摘要:
An automated apparatus for controlling the automatic packaging of contact lenses in a contact lens fabrication facility includes: a first robotic transfer device for periodically transferring a first predetermined amount of individual packages from an inspection station to an intermediate consolidation buffer and depositing the packages on the consolidation buffer; a control device for tracking and identifying each individual contact lens conveyed from the inspection station to the consolidation buffer and including memory and logic circuits for staring the identity of individual packages containing contact lenses that have been previously determined at the inspection station as being out of specification, and, generating a signal to enable the first robotic device to discard any individual package identified as out of specification; and, a second robotic assembly for periodically transferring a second predetermined amount of individual packages from the consolidation buffer to a second processing station, the control device enabling the first robotic device to provide a sufficient amount of individual packages to the consolidation buffer to enable the second robotic assembly to continuously transfer the second predetermined amount of packages to the second processing station in every period.
摘要:
An apparatus is provided for removing and transporting articles, such as contact lens sections from a manufacturing line to inspection and packaging stations. The lenses are deposited in a transparent plastic primary package which carries the lenses through the inspection station and becomes part of the primary package when a cover is sealed thereto. The invention includes various assemblies, including lens transfer assemblies, deionized water filling and removal assemblies, a water degassing assembly, a lens inspection assembly, and a lens package sealing assembly. The lenses are removed from pallets at a post hydration station, transported and spatially redistributed, and deposited in the primary packages disposed on a second set of pallets. The packages on the second set of pallets are filled with degassed deionized water. The contact lenses and packages are then transported to an inspection station. After inspection, the lenses and packages are transported to a water removal assembly, and then to another transfer assembly. This transfer assembly separates those lenses which passed inspection from those which did not, and places those that did in a consolidating assembly. The lenses and packages are then filled with saline solution and a foil label is then sealed thereto to form the primary package.
摘要:
An apparatus is provided for removing and transporting articles, such as contact lens sections from a manufacturing line to inspection and packaging stations. The lenses are deposited in a transparent plastic primary package which carries the lenses through the inspection station and becomes part of the primary package when a cover is sealed thereto. The invention includes various assemblies, including lens transfer assemblies, deionized water filling and removal assemblies, a water degassing assembly, a lens inspection assembly, and a lens package sealing assembly. The lenses are removed from pallets at a post hydration station, transported and spatially redistributed, and deposited in the primary packages disposed on a second set of pallets. The packages on the second set of pallets are filled with degassed deionized water. The contact lenses and packages are then transported to an inspection station. After inspection, the lenses and packages are transported to a water removal assembly, and then to another transfer assembly. This transfer assembly separates those lenses which passed inspection from those which did not, and places those that did in a consolidating assembly. The lenses and packages are then filled with saline solution and a foil label is then sealed thereto to form the primary package.
摘要:
An apparatus is provided for removing and transporting articles, such as contact lens sections from a manufacturing line to inspection and packaging stations. The lenses are deposited in a transparent plastic primary package which carries the lenses through the inspection station and becomes part of the primary package when a cover is sealed thereto. The invention includes various assemblies, including lens transfer assemblies, deionized water filling and removal assemblies, a water degassing assembly, a lens inspection assembly, and a lens package sealing assembly. The lenses are removed from pallets at a post hydration station, transported and spatially redistributed, and deposited in the primary packages disposed on a second set of pallets. The packages on the second set of pallets are filled with degassed deionized water. The contact lenses and packages are then transported to an inspection station. After inspection, the lenses and packages are transported to a water removal assembly, and then to another transfer assembly. This transfer assembly separates those lenses which passed inspection from those which did not, and places those that did in a consolidating assembly. The lenses and packages are then filled with saline solution and a foil label is then sealed thereto to form the primary package.
摘要:
The present invention, which relates to the transfer of contact lenses in post hydration processing of the lenses. A lens transfer and insertion assembly removes contact lenses from lens hydration pallets, alters their spatial distribution, and deposits them into packaging elements. The lenses are transferred with fluid and retained on the transfer assembly by surface tension.
摘要:
The present invention, which relates to post hydration processing of contact lenses and the packages into which the lenses are placed, includes several assemblies which are ideally suited to performing the various steps which are associated with post hydration processing. These several assemblies include: a deionizing water injection assembly which fills the packaging elements prior to the lenses being inserted therein; a lens transfer and insertion assembly which removes contact lenses from hydration pallets, alters their spatial distribution, and deposits them into the packaging elements; a buffering station, which includes segregator and integrator devices, and which provides a location for temporarily holding a group of lens-packaging pallets during interruption of subsequent assemblies; a low vibration lens-package transport and inspection assembly which removes the pallets from a conveyor line, inserts them onto low vibration inspection assembly conveyor line, and inspects the lenses to determine which are optically correct; a deionized water extraction assembly which removes the deionized water from the lens-packaging elements; a first rotating lens-package transfer assembly, which removes the lens-package elements from the pallet and deposits the optically correct ones onto a consolidating conveyor line; a consolidating conveyor line and rotating lens-package transfer assembly, the former consolidating the lenses into regular arrays, and the latter rotating and transporting them to the final station; and a saline solution injector and foil wrapper sealing assembly, which fills the packages with saline solution and then heat seals a foil wrapper to the tops of the packaging elements.
摘要:
A sterilizer data processing system for an automated contact lens manufacturing line that manufactures a plurality of contact lenses defining a lens lot, the manufacturing line including an automated sterilization station for sterilizing the lens lot after their manufacture, the automated sterilization station including a sterilizer process controller for controlling one or more phases of a sterilization process and periodically generating sterilization process data during each sterilization phase includes a device for receiving the sterilization process data from the sterilizer process controller and a device for automatically parsing the sterilization data into text information and sterilizer parameter information and further processing the text information and sterilizer parameter information to automatically generate a sterilization run report associated with a lot number for the sterilized lens lot.
摘要:
An interactive control system for controlling the automatic packaging of contact lenses in a contact lens fabrication facility, the interactive control system consisting of a first robot device for periodically transferring individual arrays of a first predetermined amount or discrete contact lens packages each containing a contact lens therein from a first station to an intermediate conveyor where the individual arrays are conveyed to a second station, and a controller for initiating a time stamp for each individual array transferred from the first station and determining elapsed time data for each individual array and for generating position status data indicating a good array or a bad array of defective lenses for each individual array as it is conveyed to the second station, the controller shifting the elapsed time data and position status data for each individual array as it is conveyed on the intermediate conveyor for transfer to the second station.
摘要:
An interactive control system for controlling the automatic consolidation of contact lenses in a contact lens product flow, the interactive control system comprises a product line having random variations in product flow. A consolidation buffer receives the products from the product line. A controller initiates consolidation of the random variations in the product flow. The consolidation is preferably performed by at least one stacking cylinder.
摘要:
A production line tracking and quality control system and method thereof comprises a series of pallets for carrying one or more first contact lens mold halves or one or more complementary second contact lens mold halves throughout a contact lens fabrication facility. Each pallet of the series is transported on a conveyor device throughout the fabrication facility, and each pallet includes a unique identifying code. The fabrication facility includes one or more process stations and a control device provides real time monitoring of contact lens fabrication processes at the one or more process stations. The control device further includes a tracking device for identifying the unique code of each of the pallets at one or more process stations while continually receiving monitored process condition values at each station. For each identified pallet, the control device generates process status information for memory storage in the form of a reject flag, when the process conditions are out of predetermined limits, or, an acceptance flag indicating that process conditions are within predetermined limits. The process status information is updated when the pallets are identified and the status of each pallet is checked when entering or exiting a process station.