Pneumatically assisted conformal tool for an ophthalmic lens finer/polisher

摘要

A conformal tool for fining/polishing ophthalmic lenses has a rigid base, a substantially air impervious elastic membrane and a bladder conformable to a surface of the lens to be fined/polished. The perimeters of the base, the membrane and the bladder are contiguously clamped to provide a pneumatically discrete chamber between the base and the membrane and a chamber containing conformable filler such as sand between the membrane and the bladder. The pneumatically discrete and filler containing chambers together have a substantially fixed volume. The clamping provides a passage into the pneumatically discrete chamber so that air under pressure, when admitted into the pneumatically discrete chamber, stretches the membrane to increase the pneumatically discrete chamber volume and decrease the filler containing chamber volume. As air pressure is increased, the air separates the membrane from the base to build an air cushion therebetween as the conformable filler chamber volume decreases.