. 5), which in turn is detachably attached (e.g. by gluing or welding) to the container flange. The tongue 52 is preferably a ribbed rigid piece of material which is particularly suitable for gripping by hand

177 670 between thumb and forefinger. The rigid ribbed construction allows the user to grasp the tongue firmly. In combination with side indentations, this rigid ribbed tongue allows a smooth separation of the lid-container connection, thereby preventing tilting and spilling of the container contents.

The second embodiment is also advantageous by the use of indentations 56 including raised rims 60 extending substantially perpendicular to the plane defined by the container flanges 58 (see Figures 6 and 7). The rims 60 extend approximately perpendicular to the flange 62, as best seen in Fig. 7. Preferably, the raised rims 60 are ribbed or grooved on the surface 64 to improve friction to facilitate gripping. These rims are curvilinear to match the shape of the previously described container indentations 56 (see Fig. 5).

The location of the tongue 52 relative to the indents 56 (see Fig. 5) provides a significant improvement in the ease of removal of the contact lens from the container. When opening the package, the indentation 56 can be gripped between the thumb and forefinger of one hand, while the tongue 52 grips between the thumb and forefinger of the other hand. When the tongue 52 is moved towards the indents 56, the container can easily be held in one position by gripping the indents 56, thereby preventing the solution from spilling or the lens falling out of the container. Preferably the container is further stabilized by placing it on a horizontal surface (e.g. on a table) when opening with a flat surface 55 (see Fig. 5) adjacent to the horizontal surface.

As mentioned above, the tongue extends a certain dimension beyond the circumference of the container, this dimension being sufficient to allow the user easy access to the tongue. Preferably, the tongue extends about 5 mm - 50 mm beyond the circumference of the container, more preferably about 15-25 mm.

The flexible plate can be made of many different water-repellent materials and can have different thicknesses. This plate must be flexible enough to allow the user to easily remove it from the container. Preferably, the plate is made of metal foil (e.g. aluminum) or composite foil material. The preferred thickness of the plate is 0.01 0.10 mm, more preferably 0.04-0.05 mm.

The container may be made of many different materials, but is preferably transparent to allow the user to control the lens without opening the storage container. Preferred materials include a variety of transparent, shapable, substantially hydrophobic plastics such as polyethylene or polypropylene. Preferred container thicknesses are in the range of 0.5-1.0 mm.

The container can be attached to the flexible plate in many ways. However, the bond strength between the container and the sheet should not be too high, i.e. the user should be able to easily and quickly separate the sheet from the container. Preferred means for securing the plate to the container include known adhesive application between them or known welding application.

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FIG.

UP Department of Publications. Circulation of 70 copies Price PLN 2.00