METHOD FOR MOLDING AN OPHTHALMIC LENS AND DEVICE FOR APPLYING A COATING TO THE SURFACE OF AN OPHTHALMIC LENS MOLD

Abstract

There are described a method for applying a coating to a surface of an ophthalmic lens mold. The mold includes male and female (20) mold halves, with each of the mold halves being provided with a lens forming surface (21). The method includes applying a temporary coating to at least a portion of at least one of the male and female mold halves (20), the temporary coating being capable of reducing adhesive forces between a lens forming material and the lens forming surface (21); and drying the temporary coating applied to the portion of the lens forming surface (21).
Also described is a device (1) for applying such temporary coating to the portion of the lens forming surface (21) of the ophthalmic lens mold.

Claims

1.-13. (canceled)

14. A device for applying a coating to a surface of an ophthalmic lens mold, said lens mold comprising male and female mold halves, each of said male and female mold halves being provided with a lens forming surface, with a mold cavity being formed between said lens forming surfaces of said male and female mold halves when the mold is closed, said device comprising at least one coating head having a coating face adapted to be contacted with said portion of said at least one lens forming surface of said male and female mold halves, said coating head being provided with feed and discharge ports adapted to be connected with feed and discharge lines in order to allow for a continuous flow of a temporary coating substance to and from said coating face at least during contact of said coating face with said portion of said lens forming surface of said at least one of said male and female mold halves.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein said coating face comprises a curved outer surface generally matching a concave or convex curvature of said lens forming surface of said male or female mold half, respectively.

16. The device according to claim 14, wherein said coating face comprises a mesh which is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyamide, polyester, silk, steel, and combinations of these materials.

17. The device according to claim 15, wherein said coating face comprises a mesh which is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyamide, polyester, silk, steel, and combinations of these materials.

18. The device according to claim 16, wherein said mesh has a mesh size (m) of about 25 m to about 1 mm.

19. The device according to claim 16, wherein said mesh is provided with projections protruding from the coating face and having a length in the range of about 50 m to about 2 mm.

20. The device according to claim 14, wherein the coating head further comprises a homogenizer arranged upstream of said mesh.

21. The device according to claim 14, comprising two coating heads, each one of said coating heads having a coating face, with the coating face of one of said two coating heads being adapted to apply a temporary coating to at least a portion of said lens forming surface of said male mold half and said coating face of the other of said two coating heads being adapted to apply a temporary coating to at least a portion of said lens forming surface of said female mold half.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The afore-mentioned advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The embodiment described is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment. In particular, the embodiment described below is related to the manufacturing of contact lenses, which is by way of example only. In the following description, reference is made to the schematic drawings which are not to scale, in which

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a device for applying a temporary coating to a lens forming surface of a female mold half; and

[0038] FIG. 2 shows the detail II of FIG. 1 at a larger scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0039] In FIG. 1 a device for applying a temporary coating to a lens forming surface of a mold half is generally designated with reference numeral 1. More specifically, the device shown in FIG. 1 includes a coating head 2 which is in contact with a lens forming surface 21 of a female mold half 20 of a contact lens mold. The lens forming surface 21 of the female mold half 20 is of generally concave shape and is embodied as an insert 23 which can be made of glass, e.g. BK7 or quartz-glass, the insert 23 being arranged in a mount 24 which can be made of metal, for example. A support 25 houses mount 24 with the insert 23 arranged therein. The lens forming surface 21 of female mold half 20 is surrounded by an annular flange region 22.

[0040] Coating head 2 includes a housing 3 provided with feed and discharge ports 4, 5 adapted to be connected with tubular lines. The coating head 2 may be attached to a means (not shown) for moving the coating head 2 towards and away from the female mold half 20, this being indicated by the double arrow P. In a space 9 inside the housing 3 a homogenizer 10 is arranged, which may include one or more ceramic tiles. The device further includes a mesh 6 mounted to the housing on that side of coating head 2 facing female mold half 20. The mesh 6 can be made of polyethylene, polypropylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyamide, polyester, silk, steel, and the like. The front side of the mesh 6, i.e. that side of the mesh facing lens forming surface 21 of female mold half 20, represents a coating face 7 which, in use, contacts the lens forming surface 21 of the female mold half 20. The coating face 7 has a curvature which is generally complementary to the curvature of lens forming surface 21. In the embodiment shown the coating face 7 is of convex shape and curvature in order to match the concave-shaped lens forming surface 21 of the female mold half 20. It goes without saying, that in order to apply a temporary coating to a male mold half having a convex-shaped lens forming surface the coating head will be provided with a coating face of concave shape and matching curvature.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows the encircled detail II of FIG. 1 at a larger scale. From FIG. 2 it becomes clear that the mesh 6 is a network having a mesh size m which may be in the range of about 25 m to about 1 mm. The mesh is provided with projections 8 protruding from the coating face 7. These projections 8 may a length l in the range of about 50 m to about 2 mm. In use, the projections 8 contact the lens forming surface 21 of the female mold half 20 so that the coating face 7 is arranged at a distance from the lens forming surface 21.

[0042] The device for applying a temporary coating to a lens forming surface of a mold half may be integrated into an automated productions line for contact lenses, upstream of a processing station, in which the casting molds are filled with a lens forming material, such as polymers based on polyvinyl alcohols (PVA), silicone hydrogels (SiHy), and polyethylene glycols (PEG). Flexible tubular lines may be connected with the feed and discharge ports 4, 5 in order to supply a coating liquid to the coating head 2. The coating liquid may be polyvinylalcohol and copolymers of vinylalcohol; polyvinylpyrrolidone (e.g. Kollidon from BASF); copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone with e.g. vinylacetate (Luviskole from BASF), polytetrahydrofurane, polyethylene glycols, polypropylene glycols, copolymers of polyethylene glycols with polypropylene glycols (e.g. Pluronics or Tetronics from BASF), polyacrylamide and copolymers thereof, e.g. with acrylic acid; poly(vinylpyridine) and copolymers thereof. The coating liquid enters the coating head 2 via feed port 4, as indicated in FIG. 1 by the arrow I, and is evenly distributed by flowing through the homogenizer 10 before it reaches the mesh 6. The mesh size m allows the coating liquid to penetrate the mesh 6 and reach the coating face 7. The effect of the projections 8 is that the rest of the mesh 6 is arranged at a distance from the lens forming surface 21. This distance depends on the length of the projections 8. The coating liquid is applied to the lens forming surface 21 of the female mold half through the mesh 6 and between projections 8. The projections 8 serve to reduce adhesive forces that occur as the coating head 2 is moved away from the coated lens forming surface 21 surface in order to prevent a break of the liquid film. In this manner, a smooth uniform film of a liquid coating substance can be applied to the lens forming surface 21. This film may have a thickness which may be in the range of about 100 m to about 200 m and is maintained until it is subsequently dried, e.g. with the aid of infrared (IR) radiation so as to form a temporary coating on the lens forming surface 21 of the female mold half. Optionally, the temporary coating may be applied to the annular region 22 as well, but this is not provided for in the embodiment described.

[0043] During application of the liquid coating substance, the liquid coating substance is continuously transported through coating head 2. It exits coating head 2 through discharge port 5 as indicated in FIG. 1 by arrow O, so that during application of the liquid coating substance there is a continuous flow of liquid over the lens forming surface 21. Once application of the liquid coating substance is completed and the film is properly formed on the lens forming surface 21, the coating head 2 is moved away from lens forming surface 21 and the liquid film on lens forming surface 21 is dried by subjecting the liquid film on lens forming surface 21 to infrared radiation. The temporary coating of lens forming surface is then completed. The female mold half 20 may then be filled with the lens forming material, and the mold may then be closed by assembling the male and female mold halves to form a mold cavity between the lens forming surfaces of the male and female mold halves, the mold cavity determining the shape of the contact lens to be manufactured. During closing of the mold with the aid of the male mold half, any excess lens forming material may be displaced into an annular space formed by the annular regions of the male and female mold halves. The lens forming material inside the mold cavity may then be polymerized and/or cross-linked e.g. by irradiation with ultraviolet radiation, as this is known in the art. When the mold is closed the annular space may be in communication with the mold cavity so that in case shrinkage occurs during polymerization and/or cross-linking of the lens forming material contained in the mold cavity additional material may flow from the annular space into the mold cavity so as to compensate for that shrinkage.

[0044] Once polymerization and/or cross-linking has been completed, the mold halves are separated from one another, that is to say the mold is opened, and the so formed contact lens is removed from the male mold half or from the female mold half, respectively, for further processing. The contact lens molds are then cleaned so as to be reused after cleaning. During this ordinary cleaning of the mold halves which is usually performed using water as a rinsing liquid, the temporary coating is also removed from the lens forming surface 21. Alternatively, other rinsing liquids such as water with additives and solvents and the like may be used. Thus, the removal of the temporary coating does not require an additional process step but may be performed together with the ordinary process of cleaning the mold halves. After cleaning, the mold halves may be used again to form the next contact lens in the automated lens production process.

[0045] In the embodiment, coating of the entire lens forming surface of a female mold half has been described. It is to be noted though, that the lens forming surface does not necessarily have to be entirely coated. In certain instances it may be sufficient to apply the temporary coating only to a part of the lens forming surface. Also, while it has been described that the temporary coating is applied to the female mold half, the temporary coating can alternatively be applied to the male mold half, and in particular to both the male and female mold halves of a mold. As already indicated, the temporary coating may in addition be provided to the annular region surrounding the lens forming surface of the male and/or female mold half, respectively.