PECM Issue 50 2021 | Page 70

Process technology inspired by Mother Nature … for a greener world … half the price … half the plastic
Process technology inspired by Mother Nature … for a greener world … half the price … half the plastic
You would not be surprised to be told that your banana was ‘ made ’ entirely in its skin ! Mother-nature is a very efficient process engineer and would not consider growing a banana , then a skin , then placing the banana in the skin and then ‘ zipping ’ it up .
But that ’ s what we human engineers do … we make a product then decide how to wrap it up wasting time and materials doing that . To be more precise , that ’ s what contact lens producers the world over do ; they form a lens between two precision optical moulds , remove it from this assembly , discard the opticalmoulds before carefully transferring the lens into a third moulding then filling this with saline and shipping it to customers .
Mother Nature was not impressed .
“ Three plastic moulds to make one wee contact lens … you must be joking !”
The challenge was massive because modern soft contact lenses are extremely fragile , being more than 50 % water . The centre thickness is less than a human hair . The diameter is 140 times this thickness . The contour shape has to provide precise power-correction within tight limits and it has to be strong enough to support its weight in air even when fully hydrated with water . It has to be crystal clear , without imperfections so as to sit comfortably on the human eye .
But the Daysoft Engineering Team got to work and invented a completely new process they named INPAC ®. This eliminates making millions of mouldings each month then lifting wet fragile lenses into these . Now the lens is formed , hydrated , sealed and sterilizedin its originating mould . INPAC ® process technology already has patent protections in US , Canada , Europe ( UK , Ireland , Germany , France ), Hong Kong , China , Japan . Manufacturing site capacity has been increased to over 100 million lenses per year .
Mother Nature was consulted .
“ Supplying the lens in the mould you made it in … now that ’ s impressive .”
DAYSOFT . COM DAILY-DISPOSABLE CONTACT LENSES FOR A GREENER WORLD