The invention provides a process for castingmolding contact lenses with enhanced quality and enhanced yield achieved by omitting the previously required check to discover on or in which mold half the contact lens is located after the mold has been opened. The process of the invention includes: providing a mold including a first mold half having a first molding surface and a second mold half having a second molding surface, wherein the first and second mold halves are configured to receive each other such that a mold cavity is formed between the first and second molding surfaces, wherein one of the first and second mold halves has a collar that encircles the other mold half to provide a seal between the two mold halves when the mold is closed; dispensing a polymerizable lens-forming material into one of the mold halves; mating the mold halves to close the mold; polymerizing the polymerizable material located between the two mold halves, thereby forming a molded contact lens; applying a force to non-optical surface of the female mold with a pin at a location about the center area of non-optical molding surface of the mold to deform the female mold thereby breaking the bonds between the optical molding surface of the female mold and the lens and opening the mold.

The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, including the step of: holding the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached to the one of the female mold half or the male mold half with a vacuum supplied with a suction cup; deforming a surface of the one of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached to with a pin so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached to and to transfer the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens to the suction cup; moving the suction cup away from the pin while the suction cup continues to hold the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens remains; applying a compressed gas to blow the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens away from the suction cup into a container.

A contact lens having an amount of at least one cooling agent and at least one TRPV1 inhibitor releasably adhered is described as well as method of manufacturing the same. The contact lens can be comfortably worn by contact lens wearers and can increase the duration of comfortable lens wearing time and/or reduce lens awareness events and/or reduce contact lens dryness in a symptomatic contact lens wearer and further can reduce or avoid any stinging/burning sensation when the contact lens is first used or a short time thereafter.

The invention provides a method for producing ophthalmic lenses, preferably contact lenses, more preferably silicone hydrogel contact lenses. This method involves applying a coat of catanionic vesicles onto the molding surfaces of a mold. By having a coat of catanionic vesicles on the molding surfaces of a mold, mold separation force and lens defects generated during mold opening and de-molding process can be substantially reduced.

A method for manufacturing a contact lens having a multilayer structure using a mold, includes: (a) charging a first polymerizing composition into a space formed by combining a first mold with a second mold, and polymerizing a first semi product having a thinner thickness and a smaller outer diameter than those of a contact lens immediately before being removed from the molds after all polymerizing processes; (b) opening the first and second molds; and (c) charging a second polymerizing composition into a space formed by combining a third mold with one of the first and second mold, the first semi product fixed onto the one of the first and second molds, and polymerizing the second polymerizing composition.

An automated production line for the production of ophthalmic lenses comprises: a production line front end (1) comprising: a first injection-molding machine (10) and a second injection-molding machine (12) a casting module (14) comprising a filling station (144) and a capping station (145); a stacking module (15) and a curing module (16); a destacking module (17) and a demolding and delensing module a production line back end (2) comprising: a scalable treatment module (20) comprising a number of liquid baths for a liquid bath treatment of the cured lenses (CL) carried by the treatment carrier tray (200) to obtain the ophthalmic lenses, wherein the number of liquid baths are reduced or increased pending on the number of ophthalmic lenses concurrently produced by the production lines.

Ophthalmic lens molds made from at least one vinyl alcohol copolymers with high amorphous content, ophthalmic lenses including silicone hydrogel contact lenses formed using these molds, packaged ophthalmic lenses present in a solution comprising the at least one vinyl alcohol copolymer with high amorphous content, and related methods are described. The methods of manufacturing ophthalmic lenses can use wet demolding, delensing or demolding and delensing processes involving dissolving the molds in water or an aqueous solution.

The invention provides an actinically-polymerizable amphiphilic polysiloxane which comprises a polysiloxane polymer chain comprising a polylsiloxane segments comprising at least one siloxane unit having a low molecular weight hydrophilic polymer chain connected with a silicone atom of the siloxane unit, and (meth)acrylamido groups each covalently bonded to one of the ends of the polysiloxane polymer chain and/or to the end of one of low molecular weight hydrophilic polymer chains each connected with one silicone atom. The present invention is also related to a polymer, an actinically-crosslinkable silicone-containing prepolymer, a silicone hydrogel polymeric material, or a silicone hydrogel contact lens, which comprises repeating units derived from an actinically-polymerizable amphiphilic polysiloxane of the invention. In addition, the invention provides a method for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses using a water-based lens-forming formulation comprising an actinically-polymerizable amphiphilic polysiloxane of the invention and/or an actinically-crosslinkable silicone-containing prepolymer of the invention.

The invention provides an actinically-polymerizable amphiphilic polysiloxane which comprises a polysiloxane polymer chain comprising a polylsiloxane segments comprising at least one siloxane unit having a low molecular weight hydrophilic polymer chain connected with a silicone atom of the siloxane unit, and (meth)acrylamido groups each covalently bonded to one of the ends of the polysiloxane polymer chain and/or to the end of one of low molecular weight hydrophilic polymer chains each connected with one silicone atom. The present invention is also related to a polymer, an actinically-crosslinkable silicone-containing prepolymer, a silicone hydrogel polymeric material, or a silicone hydrogel contact lens, which comprises repeating units derived from an actinically-polymerizable amphiphilic polysiloxane of the invention. In addition, the invention provides a method for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses using a water-based lens-forming formulation comprising an actinically-polymerizable amphiphilic polysiloxane of the invention and/or an actinically-crosslinkable silicone-containing prepolymer of the invention.

The present invention general related to a method and a reusable mold for making a contact lens, comprising a first mold half having a first mold surface in contact with a hydrogel contact lens forming composition and a second mold half having a second mold surface in contact with the lens forming composition, wherein the first mold half and the second mold half are configured to receive each other such that a cavity is formed between the first mold surface and the second mold surface, wherein the cavity defines the shape of a contact lens to be molded, wherein the lens forming composition is polymerizable and/or crosslinkable by an actinic radiation, wherein at least one of the mold halves having an absorbing antireflective coating, wherein the reusable mold is a non-plastic mold.