The present invention relates to apparatus for cleaning utility items, such as electrical components, medical and scientific equipment and in particular, but not exclusively contact lenses.

Many utility items, especially from the medical field, require thorough cleaning and sometimes sterilisation. In particular it is often preferable that microbial contamination from all sources is minimized. In particular, microbial contamination is a significant problem with contact lenses.

"Red Eye" reactions and infections due to microbial keratitis, acanthameba keratitis and other infectious keratitis are recurring problems associated with contact lens wear. The problems include giant papillary conjunctivitis, excessive mucous, marginal keratitis and other such complications. The problems may arise because, on the one hand bacteria and microorganisms, especially if they are within biofilms, may remain to contaminate a contact lens or lens storage case even after conventional cleaning and disinfection regimens, and on the other hand because of patient abuse, i.e. contact lens wearers not cleaning their lenses thoroughly or according to manufacturer's specified instructions. Patient abuse may in fact also be a contributory factor for certain contact lens solutions not being effective to kill off certain types of bacteria and infectious organisms.

In practice, when a contact lens solution manufacturer applies for product approval, e.g. from the FDA in the USA, clinical data will be submitted, whereby the recommended method of cleaning has been carried out thoroughly, methodically and exactly as intended. The product licence is then granted. However, contact lens wearers frequently

do not clean their lenses as thoroughly as the manufacturer intended. Some wearers may also assume that they need simply to disinfect their lenses or may simply be too busy to spend sufficient time cleaning their lenses.

If the lens is not sufficiently clean, then a biofilm may form and the bacterial load of the lens may increase such that some solutions are no longer sufficient to kill residual bacteria.

There are three separate steps in the process of cleaning contact lenses: cleaning with a cleaning surfactant, disinfecting, e.g. with a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and storing in lens storage solutions prior to lens insertion. It is well know in the art that many lens wearers tend to omit one or more of these steps. Devices have been proposed that help a wearer with a single step, i.e. cleaning or disinfecting, but no apparatus has been marketed which are capable of performing all three steps in a single process.

One such apparatus is disclosed in EP0394254, which discloses apparatus comprising an agitator with a reciprocating motion, which apparatus is adapted to clean the lens in a short time with minimal effort.

The problem underlying the invention is therefore to provide an apparatus which enables contact lens wearers to clean, disinfect and store their lenses in a single process with little or no effort or maintenance on their part.

According to the invention there is provided cleaning apparatus for cleaning contact lenses comprising tank means for receiving a contact lens in a contact lens holder, and agitating means for agitating said tank means and/or the lens holder, characterised in that the tank means comprises at least two chambers, each adapted

to receive a contact lens in a holder, and a device to enable the lens holder to be transferred from one chamber to another.

The apparatus of the invention has the advantage over the known systems in that it removes the responsibility for carrying out cleaning and sterilising regimens from the contact lens wearer and enables wearers to clean their lenses as the cleaning solution manufacturer intended. The entire cleaning process is thus carried out without the intervention of the lens wearer.

Preferably, the device comprises a support arm for coupling the agitating means with the lens holder. Preferably, in use, a first chamber contains a cleaning or disinfecting solution and a second chamber a rinsing or neutralising solution. Preferably, the support arm is adapted to withdraw the holder from the first chamber and insert the holder in the second chamber. In a preferred embodiment the tank means are rotatable with respect to the support arm.

Preferably the agitator means includes a timer or a time delay mechanism so that cleaning can take place for a predetermined time, which can be set by the manufacturer, thereby minimizing the influence of the wearer.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional side view of the apparatus;

Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional end view;

Figure 3 shows an alternative drive system for the apparatus.

The apparatus comprises tank means 1 having two chambers 2,3, the chambers being separated from one another by a

partition wall 5. A rotatable shaft 4 is mounted on the upper edge of the wall 5 and runs parallel along its full extent. A contact lens holder 6 is coupled to the shaft by a connecting piece 7, which connecting piece is rigidly attached to the shaft and pivotally attached to the contact lens holder 6, the shaft and connecting piece thereby forming a support arm. The contact lens holder 6 is adapted to receive a pair of contact lenses is provided with a plurality of openings to enable fluid communication between the interior and exterior of the lens holder. The shaft 5 is in engagement with a gear 8, which gear is adapted to rotate the shaft about the shaft's axis, thereby pivoting the lens holder 6 from one chamber 2 to the other chamber 3. The rotation of the gear 8 is damped by a damper 10 to control the rate of transfer from one chamber to the other. The contact lens holder 6 has generally the form of the storage case and may therefore have two recesses on the inside, one for each of a pair of lenses.

Figure 2 shows a cross sectional end view of the apparatus with a contact lens holder in the inserted position in a chamber of the tanks means 1. The lens holder 6 is provided with six openings on its upper and lower surfaces to enable fluid communication with cleaning and neutralising fluids. The drive shaft 4 runs transversely across the upper open side of the tank means 1. The contact lens holder 6 is coupled to the shaft by two connecting pieces 7. At one end of the shaft 4 a drive pin 11 is pivotally attached, which drive pin 11 is coupled to a motor 12 via an off centre pivot 13. The drive pin is supported and connected to the tank means by a further connecting piece 14. In use the motor provides the agitation which assists in the cleaning process. The agitation imparted is preferably in the form of a combination of a vibration and a reciprocating motion. The vibration is provided from the motor via the connecting piece 14. The reciprocating motion is provided to the shaft 4 by means of the interaction of the motor with the off

centre pivot 13. A suitable frequency for the vibration would be in the range of 10-100 Hz, typically 35-45 Hz.

At the end of the shaft remote from the motor connection, the shaft is provided with a spline to drivingly couple the shaft 4 to the gear 8. The damper 10 is provided at the lower side of the gear on the side facing the tank means. Coupled to the gear on the surface remote from the tank is a lever 15, which lever is used to rotate the gear 8 and hence the contact lens in the holder 6 from one chamber to the other. The gear 8 is biassed by a spring 9 towards the central position, where the lenses may be removed. A release latch 16 which acts on the gear 8 is provided to retain the gear in position and hence to keep the contact lens in the holder 6 in the submerged position in the respective chamber.

In use, one of the chambers 2,3 of the tank means 1 is filled with a contact lens cleaning fluid and the other chamber is filled with a soaking or disinfecting and storage fluid. Alternatively, a one step solution, which comprises cleaning, soaking, disinfecting and rewetting agents can be used in both chambers. In this latter case one chamber is then used for cleaning and the other for storage. If a peroxide solution is used as or combined with the cleaning fluid, then the other chamber ought to contain a neutralising solution.

To clean the lenses, the lenses are first placed in the lens holder. The latch 16 is then released and the holder is then inserted into the first chamber containing the sterilising liquid by means of the lever 15. The latch 16 is then reengaged to ensure that the lens holder remains submerged during the sterilisation stage. The motor is then actuated and the combined vibration and reciprocating motion imparted. The sterilisation stage will typically take about 60 seconds. The latch release is connected to a timer so

that the latch is released to terminate this stage at any predetermined time. Once this stage is complete, the lens holder is then pivoted into the second chamber by releasing the latch 16 and using the lever 15, where it is again subjected to the combined vibration and reciprocating motion to clean or to rinse the lenses. The lenses are then stored in the second solution.

The pivot action could be automatically driven from the motor. In this latter case the motor would have to be controlled either in the form of a step motor or by means of a microprocessor. Equally possible would be a spring loaded or clockwork mechanism.

Figure 3 shows an alternative drive system for the apparatus of the invention which dispenses with the gear wheel 8. In this embodiment the apparatus is provided with a second motor 17, which is preferably a step motor controllable by a microprocessor. The shaft 4 is then driven from the motor by means of a belt system. The belt system comprises a first belt 18, which connects the motor to an idler wheel 20 and a second belt 21, which connects the idler wheel 20 to the shaft 4. Power is thus transmitted from the motor to the shaft. Alternatively, the shaft 4 could be driven directly from the motor 17 by means of a single belt. In this embodiment the motor is controlled by the microprocessor so as to be rotatable in both directions, so that the lens holder 6 can be pivoted between the two chambers 2,3.

In another embodiment the tank means 1 is movable between two positions and the support arm is fixed, each of the positions enabling a respective one of the chambers to be aligned with the support arm to enable the holder to be received therein.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the tank means of

the apparatus is provided with three chambers. In this case the support arm would be lifted out of the first chamber and then either rotated and inserted into the second chamber or held steady and the chambers rotated. This embodiment is particularly suitable where it is desirable for the cleaning and storage steps to be separated.

Although in the above embodiments, the chambers 2,3 of the tank means have fixed walls, these walls could be movable to facilitate the movement of fluids to different chambers for drainage of the fluids and/or the cleaning of the apparatus. Alternatively, the chambers of the tank means could be spatially separated from rather than adjacent to one another. It is also envisaged that the cleaning apparatus could deliver an ionic charge to the lenses, with the addition of an ionic charge generator to the device, in order to aid the removal of deposits from the surface. Equally, heat or ultraviolet light could be used in combination with the invention.

Although the lens holder may be generally in the form of a contact lens case, any form of holder which permits fluid communication between the exterior and the interior of the lens holder is suitable.

Although the specific embodiment is directed towards cleaning apparatus for cleaning contact lenses it should appreciated that the apparatus could be used for cleaning any number of utility items, such as electrical components or medical and scientific equipment.