Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~B0~8S
WO 94/24019 PCTIUS94/04391
CONTACT LENS CONTAINERS AND METHODS OF USING
Field of the In~ iG"
This invention ~qenerally relates to improved contact lens containers and
5 methods for their use. The present invention pertains to contact lens
containers prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions. More particularly,
the invention relates to a ready-to-use recloseable and resealable contact lens
container for holding contact lenses and contact lens treatment solutions that
can be used to clean, disinfect, and rinse contact lenses either one time or
10 several times before bein~ discarded.
The present invention also relates to a contact lens pouch prefilled with
a contact lens care solution, and more particularly relates to a
resQalablQ/disposable contact lens pouch prefilled with a contact lens care
solution that is used to clean, store, disinfect and rinse a contact lens.
15 E~cl~u.ound of the Invention
In the care of contact lenses of various kinds, i.e., soft, hard, gas
permeable, etc., a sterile environment is required where the lens can be
disinfected and/or stored. This sterile environment usually means soaking the
contact lens in a disinfecting or sterile solution. This is especially important in
20 the care of soft contact lenses made of hydrophilic polymeric materials.
These soft hydrophilic lenses require re~ular disinfecting. Additionally, when
not in the eye they need to be stored in either a disinfecting solution or sterile
saline solution in order to maintain their hydrated state. It is desirable for the
contact lens wearer to have a readily accessible container for the safe
25 disinfection and/or storage of the contact lenses.
Various designs of contact lens conlainers have been disclosed by
others. For instance, U.S. Patent No. 5,053,208 to Seamons, et al. discloses
a contact lens disinfecting kit having an open-top lens container, an elongated
piercer mounted in the lens container in an upright position such that the
30 piercer divides the interior of the lens container into two separate contact lens
receiving ports. The Seamons, et al. device requires elaborate effort of
piercing the compartment before usin~ the container and moreover, it does
not have a resealable top.
U.S. Patent No. 4,691,820 to Martinez discloses a molded blister
35 package for storing and dispensing a hydrophilic contact lens having a base
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portion which includes a cavity surrounded by an outstanding flange and a
sheet cover sealed to the flange to enclose the cavity. The Martinez package
is mainly used for shipping and dispensing contact lenses and is not smenable
to reclosure once the package is opened and sterility lost.
Numerous other palen~:, were issued on permanent contact lens
containers, for instance, U.S. Patent No. 5,131,532 to Ives, U.S. Patent No.
4,578,566 to Bowen, and U.S. Patent No. 4,743,738 to Ryder, et al. These
permanent contact lens containers are equipped with heating devices and
therefore are not disposable.
It is also desirable for the contact lens wearer to have a readily
accessible container for the safekeeping of contact lenses in a ready-to-wear
condition.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a contact
lens container for holding contact lenses and contact lens treatment solutions
that is readily accessible and can be carried around by the contact lens
wearer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a container for
holding contact lenses and contact lens treatment solutions that is readily
accessible and is reusable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container for
contact lenses that is prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions that can
be easily used by the cor,La.;L lens wearer to clean, disinfect, and store
contact lenses.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a container
prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions equipped with a recloseable
and resealable top such that the container may be used once or may be used
several times.
It is still further object of the present invention to provide a container
prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions to be used by a contact lens
wearer for the cleaning, disinfecting, and storing of contact lenses and then
discarded after one use or several uses.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a contact
lens pouch prefilled with a contact lens care solution for the cleaning and
storin~ of a contact lens that does not have the drawbacks and shortcomings
of the prior art contact lens containers.
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It is a further object of the present invention to provide a contact iens
pouch prefilled with a contact lens csre solution for the cleaning and storing
of a contact lens that can be used once and then be discarded.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a contact lens
5 pouch prefilled with a contact lens care solution for the cleaning and storingof a contact lens that is equipped with a resealable top such that the pouch
may be opened to accept a contact lens and then be resealed to achieve a
fluid-tight seal.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a contact lens
10 pouch prefilled with a contact lens care solution for the cleaning and storin~
of a contact lens that is equipped with a plastic inter-locking device such thatthe pouch may be opened to accept a contact lens and then be resealed.
S~-.--.--a.v of the Invention
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a contact lens
15 container prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions that can be used
either once or several times by utilizing a recloseable and resealablE top is
provided.
In the prefer.ed embodiment, a contact lens conlainer prefilled with
contact lens treatment solutions and constructed with a base member having
20 at least one compartment, and more preferably two compartments, is
provided with a laterally projected flange around the perimeter of the base
member, a reusable adhesive is deposited on the projecting flange, and a
cover sheet member exLending at least across the full length and width of th
compartments is releasably united to the base member at the flange by the
25 adhesive and thus forming a fluid-tight seal. The layer of adhesive is chosen such that it is carab'e of unitin~ the cover sheet member and the base
member at the flange repeatedly after several uniting and releasing operations
between the two members.
In an aller"ale embodiment, a container is provided with a sliding cover
30 equipped with means to slidingly engage the laterally projecting flange on the
base member and extending across the full length and width of the base
member so that a fluid-tight seal between the base member and the sliding
cover can be obtained when the cover is in a fully closed position. A flexible
cushion liner is used inside the cover member to provide a fluid-tight seal.
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In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a contact
lens pouch equipped with a resealable top and prefilled with a contact lens
cars solution that can be used to clean, disinfect, rinse and store a contact
lens once and then be discarded is provided.
In the preferred embodiment, a contact lens pouch prefilled with a
contact lens care solution is constructed with a resealable top equipped with
a plastic inter-locking device. The contact lens pouch may be prefilled at the
factory with a contact lens care disinfection solution and then be marketed at
a pharmaceutical outlet. The contact lens wearer opens the rese~lable top to
deposit a conlacl lens in the pouch for the cleaniny, disinfecting and storing
of the lens and then reseals the top. After a predetermined period of time
necessary to disinfect the lens, the wearer opens the pouch again, removes
and rinses the contact lens and places it in the eye. The pouch is then
discarded. The pouch is flexible and can be carried around by the wearer
conveniently in a pocket or in a purse. This preferred embodiment is most
suitably used with an "all-in-one" type of contact lens care solution which
accomplishes the functions of cleaning, disinfecting, storing, rinsing and
lubricaling a contact lens all by a single solution.
In a first alternate embodiment, a contact lens pouch may be
constructed with two compartments with a fluid-tight seal therein between.
In the first compsrtment, a resea~?ble top is provided such that the contact
lens cleaning, disinfecting, and storing functions can be carried out by the
wearer in the same way as that described in the preferred embodiment. The
second compartment, which is juxtaposed to the first compartment, is
equipped with a non-resealable, perforated tear-line at the top. This second
compartment contains a solution for rinsing and lubricating the contact lens.
A suitable solution is a saline solution. After a contact lens wearer
disinfected a contact lens in the first compartment, the contact lens is
removed from the pouch and placed on the palm of the wearer's hand. By
tearing along the tear-line a~ the top of the second compartment, the rinse
solution can be poured onto the contact lens to complete the rinsing
operation. The lens can then be installed into the eye.
This embodiment is more suitably used in an application where a
solution for cleanin~q and disinfecting and a separate solution for rinsing and
lubricating are used.
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In a second all~r"ale embodiment, a pouch that has three separate
compartments may be constructed. Each of the first two compartments are
equipped with a resealable top designed to store a left eye contact lens and a
right eye contact lens, respectively. The third compartment which contains a
5 rinsing solution is equipped with a non-resealable tear-line at the top for
opening. The rinsing solution in the third compartment can be used to rinse
both the left eye contact lens and the right eye contact lens after the two
lenses are cleaned and disinfected in the first and the second compartment,
respectively.
The present invention is further directed to a method of using a contact
lens pouch equipped with a resealable top and prefilled with a contact lens
care solution to clean, disinfect, store, and rinse contact lenses. The pouch isflexible and can be carried around by the contact lens wearer conveniently
and can be used once and then be discarded.
15 Brief Des~i.~lio,- of the Drawin~s
Other objects, features and advantages of the p-esel~l invention will
become apparent upon consideration of the specification and the appended
drawings, in which
FIG. 1 is a schematic showing the preferred embodiment wherein a
cover sheet member is partially peeled back exposing the base member and
the compartments.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along 2-2 in FIG. 1 showing the
wrap-around arrangement of the cover sheet member at the rear flan~qe of the
base member.
FIG. 3 is a schematic showing a variation of the preferred embodiment
in which only half of the cover sheet member for one compartment is peeled
back.
FIG. 4 is a schematic showing the all~",ale embodiment in which a
sliding cover is partially sealing the top of a base member.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along 5-5 in FIG. 4 showing the
sliding cover member equipped with the slidingly engaging means and the
flexible liner sealing means.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the preferred embodiment wherein the
contact lens pouch is equipped with a resealable top.
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FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG. 6 taken along line A-
A.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a first alternate embodiment wherein two
compartments are provided.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a second alternate embodiment wherein
three compartments are provided.
Detailed Desc~ lion of the Embodiments
Referring initially to FIG. 1, wherein a schematic view of container 10
having a base member 14 and a partially peeled back cover sheet member 18
is shown. The base member 14 has two compartments 20 and 22 and a
partition 24 therein between. A pair of contact lenses 12 are shown in the
compartments. Lens care solution, either the same or different, are filled into
compartments 20 and 22. It is also possible that the base member 14
contains only one compartment and therefore filled with only one solution. It
should also be appreciated that other all~r,-dLi~es to solution such as
powders, pills, etc., may be suitably used in compartments 20 and 22. The
compartments 20 and 22 may be suitably marked left and right by molded-in
symbols such that lenses for the left eye and for the right eye may be
appropriately placed in each compartment without confusion.
The cover sheet member 18 extends at least across the full length and
width of the two compartments 20 and 22 and covers the flange 26. The
laterally projecting flange 26 should have a suitable width such that adequate
adhesion between the cover sheet member 18 and flange 26 may be obtained
by the adhesive layer 28 deposited on flange 26. It should be noted that the
adhesive layer 28 covers most of the flange area 26 around the perimeter of
the compartments 20 and 22 including the center flange area 30.
A cross-sectional view taken along section 2-2 in FIG. 1 is shown in
FIG. 2. It should be noted that the cover sheet member 18 is wrapped
around the rear flange 32 forming a rear edge wrap 34. This rear edge wrap
34 at the rear flange 32 prevents the user from accidentally peeling the cover
sheet member 18 completely off the base member 14.
FIG. 3 shows a slight variation from the preferred embodiment in FIG. 1.
It is seen that the cover sheet member 18 has a perforated line 36 along the
center of the sheet member overlapping the center flange 30 of the base
member 14. The perforated line 36 facilitates the tearing of the cover sheet
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WO 94/24019 PCTIUS94/04391
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member 18 along the center such that one side of the cover sheet member 18
may be peeled back from the base member 14 independently of the other
side. This enables the user to use a single compartment at a time without
opening and possibly contaminating the other compartment.
The base member 14 which may alternately contain one, two, three or
more compartments, can be suitably injection molded of plastic materials or
thermoformed from extruded plastic sheets. A suitable plastic material may
be polypropylene, polyethylene, high density polyethylene, ultra high
molecular weight polyethylene, polyamide, ABS, polystyrene, maleic
anhydride modified polystyrene and polycarbonate. The material should be
capable of being sterilized at 120 C. without substantial loss (preferably not
more than 20%) of its physical properties of dimensional stability, warpage,
and shrinkage. The plastic material should also have low water and vapor
permeability to prevent the evaporation of the lens treatment solution. The
plastic material should not be permeable to bacteria in order to avoid
contamination.
The cover sheet member 18 may be a film made of a plastic material
that has small elongation upon stretching, or a metal foil that has a plastic
coating on the side facing the solution, or a laminated metal foil/plastic film.The elastic material or the metal foil should have chemical resistance to those
chemicals that are normally found in lens care solutions.
The adhesive layer 28 used on flange 26 should be selected such that it
is capable of providing a fluid-tight seal between cover sheet member 18 and
base member 14, and furthermore, of providing a fluid-tight seal after
repeated uniting and releasing between the two members. This is to ensure
that the cover sheet member 18 after being peeled off can be reclosed and
resealed on top of the base member 14 such that lens container 10 may be
used several times before it is discarded. We believe that a suitable adhesive
for this purpose may be a pressure-sensitive type adhesive such as those of
polybutadiene, polyisoprene, natural rubber, nitrile rubber, epoxy-nylon, nitrile-
phenolic, neoprene-phenolic, and vinyl-phenolic. Other closure means not
using adhesives such as a zip-lock type of arrangement may also be used so
long as a fluid-tight seal can be obtained. A suitable thickness for the
adhesive layer may be any thickness between about 0.0001 inches to about
3 5 0 .1 25 inches.
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WO 94/24019 ~ PCTIUS94/04391
According to the present invention, a method of using a container for
holding contact lenses and contact lens treatment solutions, can be carried
out by first providing a base member 14 having at least two compartments
20 and 22 each having a predetermined length and width situated next to
5 each other with a partition 24 therein between and a laterally projecting
flange 26 and 30 around the perimeter of the compartments. A layer of
suitable adhesive havin~ a sufficient thickness is then deposited on flan0e 26
and 30. The compartments are then filied with at least one contact lens
treatment solution such that one solution is filled into each compartment.
10 The cover sheet member 18 is then united to the base member 14 by the
adhesive layer 28 forming a fluid-tight seal. The layer of adhesive 28 is
capable of uniting the cover sheet member 18 and the base member 14 and
forming a fluid-tight seal even after repeated uniting and releasing between
the two members.
FIG. 4 shows one of the alternate embodiments of the present inv~ntion
in which a sliding cover member 40 is utilized to provide a fluid-tight seal on
base member 14. A cross-sectional view taken along section 5-5 in FIG. 4 is
shown in FIG. 5. It should be noted that sliding cover member 40 is equipped
with a stop 44 at the rear edge 42. This is shown in the break-away view in
FIG. 4. The stop 44 provides a convenient guide in closing the sliding cover
member 40 on the base member 14 along flange 26 such that it can not
accidentally slide off base member 14.
The sliding cover member 40 is equipped with sliding engagement
means 46 and 48 at each end of the cover member which provides a spring
closure action on flange 26 of the base member 14 so that cover member 40
is pressed tightly against flange 26 providing a fluid-tight seal. A flexible
cushion liner 50 is used inside the sliding cover member 40 to facilitate the
fluid-tight seal. This flexible cushion liner can suitably be made of an
elastomeric material such as neoprene rubber, nitrile rubber, urethane rubber,
etc., a foam material such as polyurethane foam, polyester foam, neoprene
foam, etc., or any other flexible and pliable sheeting material. It should have
adequate chemical resistance to chemicals that are normally found in lens
treatment solutions for cleaning, disinfecting, rinsing, and wetting contact
lenses.
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g
The sliding cover member 40 may be suitably molded of a plastic
material such as those used for base member 14.
FIG. 4 shows that sliding cover member 40 is slid off half way on base
member 10 such that half of the opening for compartments 20 and 22 are
5 exposed. It is possible to mark the two compartments each as left and right
to facilitate the use for the left eye lens and the right eye lens.
It should be noted that the sliding cover member 40 described in the
alternate embodiment is only one of the prefer,ed means for achieving a fluid-
tight seal on the base member 14. Other types of closure means including,
10 but not limited to, a press-on lid should also function satisfactorily.
To further facilitate the use of the present invention, a plurality of lens
containers may be packaged together in strips in which the containers are
connected to each other along the sides that can be easily separated. A user
may suitably choose a strip package for weekly, bi-weekly or monthly usage
15 and carry them conveniently in a ready-to-use condition.
A second aspect of the invention is shown initially in FIG. 6 wherein a
schematic view of a contact lens pouch 60 which has a resealable top 62 is
shown. The resealabls top 62 is equipped with a resea~bls sealing means
70. In this prefer-ed embodiment, the resealable sealing means 70 is a plastic
20 inter-locking device. An enlarged cross sectional view of this plastic inter-locking device is shown in FIG. 7. This plastic inter-locking device is similar
to that used in food storage bags commonly known as Zip-Lock bags.
The pouch 60 is prefilled with a lens care solution 64 before being
marketed to the consumers. A suitable volume for such solution is
25 approximately 4 to 10 ml.
The pouch 60 can be made with any suitable plastic material that is
subslarlially flexible. The plastic material is first extruded into sheets and
then thermoformed into bags. The plastic inter-locking device is frequently
bonded to the sheets in a secondary operation. It can also be extruded into
- 30 the sheets in the plastic extrusion process.
The plastic material should be capable of being sterilized at 120 C
- without suL~la"lial loss of its physical properties of dimensional stability,
warpage, and shrinka~e. The plastic material should have low water and
vapor permeability to prevent the evaporation and loss of the lens care
WO 94/24:0192 PCT/US94/04391 ~
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solution. The plastic material should not be permeable to bacteria and oxygen
in order to avoid contamination and to keep the efficacy of the solution.
A plastic material that is inert to m~ost lens care solutions is
polyethylene. A polyethylene sheet!~in a very thin form, is not a good barrier
5 to oxygen and to light trans~issio`n. Preferably, polyethylene is used by
incorporating a filler to chan~e its optical clarity such that light transmission
can be reduced.
Polyethylene thin film may also can be laminated to a thin metal foil,
such as an aluminum foil. The laminated film can b~ used as a pouch material
10 with the polyethylene side facing the solution. The metal foil functions to
block oxygen diffusion and light transmission. The plastic inter-locking
device can be extruded of a high density polyethylene material. In such case,
it can be laminated to the polyethylene film in a separate manufacturing
process.
In the preferred embodiment which illustrates a single compartment, an
"all-in-one" type of lens care solution capable of accomplishing the functions
of cleaning, disinfecting, storing, rinsing and lubricating all by a single solution
is most suitably used. One of such solutions is available under the tradename
of Complete~ supplied by Allergan, Inc. However, it should be appreciated
that other lens care solutions may also be suitably used in the pouch shown in
FIG. 1 to accomplish only a single function of lens regimen, i.e., cleaning,
disinfecting, rinsing, or lubricating.
It should be noted that the pouch shown in FIG. 6 containing a prefilled
lens care solution may be reused instead of being discarded after one use.
However, the contact lens wearer should avoid conta~,ina~ing the solution
and thus losing its sterility.
Instead of using a polyethylene/metal foil laminate, it is also possible to
use a polyethylene film that has metal particles deposited on it by either a
vapor deposition process or by a metal thermal spray process. Only a very
thin film of metal is required to minimize the oxygen diffusion and the light
trans",ission through the polyethylene film.
In FIG. 7, an enlarged cross-sectional view of the plastic inter-locking
device 70 is shown. A male portion 66 of the inter-lockin~ device is shown in
a juxtaposed position to a female portion 68. When pressure is applied to 66
and 68 by pressing the films 72 and 74 together, a fluid-tight seal is
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WO 94/24019 PCT/US94/04391
accomplished by the engagement of the male portion 66 into the female
portion 68.
In a method of using the pouch 60 in FIG. 6, a contact lens wearer
opens the pouch by disengaging the plastic inter-locking device 70 at the top
62 and deposits a contact lens into the pouch. The pouch is then resealed by
engaging the plastic inter-locking device 70 to achieve a fluid-tight seal. After
the contact lens is deposited in pouch 60 for a period of time, i.e., a generally
recommended minimum time period for disinfecting is four hours, the plastic
inter-locking device 70 is opened and the contact lens is removed from pouch
60 and after rinsing, placed in the eye.
In a first alternate embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, a contact lens
pouch 76 is provided with two compartments 86 and 90. A fluid-tight seal
88 is formed in between the two compartments 86 and 90 during the
thermoforming process. Compartment 86 is equipped with a plastic inter-
locking device 84 at the top. Compartment 86 is also prefilled with a contact
lens cleaning and disinfecting solution 82. Compartment 90 is equipped with
a perforated tear-line 78 at the top. A rinsing solution 80 is prefilled in
compartment 90. A suitable volume of such rinsing solution is approximately
2 to 4 ml. The rinsing solution 80 can be accessed by tearing along tear-line
78 to open the compartment and then pouring the solution onto a contact
lens after the lens has been suitably disinfected. Tear-line 78 is perforated for
easy tearing and cannot be resealed once it is torn.
The material used for compartment 86 and compartment 90 in pouch 76
is similar to that used in pouch 60 described in the preferred embodiment. A
typical rinsing solution for filling compartment 90 is a saline solution.
In a method of using the contact lens pouch shown in Fig. 8, a contact
lens is first deposited in compartment 86 which conlains the cleaning,
disinfecting, and storing solution for a sufficient length of time to clean and
disinfect the lens. Compartment 86 is then reopened at the plastic inter-
- 30 locking device 84 and the contact lens is removed. Tear-line 78 at the top of
compartment 90 is then torn open and the rinsing solution is poured onto the
contact lens for the final rinsing before the lens is put into the eye.
In a second alternate embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a contact lens
pouch 98 that has three separate compartments is provided. Compartments
92 and 94 are each used to clean, disinfect, and store a left eye contact lens
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and a right eye contact lens, respectively. These two compartments are each
marked for left or right and are each equipped with a plastic inter-locking
device at the top of the compartment. Compartment 96 which is equipped
with a tear line at the top is used to hold a rinsing solution.
A method of using this second alternate embodiment comprises the
steps of cleaning snd di~ e~;Lill~ the left eye contact lens and the right eye
contact lens in compartments 94 and 92, respectively for a sufficient length
of time, and then removin~ the contact lenses from compartments 92 and 94
by opening the plastic inter-locking devices at the top of the compartments.
The rinse compartment 96 is then opened and the rinsing solution contained
therein is poured onto the two lenses for the final rinsing and wetting process
before the lenses are inserted into the eyes.
While this invention has been described in an illustrative manner, it
should be understood that the terminolo~y used is intended to be in the
nature of words of description rather than of limitation.
Furthermore, while the invention has been described in terms of a
preferred and an alternate embodiment thereof, it is to be appreciated that
those skilled in the art will readily apply these teachings to other possible
variations of the invention.:
