Patent ID: 6902274

Claim:
A method of making a colored contact lens, the method comprising the steps of: (1) using an ink jet printer having a plurality of nozzles, wherein each nozzle is sized to form drops having a volume of less than 100 picoliters of colorant; (2) dispensing, under control of a computer, droplets of a first colorant from one or more nozzles, onto a molding surface of the mold, where the iris portion of the lens is formed, to produce a colored film providing a first pattern thereon, wherein the colored film contains a surface exposed to the interior of the mold and a surface in contact with the mold, wherein the first pattern comprises pixels of less than 150 microns in diameter, wherein the ink jet printer spaces the pixels less than 80 microns from each other; (3) charging the mold with a lens-forming liquid used to form the body of the lens while maintaining the colored film in the iris portion; and (4) curing the lens-forming liquid to form to form a colored contact lens, whereby the colored film detaches from the molding surface and becomes integral with the body of the contact lens, wherein the colored film becomes part of the outer surface of the formed lens when the formed lens is removed from the mold.