US 2002/0176052 A1 · Spectacle lens manufacturing method and spectacle lens supply system

Abstract

The difference in optical performance, such as astigmatism, the radius of curvature of a first surface, etc., of left and right lenses is kept at or below a specific level, and the difference in optical performance and the radius of curvature of the first surfaces between new and old lenses when the wearer changes lenses is also kept at or below a specific level, the result being lenses that are more comfortable to wear and are more attractive. When spectacle lens prescription values for a customer are transmitted from an order-side computer to a manufacturer-side computer, a check is made for whether prescription data already exists for that customer, and if it does. the optical performance of the new and old lens designs is compared, and if the difference is within a specific range. the process moves on to the machining step, but otherwise new design data is selected and the optical performance compared, and the above step is repeated until the optical performance difference falls within the specified range. If the optical performance difference or the difference in the radius of curvature of the first surfaces between the left and right lenses is higher than specified, design is repeated until a value within the specific range is attained.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A spectacle lens supply method, in which a computer is set up on a spectacle lens order side and a computer that is connected to this order-side computer such that information can be mutually exchanged is provided on the manufacturer side, and spectacle lenses are supplied by having the order-side computer and the manufacturer-side computer perform computations according to specific input operations and perform the processing required for the taking and/or placing of orders for spectacle lenses while exchanging information with each other,

characterized in that when spectacle lens information. spectacle frame information, prescription values, layout information, processing instructions information, and other such processing condition data required for processing is transmitted by the order-side computer to the manufacturer-side computer, a lens design program installed on the manufacturer-side computer performs optical lens design tailored to the customer on the basis of the transmitted data for lens information so that the optical performance of the left and right lenses will be similar, and the lenses are manufactured according to this design.

A spectacle lens supply system, comprising a computer set up on a spectacle lens order side and a manufacturer-side computer that is information exchangeably connected to this order-side computer and has a customer database including spectacle lens prescription data and lens design data,

in which the order-side computer and the manufacturer-side computer perform computations according to specific input operations and perform the processing required for the taking and/or placing of orders for spectacle lenses while exchanging information with each other,
wherein the manufacturer-side computer has the function of performing lens design such that a customer will experience substantially no discomfort originating in an optical performance difference when changing from old to new lenses, by selecting or producing new design data for a lens on the basis of customer spectacle lens processing condition data required for processing, such as spectacle lens information, spectacle frame information, prescription values, layout information, and processing instructions information, when this data is transmitted from the order-side computer to the manufacturer-side computer, and making the optical performance of the new lenses produced with this new design data approximate the optical performance of the old lenses produced with the old design data based on the old prescription values of the pre-registered customer database.

in which the order-side computer and the manufacturer-side computer perform computations according to specific input operations and perform the processing required for the taking and placing of orders for spectacle lenses while exchanging information with each other,
wherein, when customer spectacle lens processing condition data required for processing, such as spectacle lens information, spectacle frame information, prescription values, layout information, and processing instructions information, is transmitted from the order-side computer to the manufacturer-side computer, the manufacturer-side computer has the function of performing processing comprising:
a step of checking whether there is any old prescription data for that customer;
a step of selecting or producing lens design data matching the new prescription values as lens design data for the new prescription values if no old data for that customer exists in the manufacturer-side computer, and setting this data as the design data for producing the new lenses;
an optical performance comparison step in which, if there is old prescription data for the customer, the new lens design data for the new prescription values is selected or produced, and the optical performance of the new lenses designed on the basis of the newly selected or produced new design data is compared to the optical performance of the old lenses designed with the old design data matching the old prescription values;
and
a step in which, when the results of comparing the optical performance as above indicate that the optical performance difference is within a range such that the customer will experience substantially no discomfort originating in an optical performance difference when changing from old to new lenses, the selected or produced new design data is set as the design data for producing the new lenses, and when said difference goes outside a range in which the customer will experience substantially no discomfort originating in an optical performance difference when changing from old to new lenses, new design data is newly selected or produced for putting the optical performance difference within said range before returning to said optical performance comparison step and such processing is repeated until the optical performance difference is within said range.

4 more elements

A method for manufacturing a spectacle lens, involving the design and manufacture of left and right spectacle lenses that make up a pair of spectacles in which the prescription including diopter is different for the left and right eyes,

wherein, if there is more than a specific amount of difference in the prescription including diopter between the left and right eyes:
when the refractive surfaces in front of the left and right spectacle lenses are termed the first refractive surfaces and the refractive surfaces on the eye side are termed the second refractive surfaces, in designing the curvature of the curved surfaces of the first and second refractive surfaces of the left and right spectacle lenses, the curvature of the first and second refractive surfaces of at least one of the left and right spectacle lenses is selected so that the left and right spectacle lenses satisfy their respective prescription conditions including the diopter, so that the optical performance of each lens falls within an acceptable range, and so that the difference in the curvature of the first refractive surfaces between the left and right spectacle lenses falls within a specific range.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Spectacle lens manufacturing method and spectacle lens supply system

Life of this patent

Spectacle lens manufacturing method and spectacle lens supply system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims18