Liquid meniscus lens including variable voltage zones

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to an arcuate liquid meniscus lens with a meniscus wall. Some specific embodiments include a liquid meniscus lens with a meniscus wall essentially in the shape of a conical frustum with multiple voltage zones that may have variable voltages applied across the zones. Embodiments may also include a lens of suitable size and shape for inclusion in a contact lens.

1 . An optical lens comprising:
 a front lens comprising a front lens exterior surface and a front lens interior surface;   a back lens comprising a back lens interior surface and a back lens exterior surface, said back lens positioned proximate to said front lens such that said front lens interior surface and said back lens interior surface form a cavity therebetween;   a volume of saline solution and oil contained within the cavity formed between said front lens interior surface and said back lens interior surface, said volume of saline solution and oil forming a meniscus therebetween; and   a meniscus wall having multiple voltage zones formed in one or both of the front lens and back lens and bordering the meniscus formed between the saline solution and oil, wherein the voltage zones are formed by gaps in a conductive coating on the meniscus wall and at least two of the voltage zones are capable of receiving a different applied voltage.   
     
     
         2 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the front lens and the back lens is essentially flat. 
     
     
         3 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein the front lens and the back lens comprise an arcuate lens. 
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein the volume of oil is less than the volume of saline solution contained within the cavity. 
     
     
         6 . The optical lens of  claim 5  wherein the volume of oil is about 66% or more of the volume of saline solution. 
     
     
         7 . The optical lens of  claim 5  wherein the volume of oil is about 90% or less of the volume of saline solution. 
     
     
         8 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein the oil has a density about equal to the density of the saline solution. 
     
     
         9 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein the oil has a density within about 10% of the density of the saline solution. 
     
     
         10 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein the oil has a density within about 5% of the density of the saline solution. 
     
     
         11 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein the conductive coating extends from an area internal to the cavity to an area external to the cavity. 
     
     
         12 . The optical lens of  claim 11 , wherein the area of conductive coating external to the cavity forms an electrical terminal for providing an electrical potential to the liquid meniscus lens. 
     
     
         13 . The optical lens of  claim 11  wherein the application of the electrical potential to the area of conductive coating external to the cavity causes a change in the position of contact between the outer peripheral edge of the meniscus and the meniscus wall. 
     
     
         14 . The optical lens of  claim 13  wherein the electrical potential is applied using direct current. 
     
     
         15 . The optical lens of  claim 13  wherein the electrical potential is between about 5.0 volts to 60.0 volts. 
     
     
         16 . The optical lens of  claim 15  wherein the electrical potential is about 20.0 volts. 
     
     
         17 . The optical lens of  claim 15  wherein the electrical potential is about 5.0 volts. 
     
     
         18 . The optical lens of  claim 13  wherein the electrical potential is between about 3.5 volts to about 7.5 volts. 
     
     
         19 . The optical lens of  claim 3  wherein the front lens exterior surface has an optical power other than about 0. 
     
     
         20 . The optical lens of  claim 3  wherein the front lens interior surface has an optical power other than about 0. 
     
     
         21 . The optical lens of  claim 3  wherein the back lens exterior surface has an optical power other than about 0. 
     
     
         22 . The optical lens of  claim 3  wherein the back lens interior surface has an optical power other than about 0. 
     
     
         23 . The optical lens of  claim 1  additionally comprising a channel through one or both of the front lens and the back lens and a conductive material filling the channel. 
     
     
         24 . The optical lens of  claim 23  additionally comprising a terminal in electrical communication with the conductive material filling the channel. 
     
     
         25 . The optical lens of  claim 24  wherein the application of an electrical potential to the terminal causes a change in the shape of the meniscus. 
     
     
         26 . The optical lens of  claim 1  additionally comprising an insulator coating along at least a portion of the front lens interior surface, wherein the insulator coating comprises an electrical insulator. 
     
     
         27 . The optical lens of  claim 26 , wherein the insulator comprises one of Parylene C™ and Teflon AF. 
     
     
         28 . The optical lens of  claim 26  wherein the insulator provides separation between the conductive coating and the saline solution. 
     
     
         29 . The optical lens of  claim 5  wherein the meniscus wall has a general shape of a conical frustum with an angle relative to the optical axis of the lens between about 30° and 50°. 
     
     
         30 . The optical lens of  claim 29  additionally comprising a meniscus sharp adjacent to the meniscus wall, said sharp comprising an angular feature for containing movement of the meniscus along the meniscus wall. 
     
     
         31 . The optical lens of  claim 30  wherein the sharp comprises a radial surface portion. 
     
     
         32 . The optical lens of  claim 31  wherein the radial surface portion comprises a radius in the range of 5 microns to 50 microns. 
     
     
         33 . The optical lens of  claim 1  wherein at least two of the multiple voltage zones are capable of simultaneously receiving different applied voltages.