Contact lens molds and systems and methods for producing same
View Patent ↗Contact lens molds and systems and methods for producing contact lens molds are described. The contact lens mold sections include two optical quality surfaces, a flange circumscribing at least a portion of the two optical quality surfaces, and an elongate member extending from the flange. Two mold sections can contact one another to form a mold assembly having a contact lens shaped cavity. The mold sections are structured to form a contact lens having an edge that does not require further physical modification before placement on an eye. Systems and methods are described which direct a molten polymeric material into cavities corresponding to the mold sections.
1. A contact lens mold section, comprising:
a lens defining region having a first lens-defining surface which is a negative of an optical quality anterior surface of a contact lens, a substantially opposing second lens-defining surface which is a negative of an optical quality posterior surface of a contact lens, a flange region circumscribing the first and second lens-defining surfaces, and
an elongated region extending substantially radially outwardly from the flange region, the elongated region includes a first portion having a substantially uniform width and a second portion having a diverging width, the second portion being adjacent the flange region and being thinner than the first portion of the elongated region.
2. The mold section of claim 1 wherein the elongated region has a length greater than an outer diameter of the flange region.
3. The mold section of claim 2 wherein the length of the elongated region is at least about 15 mm.
4. The mold section of claim 2 wherein the length of the elongated region is between about 30 mm and about 35 mm.
5. The mold section of claim 1 wherein the first portion of the elongated region has a thickness of between about 0.5 mm and about 3.0 mm.
6. The mold section of claim 1 further comprising indicia located on the elongated region.
7. The mold section of claim 6 wherein the indicia comprises a surface of the elongated region that is roughened relative to another surface of the elongated region.
8. The mold section of claim 6 wherein the indicia is a machine readable surface.
9. A mold assembly comprising:
a first mold section comprising a lens defining region having a first lens-defining surface which is a negative of an optical quality anterior surface of a contact lens, a substantially opposing second lens-defining surface which is a negative of an optical quality posterior surface of a contact lens, a flange region circumscribing the first and second lens-defining surfaces, and
an elongated region extending substantially radially outwardly from the flange region, the elongated region includes a first portion having a substantially uniform width and a second portion having a diverging width, the second portion being adjacent the flange region and being thinner than the first portion of the elongated region; and
a second substantially identical mold section coupled to the first mold section to define a lens shaped cavity between the first lens defining surface of the first mold section and the second lens defining surface of the second mold section.
10. The assembly of claim 9 wherein the coupled mold sections define a first region of contact located radially outwardly from the lens shaped cavity and a second region of contact located radially outwardly from the first region of contact.
11. The mold section of claim 1 wherein the flange region includes at least one non-circumferential recess.
12. The mold section of claim 11 wherein the recess extends into the flange region from a surface of the flange region that is contiguous with the second lens-defining surface.
13. The mold section of claim 1 wherein the elongated region is substantially planar along an entire length thereof.