As a method of dyeing a transparent resin body such as a plastic lens, there has been conventionally known a lens dyeing method achieved by dipping a lens in a dyeing solution for a predetermined time (a dip dyeing method). This method has been heretofore used but has disadvantages such as poor working environments and difficulty in dyeing a high refractive lens and a polycarbonate resin lens (Refractive index (power): 1.59). The polycarbonate resin lens is hard to break and assures high safety. Accordingly, this lens is widely used for spectacles lenses in U.S.A.
To dye the polycarbonate lens, the present inventors proposed a dyeing method achieved by applying (outputting) dyeing inks containing sublimable dyes to a base body such as paper by use of an inkjet printer, placing this base body without contact with a lens under vacuum, thereby ejecting the sublimable dyes toward the lens (hereinafter, referred to as a vapor deposition transfer dyeing method) (e.g., see Patent Literature 1). In this method, the lens is heated in an oven to fix the dye to a lens surface. The vapor deposition transfer dyeing method disclosed in Patent Literature 1 can dye a high refractive lens and a polycarbonate resin lens, which is more advantageous than the dip dyeing method.
On the other hand, there has been known a method of dyeing by previously applying sublimable dyes or inks containing the sublimable dyes to an object to be dyed and then irradiating a laser beam having a wavelength in a visible range to the object to be dyed (see Patent Literature 2).