Method and device for cleaning deposited material from a molding surface of a mold for forming ophthalmic lenses

Abstract

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).

Claims

1. A device for cleaning deposited material from a molding surface (10) of a mold (1) for forming ophthalmic lenses, in particular contact lenses, the device comprising: at least one cleaning head (20) for cleaning deposited lens forming material from the molding surface (10), the cleaning head (20) having a rotational axis (22), a positioning device for bringing the molding surface (10) and the cleaning head (20) in a predefined position relative to one another, in which a central normal (11) on the molding surface (10) running through the apex thereof and the rotational axis (22) of the cleaning head (20) coincide, a tilting device for tilting the cleaning head (20) such that the rotational axis (22) of the cleaning head (20) and the central normal (11) on the molding surface (10) include an inclination angle (.sub.1,.sub.2), a first drive for rotating (220) the cleaning head (20) around the rotational axis (22), a second drive for moving the cleaning head (20) to perform a precession motion (110) around the central normal (11) on the molding surface (10), a controller for controlling the position of the molding surface (10) and of the cleaning head (20) relative to one another, for controlling the rotational speed of the cleaning head (20) around the rotational axis, for controlling the rotational speed of the precession motion of the cleaning head (20) around the central normal (11) on the molding surface (10), and for controlling the inclination angle (.sub.1,.sub.2) between the rotational axis (22) and the central normal (11) on the molding surface (10).

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device further comprises a dispensing needle (4) for dispensing a cleaning liquid (40) onto the molding surface (10).

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning head (20) is mounted to a rotational support (21), and wherein a cloth (23) is attached to the rotational support (21) so as to cover the cleaning head (20).

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning head (20) is made of silicone or of a foamed material.

5. The device according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning head (20) is made of silicone or of a foamed material.

6. The device according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning head (20) is made of silicone or of a foamed material.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning head (20) has a concave or convex shape matching a convex or concave shape of the molding surface (10).

8. The device according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning head (20) has a concave or convex shape matching a convex or concave shape of the molding surface (10).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantageous aspects of the invention become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention with the aid of the drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic representation showing components of a device according to the invention for cleaning the molding surface of a concave contact lens mold, and

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of similar components of a device for cleaning a convex contact lens mold.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(4) FIG. 1 shows a female mold 1 having a molding surface 10 to be cleaned, as well as components of a device according to one embodiment of the invention. In particular, a cleaning member 2 comprising a cleaning head 20 having a convex shape and a rotational support 21 is shown, with cleaning head 20 being attached to rotational support 21. Cleaning head 20 (as well as cleaning member 2) has a rotational axis 22 and can be rotated about this rotational axis 22. In addition, a cloth 23 is attached to rotational support 21 by means of a clamping ring 24 in a manner such that cloth 23 covers cleaning head 20. Cloth 23 can be removed by removing clamping ring 24 in order to replace a used cloth or to replace the cloth actually attached to rotational support 21 with a cloth having different properties than the one actually attached to rotational support 21. Alternatively, molding surface 10 can be cleaned by cleaning head 2 without using a cloth 23 covering the cleaning head 2. As can be seen from FIG. 1, cleaning head 20 has a convex shape matching concave shape of concave molding surface 10.

(5) Generally, cleaning head 20 can be made of any material suitable for cleaning molding surface 10 without abrasion of molding surface 10. An example for such material is silicone, however, other materials are suitable as well. For example, cleaning head 20 can be made of a foamed material such as foamed polyurethane.

(6) In addition, a tilting device is provided as is indicated by double-headed arrow 3 with the aid of which rotational support 21 as well as cleaning head 20 can be tilted such that rotational axis 22 is inclined by an inclination angle relative to a central normal 11 running through the apex (here: the lowermost point) of concave molding surface 10. In FIG. 1, two such inclination angles .sub.1, .sub.2 are indicated by way of example.

(7) In addition, and a dispensing needle 4 is provided for dispensing a cleaning liquid 40 into female mold 1. The cleaning liquid may be, for example, deionized water, alcohols, surfactants or mixtures thereof.

(8) A positioning device (not shown) is provided bringing molding surface 10 of femal mold 1 and cleaning head 2 into a predefined position relative to one another. In addition, a first drive is provided for rotating rotational support 21 together witch cleaning head 20 about rotational axis 22, this being indicated by arrow 220 in FIG. 1. In addition, a second drive is provided for moving the rotational support 21 together with cleaning head 20 to perform a precession movement around the central normal 11 on the molding surface 10, this being indicated in FIG. 1 by arrow 110. Finally, a controller (now shown) is provided for controlling the position of the molding surface 10 and of the cleaning head 20 relative to one another, for controlling the rotational speed of the precession motion of the cleaning head 20 around the central normal 11 on the molding surface 10, and for controlling the inclination angle between the rotational axis 22 and the central normal 11 on the molding surface 10.

(9) In the following, an embodiment is described how cleaning to the molding surface 10 of female mold 1 may be performed. First of all, rotational axis 22 of cleaning head 20 and the central normal 11 on concave molding surface 10 are brought into alignment such that they coincide, and the first drive rotates cleaning head 20 around the rotational axis with a rotational speed of, for example, 110 rpm (revolutions per minute), as indicated by arrow 220. Cleaning head 20 is then moved towards concave molding surface 10 and is brought into contact with molding surface 10 in a manner such that it is pressed against molding surface 10 with a predetermined force of, for example, about 16N. In this relative position including no inclination angle between the central normal 11 on concave molding surface 10 and rotational axis 22, cleaning is performed for a period of, for example, 10 seconds.

(10) Once this cleaning step is completed, the rotational axis 22 is tilted relative to the central normal 11 with the aid of the tilting device by an angle of 5, so that the rotational axis 22 and the central normal 11 now include an inclination angle of 5. Rotation of the cleaning head 20 around the (now inclined) rotational axis 21 is continued, however, in addition to the rotation of the cleaning head 20 around the (inclined) rotational axis 22, the cleaning head is moved with the aid of the second drive such that the cleaning head 20 performs a precession motion around the central normal 11, as this is indicated by arrow 110. This precession motion around the central normal is performed with a rotational speed of, for example, about 100 rpm (revolutions per minute) while at the same time the cleaning head is rotated around rotational axis 22 with a rotational speed of 110 rpm. The direction of the precession movement around the central normal 11 on the molding surface 10 and the direction of the rotation of the cleaning head 20 around the rotational axis 22 are opposite to each other. Again, cleaning head 20 may be pressed against molding surface 10 with a force F of about 16N, and cleaning is performed at this relative position for a period of, for example, 10 seconds.

(11) Once this cleaning step is completed, the rotational axis 22 is tilted relative to the central normal 11 with the aid of the tilting device by 5 again, so that the rotational axis 21 and the central normal 11 now include an inclination angle of 10, and cleaning is performed in the manner already describe above. Thereafter, the inclination angle is increased again by another 5, and so on, until a final inclination angle of 35 between the rotational axis 22 and the central normal 11 is reached, at which the last cleaning step is performed. Thereafter, cleaning head 20 can be retracted and female mold 1 with the cleaned molding surface can be removed and returned to the production process. As has been mentioned above already, this cleaning method is suitable to remove persistent residues from molding surface 10 without causing any abrasion of molding surface 10.

(12) FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the cleaning member 2 in which the cleaning head 20 has a concave shape in contrast to the embodiment of the cleaning head 20 shown in FIG. 1 which has a convex shape. However, the rest of the cleaning member may be identical to that already described above with the aid of FIG. 1, so that it is referred to the corresponding description above. It goes without saying that the embodiment of the cleaning member 2 comprising the cleaning head 20 having the concave shape is particularly suitable for the cleaning of the molding surface of a male mold (having a convex shape of the molding surface).

(13) Also, the process of cleaning the convex molding surface is similar to the process already described above, so that it is referred to the corresponding parts of the description above. However, in the case of cleaning a male mold having a convex molding surface, the first cleaning step is performed at an inclination angle of 25 between the rotational axis of the cleaning head and the central normal on the moldings surface. Nevertheless, before being arranged to include the said inclination angle of 25, first of all the rotational axis and the central normal on the molding surface are aligned to coincide, and only thereafter the tilting of the rotational axis to the inclination angle of 25 relative to the central normal is performed. Then, at the inclination angle of 25 the first cleaning step is performed. Once this cleaning step is completed, the inclination angle is decreased by 5, the next cleaning step is performed, etc., until the rotational axis and the central normal on the moldings surface coincide. The last cleaning step is then performed with the rotational axis and the central normal on the molding surface coinciding, and then the mold with the cleaned molding surface is removed and returned to the production process.

(14) As can be seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a flexible bellows-like protection sleeve 25 may be provided covering the moving parts of cleaning member 2 so as to prevent that any particles or lubricant may come into contact with the molding surface of the mold to be cleaned.

(15) While the invention has been described with the aid of embodiments, it is evident for the person skilled in the art that various changes and alterations can be made without departing from the technical teaching underlying the invention. Therefore, the invention is not intended to be limited to the described embodiments, but rather the scope of protection is defined by the appended claims.