A manufacturing module (MM) for contact lenses comprises a plurality of manufacturing stations (300, 301, 302, 310, 320, 321, 322, 330, 331, 340, 341, 342, 350, 351, 352) arranged in a closed loop and a plurality of lens mold carriers (1, 2) which are transported through the manufacturing stations. Each lens mold carrier (1, 2) comprises a frame (10, 20) having a predetermined number of mounting sites (100, 200) arranged along the frame. Each lens mold carrier (1, 2) further comprises a predetermined number of molds (112, 212) removably mounted to the frame (10, 20) at the mounting sites (100, 200), the molds being reusable male or female molds (212, 112). Two lens mold carriers (1, 2) are assigned to each other to form a pair, so that upon mating the pair of lens mold carriers (1, 2) the male and female molds (212, 112) are mated to form mold cavities defining the shape of the lenses. The manufacturing stations comprise a mold changing station (300, 301, 302) configured to be capable of removing a mold from its mounting site (100, 200) and mounting a different mold at the said mounting site (100, 200), or configured to change the rotational position of a mold (112, 212) mounted to the frame (10, 20), or both.

The disclosed embodiments include a system and method for manufacturing a lens. In one embodiment, the system includes a lens mold. According to the embodiment, the lens mold contains a part cavity and a material flow path fluidly coupled to the part cavity and a lens material inlet. The system also includes a heat transfer insert. According to the embodiment, the heat transfer insert includes an insert surface positioned adjacent to a part surface of the cavity, a sealed fluid inlet, a sealed fluid outlet, and a conformal fluid conduit that extends from the sealed fluid inlet to the sealed fluid outlet.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of fabricating a lens using gravity. The method comprises depositing a first transparent solution on an underside of a flat smooth material. Cross-linking of the deposited first transparent solution is then activated to form a support layer. A second transparent solution is deposited onto the surface of the support layer. Cross-linking of the second transparent solution is then activated.

Systems, articles, and methods that integrate photopolymer film with eyeglass lenses are described. One or more hologram(s) may be recorded into/onto the photopolymer file to enable the lens to be used as a transparent holographic combiner in a wearable heads-up display employing an image source, such as a microdisplay or a scanning laser projector. The methods of integrating photopolymer film with eyeglass lenses include: positioning photopolymer film in a lens mold and casting the lends around the photopolymer film; sandwiching photopolymer film in between two portions of a lens' applying photopolymer film to a concave surface of a lens' and/or affixing a planar carrier (with photopolymer film thereon) to two points across a length of a concave surface of a lens. Respective lenses manufactured/adapted by each of these processes are also described.

A spectacle lens manufacturing system includes resin material filling means which fills a lens mold with a lens material (heat-curable resin material), and at least a portion of the lens mold is formed by a three-dimensional printer. The lens mold includes a front lens mold having a rear surface that defines a front surface of a spectacle lens, a rear lens mold having a front surface that defines a rear surface of the spectacle lens, and a side peripheral lens mold having an inner surface that defines a side periphery of the spectacle lens. The side peripheral lens mold is formed by the three-dimensional printer.

A lens-mold producing method includes a position and posture determining step of specifying positions and postures, in space coordinates, of a first mold having a molding surface for forming one optical surface of a lens and a second mold having a molding surface for forming the other optical surface, a mold holding step of rotating and/or inclining, based on the positions and postures in the space coordinates, at least one of the first and second mold, maintaining a rotation angle and/or an inclination angle of a reference plane of the first mold with respect to a reference plane of the second mold, and holding the first and second mold, and an assembling step of arranging the molding surfaces of the first and second mold so as to face each other, fixing outer peripheries of the first mold and the second mold, and assembling a lens mold.

An eyeglass lens material can be used to make an eyeglass lens and at least includes a mixture of Ag/SiO.sub.x composite nanoparticles and at least one type of monomer. The eyeglass lens is capable of blocking blue light. The monomer undergoes a material curing procedure to form a main body that contains and is mixed with the Ag/SiO.sub.x composite nanoparticles. As the Ag/SiO.sub.x composite nanoparticles in the eyeglass lens material can absorb relatively high-energy blue light, a contact lens made of the eyeglass lens material can block blue light.

An optical printing positioning system is set forth. The system includes a cavity for retaining an optical surface having an inner surface dimensioned and configured to maintain and to constrain an optical surface disposed therein when the optical surface undergoes a printing process.

The process for producing a photochromic eyewear lens by forming at least a layer of modified photochromic poly(urea-urethane) by combining photochromic material and the reaction product of a polyurethane pre-polymer and a mixture of diethyltoluene diamine and one or more polyols, plus catalyst. The mixture comprises both NH.sub.2 and OH reactive groups, with at least 0.04 equivalent weights of OH reactive species available for reaction with each 1.0 equivalent weight of excess NCO reactive species available in the pre-polymer. The lens comprising the modified photochromic poly(urea-urethane) can exhibit faster fade-back rates and better photochromic performance than lenses with non-modified poly(urea-urethane).

An optical component includes: a substrate; a lens formed on a first principal surface of the substrate; and a vortex profile formed on a surface of the lens.