A silicone elastomer-hydrogel hybrid contact lens includes a silicone elastomer layer and a hydrogel layer adhered to the silicone elastomer layer by a delamination-resistant bond that is formed by an elastomer-swellable monomer that is included in the polymerizable composition used to form the hydrogel layer.

A silicone elastomer-silicone hydrogel hybrid contact lens comprises a silicone elastomer layer adhered to silicone hydrogel layer by a delamination-resistant bond. The silicone hydrogel layer has a percent swell of about 5% up to about 20%. The silicone elastomer layer may have one or more objects embedded within it or adhered to its surface. Such objects may include variable-focus lenses and/or electronic components.

A method of cleaning deposited material from a molding surface (10) of a mold (1) for forming ophthalmic lenses, including bringing a cleaning head (20) into contact with the molding surface (10), the rotational axis (22) of the cleaning head (20) being arranged normal to the molding surface (10), rotating (220) the cleaning head (20) around the rotational axis (22) while maintaining the contact between the cleaning head (20) and the molding surface (10), moving the cleaning head (20) to perform a precession motion (110) around a central normal (11) on the molding surface (10), while rotating (220) the cleaning head (20) around the rotational axis (22) and while maintaining the contact between the cleaning head (20) and the molding surface (10). During the precession motion (110) the rotational axis (22) includes an inclination angle (1,2) with the central normal (11) on the molding surface (10).

A method of providing a male mold half for molding a toric contact lens at a predetermined target rotational orientation is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: providing the male mold half at a predetermined rotational orientation, picking the male mold half up with a gripper having a central axis, rotating the gripper with the male mold half about the central axis of the gripper by a predetermined rotational angle (?) towards the predetermined target rotational orientation, and releasing the rotated male mold half from the gripper. Prior to picking the male mold half up, the method comprises centering the grippe and the male mold half relative to each other such that the central axis of the gripper and a central axis of the male mold half coincide.

To achieve molding insert is properly mounted to the tooling plate of the injection molding machine, a sensor head comprising confocal sensors is used. The sensor heads are placed on the tooling plate at the respective position to determine whether the desired mold insert has been mounted to that position and whether the desired mold insert has been precisely and accurately mounted to the tooling plate.

The invention provides a method for producing coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses in a cost-effective manner. The method comprises treating the molding surfaces of polypropylene lens molds (or other hydrophobic plastic molds) with a vacuum UV or a corona plasma to increase the surface energies of the molding surfaces of the lens molds, cast-molding a silicone hydrogel lens formulation containing a relatively small amount of at least one carboxyl-containing vinylic monomer in the treated lens molds, and heating resultant cast-molded silicone hydrogel contact lenses in an aqueous coating solution comprising a water-soluble and thermally crosslinkable polymeric material to form a coated silicone hydrogel contact lens comprising a bulk silicone hydrogel material and a hydrogel layer covalently attached onto the bulk silicone hydrogel material.

A contact lens and its manufacturing method are provided. The contact lens includes a lens and a hydrophilic coating that is attached to a surface of the lens by hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding, or a combination thereof. The hydrophilic coating includes polyacrylic acid and carbohydrate. Another contact lens includes a lens, a first hydrophilic coating, and a second hydrophilic coating. The first hydrophilic coating is attached to a surface of the lens by hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding, or a combination thereof and includes polyacrylic acid. The second hydrophilic coating is disposed on the first hydrophilic coating. The second hydrophilic coating includes polyvinylpyrrolidone, poloxamine, poloxamer, methylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, ascorbic acid, poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine), hyaluronic acid, alginic acid, polyglutamic acid, carbohydrate, or combinations thereof. The carbohydrate includes monosaccharide, disaccharide, or a combination thereof. The contact lenses have high hydrophilicity and high stability, and the hydrophilic coatings have good adhesion.

In a method of manufacturing an ophthalmic lens, a target value for an optical property is selected (500) for the ophthalmic lens. A first mold member (400) is formed (505) for cast-molding the ophthalmic lens in combination with a second mold member. A property of the first mold member (400) is measured (510), the measured property correlating with the optical property of the ophthalmic lens. A determination (520) is made as to whether the measured property of the first mold member (400) is consistent with the target value of the optical property of the ophthalmic lens. If the measured property of the first mold member (400) is consistent with the target value of the optical property of the ophthalmic lens, the manufacture of the ophthalmic lens continues (530). If the measured property of the first mold member (400) is not consistent with the target value of the optical property of the ophthalmic lens, the first mold member (400) is discarded (540).

A method for transporting a packaging shell (1) of an ophthalmic lens package comprises the steps of at a start location providing a packaging shell (1) comprising a depression (10), and a flange (11) completely surrounding the depression (10), providing a suction cup (2) having an opening (21) at a distal end thereof, which is completely surrounded by a rim (22) sized and shaped to engage the flange (11) in an engagement area completely enclosing the depression (10), positioning the suction cup (2) and the packaging shell (1) such that the rim (22) and the engagement area of the flange (11) face each other, moving the suction cup (2) and the packaging shell (1) towards each other, applying suction through the opening (21) of the suction cup (2), moving the suction cup (2) with the packaging shell (1) adhered thereto to the destination location, at the destination location releasing the suction, wherein a flexible sealing gasket (3) is arranged at the rim (22) to sealingly engage the flange (11) in the engagement area.

Disclosed in this specification is a process for manufacturing a thermochromic contact lens. The process includes (1) selecting a photoinitiator that absorbs at a first wavelength and at least one thermochromic dye that displays substantial absorption at the first wavelength when the dye is at a first temperature and exhibits at least an 80% reduction in absorbance at the first wavelength at a second temperature, (2) maintaining the reaction mixture at the second temperature and (3) providing cure light that includes the first wavelength.