Scratch and Impact Resistant Coating for Safety Eyewear

描述(申请人提供)：据估计，如果使用适当的安全眼镜，90%的眼睛损伤是可以避免的。尽管工作场所普遍要求使用安全眼镜，但由于不适和划痕导致视力不清，工人们仍然非常不愿意遵守这一要求。市面上可买到的防刮涂层(硬涂层)确实在一定程度上有帮助，但它们也显著降低了聚碳酸酯基材的抗冲击性。与市售的硬涂层相比，摩擦薄膜的第一阶段可行性研究清楚地表明，由更坚韧和较少脆性的基涂层和锚定的彩色TopCoat组成的精心设计的多层抗划痕涂层，在不影响聚碳酸酯抗冲击性的情况下，抗划伤性能提高了10倍。根据第一阶段可行性研究的进展，第二阶段方案旨在优化工艺和扩大规模，并进行一系列密集测试，以评估多层SR涂层的性能和耐久性。 拟议中的涂层将允许生产具有划痕和抗冲击性的安全眼镜和眼镜片，远远好于目前市场上的任何产品。在3.3亿美元的护眼市场和158亿美元的眼镜市场中，这项涂层技术将为眼镜用户带来巨大好处。如果成功，这项工作将在其他塑料应用中具有广泛的适用性，在这些应用中，光学清晰度、抗划痕和抗冲击是关键要求。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It has been estimated that 90% of all eye injuries could have been avoided if proper safety eyewear had been used. Despite widespread required use of safety eyewear in the work place, there continues to be a significant reluctance among workers to comply because of discomfort and the inability to see clearly due to scratches. Commercially available scratch resistant coatings (Hardcoats') do help to a degree but they also significantly decrease the impact resistance of the polycarbonate substrate. Compared to commercially available Hardcoats, TriboFilm's Phase I feasibility study has demonstrated clearly that a well designed multilayered scratch resistant coating comprised of a tougher and less brittle Base Coat and an anchored lubricious TopCoat produces a 10-fold increase in scratch resistance without affecting the impact resistance of polycarbonate. Based on the developments in the Phase I feasibility study, this Phase II proposal is aimed at process optimization and scale-up along with a series of intensive testing to evaluate the performance and durability of the Multilayered SR coating. The proposed coating will allow the production of safety glasses and ophthalmic lenses with a combination of scratch and impact resistance far better than any currently on the market. This coating technology will be of great benefit to eyewear users in the $330 million eye protection market and the $15.8 billion eyewear market. If successful, this work would have widespread applicability in additional plastic applications where optical clarity, scratch resistance, and impact resistance are key requirements.