Patents by Inventor Uwe Haken
Uwe Haken has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11840033Abstract: The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, comprising the step of: separating the mold into the male and female mold halves, with the silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered on one of the male and female mold halves; cooling the lens-adhere mold half with the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered thereon; bringing a shaped ultrasonic horn in direct contact with at least one area of a non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon; and applying a ultrasonic vibrational energy to the at least one area of the non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached thereon.Type: GrantFiled: November 20, 2020Date of Patent: December 12, 2023Assignee: Alcon Inc.Inventors: Lindsay Olson, Mark Neely, David Saenz Landazabal, Uwe Haken
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Patent number: 11433630Abstract: The present invention generally relates to a method for producing silicone hydrogel contact lenses having less optical defects or free of optical defects by subjecting the extraction tray for the formed silicone hydrogel contact lenses to a reciprocating lowering and raising motion thereof to obtain the silicone hydrogel contact lenses.Type: GrantFiled: December 10, 2019Date of Patent: September 6, 2022Assignee: Alcon Inc.Inventors: Honghui Lu, Mark Neely, Alice Weimin Liu, Xuxian Niu, Uwe Haken
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Publication number: 20220266554Abstract: The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, comprising the step of: separating the mold into the male and female mold halves, with the silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered on one of the male and female mold halves; bring a shaped ultrasonic horn in direct contact with at least one area of a non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon; and applying a ultrasonic vibrational energy to the at least one area of the non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached thereon.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 11, 2022Publication date: August 25, 2022Inventors: Alice Weimin Liu, Daryl Reece, Kirk Cooper, Shridhar Natarajan, John Janders, Uwe Haken, Stacey Elliott
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Patent number: 11358353Abstract: The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, comprising the step of: separating the mold into the male and female mold halves, with the silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered on one of the male and female mold halves; bring a shaped ultrasonic horn in direct contact with at least one area of a non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon; and applying a ultrasonic vibrational energy to the at least one area of the non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached thereon.Type: GrantFiled: December 14, 2017Date of Patent: June 14, 2022Assignee: Alcon Inc.Inventors: Alice Weimin Liu, Daryl Reece, Kirk Cooper, Shridhar Natarajan, John Janders, Uwe Haken, Stacey Elliott
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Patent number: 11279103Abstract: The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, including the step of: holding the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached to the one of the female mold half or the male mold half with a vacuum supplied with a suction cup; deforming a surface of the one of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached to with a pin so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached to and to transfer the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens to the suction cup; moving the suction cup away from the pin while the suction cup continues to hold the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens remains; applying a compressed gas to blow the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens away from the suction cup into a container.Type: GrantFiled: October 12, 2017Date of Patent: March 22, 2022Assignee: Alcon Inc.Inventors: Daryl Reece, Uwe Haken, Delores Davis
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Patent number: 11111055Abstract: An embodiment of the invention is a basket for holding contact lenses. The basket comprises a first basket and a second basket mating members, each basket member includes a basket wall defining a first cavity, a planar flange extending out around the first cavity, a plurality of spaced fingers extending upward circumferentially from the periphery of the cavity, wherein the first basket and second basket mating members having a same structure, wherein the first basket and second basket mating members forming a second cavity when mated for receiving said contact lens, the cavity inhibiting inversion or rolling over of said contact lens when emplaced therein. A tray that comprises a plurality of baskets is another embodiment of the invention. In addition, the invention provides a stack assembly that comprises a plurality of trays each of which comprises a plurality of baskets.Type: GrantFiled: December 11, 2018Date of Patent: September 7, 2021Assignee: Alcon Inc.Inventors: Daryl Reece, Uwe Haken, Honghui Lu, Oli Jobe, Alice Weimin Liu
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Publication number: 20210154957Abstract: The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, comprising the step of: separating the mold into the male and female mold halves, with the silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered on one of the male and female mold halves; cooling the lens-adhere mold half with the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered thereon; bringing a shaped ultrasonic horn in direct contact with at least one area of a non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon; and applying a ultrasonic vibrational energy to the at least one area of the non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached thereon.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 20, 2020Publication date: May 27, 2021Inventors: Lindsay Olson, Mark Neely, David Saenz Landazabal, Uwe Haken
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Patent number: 11001647Abstract: The invention is related to a method for producing silicone medical devices, in particular, silicone contact lenses, having consistent mechanical properties in a cost-effective manner. The invention is also related to a silicone medical device, especially a soft silicone contact lens.Type: GrantFiled: February 20, 2019Date of Patent: May 11, 2021Assignee: Alcon Inc.Inventors: Frank Chang, Troy Vernon Holland, Xinming Qian, Robert Scott, Joseph Michael Lindacher, Uwe Haken
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Publication number: 20200189216Abstract: The present invention generally relates to a method for producing silicone hydrogel contact lenses having less optical defects or free of optical defects by subjecting the extraction tray for the formed silicone hydrogel contact lenses to a reciprocating lowering and raising motion thereof to obtain the silicone hydrogel contact lenses.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 10, 2019Publication date: June 18, 2020Inventors: Honghui Lu, Mark Neely, Alice Weimin Liu, Xuxian Niu, Uwe Haken
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Patent number: 10611107Abstract: The invention provides a method of making ophthalmic lenses with an enhanced quality and enhanced yield achieved by using molds having been treated on back surface of mold with corona discharge technique. The method comprises the steps of obtaining a mold for cast-molding contact lenses from a lens formulation, wherein the mold comprises a first mold half having a first molding surface and a first back surface, a second mold half having a second molding surface and a second back surface, wherein when the first and second mold are configured to receive each other such that a lens forming cavity is formed between the first molding surface and the second molding surface and applying a corona discharge on one of the first and second back surfaces so that the molding surface of the mold with the treated back surface has an average water contact angle smaller than the molding surface of the mold with untreated mold by about 0.1 degrees to about 6 degrees.Type: GrantFiled: November 9, 2016Date of Patent: April 7, 2020Assignee: Alcon Inc.Inventors: Oli Jobe, Uwe Haken
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Publication number: 20190185209Abstract: An embodiment of the invention is a basket for holding contact lenses. The basket comprises a first basket and a second basket mating members, each basket member comprises a basket wall defining a first cavity, a planar flange extending out around the first cavity, a plurality of spaced fingers extending upward circumferentially from the periphery of the cavity, wherein the first basket and second basket mating members having a same structure, wherein the first basket and second basket mating members forming a second cavity when mated for receiving said contact lens, the cavity inhibiting inversion or rolling over of said contact lens when emplaced therein. A tray that comprises a plurality of baskets is another embodiment of the invention. In addition, the invention provides a stack assembly that comprises a plurality of trays each of which comprises a plurality of baskets.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 11, 2018Publication date: June 20, 2019Inventors: Daryl Reece, Uwe Haken, Honghui Lu, Oli Jobe, Alice Weimin Liu
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Publication number: 20190177444Abstract: The invention is related to a method for producing silicone medical devices, in particular, silicone contact lenses, having consistent mechanical properties in a cost-effective manner. The invention is also related to a silicone medical device, especially a soft silicone contact lens.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2019Publication date: June 13, 2019Inventors: Frank Chang, Troy Vernon Holland, Xinming Qian, Robert Scott, Joseph Michael Lindacher, Uwe Haken
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Patent number: 10253112Abstract: The invention is related to a method for producing silicone medical devices, in particular, silicone contact lenses, having consistent mechanical properties in a cost-effective manner. The invention is also related to a silicone medical device, especially a soft silicone contact lens.Type: GrantFiled: February 16, 2017Date of Patent: April 9, 2019Assignee: Novartis AGInventors: Frank Chang, Troy Vernon Holland, Xinming Qian, Robert Scott, Joseph Michael Lindacher, Uwe Haken
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Publication number: 20180169981Abstract: The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, comprising the step of: separating the mold into the male and female mold halves, with the silicone hydrogel contact lens adhered on one of the male and female mold halves; bring a shaped ultrasonic horn in direct contact with at least one area of a non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon; and applying a ultrasonic vibrational energy to the at least one area of the non-optical surface of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached thereon so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached thereon.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 14, 2017Publication date: June 21, 2018Inventors: Alice Weimin Liu, Daryl Reece, Kirk Cooper, Shridhar Natarajan, John Janders, Uwe Haken, Stacey Elliott
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Publication number: 20180104919Abstract: The invention provides a process for casting—molding contact lenses with enhanced quality and enhanced yield achieved by omitting the previously required check to discover on or in which mold half the contact lens is located after the mold has been opened.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 12, 2017Publication date: April 19, 2018Inventors: Honghui Lu, Uwe Haken, Xuxian Niu, Alexander W. Kim
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Publication number: 20180104920Abstract: The invention provides a method producing contact lenses, including the step of: holding the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached to the one of the female mold half or the male mold half with a vacuum supplied with a suction cup; deforming a surface of the one of the female mold half or the male mold half having the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens attached to with a pin so as to separate the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens from the mold half attached to and to transfer the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens to the suction cup; moving the suction cup away from the pin while the suction cup continues to hold the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens remains; applying a compressed gas to blow the molded silicone hydrogel contact lens away from the suction cup into a container.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 12, 2017Publication date: April 19, 2018Inventors: Daryl Reece, Uwe Haken, Delores Davis
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Patent number: 9802339Abstract: The instant invention pertains to a method and a fluid composition for producing contact lenses with improved lens quality and with increased product yield. The method of the invention involves applying to a molding surface of the mold a layer of mold releasing agent selected from a group consisting of fatty amines of carbon chain length C18 or less and silicones bearing pendant substituted pyrrolidone groups solution to reduce an averaged mold separation force by at least about 50% in comparison with that without the releasing agent.Type: GrantFiled: December 11, 2014Date of Patent: October 31, 2017Assignee: Novartis AGInventors: Arturo Norberto Medina, Jinyu Huang, Katherine Ard, Honghui Lu, Uwe Haken
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Publication number: 20170240658Abstract: The invention is related to a method for producing silicone medical devices, in particular, silicone contact lenses, having consistent mechanical properties in a cost-effective manner. The invention is also related to a silicone medical device, especially a soft silicone contact lens.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 16, 2017Publication date: August 24, 2017Inventors: Frank Chang, Troy Vernon Holland, Xinming Qian, Robert Scott, Joseph Michael Lindacher, Uwe Haken
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Publication number: 20170173901Abstract: The invention provides a method of making ophthalmic lenses with an enhanced quality and enhanced yield achieved by using molds having been treated on back surface of mold with corona discharge technique. The method comprises the steps of obtaining a mold for cast-molding contact lenses from a lens formulation, wherein the mold comprises a first mold half having a first molding surface and a first back surface, a second mold half having a second molding surface and a second back surface, wherein when the first and second mold are configured to receive each other such that a lens forming cavity is formed between the first molding surface and the second molding surface and applying a corona discharge on one of the first and second back surfaces so that the molding surface of the mold with the treated back surface has an average water contact angle smaller than the molding surface of the mold with untreated mold by about 0.1 degrees to about 6 degrees.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 9, 2016Publication date: June 22, 2017Inventors: Oli Jobe, Uwe Haken
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Patent number: 9623589Abstract: There is described a process for manufacturing an ophthalmic lens and an apparatus for forming an ophthalmic lens, in particular a silicone hydrogel contact lens, wherein in a mold assembly a first and a second mold half (101, 102) are first arranged in an intermediate closed position in which the mold surfaces of the two mold halves are spaced apart from each other at a distance increase (d1) of preferably 1 to 100 ?m relative to a final distance (d0) in a final closed position, and wherein, during curing of the lens forming material (202), the mold surfaces (105, 106) of the mold halves (101, 102) are actively or passively moved or moving from the intermediate closed position to the final closed position, where the distance increase (d1) is 0.Type: GrantFiled: November 7, 2013Date of Patent: April 18, 2017Assignee: Novartis AGInventors: Roger Biel, Gabriela Cocora, Peter Hagmann, Uwe Haken, William Jordan Hall, Axel Heinrich, Günter Lässig, Honghui Lu, Deborah J. Mulcahy, Carlton Pope, Daryl Reece, Bernhard Seiferling