Alcon, Inc.

Novartis Ag

Uwe Haken

Daryl Reece

Honghui Lu

Frank Chang

Troy Vernon Holland

Alice Weimin Liu

Roger Biel

Peter Hagmann

Bernhard Seiferling

Joseph Michael Lindacher

Xinming Qian

Axel Heinrich

Robert A Scott

Günter Lässig

Gabriela Cocora

Deborah Jean Mulcahy

Carlton Pope

Oli Jobe

Mark Neely

John Dallas Pruitt

Daqing Wu

Jinyu Huang

Angelika Maria Domschke

Arturo Norberto Medina

Joseph I Weinschenk, Iii

Newton T Samuel

Yasuo Matsuzawa

William Jordan Hall

Jordan Hall

Horngyih Huang

Lindsay Olson

Xuxian Niu

David Saenz Landazabal

Delores Davis

Stacey Elliott

Kirk Cooper

John Janders

Shridhar Natarajan

Katherine Ard

Alexander W Kim

Iii Joseph I Weinschenk

The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, comprising the step of: separating the mold into the male and female mold halves, with the silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered on one of the male and female mold halves; cooling the lens-adhere mold half with the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered thereon; bringing a shaped ultrasonic horn in direct contact with at least one area of a non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon; and applying a ultrasonic vibrational energy to the at least one area of the non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached thereon.

Method for producing contact lenses

The present invention generally relates to a method for producing silicone hydrogel contact lenses having less optical defects or free of optical defects by subjecting the extraction tray for the formed silicone hydrogel contact lenses to a reciprocating lowering and raising motion thereof to obtain the silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Method for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses

The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, comprising the step of: separating the mold into the male and female mold halves, with the silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered on one of the male and female mold halves; bring a shaped ultrasonic horn in direct contact with at least one area of a non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon; and applying a ultrasonic vibrational energy to the at least one area of the non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached thereon.

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.

An embodiment of the invention is a basket for holding contact lenses. The basket comprises a first basket and a second basket mating members, each basket member includes a basket wall defining a first cavity, a planar flange extending out around the first cavity, a plurality of spaced fingers extending upward circumferentially from the periphery of the cavity, wherein the first basket and second basket mating members having a same structure, wherein the first basket and second basket mating members forming a second cavity when mated for receiving said contact lens, the cavity inhibiting inversion or rolling over of said contact lens when emplaced therein. A tray that comprises a plurality of baskets is another embodiment of the invention. In addition, the invention provides a stack assembly that comprises a plurality of trays each of which comprises a plurality of baskets.

Basket for carrying a contact lens during its treatment in a bath

The invention is related to a method for producing silicone medical devices, in particular, silicone contact lenses, having consistent mechanical properties in a cost-effective manner. The invention is also related to a silicone medical device, especially a soft silicone contact lens.

Soft silicone medical devices

The invention provides a method of making ophthalmic lenses with an enhanced quality and enhanced yield achieved by using molds having been treated on back surface of mold with corona discharge technique. The method comprises the steps of obtaining a mold for cast-molding contact lenses from a lens formulation, wherein the mold comprises a first mold half having a first molding surface and a first back surface, a second mold half having a second molding surface and a second back surface, wherein when the first and second mold are configured to receive each other such that a lens forming cavity is formed between the first molding surface and the second molding surface and applying a corona discharge on one of the first and second back surfaces so that the molding surface of the mold with the treated back surface has an average water contact angle smaller than the molding surface of the mold with untreated mold by about 0.1 degrees to about 6 degrees.

Process for manufacturing contact lenses

The instant invention pertains to a method and a fluid composition for producing contact lenses with improved lens quality and with increased product yield. The method of the invention involves applying to a molding surface of the mold a layer of mold releasing agent selected from a group consisting of fatty amines of carbon chain length C18 or less and silicones bearing pendant substituted pyrrolidone groups solution to reduce an averaged mold separation force by at least about 50% in comparison with that without the releasing agent.

Method for making contact lenses

There is described a process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens and an apparatus for forming an ophthalmic lens, in particular a silicone hydrogel contact lens, wherein in a mold assembly a first and a second mold half () are first arranged in an intermediate closed position in which the mold surfaces of the two mold halves are spaced apart from each other at a distance increase (d1) of preferably 1 to 100 &#x3bc;m relative to a final distance (d0) in a final closed position, and wherein, during curing of the lens forming material (), the mold surfaces () of the mold halves () are actively or passively moved or moving from the intermediate closed position to the final closed position, where the distance increase (d1) is 0.

Process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens

Described herein is a method for producing UV-absorbing silicone hydrogel contact lenses, which is free or substantially free of internal stress and also is capable of blocking ultra-violet ('UV') radiation and optionally (but preferably) violet radiation with wavelengths from 381 nm to 440 nm, according to a photocuring technology, preferably according to the Lightstream Technology&#x2122;. This invention also provides UV-absorbing contact lenses made according to a method of the invention.

Method for making UV-absorbing ophthalmic lenses

The invention provides a method for washing, with a water-based system, reusable molds for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses. The water-based washing system comprises an ethoxylated silicone polyether surfactant. The water-based system of the invention can effectively wash away silicone-containing components and other components of a lens formulation left behind on the molding surfaces of a reusable mold, after removing a silicone hydrogel contact lens cast molded in the reusable mold.

There is described a process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens and an apparatus for forming an ophthalmic lens, in particular a silicone hydrogel contact lens, wherein in a mold assembly a first and a second mold half () are first arranged in an intermediate closed position in which the mold surfaces of the two mold halves are spaced apart from each other at a distance increase (d) of preferably 1 to 100 &#x3bc;m relative to a final distance (d) in a final closed position, and wherein, during curing of the lens forming material (), the mold surfaces () of the mold halves () are actively or passively moved or moving from the intermediate closed position to the final closed position, where the distance increase (d) is 0.

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Norcross, GA, United States of America

Uwe Haken