APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE REMOVAL OF AN OPHTHALMIC LENS FROM A LENS TREATMENT CONTAINER

Abstract

An apparatus for removal of an ophthalmic lens, such as a contact lens, for example a soft contact lens, from a lens treatment container for the accommodation of the ophthalmic lens during a lens treatment process, comprises: an exhaust air box comprising at least one inlet for allowing ambient air to be drawn into the exhaust box; an outlet in fluid communication with the exhaust air box, the outlet capable of being connected to a source of negative pressure; at least one tube having a proximal end connected to the at least one inlet of the exhaust air box, and a distal end having a displaceable nozzle; and an actuator connected to the nozzle, for displacing the nozzle from a standby position to a lens removal position, and back to the standby position.

Claims

1. Apparatus (10) for removal of an ophthalmic lens (L) from a lens treatment container (50) for the accommodation of the ophthalmic lens (L) during a lens treatment process, the apparatus (10) comprising: an exhaust air box (11) comprising at least one inlet (13) for allowing ambient air to be drawn into the exhaust box (11); an outlet (14) in fluid communication with the exhaust air box (11), the outlet (14) capable of being connected to a source of negative pressure (44); at least one tube (16) having a proximal end connected to the at least one inlet (13) of the exhaust air box, and a distal end having a displaceable nozzle (19); and an actuator (21) connected to the nozzle (19), for displacing the nozzle (19) from a standby position to a lens removal position, and back to the standby position.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust air box (11) further comprises a shutter (24) configured to open or close the at least one inlet (12) of the exhaust air box (11) to establish or interrupt a fluid communication between the nozzle (19) and the exhaust air box (11).

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust air box (11) comprises a lens retainer (26) arranged in an interior space (12) of the exhaust air box (11).

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises a supply tube (15) connected to the outlet (14) of the exhaust air box (11) and capable of being connected to the source of negative pressure (44), and a pitot pipe sensor (28) arranged in the supply tube (15) for determining a flow of exhaust air through the supply tube (15).

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust air box (11) further comprises a vacuum gauge (27) arranged in fluid communication with an interior space (12) of the exhaust air box (11), for determining a negative pressure in the interior space (12) of the exhaust air box (11).

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one tube (16) is a flexible tube.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an air flow directing element (29), the air flow directing element (29) comprising: a base plate (30) having an upper surface (31), at least one pair of air directing walls (32), the air directing walls (32) extending away from the upper surface (31) of the base plate (30) in a direction perpendicular thereto and being arranged parallel to one another to define an air guiding channel (33) therebetween which is sized to allow a lens treatment container (50) to be moved into the air guiding channel (33) for the removal of the ophthalmic lens (L) from the lens treatment container (50).

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the exhaust air box (11) comprises a plurality of inlets (13), and wherein the apparatus comprises a corresponding plurality of tubes (16), with each tube (16) of the corresponding plurality of tubes (16) being connected to a respective inlet (13) of the plurality of inlets (13) of the exhaust air box (11), and wherein further the air flow directing element (29) comprises a corresponding plurality of air guiding channels (33) being arranged parallel to one another to allow a corresponding plurality of lens treatment containers (50) to be concurrently moved into the corresponding plurality of air guiding channels (33), one lens treatment container (50) of the corresponding plurality of lens treatment containers (50) into one air guiding channel (33) of the corresponding plurality of air guiding channels (33).

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising an elongated web (25), wherein the nozzles (19) of the plurality of tubes (16) are all connected to the web (25) in an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the air guiding channels (33) of the air flow directing element (29), and wherein the actuator (21) is connected to the web (25) for displacing the web (25) to concurrently displace all nozzles (19) from the standby position to the lens removal position, and back to the standby position.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a corresponding plurality of shutters (24), one shutter (24) of the corresponding plurality of shutters (24) for one inlet (13) of the plurality of inlets (13) of the exhaust air box (11), wherein the apparatus is further configured to concurrently open and close a predetermined number of shutters (24) of the corresponding plurality of shutters (24) to open and close a corresponding predetermined number of inlets (13) of the plurality of inlets (13) of the exhaust air box (11).

11. A system (40) for removal of an ophthalmic lens (L) from a lens treatment container (50) for the accommodation of the ophthalmic lens (L) during a lens treatment process, the system comprising: an apparatus (10) according to claim 1 for removal of an ophthalmic lens (L) from the lens treatment container (50); a source of negative pressure (44) connected to the outlet (14) of the exhaust air box (11); at least one lens treatment container (50) for the accommodation of an ophthalmic lens (L) during a lens treatment process; and a transport mechanism (41) for transporting the at least one lens treatment container (50) to and from the apparatus (10) for the removal of the ophthalmic lens (L) from the at least one lens treatment container (50), wherein the system (40) is configured such that in the apparatus (10) for the removal of the ophthalmic lens (L) from the lens treatment container (50) the at least one lens treatment container (50) is arranged in an air environment.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one lens treatment container (50) comprises a substantially tubular body (51), the body (51) having an open end (52) defining an access opening (53) which is in fluid communication with an interior space (54) of the body (51), and the body (51) further having openings (55) therein for allowing fluid communication between an exterior of the lens treatment container (50) and the interior space (54) of the body (51), and wherein the nozzle (19) comprises a distal nozzle end (20) sized and shaped for introduction into the lens treatment container (50) through the access opening (53) to establish a fluid communication of the nozzle (19) and the interior space (54) of the body (51).

13. A method (60) for removal of an ophthalmic lens (L) from a lens treatment container (50) for the accommodation of the ophthalmic lens (L) during a lens treatment process, the method comprising: providing an apparatus (10) for removal of an ophthalmic lens (L) according to claim 1; supplying negative pressure to the outlet (14) of the exhaust air box (11) of the apparatus (10) to provide suction at the inlet (13) of the exhaust air box (11); providing a lens treatment container (50) for the accommodation of an ophthalmic lens (L) during a lens treatment process; and operating the actuator (21) of the apparatus (10) to displace the nozzle (19) from the standby position to the lens removal position to establish a fluid communication between the inlet (13) of the apparatus (10) and an interior space (54) of the lens treatment container (50), thereby applying the suction at the inlet (13) of the exhaust air box (11) to the interior space (54) of the lens treatment container (50).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the system according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0043] FIG. 2 is a further perspective view of the system of FIG. 1;

[0044] FIG. 3 is a top view of the system of FIG. 1;

[0045] FIG. 4 shows a side view of a section through the system along line A-A of FIG. 3;

[0046] FIG. 5 shows a top view of a section along line B-B of FIG. 4;

[0047] FIG. 6 shows detail C of FIG. 4;

[0048] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of details of an air flow directing element of the system of FIG. 1, together with the tubes and nozzles in the lens removal position;

[0049] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the air flow directing element shown in FIG. 7;

[0050] FIG. 9 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the system of FIG. 1 (without the vacuum source); and

[0051] FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of an embodiment of the method according to invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] FIG. 1-FIG. 4 show an embodiment of the system 40 according to the invention in different views.

[0053] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show perspective views of the embodiment of a system 40 according to the invention, which is a system for the removal of an ophthalmic lens, such as a contact lens, for example a soft contact lens, from a lens treatment container 50 for the accommodation of the ophthalmic lens (in the following referred to as lens) during a lens treatment process. FIG. 3 shows a top view and FIG. 4 shows a sectional side view of the embodiment of the system 40. The system 40 may advantageously be integrated in a contact lens production line (not shown).

[0054] The system 40 comprises an apparatus 10 for the removal of the lens from the lens treatment container 50 according to the invention, a source of negative pressure 44, and a transport mechanism 41 for transporting the lens treatment container 50 to and from the apparatus 10. In the apparatus 10, the lens treatment container 50 is arranged in an air environment (to enable dry removal of the lens from the lens treatment container 50).

[0055] Apparatus 10 comprises an exhaust air box 11 that may be arranged stationary. Exhaust air box 11 comprises an interior space 12 (see FIG. 4), a plurality of inlets 13 as well as an outlet 14 which is in fluid communication with the interior space 12 of the exhaust air box 14. The source of negative pressure 44 is connected to the outlet 14 through a supply tube 15 (indicated schematically by a dashed line in FIG. 1, see also FIG. 4).

[0056] Apparatus 10 further comprises a plurality of flexible tubes 16 (in the embodiment shown fourteen such tubes). Each tube 16 has a proximal end 17 which is connected to to a respective inlet 13 of the plurality of inlets (in the embodiment shown there are fourteen such inlets, and the number of inlets corresponds to the number of flexible tubes). To connect the proximal end 17 of the respective tube 16 to the respective inlet 13, each inlet 13 may be provided with a socket to which the proximal end 17 of the tube 16 can be mounted in a fluid-tight manner. Each tube 16 further comprises a distal end 18 having a (rigid) nozzle 19, and the nozzles 19 of all tubes 16 are fixedly connected to an elongated web 25 of apparatus 10.

[0057] Apparatus 10 further comprises an actuator 21 connected to the elongated web 25, so that by linearly displacing the web 25 vertically with the aid of the actuator 21, the nozzles 19 are vertically displaceable from a standby position, in which there is no fluid communication between the nozzle 19 and the respective lens treatment container 50, to a lens removal position in which there is a fluid communication between the nozzle 19 and the respective lens treatment container 50, and back to the standby position. This is indicated in FIG. 1 by double-headed arrow 71, and is explained in more detail below in connection with the mode of operation of the system.

[0058] Apparatus 10 further comprises a plurality of shutters 24 corresponding to the number of inlets 13 of the exhaust air box 11, for individually opening and closing each of the inlets 13 of the exhaust air box 11 in order to establish or interrupt a fluid communication with the interior space 12 of the exhaust air box 11. A predetermined number of these shutters 24 may be concurrently opened and closed at a time (for example, two to four shutters can be concurrently opened and closed).

[0059] Yet further, the apparatus 10 comprises an air flow directing element 29 which is also shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, but is described in in more detail with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. The air flow directing element 29 comprises a base plate 30 having an upper surface 31, and a plurality of air directing walls 32, with two adjacently arranged air directing walls 32 forming a pair of air directing walls 32. The base plate 30 is flat and the upper surface thereof is planar. The air directing walls 32 extend away from the upper surface 31 of the base plate 30 in a direction perpendicular to the base plate 30, and are arranged parallel to one another to define an air guiding channel 33 between the air directing walls 32 of each pair. The air directing walls 32 of this embodiment are formed by rectangular plates, and the number of air guiding channels 33 corresponds to the number of tubes 16 (and nozzles 19). The respective air guiding channel 33 is sized to allow one lens treatment container 50 to be moved into the respective air guiding channel 33 for the removal of the ophthalmic lens from the lens treatment container 50. That is, the adjacently arranged air directing walls 32 of a respective pair of air directing walls 32 are spaced from one another by a distance allowing the lens treatment container 50 to be moved into a position between the air guiding walls 32. On the other hand, this distance between the spaced air directing walls 32 of a respective pair of air directing walls 32 is such that once the lens treatment container 50 is arranged between the air directing walls 32 of the respective pair, there is only little (lateral) left between the air directing walls 32 and the lens treatment container 50 (see FIG. 6).

[0060] As the air flow directing element 29 comprises a plurality of air guiding walls, a plurality of air guiding channels 33 is formed between them, and the number of air guiding channels 33 corresponds to the number of inlets 13 of the exhaust air box 11 (which in turn corresponds to the number of tubes 16 connected to these inlets 13in the embodiment shown this number is fourteen), so that a corresponding number (in the embodiment: fourteen) of lens treatment containers 50 may be concurrently moved into the air guiding channels 33.

[0061] The air directing walls 32 are aligned in the direction 73 of the width of the air flow directing element 29, and they extend parallel to one another in the direction 72 of the length of the air flow directing element 29. The air flow directing element 29 may be made from any suitable material, such as aluminum, stainless steel, or plastics (see FIG. 7).

[0062] The air flow directing element 29 further comprises side walls 34 provided at both lateral ends of base plate 30. The side walls 34 extend upwardly from base plate 30 in a direction perpendicular thereto, and at the upper end of the respective side wall 34 an outwardly extending flange 35 is formed (see FIG. 8).

[0063] As can be seen best in FIG. 9, the exhaust air box 11 comprises a lens retainer 26 arranged in the interior space 12 of the exhaust air box 11. In the embodiment shown, the lens retainer 26 comprises three perforated metal sheets which are joined together to form a kind of a metal pan. The openings provided in each perforated metal sheet are substantially smaller than the lenses they are supposed to retain. The three perforated metal sheets of lens retainer 26 are sized and shaped to cover the bottom and the top as well as the tapering mouth of the exhaust air box 11 the downstream end of which is connected to the outlet 14 of the exhaust air box 11. Access to the interior space 12 of the exhaust air box 11 is possible by means of a maintenance door 36 which can be opened and closed (see FIG. 2), in order to be able to empty the lens retainer 26 from time to time.

[0064] Turning back to FIG. 1, the transport mechanism 41 comprises conveyor belts 43, and these conveyor belts 43 carry a plurality of elongated carrier webs 42. A plurality of lens treatment containers 50 are mounted to each carrier web 42 (in the embodiment shown fourteen such lens treatment containers 50 are mounted to one elongated carrier web 42 along the length of the elongated carrier web 42). By moving the elongated carrier webs 42 to which the lens treatment containers 50 are mounted with the aid of the conveyor belts 43 along the outwardly extending flanges 35 of the air flow directing element 29 (see FIG. 8), the lens treatment containers 50 are transported to and away from the apparatus 10, as is indicated in FIG. 1 by arrow 70.

[0065] An embodiment of the lens treatment container 50 is shown in more detail in FIG. 6. The lens treatment container 50 comprises a substantially tubular body 51 having an open end 52 defining an access opening 53. The access opening 53 is is in fluid communication with an interior space 54 of the body 51. The body 51 further has openings 55 therein for allowing fluid communication between an exterior of the lens treatment container 50 and the interior space 54 of the body 51, and a lens retaining membrane-like element 37 having a plurality of flexible triangular fins to retain a lens L within the lens treatment container 50 as the lens treatment container 50 is moved through a plurality of liquid treatment baths. Such a lens treatment container 50 is generally known and is described, for example, in WO 2011/045384.

[0066] As can further be seen in FIG. 6, the nozzle 19 comprises a distal nozzle end 20 that is sized and shaped for introduction into the lens treatment container 50 through the access opening 53 to establish a fluid communication between the nozzle 19 and the interior space 54 of the body 51.

[0067] Operation of the embodiment of the system 40 and apparatus 10 according to the invention is described in the following. The source of negative pressure 44 provides negative pressure (vacuum) to the interior space 12 of exhaust air box 11 through the supply tube 15 connected to the outlet 14 of exhaust air box 11. The shutters 24 are all closed, so that once the desired negative pressure (vacuum) is established in the interior space 12 of exhaust air box 11 (this can be determined with the aid of vacuum gauge 27, see FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) there is practically no flow (or only a predetermined small leakage flow) of air through the supply tube 15. This can be determined with the aid of the pitot pipe sensor 28.

[0068] The elongated web 25 to which the nozzles 19 are (rigidly) mounted are arranged in the standby position, with the nozzles 19 being arranged in the elongated web 25 in an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the air guiding channels 33 of the air flow directing element 29 (see FIG. 7). In this standby position of the web 25 and thus of the nozzles 19, the distal end 20 of each of the nozzles 19 is arranged at a distance above the open end 52 of the respective lens treatment container 50 so that no fluid communication is possible between the nozzle 19 and the interior space of the body 51 of lens treatment container 50.

[0069] Next, with the aid of the conveyor belts 43 (FIG. 1) a carrier web 42 with the lens treatment containers 50 mounted thereto is moved to a position in which the lens treatment containers 50 are arranged underneath the nozzles 19 mounted to the elongated web 25. During this movement, each of the lens treatment containers 50 enters the air guiding channel 33 defined by the respective pair of air directing walls 32 of the air flow directing element 29. This is schematically shown in FIG. 5. It is further evident from FIG. 5 that there is only very little (lateral) space left between each lens treatment container 50 and the respective pair of air directing walls 32 of the air flow directing element 29. In this position in which the lens treatment containers 50 are arranged underneath the nozzles 19 and between the respective pairs of air directing walls 32, movement of the conveyor belts 43 is interrupted.

[0070] In the following, removal of a lens L contained in the lens treatment container 50 (see FIG. 6) is described, although the same operation is performed in case no lens L is contained in the lens treatment container 50. First, the elongated web 52 and thus the nozzles 19 are moved from the standby position down to a lens removal position (see double-headed arrow 71 in FIG. 4). In this lens removal position, the distal end 20 of the nozzle 19 projects into the open end 52 of the lens treatment container 50 to establish a fluid communication between the nozzle 19 and the interior space of the body 51 of lens treatment container 50 where the lens L is contained. This holds for all nozzles 19 mounted to the elongated web 25 and for all lens treatment containers 50 mounted to carrier web 42.

[0071] Next, a predetermined number of the shutters 24 are concurrently opened. For example, four shutters 24 are concurrently opened for a predetermined duration, e.g. for one second. By opening the four shutters 24, the negative pressure in the interior space 12 of the exhaust air box 11 generates suction at the corresponding four nozzles 19. As a consequence, an air flow is generated by ambient air being sucked in through the openings 55 in the body 51 of the respective lens treatment container 50. This air flow continues through the interior space 54 of the body 51 of the respective lens treatment container 50 and bends the flexible fins of the retaining membrane 37 upwards. The lens L is entrained by this air flow, and thus the lens L is removed from the respective lens treatment container 50 through the access opening 53 at the open (proximal) end 52 of the lens treatment container 50 and enters the nozzle 19. From there, the lens L is further entrained by the air flow that flows through the flexible tube 16 and through the inlets 13 into the interior space 12 of exhaust air box 11. In the interior space 12 of the exhaust air box 11 the lens L is retained by the metal sheets of the lens retainer 26 so that the lens L is not further entrained by the air flow that continues to flow through the outlet 14 and the supply tube 15 to the source of negative pressure 44.

[0072] After the predetermined duration (e.g. the afore-mentioned one second) has elapsed, the predetermined number of shutters 24 are concurrently closed again, whereupon the air flow is terminated. Thereafter, the next predetermined number of shutters 24 is opened, and the lenses (if any) contained in the lens treatment containers 50 are removed from the lens treatment containers 50 in the manner described above. This is repeated until all shutters 24 have been opened, the lenses (if any) removed, and the shutters 24 closed again.

[0073] As the lens treatment containers 50 are arranged in the air guiding channels 33 of the air flow directing element 29, and since there is only little (lateral) space between the air directing walls 32 and the lens treatment container 50 (see FIG. 6), the air sucked in into the body 51 of the lens treatment container 50 through the openings 55 flows essentially only in the directions indicated by the arrows 38 shown in FIG. 6-FIG. 8. This directed air flow leads to a significant improvement of the removal of the lens L from the lens treatment container 50 which is advantageous as compared to a scenario in which air is allowed to enter the interior space 54 of the body 51 of the lens treatment container from all directions (i.e. without directed air flow). Also, the removal of the lenses L from the lens treatment containers 50 in an air environment (dry removal) is advantageous as regards energy consumption when compared to a removal of the lenses L in a liquid environment (wet removal) in which much more energy is required (the vacuum must be significantly stronger as it must be sufficiently strong to transport the liquid and the lens away) and in which a more sophisticated liquid separator is needed to protect the source of negative pressure 44.

[0074] Once all shutters 24 have been opened and closed again and the lenses L (if any) have been removed from the lens treatment containers 50, the elongated web 25 is moved upward again back into the standby position. The conveyor belts 43 then move the carrier web 42 with the lens treatment containers 50, from which the lenses L (if any) have been removed, away from the position underneath the elongated web 25 in the direction of the arrow 70 (FIG. 1) and away from the apparatus 10. Concurrently, the conveyor belts 43 move the next carrier web 42 into the position underneath the carrier web 52. Thereafter, removal of the lenses L (if any) from the lens treatment containers 50 now positioned underneath the nozzles 19 connected to the web 25 is performed in the same manner as described above.

[0075] Finally, an embodiment of the method according to the invention is described with the aid of the schematic flow diagram shown in FIG. 10. The method is a method for the removal of an ophthalmic lens, such as a contact lens, for example a soft contact lens, from a lens treatment container 50 for the accommodation of the ophthalmic lens during a lens treatment process. The method 60 comprises: a step 61 of providing an apparatus 10 or a system 40 for the removal of an ophthalmic lens according to the invention; a step 62 of supplying negative pressure to the outlet 14 of the exhaust air box 11 of the apparatus 10 to provide suction at the inlet 13 of the exhaust air box 11; a step 63 of providing a lens treatment container 50 for the accommodation of an ophthalmic lens L during a lens treatment process; a step 64 of operating the actuator 21 of the apparatus 10 to displace the nozzle 19 from the standby position to the lens removal position to establish a fluid communication between the inlet 13 of the apparatus 10 and an interior space 54 of the lens treatment container 50, thereby applying the suction at the inlet 13 of the exhaust air box 11 to the interior space 54 of the lens treatment container 50.

[0076] Embodiments of the apparatus, the system, and the method have been described with the aid of the drawings. However, many changes and modifications are possible without departing from the teaching of the invention. Therefore, the scope of protection is not limited to the embodiments described, but is defined by the appended claims.