1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a terpolymer with a high refractive index and the plastic lenses made of the terpolymer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently lenses of organic glass have been widely used instead of lenses of inorganic glass, because organic glass is superior to inorganic glass in its lightness, safety due to its high impact resistance, workability, dyeability, etc. For example, lenses made of diethylene glycol bisallyl carbonate (hereinafter referred to CR39) have already been used widely. But, lenses of CR39 have such a disadvantage that the lenses must be thicker than those of inorganic glass, because of their relatively low refractive index such as 1.499. There is known a method for overcoming the disadvantage comprising copolymerizing CR39 with benzyl methacrylate so as to increase the refractive index. However, lenses obtained by the copolymerization are inferior to lenses of CR39 in their superficial hardness, so that the lenses must be more carefully handled.
We have now found that copolymerization of ternary monomers consisting of CR39, benzyl methacrylate, and triallylisocyanurate enables to produce lens with a high refractive index and a high superficial hardness.
An object of this invention is to provide a plastic lens with a high refractive index and a high superficial hardness.