JPH1048580A - Contact lens washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the intrusion of water into circuit parts of an electric system even if the washing tank part of an ultrasonic washing machine are washed with water. SOLUTION: A driving side case 1 and a washing side case 2 are formed as separate bodies and are separably connected. The driving side case 1 contains a core 11 formed of a magnetic material, a driving coil 12 for magnetizing the core 11, an oscillation circuit 13 for supplying a high-frequency current to the driving coil 12 and a power source circuit 14 for supplying the current to the oscillation circuit 13. The washing side case 2 has the metallic washing tank 21 for housing contact lenses together with a washing liquid at its apex and is formed to a watertight structure. In addition, the case contains an output coil 23 for transmitting vibration to an ultrasonic vibrator transducer 22 arranged on the rear surface of the washing tank 21 by receiving the magnetic force from the core 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact lens cleaner using ultrasonic waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Contact lenses are liable to cause fogging and eye damage due to dirt of lipids and proteins in tears when worn, and stains and germs on hands during handling. It must be cleaned and sterilized in a timely manner to keep it clean.

[0003] Ultrasonic cleaning, which is known as a means of cleaning, that is, a contact lens is placed in a dedicated storage case, and the storage case is immersed in a cleaning tank containing a cleaning solution such as a physiological saline solution. The method of cleaning contact lenses by applying ultrasonic vibration can be easily and safely performed at home by using a commercial power supply.
Widespread.

In particular, in recent years, oxygen-permeable contact lenses have been widely used, and ultrasonic cleaning is effective for removing dirt clogging the fine holes of such porous lenses. is there.

[0005] At present, various ultrasonic cleaning devices have been put into practical use. In particular, in order to allow a user of a contact lens to easily perform ultrasonic cleaning at home,
Small ultrasonic cleaners as shown in FIG. 5 are widely used.

[0006] The cleaning device includes a cleaning tank 51, an ultrasonic vibrator 52, an oscillation circuit 53, and a power supply circuit 5 in an outer case 50.
4 and a plug 55, which sends a high-frequency current to the ultrasonic vibrator 52 to vibrate and ultrasonically vibrate the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 51.

[0007]

However, many users wash the entire cleaning device with water in order to wash the cleaning tank 51 with water after cleaning the contact lens. As a result, water may enter the power supply circuit 55 and the oscillation circuit 54, causing a failure.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a drive-side case and a cleaning-side case which are formed separately and connected separably, and a drive-side case is provided with a core formed of a magnetic material. A drive coil that magnetizes the core, an oscillation circuit that supplies high-frequency current to the drive coil, and a power supply circuit that supplies current to the oscillation circuit are built-in. And a built-in output coil that transmits vibration to an ultrasonic vibration element arranged on the back surface of the cleaning tank by receiving magnetic force from the core.

With such a configuration, the cleaning-side case can be easily formed into a water-tight structure because the magnetic force from the core in the driving-side case only needs to be transmitted.

[0010] By separately providing the drive side case having the power supply circuit and the oscillation circuit and the cleaning side case having the cleaning tank, the cleaning side case is separated from the drive side case and only the cleaning side case is entirely washed. Then, there is no need to worry that water will enter the drive system and break down.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a main internal structure of a contact lens cleaning device according to the present invention. A driving case 1 having a power supply circuit 14 and an oscillation circuit 13 and a cleaning case 2 having a cleaning tank 21 and the like are shown in FIG. It is formed separately.

In the drive-side case 1, the current obtained from the plug 15 passes through a power supply circuit 14 and an oscillation circuit 13 to become a required high-frequency current and is sent to a drive coil 12 wound around a core 11, A magnetic force is generated in the core 11.

The power supply circuit 14 includes a resistor, a timer, and the like. Here, a current obtained from a household outlet AC 100 V flows as a current necessary for generating ultrasonic vibration. As the oscillation circuit 13, a semiconductor oscillation circuit or the like conventionally used for an ultrasonic cleaner is used.
The drive coil 12 wound around the core 11 has, for example, 1
High frequency power of a frequency required for ultrasonic cleaning, which is set to 5 kHz to 100 kHz, is supplied.

The core 11 is made of a magnetic material such as ferrite, for example, and is located at a position shifted from the center of the drive side case 1.
It is provided projecting upward from the inside. The drive side case 1 covers the whole including the protruding portion 17 to the upper part of the core 11 and is formed of an insulating material, for example, a hard synthetic resin.

The current obtained from the plug 15 is
Reed switch 16 provided on the upper part of drive side case 1
Via the power supply circuit 14. The reed switch 16 is a known switch that is turned on when a magnetic force is applied from the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3, the plug 15 is housed in a recessed portion of the drive side case 1 when not in use, and is rotatably projected and inserted into an outlet (not shown) when in use. Therefore, there is no protruding part at the time of storage and it does not take up space, and there is no need to wind up the power cord after use,
Easy to clean up. In addition, we do not take up space at the time of use,
If you plug it into the outlet along the wall, the posture during cleaning is stable, so you do not have to worry about overturning. The power cord may be housed in the drive-side case 1, and the power cord may be pulled out and used according to the place of use.

On the other hand, the cleaning side case 2 is provided with a fitting portion 24 into which the projecting portion 17 of the core 11 of the driving side case 1 is fitted. The fitting portion 24 is a depression when viewed from the outside of the cleaning side case 2, and has a projection inside, and the output coil 23 is wound therearound.

At the top of the cleaning case 2, a metal cleaning tank 21 is provided. The cleaning tank 21 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the upper end thereof is flush with the top surface of the cleaning side case 2 and embedded. The material is preferably made of stainless steel plate from the viewpoint of durability and chemical resistance, and the size and depth are stored in a state where the contact lens 3 is put in a basket-shaped storage case 4 made of synthetic resin or the like. Is possible. In addition, by using the storage case 4,
The left and right sides of the contact lens 3 can be distinguished, and deformation and breakage are prevented as in the conventional case.

Further, a lid 27 is provided on the upper surface of the cleaning case 2 so as to prevent the cleaning liquid from spilling due to vibration or the like during the cleaning.

Further, an ultrasonic vibrator 22 composed of a piezoelectric ceramic such as a zircon / lead titanate porcelain is attached on the back surface of the bottom surface of the cleaning tank 21 by sticking. High-frequency current is applied to the ultrasonic vibrator 22
Are connected via a conducting wire 25 so that they are sent to

At the lower part of the cleaning case 2, the projecting portion 17 of the driving case 1 is fitted to the fitting portion 24, and the driving case 1 and the cleaning case 2 are placed at the correct position, that is, completely overlapped. Sometimes, a permanent magnet 26 is installed in a position corresponding to the reed switch 16 provided on the drive side case 1. By doing so, when the positions of the drive-side case 1 and the cleaning-side case 2 are correctly aligned, the reed switch 16 is turned on, and cleaning by ultrasonic vibration is started.

At this time, since the projecting portion 17 of the core 11 is provided at a position deviated from the center, when the two cases 1 and 2 are completely overlapped, the direction of the cleaning side case 2 is always in the correct direction. Therefore, there is no possibility that the reed switch 16 is not activated due to the wrong mounting in the opposite direction.

If the lamp 18 shown in FIG. 2 is turned on at the same time when the reed switch 16 is turned on, it is convenient to check whether the switch is on or off.

The above-mentioned cleaning case 2 is sealed except for the cleaning surface of the cleaning tank 21 and has a watertight structure so that water does not enter.

Next, a procedure for ultrasonically cleaning a contact lens using the above-described contact lens cleaning device will be described.

First, the contact lens 3 to be cleaned is housed in the storage case 4 and placed in a cleaning tank 21 together with a cleaning solution such as a physiological saline solution.

After the tip of the plug 15 of the driving case 1 is directed outward and inserted into a 100 V AC household outlet, the fitting portion 24 of the cleaning case 2 is aligned with the projection 17 of the driving case 1. When it is fitted to the correct position, the reed switch 16 is turned on by receiving the magnetic force from the permanent magnet 26.

The power supply circuit 14 and the oscillation circuit 13
Flows through the drive coil 12 to generate a magnetic force in the core 11.

The magnetic force is transmitted from the projecting portion 17 of the core 11 to the fitting portion 24, and the output coil 2 wound around the fitting portion 24.
A current having the same frequency as that of the drive coil 12 is generated at 3, and the ultrasonic transducer 22 is driven via the conductive wire 25.

The ultrasonic vibrator 2 thus vibrated at a high frequency.
By transmitting ultrasonic waves to the cleaning tank 21, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 21 is ultrasonically vibrated, and the contact lens 3 is cleaned.

In the above-described embodiment, the projections 17 are provided on the core 11 in the drive-side case 1 and fitted into the cleaning-side case 2 to transmit magnetic force. However, as shown in FIG. Magnetic members 33 and 34 each having coils 35 and 36 wound thereon are provided at opposing positions on both sides of the drive-side case 31 and the cleaning-side case 32, respectively. Can be transmitted to transmit high-frequency vibration.

In the above description, the plug 15 is provided and the electric current is taken in from the outlet. However, the battery may be used, and in this case, the ultrasonic cleaning can be performed anywhere regardless of the place.

Further, the switch mechanism is not limited to the above-described reed switch, and a manual switch may be provided outside the drive-side cases 1 and 31.

Further, in order to easily fit the drive-side cases 1 and 31 and the cleaning-side cases 2 and 32 at the correct positions, for example, a mark serving as a mark is provided at a position where the drive-side cases 1 and 31 are opposed to each other, A part may be provided. By doing so, even when the core does not protrude as in the embodiment of FIG. 4 or when the protruding portion of the core is provided at the center position of the case, the direction is not mistaken and it is stable. Can be superimposed.

[0037]

According to the present invention, the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted by using the magnetic force from the separate drive side case to the cleaning side case which can be separated from each other, so that the ultrasonic vibration including the transmission portion is sealed with an insulating material. Can be made. Therefore, since the cleaning case can be easily made to have a complete watertight structure, even if the entire cleaning case having the cleaning tank is rinsed with water, there is no influence on the circuit of the electric system. Can be washed without.

Furthermore, even if they are made separately, the structure is extremely simple and can be made small, so that the function as a portable contact lens cleaning device is not impaired.

Further, when the drive side case and the cleaning side case are brought into a normal position, the magnet is energized by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet, so that no switch operation is required and the cleaning side case can be used. Malfunctions will not occur if not installed correctly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view as viewed from the back side of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a different embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 drive side case, 2 washing side case, 11 cores, 1
2 drive coil, 13 oscillation circuit, 14 power supply circuit, 15
Plug, 21 Cleaning tank, 22 Ultrasonic vibrator, 23
Output coil, 24 fitting part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A drive-side case and a cleaning-side case are formed separately and connected separably; the drive-side case includes a core formed of a magnetic material, and a drive coil for magnetizing the core. A cleaning circuit for supplying a high-frequency current to the drive coil; and a power supply circuit for supplying a current to the oscillation circuit; the cleaning-side case has a metal cleaning tank for storing a contact lens together with a cleaning liquid. And a built-in output coil for transmitting a vibration to an ultrasonic vibration element disposed on the back surface of the cleaning tank by receiving a magnetic force from the core and having a watertight structure. vessel. 2. A reed switch is built in the drive side case, and a permanent magnet that turns on the reed switch when the drive side case and the cleaning side case are almost completely overlapped with each other is mounted on the cleaning side case. The contact lens cleaner according to claim 1, which is installed inside.