Ophthalmic Lens Additive Manufacturing Support Strategy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Additive manufacturing of ophthalmic lenses often results in optical defects due to contact with supports, necessitating post-processing treatments to achieve usable lenses.
Innovation Solution
A method where the ophthalmic lens is manufactured with a support that only contacts the peripheral region, keeping the useful optical surface free from contact, allowing direct use without post-processing and enabling the support to be designed and oriented to prevent deformation during manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the ophthalmic lens is manufactured using additive manufacturing technology with a support, then the lens can be directly shaped to fit the frame and comply with the wearer's optical prescription, but the useful optical surface comes into contact with the support causing optical defects
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the ophthalmic lens into two functional zones: a peripheral region that contacts the support for structural stability during manufacturing, and a central useful optical surface that remains free from support contact to maintain optical quality. This segmentation allows each region to fulfill its specific function without interference from the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the harmful contact between the support and the useful optical surface by designing the support to only intersect with the peripheral region. This separation removes the source of optical defects while preserving the manufacturing benefits of using a support structure.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the support contacts the ophthalmic lens during additive manufacturing, then the lens is maintained and prevented from collapsing, but post-processing treatments such as polishing are necessary to remove optical defects
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs preliminary action by designing the support contact to occur only at the peripheral region before the useful optical surface is formed. This preliminary configuration ensures that the optical surface is created free from support contact, eliminating the need for subsequent polishing or other post-processing treatments to remove optical defects.
3Strength
If the support is designed with complementary shape to the peripheral region, then the lens is securely sustained, but the complexity of the support structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by designing the support with complementary geometry only at the peripheral region where contact is needed, while keeping the rest of the support structure simple. This localized approach provides secure lens sustenance at the critical interface without unnecessarily complicating the entire support structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens using an additive manufacturing technology, the ophthalmic lens having at least one useful optical surface and a peripheral region surrounding at least in part the useful optical surface, includes the steps of: providing a support; manufacturing a part of the ophthalmic lens including a portion of the peripheral region, and being in contact with the support by the portion of the peripheral region so that the support bears the part of the ophthalmic lens being manufactured while the useful optical surface is free from any contact with the support. A support designed to bear an ophthalmic lens and a manufacturing system are also described.