The present invention relates to a piece of ophthalmic equipment. The present invention more particularly relates to a piece of ophthalmic equipment comprising a frame, at least one ophthalmic lens having an external outline and arranged in the frame, and at least one electronic component. The present invention also relates to a method for supplying the supply inductor of a piece of ophthalmic equipment with power.
Pieces of ophthalmic equipment comprising at least one electronic component are known in the prior art. The electronic component(s) is (are) in general intended to contribute to the control of an electrically controlled function of an ophthalmic lens. By way of example, mention may be made of the following electrically controlled functions: a function allowing transmittance to be varied, for example electrochromically, a function allowing information to be displayed, and a function allowing the lens to be moved or oriented. Such pieces of equipment are commonly called “active pieces of ophthalmic equipment” or also, for the sake of succinctness, “active lenses”. The electrically controlled functions may be actuated by a passive component, for example a resistive component, a capacitive component or an inductive component, and/or by an active component, for example a battery, a diode, a sensor, a radio component, an imaging device, a microprocessor or an actuator. Such components must be supplied with an electrical current. It is often tricky to supply a component with an electrical current and it in general requires a wired connection that may pose problems in terms of bulk and/or reliability.
The present invention proposes to solve the resulting technical problem and consists in simplifying and making more reliable the supply of an electrical current to a component of a piece of ophthalmic equipment, in particular with a technical solution that is simple to implement, and which preferably has no impact or not a large impact on the appearance of the piece of equipment, and while not disrupting the vision of the wearer of the piece of equipment.
To this end, the present invention relates to a piece of ophthalmic equipment comprising a frame, at least one ophthalmic lens having an external outline and arranged in the frame, and at least one electronic component, wherein the frame and/or the ophthalmic lens(es) comprises (comprise) a conductive material arranged, on the periphery of the external outline of the ophthalmic lens, in the form of at least one substantially closed turn, so as to form a supply inductor allowing the electronic component to be supplied with electrical power, and wherein the supply inductor is supplied with power via mutual inductance with a source magnetic circuit that has an inductance.
Such a piece of ophthalmic equipment allows a component of this piece of ophthalmic equipment to be supplied with an electrical current while decreasing the number of, or even eliminating, wired connections. Advantages in terms of connectional simplicity, bulk and reliability result. Furthermore, arranging the conductive material on the periphery of the external outline of the ophthalmic lens allows the turn(s) to be placed discreetly and the visual field of a wearer not to be significantly disrupted, or indeed degraded at all.
The expression “ophthalmic lens” is understood to mean any lens of a nature to be arranged in a frame; such an ophthalmic lens may be an ophthalmic lens suitable for correcting the sight of a wearer, an ophthalmic lens allowing a variable transmittance to be offered to a wearer, and/or an ophthalmic lens of a nature to present information to a wearer. The ophthalmic lens may comprise one or more electronic components. If the ophthalmic lens contains no electronic component, at least one electronic component is arranged on or in the frame of the piece of ophthalmic equipment. Electronic components may be arranged both on or in the frame of the piece of ophthalmic equipment and on or in the ophthalmic lens.
The term “frame” is understood to mean a spectacle frame, such as for example presented in standard ISO 8624:2011 (Ophthalmic optics—Spectacle frames—Measuring system and terminology). Such a frame comprises means for maintaining one, and in general two, ophthalmic lens(es) in front of the eyes of a wearer. Each ophthalmic lens is placed inside a rectangular “box” that circumscribes the shape of the ophthalmic lens. A frame in general comprises temples that are intended to rest on the ears of the wearer. The ophthalmic lenses are connected to the temples by way of a “rim” or are drilled and fastened directly to the temples. In the case of a “conventional” or “full-rimmed” frame, the rim is continuous and completely encircles the lens; in the case of a “Nylor” frame, the rim does not completely encircle the ophthalmic lens, which is retained by a thread, one made of nylon for example.
The expression a “substantially closed turn” is understood to mean a turn the two ends of which are close together and of a nature to allow mutual inductance with a source magnetic circuit that has an inductance; according to one embodiment, the two ends of the turn are separated by less than 1 cm, or even by less than 5 mm; according to one embodiment, the angle between the two ends of the turn is less than 10°, or even less than 5°, considering the angle between two straight lines passing through these ends and through the centroid of the outline of the turn.
The expression “mutual inductance” is understood to mean a variation in current in a magnetic circuit that leads to the appearance of a voltage in another magnetic circuit. Mention is made, by way of example of methods allowing mutual inductance to be achieved, of wireless power transmission methods according to the “Qi” protocol developed by the Wireless Power Consortium. A “Qi system” comprises a charging pad (a charger) and a compatible receiver in a mobile device. To use this system, the mobile device is placed on the charging pad, which then recharges it via magnetic inductance. Power may be transmitted wirelessly over a distance of as large as 40 mm. The transmitted powers may be low, from 0 to 5 W, or intermediate, up to 120 W. For the present invention, the mobile device is the piece of ophthalmic equipment.
Generally, the smallest inside dimension of the outline of the turn(s) is larger than or equal to 1 cm and preferably larger than or equal to 3 cm; according to one embodiment, a circle of 3 cm may be inscribed inside the outline of the turn(s). This results in highly effective loading of the supply inductor with a source magnetic circuit that has a inductance.
The present invention also relates to a piece of ophthalmic equipment furthermore comprising the features of the following embodiments, which embodiments may be combined together in any technically envisageable solution:
The present invention also relates to an assembly comprising a piece of ophthalmic equipment such as defined above and a charger comprising a source magnetic circuit that has an inductance, said circuit being configured to supply the supply inductor with power via mutual inductance between the supply inductor and the source magnetic circuit that has an inductance.
The present invention also relates to a method for supplying the supply inductor of a piece of ophthalmic equipment such as defined above with power, which comprises a step of bringing said piece of ophthalmic equipment and a source magnetic circuit that has an inductance close enough to allow mutual inductance between the supply inductor and the source magnetic circuit that has an inductance, then a step of loading the supply inductor with the source magnetic circuit that has an inductance.
The invention will be better understood with reference to the appended drawings, in which:
It should be noted that the components of the device shown have not necessarily been drawn to scale and that the figures are solely intended to facilitate comprehension of the present invention. Components shown in more than one figure have been referenced with the same reference number in the various figures.
According to one embodiment, the periphery of the external outline of the ophthalmic lens is formed by a zone comprised between the external outline (the external edge) of the ophthalmic lens and a line that is 2 mm away from said external outline, and located radially towards the interior of the ophthalmic lens.
According to one embodiment, the periphery of the external outline of the ophthalmic lens is formed by a zone defined from the edge of the rim of the frame in which the ophthalmic lens is arranged; according to one embodiment, this zone is comprised between this edge of the frame and a line 2 mm away from this edge, and located radially towards the interior of the ophthalmic lens; it is thus possible not to encroach by more than 2 mm on the interior of the useful optical zone, in order to very significantly limit disruption of the vision of the wearer. The useful optical zone is all of the points of the lens that may be scanned by the gaze of the wearer.
According to one embodiment, the conductive material is completely invisible to the wearer, for example when the conductive material is masked by the bezel of the frame. The conductive material may be arranged, on the periphery of the external outline, over most of the outline (in order not to disrupt the vision of the wearer) and preferably over at least 80% of the outline. According to one embodiment, if a portion of the conductive material is not located on the periphery of the outline, this portion is preferably located on the temporal side, in order to limit the impact on the visual field, and does not exceed 20% of the outline.
According to one embodiment, the conductive material is copper. According to one embodiment, the conductive material is a wire, for example covered with an enamel or any insulator (polyurethane varnish for example). According to one embodiment, the conductive material results from the deposition of a conductive ink. According to one embodiment, the conductive material results from chemical etching, for example of the photolithography type. According to one embodiment, the conductive material results from chemical vapour deposition (CVD) or physical vapour deposition (PVD).
Reciprocally, the ophthalmic lens may be equipped with a means having a power-source function (for example an ophthalmic lens possessing a photovoltaic surface); in this case, the turn 20 may be used by way of source magnetic circuit that has an inductance. The turn 40 on and/or in the rim of the frame may then be supplied with power via mutual inductance with the turn 20, and, according to one embodiment, a battery located in a temple of the frame may then be recharged.
By virtue of the piece of ophthalmic equipment according to the present invention, it is possible to implement a method for supplying a piece of ophthalmic equipment with power, which comprises a step of bringing said device and a source magnetic circuit that has an inductance close enough to allow mutual inductance between the supply inductor of the piece of ophthalmic equipment and the source magnetic circuit that has an inductance, then a step of loading the supply inductor with the source magnetic circuit that has an inductance.
Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, which were given merely by way of example. The invention encompasses various modifications, alternative forms and other variants that those skilled in the art will be able to envisage in the context of the present invention and in particular any combination of the various operating modes described above, which may be implemented separately or in association.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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16306031.2 | Aug 2016 | EP | regional |