SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG, Kahl am Main, forges ahead with its expansion program into the optical coatings market. Through close cooperation with a key customer, Rupp+Hubrach, the OPTICUS machine was developed to automate ophthalmic coating process technology, and delivery of the first machine is imminent.
In a systematic screening of application options, the optical coatings market was identified as one of the most attractive businesses for SINGULUS’ unique core competence in vacuum thin film technology. According to R+H Managing Director Ralf Thiehofe: “The jointly-developed technology has all the prerequisites to revolutionize conventional manufacturing.� Klaus Hammen, who is responsible for this business segment, commented that “initial revenues and earnings will be generated in 2004 following the machine’s market launch in May, and are expected to jump significantly in fiscal 2005.� He continued by stating: “If we succeed in convincing the ophthalmic industry of the benefits of our technology, we will have the opportunity to write the SINGULUS success story all over again.� The SINGULUS inline process, well-known for its mass production of CDs and DVDs, automates the manufacturing process and reduces manpower requirements. Depending on utilization, an OPTICUS line could be completely amortized within a very short period of time.
Because conventional machines and processes, particularly single batch recipe manufacturing, have never been able to integrate the required hard- and AR-coatings in an inline process or completely automate the refinement of synthetic eyeglass lenses, the search for a simpler and more cost effective solution has lasted years.
By employing the patented SINGULUS know-how, the application of hard- or AR-coatings onto both sides of synthetic lenses can occur simultaneously and is fully automated.
This results in significantly reduced error rates and shorter order throughput times for specialized coating centers, enabling opticians to fill customer orders faster than ever before. The ability to control the coating plasma through exact dosing and defined magnetic fields is the core SINGULUS technology that provides a very uniform deposition of the layer coating onto the curved surface of a lens. “This is a quantum leap in the field of optical coating,� claims Hammen.
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES plans to introduce the innovative core technology to other areas of application within the optical coating industry. The OPTICUS inline coating system would need very few modifications to substantially increase productivity in the fine optics market (i.e., camera lens refining).
Background information:
Even when handled carefully, eyeglass lenses are subjected to heavy stress during everyday use. Dust particle abrasion, wear due to lens cleaning, and transport in a jacket or car illustrate some of the stress factors eyeglass lenses must withstand. Synthetic lenses are much more susceptible to becoming scratched than conventional glass lenses but are increasingly preferred by people who wear glasses due to their light weight. A scratch-resistant coating must, therefore, be applied to the surface of synthetic lenses. In the past, this has generally been achieved by means of an immersion process that applies a hard lacquer to both sides of the lens which then undergoes a curing process.
In addition, eyeglass lenses reflect incident light to varying degrees causing the wearer to notice undesirable reflective lens glare which can impede the person’s vision. These optical distractions can be virtually eliminated by applying an anti-reflective (AR) coating, a treatment that has increasingly gained market share over the past few years. The vacuum evaporation systems used thus far to eliminate this reflectivity employ a batch process requiring that lenses be loaded into the machines manually.
The SINGULUS technology primarily addresses the steadily growing market for ophthalmic coatings. More than 70 million coated eyeglasses are sold annually in Western Europe and over 25 million are now sold in the U.S.