German chemical company Evonik (Essen; www.evonik.com) has developed a novel technology for manufacturing eyeglasses frames, which it said gives more freedom of design to eyewear manufacturers. The "Implex" technology is based on Evonik’s “Trogamid” polyamide and, unlike traditional production methods, involves cutting the finished frames from a single, curved preform, thereby omitting the machining and finishing steps after injection moulding. The preform is made in advance from multiple functional layers and can be produced quickly and flexibly, with variations both in size and radius of curvature, noted Evonik.

The base frame is made of Trogamid CS9704 transparent PA, which offers manufacturers the pliability to vary the shape of the eyewear. The second structural layer is made with Trogamid CX9711, which is said to have excellent processing characteristics and is highly resistant to chemicals. Evonik said the ability to implement designs even more quickly is a major advantage of the technology, which offers customers easy handling, excellent productivity and the possibility to customise in a variety of colours, textures and patterns.

Implex has been developed with eyewear specialist Tung Fung International (Hong Kong; www.tungfungintl.com). The technology is being presented at this year’s MIDO (www.mido.com) international eyewear show, which is being held in Milan / Italy from 25-27 February 2017.