Back to results
US 5,179,262 AGranted
Manufacture of ophthalmic lenses by excimer laser
AssigneeAllergan, Inc.
InventorsValdemar Portney, Albert C. Ting, Timothy R. Willis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Complex small objects such as ophthalmic lenses are quickly and accurately fabricated from plastic or glass blanks of ablatable material such as plastic or glass by cutting, shaping, and radiusing the blank entirely by laser light, using appropriate masks with focusing and imaging optics.
Claims25
An apparatus comprising:
- a mask;
- a laser for directing laser energy toward the mask with the laser energy being unfocused at the mask;
- the mask having variable transmissivity or reflectivity characteristics to the laser energy to provide a first laser beam of variable energy across its width;
- and
- means for imaging the mask on a surface so that the laser beam of variable energy is directed against the surface to remove material from multiple locations on the surface in accordance with said characteristics with more of the material being removed at one of the locations than is removed at another of the locations.
2 more elements
An apparatus for cutting a workpiece from an object, said apparatus comprising:
- a mask having a pattern through which laser energy can pass, said pattern being in the outline of the workpiece;
- a laser for directing laser energy through the mask with the laser energy passing through the mask being in said pattern and being unfocused at the mask;
- and
- means for imaging the mask on the object whereby the laser energy can cut the workpiece int he shape of said pattern from the object.
1 more element
An apparatus as defined in claim 15 including means for beveling an edge of the workpiece by exposing it to laser energy.
Apparatus for beveling the edges of an object comprising:
- a laser for providing a beam of laser energy;
- a mask disposed in said beam to provide a masked laser beam, said mask having a central non-laser energy-transmitting area in the shape of the object;
- and
- means for directing the masked beam toward a focus which is intermediate the directing means and the object with the edge of the masked beam being substantially coincident with the edge of the object to bevel the edge of the object.
1 more element
An apparatus, comprising:
- an excimer laser arranged to emit a beam of laser energy along a path to a surface of a workpiece of ablatable material;
- a mask having a pattern of variable transmissivity or reflectivity, which mask is disposed intermediate the excimer laser and the workpiece in said path;
- and
- imaging means disposed intermediate the mask and the workpiece for imaging the pattern on the surface of the workpiece in order to ablatively photodecompose portions of the workpiece according to the pattern.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.