Patent ID: 6863848

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a composite photochromic ophthalmic lens having an index of refraction of at least about 1.49, without including a finished or semi-finished lens perform in a mold the method comprising: providing against a front portion of a mold, the liquid first ophthalmic lens-forming composition including a polymerizable monomer, oligomer, or polymer and a photochromic compound; filling a rear portion of the mold with a liquid second ophthalmic lens-forming composition, sufficiently different from the first ophthalmic lens-forming composition such that a distinct phase boundary results between the two compositions after complete curing of the two compositions, the second ophthalmic lens-forming composition including a polymerizable monomer, oligomer or polymer that is different from the polymerizable monomer, oligomer or polymer of the first ophthalmic lens-forming composition, such that the second ophthalmic lens-forming composition is in contact with the first lens-forming composition, wherein either the first or second ophthalmic lens-forming composition is gelled before adding the other ophthalmic lens-forming composition, in an ungelled state, to the mold; and curing the first and second ophthalmic lens-forming compositions simultaneously, while the first and second ophthalmic lens-forming compositions are in intimate contact.