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US 5,690,866 AGranted
Automated method for hydrating soft contact lenses
AssigneeJohnson & Johnson Vision Products, Inc.
InventorsFinn Thrige Andersen, Kaj Bjerre, Svend Christensen, Darren Scott Keene, Ture Kindt-Larsen, Timothy Patrick Newton, Daniel Tsu-Fang Wang, Michael Francis Widman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automated method for high speed production rates in the hydration of soft contact lenses. The method includes the use of robotic transfer equipment to transfer contact lens molds containing contact lenses to and from a hydration station and a flushing station.
Claims28
An automated method for hydrating a molded hydrophilic contact lens, said automated method comprising:
- (a) removing a plurality of contact lens molds from at least one carrier, each mold having a contact lens therein, and automatically assembling said molds with a lens transfer plate to form a first hydration carrier;
- (b) immersing said first hydration carrier in a hydration bath at a speed not exceeding 40 mm per second with robotic handling to hydrate the lens and release said lens from said mold, and allow each of said lenses to transfer from its respective mold to a related lens transfer surface carries by said first hydration carrier,
- (c) removing said first hydration carriers from said bath with robotic handling after said transfer;
- (d) removing said molds from said lens transfer plate and transporting said lens transfer plate and said lenses to a subsequent processing station.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.