当前申请(专利权)人地址：
Alba Innovation Centre, Alba Campus, LIVINGSTON, EH54 7GA, United Kingdom
摘要：
An illuminated eyewear device for directing visible light, preferably towards the wearer, and preferably towards their eyes, for providing light therapy to treat seasonal affective disorder, SAD. The device is worn similarly to conventional spectacles, with frame 12 having arms 13 for the side of the head, possibly ears and preferably a bridge area for the nose (prior art nose support 4 of fig 1 is less clear in fig 3). The device comprises a transparent substrate, preferably in front of the wearers eyes, having one or more light sources 21, such as LEDs, mounted around its perimeter which couple light into the substrate where it propagates. The substrate may be optically neutral or ophthalmic lenses that the wearer looks through. The substrate has refractive light scattering means (fig 4, 5) which overcome the total internal reflection guiding of the light and distribute the light towards the wearer, the scattering means preferably on the inner (wearer side) surface. The scatterers may be an array of grooves, micro-lenses or dots and they may vary with distance from the LED injection edge (fig 5, 6) such that the resultant emitted illumination is uniform over the substrate area, and thus uniform over the wearers eyes such that there is less of a problem of glare (see fig 1 prior art compared to fig 3). The substrate thickness may taper away from the injection edge. The eyewear may include power supply 22 and control means 23, 25 for the intensity and possibly colour of lights, eg LEDs, and may include wireless communication means 24.
权利要求：
Claims
1. Anilluminated eyewear device comprising a transparent substrate and one or more
light sources mounted around the perimeter of the transparent substrate wherein the
output of the one or more light sources is coupled into, and propagates within, the
transparent substrate.
2. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more light
sources emit a single wavelength of visible light.
3. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the one or more light
sources emit different visible wavelengths of light.
4. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the
transparent substrate comprises a glass or a transparent polymer.
5. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the
transparent substrate comprises a light scattering means that provides a means to
redirect the light out of, and away from, the transparent substrate.
6. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 4 wherein the light scattering
means comprises be a light scattering means selected from a group comprising a
dot matrix; v-shaped grooves of varying width or depth, microlenses of varying size
or pitch, white or coloured ink dots or patterns, patterns or layers of colour changing
materials.
7. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the dot matrix
comprises a regular array of dots.
8. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the dot matrix
comprises an irregular array of dots.
9. Anilluminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 7 wherein the irregular array
comprises dots of varying radius and or varying separation.
10. An illuminated eyewear device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the
transparent substrate comprises a wedge or has a tapered profile wherein a
thickness of the transparent substrate is reduced as light propagates away from the
one or more light sources.
11. An illuminated eyewear device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the
illuminated eyewear device further comprises a control unit that provide a means to
independently control the intensity of the one or more light sources.
12. An illuminated eyewear device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the
one or more light sources are LEDs.
13. An illuminated eyewear device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the
illuminated eyewear device further comprises a wireless transmitter and receiver that
provides a means to transmit and or receive control instructions and data to and from
an external device.
14. An illuminated eyewear device as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the
transparent substrate further comprises a corrective lens layer.
15. An illuminated eyewear device as claimed in any of claims 5 to 14 wherein the
transparent substrate and light scattering means comprise a single piece of moulded
polymer.
16. A method of producing an illuminated eyewear device the method comprising
mounting one or more light sources around the perimeter of the transparent
substrate wherein the output of the one or more light sources is coupled into, and
propagates within, the transparent substrate.
17. A method of producing an illuminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 16
wherein the method further comprises applying a light scattering means onto or
within the transparent substrate.
18. A method of producing an illuminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 17
wherein the application of the light scattering means comprises etching a patterned
layer.
19. A method of producing an illuminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 17
wherein the application of the light scattering means comprises printing a patterned,
reflecting ink layer.
20. A method of producing an illuminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 17
wherein the application of the light scattering means comprises 3d printing a
patterned layer.
21. A method of producing an illuminated eyewear device as claimed in claim 17
wherein the application of the light scattering means comprises applying a resin layer
containing particulates.
22. An illuminated eyewear device as herein described and illustrated with reference to
Figure 2.
23. An illuminated eyewear device as herein described and illustrated with reference to
Figure 3.