Polishing method for soft acrylic articles
AssigneeAlcon Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsStephanie Robinson, Kevin Lewellen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for polishing articles comprising soft acrylic materials is disclosed. The method includes a polishing step and a cleaning step. In the polishing step, a receptacle is charged with polishing beads of various sizes, alumina, a swelling agent and the articles to be polished, and agitated for a period of time and at a speed sufficient to remove surface irregularities. Following the polishing step, the polished articles are cleaned by agitating them with a cleaning slurry comprising cleaning beads of various sizes, alumina, a solvent and a surfactant for a period of time and at a speed sufficient to clean the surface of the polished articles. Agitation is preferably accomplished by a tumbling machine.
Claims11
A method of polishing an article comprising a soft acrylic material, wherein the method comprises:
- a) polishing the article by charging a receptacle with a polishing slurry and the article to be polished, and agitating the receptacle for a period of time and at a speed sufficient to remove surface irregularities from the article, wherein the polishing slurry consists essentially of polishing beads, alumina, and a non-aqueous swelling agent selected from the group consisting of aliphatic hydrocarbons;
- chlorinated solvents;
- and aromatic hydrocarbons;
- and
- b) cleaning the polished article by contacting it with a cleaning slurry in a receptacle and agitating the receptacle for a period of time and at a speed sufficient to clean the surface of the article, wherein the cleaning slurry comprises cleaning beads, alumina, a surfactant, and a non-aqueous solvent selected from the group consisting of aliphatic hydrocarbons;
- chlorinated solvents;
- and aromatic hydrocarbons, and wherein the alumina and surfactant are present in about a 1:1 ratio (w/w).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.