CA2285142A1

CA2285142A1 - Optical occluder device

Info

Publication number: CA2285142A1
Application number: CA 2285142
Authority: CA
Inventors: Arlene Zitsow
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-10-06
Filing date: 1999-10-06
Publication date: 2001-04-06

Abstract

An optical occluder which substantially shields a damaged eye, particularly a protuberant eyeball, from exposure to light. The optical occluder consists of a frame, an opaque member, and a transparent or corrective lens. The opaque member serves as a medical protective measure by preventing exposure of light to the swollen eyeball. The optical occluder is worn by the user by affixing it to the outside of a user's regular eyeglasses. The optical occluder can be attached by clamps, magnets or a spring-loaded clip.

Description

OPTICAL OCCLUDER DEVICE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical occluder, and a method for protecting a damaged eye using such an occluder. In particular, the present invention relates to a an optical occluder for attachment to a user's eyeglasses.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is a common practice for patients who have eye conditions and those that have come out of medical surgery to use eye patches for healing purposes. For those people who have damaged eyeballs, particularly swollen or protuberant eye conditions, it is generally impossible to wear conventional eye-patches for medicinal purposes. In general, the problem with such devices is that they interfere with the protuberant eye ball; they are cosmetically unattractive; and can cause further discomfort to the user by, for example, allowing skin irritations to develop through the use 1 S of adhesive patches.
United States Patent No. 2,125,650 to Ring teaches a device for protecting a damaged or injured eye. The device is a suction cup eye patch that affixes to the interior face of an eyeglass lens. This device, therefore, is unsuitable for protuberant eye conditions, as it can contact the swollen eyeball causing further damage and discomfort to the user.
In addition, there are numerous well-known clip-on sunglasses available, such as those described in Canadian Patent No.'s 315,543 and 2,114,344. However, such flip-down and clip-on sunglasses fail to provide the necessary shielding required for diseased or damaged eye conditions. Such prior art sunglasses merely reduce or filter the light reaching the eye, and do not shield the eyeball by blocking light therefrom.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an optical occluder, and method of using such a device, that obviates or mitigates at least one disadvantage of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally provides an optical occluder for users with medical eye conditions, such as protuberant eyeballs.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical occluder for shielding a damaged eye, particularly a protuberant eyeball. The occluder comprises an occluder frame for detachably mounting to a user's eyeglass frames. An opaque member is mounted in the occluder frame. The opaque member is substantially impervious to light, and is typically coated with a light impervious coating such as black paint. The opaque member is positioned in front of a damaged eyeball, and attached to the eyeglass frames such that it is outside the user's eyeglass frame. The occluder can be attached by clamps, magnets or a spring-loaded clip.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for protecting a damaged eye. The method is comprised of the steps of (i) providing a detachable optical occluder; and (ii) detachably mounting the occluder to the outside of a user's eyeglass frames such that a substantially light impervious opaque member is positioned in front of the user's damaged eyeball to shield it from light.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Presently preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, in which:
Fig. 1 is a rear view of a first embodiment of an optical occluder according to the present invention;
?5 Fig. 2 is a side view of the optical occluder of Fig. 1 shown attached to a pair of eyeglasses;
Fig. 3 is a rear view of an optical occluder according to a further embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 4 is a rear view of an optical occluder according to a further embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A first embodiment of the optical occluder of the present invention, generally referenced at 10, is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 is a rear view of occluder 10, while Fig. 2 shows occluder 10 attached to a user's eyeglass frames 12, shown in hatched outline.
Occluder 10 generally consists of a frame 20 for detachably mounting to the frame of the user's eyeglass frames 12, and an opaque glass or plastic member 14 that is substantially impervious to light and is of the general proportions of an eyeglass lens. Opaque member 14 is conventionally mounted in frame 20, as will occur to those of skill in the art, in such a manner that, when attached to a user's eyeglass frames 12, it is positioned in front of the user's damaged eyeball. In a preferred embodiment, the shape of opaque member 14 is generally convex, with the convex side oriented towards the user's damaged eyeball. Optical occluder 10 can further include a transparent lens 22 positioned in front of the user's other eyeball. In the alternative, the area covered by the transparent lens 22 can remain empty without any form of lens at all or can include a corrective lens.
Opaque member 14 can be rendered opaque by any suitable means, as will occur to those of skill in the art. In a preferred embodiment, opaque member 14 is coated with an opaque coating, such as black paint, to make it substantially impervious to light transmission.
For a severely damaged eye, particularly a severely protuberant eyeball, eyeglass frames 12 are modified to remove the lens that would be positioned in front of the damaged eye. The curvature of opaque member 14 can be modified as desired to ensure that member 14 is safely distant from the damaged eyeball. Alternatively, the curvature of opaque member 14 can be modified as desired to provide a more or less convex member to selectively alter the distance from a damaged eyeball and to provide greater or lesser protection and shielding from damaging light sources.

In the illustrated embodiments, shown in Figure 1, 2, 3, and 4, the frame 20 of the optical occluder 10 is shaped in the form of the user's eyeglass frames 12.
The frame 20 can be attached to eyeglass frames 12 by a variety of attachment means, such as clamps, magnets, or a spring-loaded clip-on mechanism. For example, as shown in Fig. 2, optical occluder 10 is securely S attached to the frame of the user's eyeglass frames 12 by a pair of clamps 30 which are generally protected by a rubber covering to prevent damage and to provide grip. Clamps 30 permit the optical occluder 10 to be fitted over eyeglass frames 12. Further embodiments are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. In Fig. 3, optical occluder 10 is, attached to eyeglass frames 12 by a spring-loaded attaching mechanism 40. In Fig. 4, occluder 10 is attached to eyeglass frames 12 by a series of l 0 spaced magnets 42 that attach to metal eyeglass frames 12.
Referring to Fig. 2, clamps 30 are attached and evenly spaced at the right and left sides of frame 20. Clamps 30 extend inwardly to grip a user's eyeglass frames 12.
15 As illustrated in Figure 3, magnets 42, are attached and evenly spaced around frame 20 of the optical occluder 10.
In the preferred embodiment, as illustrated in Figure 4, spring loaded mechanism 40 consists of two pegs 44 that are connected to both transparent member 22 and opaque member 14.
20 A spring 48 is activated by depressing a button 50 to lift two clips 52 which are then positioned over the bridge of eyeglass frames 12. Releasing button 50 causes clips 52 to grip the bridge portion of eyeglass frames 12 and secures occluder 10 to eyeglass frames 12.
The optical occluder of the present invention has a number of advantages over the 25 prior art. Particularly for those who suffer from medical conditions such as protuberant eyeballs, optical occluder 10 has the advantage ofbeing worn over a user's regular eyeglass frames as opposed to other devices designed to protect a damaged eyeball, which typically are secured to the user's face directly over the eyeball. Since optical occluder 10 is attached to the outside of the user's eyeglass frames, it alleviates discomfort by preventing rubbing or coming in to contact with the user's swollen eye condition. Optical occluder 10 is also more cosmetically attractive than conventional medical devices, such as patches, designed to shield a damaged eye. Optical occluder can be made in different shapes, sizes. and colours to accommodate the many forms and styles of eyeglass frames that are available on the market.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is by way of example only. Modifications, variations and alterations may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined solely in the claims.

Claims

1. An optical occluder for shielding a damaged eye, comprising:
an occluder frame for detachably mounting to a user's eyeglass frames; and an opaque member mounted in the occluder frame, the opaque member being substantially impervious to light and positioned in front of a damaged eyeball outside the user's eyeglass frames to shield the damaged eyeball from exposure to light.

2. An occluder according to claim 1, further including a lens for positioning in front of the user's other eyeball.

3. An optical occluder according to claim 1, wherein the occluder frame is shaped in the form of the user's eyeglasses.

4. An optical occluder according to claim 1, wherein the occluder frame includes magnets for attaching to the user's eyeglass frames.

5. An optical occluder according to claim l,wherein the occluder frame includes clamps for attaching to the user's eyeglass frames.

6. An optical occluder according to claim 1, 1,wherein the occluder frame includes a spring-loaded clip for attaching to the user's eyeglass frames.

7. An optical occluder according to claim 1, wherein the opaque member is convex.

8. An optical occluder according to claim 1, wherein the opaque member is coated with an opaque finishing.

9. An optical occluder according to claim 1, wherein the damaged eyeball is a protuberant eyeball.

10. A method for protecting a damaged eye, comprising the steps of:
(i) providing a detachable optical occluder; and (ii) detachably mounting the occluder to the outside of a user's eyeglass frames such that a substantially light impervious opaque member is positioned in front of the user's damaged eyeball to shield it from light.

11. An method according to claim 10, wherein the optical occluder is mounted with clamps.

12. An method according to claim 10, wherein the optical occluder is mounted with magnets.

13. An method according to claim 10, wherein the optical occluder is mounted with a spring-loaded clip.

14. An method according to claim 10, wherein the damaged eyeball is a protuberant eyeball.