Abstract:
The present invention relates to a compact case for storing contact lenses that is designed to be attachable to a key ring and can be stored within the contact wearers pocket without being obtrusive. The contact lens case includes two reservoirs that share a common circular bottom wall. The reservoirs are coaxially oriented and are threaded to accept cylindrical closure caps that seal the reservoirs. The cylindrical closure caps engage the opposite ends of the cylindrical body and have inner peripheral surfaces that are coaxially related to the outer peripheral surfaces of the two cylindrical reservoirs of the body. The contact lens case further comprises a tab that extends tangentially outward from the central axis of the reservoirs. The tab includes an aperture that is adapted to accept a removable clip that allows for attachment of the contact lens case to a key ring.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to contact lens cases and more particularly to a novel contact lens case that is designed to provide an ultra-compact storage space for contact lenses and that can be connected to a key ring. 
     PRIOR ART 
     People who use contact lenses, whether of the rigid or soft variety, always need a contact lens case available to store their lenses when not in use. The reasons for the need to store lenses vary; unexpected overnight stays away from home; travel; activities where there is a need or likelihood for frequent contact lens removal and replacement; extended wear due to long office hours. The lens storage container must be able to hold contact lens solution and have a water-tight seal to prevent the loss of solution and to prevent outside contaminants from entering the case. 
     It is not uncommon for a contact lens wearer to get a foreign object in their eye, such as an eyelash or dirt particle, that causes irritation to the eye. In such cases, the contact lens must be immediately removed from the eye and cleaned, and then re-inserted into the eye or stored in a saline solution. If this type of situation occurs, and a contact case is not available, the contact wearer must find an alternative container in which to place the contact lens, such as a glass of water. While contact lens storage devices are relatively small and transportable, they are usually forgotten until an irritation emergency arises. The prior art contact storage devices do not provide a simple and effective way to ensure that a contact lens storage case will always be available when needed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention comprises a novel contact lense case that provides an ultra-compact storage container for storing contact lenses that can be readily attached to a key ring and placed within the contact lens wearer&#39;s pocket without being obtrusive. The contact lens case is designed so that it can be inexpensively molded out of a polymer such as polypropylene. The contact lens case includes two reservoirs that share a common circular bottom wall. The reservoirs are coaxially oriented and are threaded to accept cylindrical closure caps that seal the reservoirs from loss of fluid and the entry of contaminants. The cylindrical closure caps engage the opposite ends of the cylindrical body and have inner peripheral surfaces that are coaxially related to the outer peripheral surfaces of the two cylindrical reservoirs of the body. 
     The contact lens case further comprises a tab that extends tangentially outward from the central axis of the reservoirs. The tab includes an aperture that is adapted to accept a removable clip that allows for attachment of the contact lens case to a key ring. The coaxial orientation of the contact lens reservoirs reduces the overall size of the case by eliminating the flat rectangular platform used to mount the reservoirs in the typical lens storage devices. When the cylindrical closure caps fully engage their respective reservoir, the outer diameter of the contact lens case is no wider that the outer diameter of the caps. The overall configuration of the contact lens case creates an ultra-compact lens storage arrangement that allows the contact lens wearer to keep the case attached to their key ring so that the case is always available if the wearer desired to remove and store their lenses. 
     These and other aspects of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and are more fully described in the following specification. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a contact lens case of the present invention showing the right and left cylindrical closure caps positioned over their respective contact lens storage reservoirs; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the contact lens case of the present invention presented fully assembled and illustrating a removable clip attached to the case; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective sectional view of the contact lens case of the present invention with one of the reservoirs filled with liquid; 
     FIG. 4 is a front plan view of the contact lens case of the present invention showing the right cylindrical closure cap and an outwardly extending tab; and, 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the contact lens case of the present invention showing the use of press type closure caps with retaining straps. 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the closure caps for the contact lens case of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While the present invention will be described fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a particular embodiment is shown, it is understood at the outset that persons skilled in the art may modify the invention herein described while still achieving the desired result of the invention. Accordingly, the description which follows is to be understood as a broad informative disclosure directed to persons skilled in the appropriate arts and not as limitations of the present invention. 
     The present invention is directed to a contact lens case that is designed to be ultra-compact so that it can be attached to a key ring and carried around in the contact lens wearer&#39;s pocket without discomfort. The contact lens case of the present invention is illustrated and described as attachable to a key ring, but is believed to have broad applications above and beyond the description of this preferred embodiment. The contact lens case can be used daily at home and is designed so that it can be carried around in case the contact lens wearer experiences difficulty with their lenses. 
     FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded view of the contact lens case  10  of the present invention. The contact lens case  10  is comprised of a central cylinder  12 , a right cylindrical closure cap  14 , a left cylindrical closure capl  6 , and a removable clip  18  for attachment to a key chain  20  as shown in FIG.  2 . The clip  18  allows the contact case  10  to be removed from the key chain  20  and placed upon a flat surface so that the contact lenses can be easily added or removed from the case  10 . 
     The central cylinder  12 , as shown in FIG. 1, is comprised of a left reservoir  22  at a proximal end  24  and a right reservoir  26  at a distal end  28 . The left reservoir  22  is coaxial to the right reservoir  26  and includes an inside surface  30  and an outside surface  32  as shown in FIG.  3 . The inside surface  30  of the left reservoir  22  is concave and is adapted to hold a contact lenses storage fluid such as a saline solution  23 . The left reservoir  22  has a side wall surface  34  and a bottom surface  36 . The side wall surface  34  is curvilinear in shape and is embossed to prevent the contact lens from adhering to the wall surface  34 . The side wall surface  34  may also include ribbing in place of the embossment which also spaces the contact lens away from the wall surface  34 , preventing the adherence of the lens to the wall. The bottom surface  36  is part of a common bottom wall  38  shared with the right reservoir  26 . The bottom surface  36  is relatively planar, and includes tapered edges  40  that transition into the side wall surfaces  34 . The outside surface  32  of the left reservoir  22  includes an outer edge  42  that is adapted to contact the left closure cap  16  as shown in FIG.  1 . The outside surface  32  further includes a machine thread  44  to allow the left closure cap  16  to be threaded onto the left reservoir  22  of the central cylinder  12 . Alternatively, the outside surface  32  can utilize a smooth surface with a detent ring  46  so that the left closure cap  16  can be pressed onto the left reservoir  22  instead of threaded as shown in FIG.  5 . 
     The right reservoir  26  is coaxial with the left reservoir  22  and includes an inside surface  48  and an outside surface  50  The inside surface  48  of the right reservoir  26  is concave and is adapted to hold a contact lens storage fluid such as a saline solution. The inside surface  48  of the right reservoir  26  has a side wall surface  52  and a bottom surface  54  as shown in FIG.  3 . The side wall surface  52  is curvilinear in shape and is embossed to prevent the contact lens from adhering to the wall surface  52 . The side wall surface  52  may also include ribbing in place of the embossment which is also designed to maintain the contact lens away from the wall surface  52 , preventing adherence of the lens. The bottom surface  54  is part of the common bottom wall  38  shared with the left reservoir  22 . The bottom surface  54  is relatively planar and includes tapered edges  56  that transition into the side wall surfaces  52 . The outside surface  50  of the right reservoir  26  includes an outer edge  58  that is adapted to contact the right closure cap  14  as shown in FIG.  1 . The outside surface  50  further includes a machine thread  60  to allow the right closure cap  14  to be threaded onto the right reservoir  26  of the central cylinder  12 . Alternatively, the outside surface  50  can utilize a smooth surface with a detent ring (not shown) so that the right closure cap  14  can be pressed onto the right reservoir  26  instead of threaded. 
     The bottom wall  38  of the central cylinder  12 , as shown in FIG. 1, connects the right reservoir  26  to the left reservoir  22  and includes a tab  64  with an aperture  66 . The aperture  66  allows for the attachment of the clip  18  so that the contact lens case  10  can be connected to the key chain  20 . The bottom wall  38  also has an extended cylindrical edge  67  that provides for secondary sealing surfaces  68  and  70  to prevent unwanted contaminants from entering the reservoirs  22  and  26 . The sealing surfaces  68  and  70  may also include gasket rings (not shown) that aid in providing an air-tight seal. 
     The right closure cap  14 , as shown best in FIGS. 1 and 6, is cylindrical in shape and is adapted to be connected to the right reservoir  26 . The right closure cap  14  has an inside surface  74  and an outside surface  76 . The outside surface  76  of the right closure cap  14  includes an indicator marking  78  on a back surface  80  which identifies the right side of the contact lens case  10  as shown in FIG.  2 . The marking  78  preferably is in the shape of the capital letter “R,” but other indicators can be used to identify the right reservoir  26 . The outside surface  76  also includes a cylindrical side surface  82  that can be knurled or include a rubber insert to aid the user in removing the right closure cap  14 . The inside surface  74  includes a top surface  84  and a side surface  86 . The top surface includes a seal  87  to prevent the loss of contact lens solution from the right reservoir  26  when the right closure cap  14  is installed. The side surface  86  includes threads  90  that are adapted to engage the threads  60  of the right reservoir  26 . If the detent ring  62  is used in place of the threads  60  on the reservoir  26 , the side surface  86  of the right closure cap  14  includes a detent groove (not shown) to lock the right closure cap  14  to the reservoir  26 . 
     The left closure cap  16 , as shown in FIG. 1, is cylindrical in shape and is adapted to be connected to the left reservoir  22 . The left closure cap  16  has an inside surface  94  and an outside surface  96 . The outside surface  96  of the left closure cap  16  includes an indicator marking (not shown) on a back surface  100  which identifies the left side of the contact lens case  10 . The marking is preferably in the shape of the capital letter “L,” but other indicators can be used to identify the left reservoir  22 . The outside surface  96  also includes a cylindrical side surface  102  that can be knurled or include a rubber insert to aid the user in removing the left closure cap  16 . The inside surface  94  includes a top surface  104  and a side surface  106 . The top surface  104  includes a seal  108  to prevent the loss of contact lens solution from the left reservoir  22  when the left closure cap  16  is installed. The side surface  106  includes threads  100  that are adapted to engage the threads  44  of the left reservoir  22 . If the detent ring  46 , shown in FIG. 5, is used in place of the threads  44  on the reservoir  22 , the side surface  106  of the left closure cap  16  includes a detent groove  112  to lock the left closure cap  16  to the reservoir  22 . If the alternative press on cap arrangement is used, the caps would include straps  114  that connect the right and left closure caps  14  and  16  to the bottom wall  38  of the central cylinder  12  to prevent loss. 
     Due to the orientation of the closure caps  14  and  16 , the likelihood of placing the left contact lens in the right reservoir  26  and the right contact lens in the left reservoir  22  is greatly reduced, since when accessing the right reservoir  26 , the left reservoir  22  and left closure cap  16  are facing the surface the contact lens case  10  is resting upon. 
     Various features of the invention have been particularly shown and described in connection with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, however, it must be understood that these particular arrangements merely illustrate the invention, and that the invention is to be given its fullest interpretation within the terms of the appended claims.