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AssigneeBausch & Lomb Incorporated
InventorsHongwen Li, Dominic V. Ruscio, Yu Chin Lai, Horngyih Huang
Estimating the term…
This invention relates to the preparation of molds for the production of contact lenses and other ophthalmic articles. By using an inorganic material to coat the optical surfaces and sidewalls of mold parts made from clear-resin materials, manufacturers can produce lens molds with greater dimensional stability and chemical resistance. In addition to protecting the clear resin from interaction with otherwise reactive monomers from which the molded article is made, such coatings can also be used to achieve preferential release of the molded article. The resulting mold is especially useful for providing an economical way to improve manufacturing quality of contact lenses.
A mold assembly for the manufacture of at least one ophthalmic article used in or on the eye, which mold assembly comprises a mateable pair of mold parts made from a clear-resin mold material wherein the cavity surfaces of the mold parts comprises a coating of an inorganic material to protect the mold parts from attack by monomer used in making the ophthalmic article, which protective coating is permanently and externally applied to the cavity surfaces of the mold assembly and is essentially non-reactive with the surface of the ophthalmic article formed by the mold system.
A mold assembly for the manufacture of at least one soft contact lens, which mold assembly comprises at least one anterior and one posterior mold part molded from a clear resin that transmits at least 20% of actinic light and has sufficient dimensional stability to limit any deviations from intended radius of curvature to +/−20 microns within any period from one day to six months after mold production, wherein the mold parts each have a protective inorganic coating that is 10 nm to 5 μm thick, which coating is non-reactive with the lens formed by the mold assembly, and whereby the coating protects the cavity surfaces of the lens mold from chemical attack by the monomers used to form the lens in the mold.
The mold assembly of claim assembly 18, wherein the resin is polycarbonate, polyacrylate, or polystyrene.
A method of molding an ophthalmic article for use in or on the eye, comprising the following steps:
A method of molding at least one soft contact lens comprising the following steps:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.