Automatisk fremgangsmåde og apparat til hydratisering f den ene side af blöde kontaktlinser i deres emballager

• Main Authors: SCHLAGEL, MARK E, MARTIN, WALLACE A, CALVIN, OLIN W, KEENE, DARREN S, HEATON, JOHN C, KINDT-LARSEN, TURE, WALKER, CRAIG W
• Format: Patent
• Language: Danish
• Published: 29.03.2005
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F,C08G; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; CONTACT LENSES; CONVEYING; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULARARTICLES; MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGINGARTICLES OR MATERIALS; METALLURGY; OPTICS; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCESIN A PLASTIC STATE; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SPECTACLES; STORING; SUNGLASSES OR GOGGLES INSOFAR AS THEY HAVE THE SAME FEATURESAS SPECTACLES; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; TRANSPORTING; UNPACKING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL; WORKING-UP

An automated means for hydrating and packaging a molded hydrophilic contact lens in one of the mold parts used to mold the lens is provided in which a first robotic assembly removes a plurality of contact lens molds from a production line carrier, each of the lens molds having a contact lens adhered therein. The first robotic assembly transports the molds to a first staging area where the lens molds are sandwiched between a lens mold carrier and a top chamber plate to form a first hydration carrier. The hydration carrier is then transported through a plurality of flushing or extraction stations wherein fresh deionized water is introduced into the hydration chambers at each hydration station to flush leachable substances from the hydration chamber. At each flushing station, fresh deionized water is introduced into the hydration chamber to remove previously extracted impurities and the products of hydrolysis. A final robotic dis-assembly device separates the top chamber plate and lens molds in the mold carrier plate, to provide fully hydrated lenses in a concave lens mold ready for transfer to inspection and packaging stations. Following inspection of the lens, the concave lens mold is dosed with saline and used to form part of the package used to distribute the lens.