Claims
- 1. A deformable intraocular lens injecting apparatus, comprising:
- a lens cartridge including a lens holding portion connected to a nozzle portion, said lens cartridge having a lens delivery passageway extending through said lens holding portion into said nozzle portion, said lens holding portion including a stationary wall portion and a single movable wall portion, said stationary wall portion immovable relative to said nozzle portion, said movable wall portion connected to said stationary wall portion by a transverse hinge oriented substantially perpendicular relative to said lens delivery passageway to allow the lens holding potion to be opened to load the deformable intraocular lens into the stationary wall portion and then closed to enclose the deformable intraocular lens inside the lens delivery passageway.
- 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transverse hinge is a live hinge.
- 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lens holding portion is tubular.
- 4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said stationary wall portion is located along a bottom portion of said lens cartridge and said movable wall portion is located along a top portion of said lens cartridge allowing the deformable intraocular lens to be cradled by said stationary wall portion when loaded in said lens holding portion and then covered by said movable wall portion.
- 5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said movable wall portion is a smaller circumferential segment and said stationary wall portion is a larger circumferential segment of said tubular lens holding portion.
- 6. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said movable wall portion is a smaller circumferential segment and said stationary wall portion is a larger circumferential segment of said tubular lens holding portion.
- 7. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said movable wall portion includes a movable end and a hinged end.
- 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said movable end of said movable wall portion is positioned at a back end of said lens cartridge and said transverse hinge is located forward of said back end of said lens cartridge to allow the lens holding portion to be opened from said back end of said lens cartridge.
- 9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a width of said movable wall portion tapers downwardly in a direction from a free end of said movable wall portion towards said transverse hinge.
- 10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein longitudinal edges of said movable wall portion are linear.
- 11. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein longitudinal edges of said movable wall portion are curvilinear.
- 12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said curvilinear edges are arc-shaped segments extending outwardly along the lengths of said curvilinear edges.
- 13. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said movable wall portion includes a movable end and a hinged end.
- 14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said movable end of said movable wall portion is positioned at a back end of said lens cartridge and said transverse hinge is located forward of said back end of said lens cartridge to allow the lens holding portion to be opened from said back end of said lens cartridge.
- 15. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a width of said movable wall portion tapers downwardly in a direction from a free end of said movable wall portion towards said transverse hinge.
- 16. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said movable wall portion releasably locks with said stationary wall portion when closed.
- 17. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said movable wall portion substantially permanently locks with said stationary wall portion when closed.
- 18. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lens delivery passageway is contoured for folding or further folding the deformable intraocular lens when the deformable intraocular lens is being advanced through the lens delivery passageway.
- 19. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said lens delivery passageway includes at least one groove.
- 20. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said lens delivery passageway includes a pair of grooves separated by an inwardly extending protrusion.
- 21. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said grooves taper inwardly inside the lens delivery passageway in a direction of advancing the deformable intraocular lens.
- 22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said grooves exist in only a portion of the lens delivery passageway extending through said lens holding portion of said lens cartridge.
- 23. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said grooves exist in the lens delivery passageway through said lens holding portion and extend into said nozzle portion of said lens cartridge.
- 24. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said pair of grooves are located in the inner surface of the movable wall portion.
- 25. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said pair of grooves are located in the inner surface of the stationary wall portion.
- 26. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein transverse cross-sections of said lens delivery passageway taper inwardly in a direction of advancing the deformable intraocular lens.
- 27. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein transverse cross-sections of said lens delivery passageway taper inwardly in a direction of advancing the deformable intraocular lens.
- 28. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein transverse cross-sections of said lens delivery passageway taper inwardly in a direction of advancing the deformable intraocular lens.
- 29. An apparatus according to claim 1, further including a lens injecting device including a lens cartridge receiver and a movable plunger, said lens cartridge receiver configured for receiving said lens cartridge.
- 30. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said movable wall portion is configured for at least partially folding the deformable intraocular lens when closing.
- 31. An apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said movable wall portion includes a protrusion extending inwardly into said lens delivery passageway.
- 32. An apparatus according to claim 31, wherein said movable wall portion is configured for forcing a center portion of the deformable intraocular lens inwardly into said lens delivery passageway to fold the lens into the lens delivery passageway.
- 33. An apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said lens cartridge is configured so that opposite edges of the deformable intraocular lens are supported by edges of the stationary wall portion while said inwardly extending protrusion of the movable wall portion acts on the center of the deformable intraocular lens when closing the movable wall portion for effectively folding the deformable intraocular lens into the lens delivery passageway.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of:
all fully incorporated herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Related Publications (13)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
570564 |
Dec 1995 |
|
|
547908 |
Oct 1995 |
|
|
547295 |
Oct 1995 |
|
|
449103 |
May 1995 |
|
|
403530 |
Mar 1995 |
|
|
401523 |
Mar 1995 |
|
|
368792 |
Jan 1995 |
|
|
345360 |
Nov 1994 |
|
|
240520 |
Jul 1994 |
|
|
220999 |
Apr 1994 |
|
|
196855 |
Feb 1994 |
|
|
195717 |
Feb 1994 |
|
|
953251 |
Sep 1992 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
649433 |
May 1996 |
|