Process of coating an ophthalmic lens

Abstract

An abrasion-resistant coated plastic lens element and a method for coating the element with an abrasion-resistant coating includes forming a coating on a face of a mold that is substantially cured and adherable to lens-forming material. The coating composition consists of reactants, approximately 70% to 95% of which have at least triacrylate functionality and approximately 5% to 30% of which have diacrylate functionality, a photoinitiator, a polymerization inhibitor reactive with oxygen, and a silane adhesion promoter and an acid to activate the silane adhesion promoter. The coating is applied to the face of the mold to form a substantially uniform coating and is then subjected to ultraviolet light in an ambient oxygen-containing environment such that a hard abrasion-resistant coating is formed on the mold. The mold is then filled with a lens-forming composition which is reactive with acrylate groups of the coating at a coating/lens interface. The lens-forming composition is permitted to cure in the mold to form a lens having a hard abrasion-resistant coating. No further post curing treatment is required since the lens leaves the mold at its maximum cure, hardness, and abrasion resistance.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.