Thermal curing apparatus

Apparatus for thermally curing a lens-forming material contained in a plurality of closed lens molds to form a plurality of ophthalmic lenses, in particular contact lenses such as soft contact lenses,

• the apparatus comprising:
• a curing oven (1) comprising
• a curing chamber (2) having a chamber inlet (21) and a chamber outlet (22) arranged opposite to the chamber inlet (21), for accommodating a stack (6) of curing trays (60) for carrying the plurality of closed lens molds (8) with the lens-forming material contained therein at a predetermined position between the chamber inlet (21) and the chamber outlet (22), with each curing tray (60) of the stack (6) arranged at a respective predetermined vertical level;
• a supply channel (5) for supplying gas heated to a predetermined curing temperature to the curing chamber (2);
• and
• a baffle (3) arranged at the chamber inlet (21) and separating the supply channel (5) from the curing chamber (2), the baffle (3) comprising a plurality of supply holes (31), wherein at the chamber inlet (21) the curing chamber (2) is fluidly connected with the supply channel (5) via the supply holes (31) only,
• wherein the plurality of supply holes (31) of the baffle (3) are arranged along a plurality of horizontally extending rows (32), with one said row (32) of the plurality of rows (32) being arranged at an intermediate vertical level (33) between each adjacent ones of the said predetermined vertical levels (64) at which the curing trays (60) of the stack (6) are to be arranged,
• and wherein further one said row (32) of the plurality of rows (32) is arranged at a vertical level above the predetermined vertical level of the uppermost curing tray of the stack (6) and one said row (32) of the plurality of rows (32) is arranged at a vertical level below the predetermined vertical level of the lowermost curing tray of the stack (6).