Patent ID: 7850879

Claim:
A method for optically coating an injection molded thermoplastic lens (L 1 , L 2 ) that resides in an injection molding machine oriented to a horizontal parting line ( 16 ), comprising the steps of: providing an imbibable liquid coating that includes: (1) at least one monofunctional (meth)acrylate; (2) at least one difunctional (meth)acrylate; (3) at least one multifunctional (meth)acrylate; (4) at least one aliphatic urethane diacrylate; (5) at least one metal salt; and (6) at least one initiator; injecting ( 102 ) molten thermoplastic resin into an edge-gated lens-forming cavity held closed under a primary clamp force to form an ophthalmic lens; opening ( 106 ) the mold ( 10 , 12 ) at a time when the lens is rigid enough to retain its shape; depositing ( 108 ) an unpressurized full metered charge of the imbibable liquid coating ( 60 e , 60 f ) onto the center of the lens (L 1 , L 2 ); and co-molding ( 110 , 112 ) the coating by ramping up the clamp force from zero to a secondary clamp force not greater than the primary clamp force to compress the coating into a uniformly thick, fringe-free layer thereby providing an ophthalmic lens with an optically transparent, imbibable coating.