JPH06316424A - Optical glass material conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the gob dish placing device of a conveyor arm for stably conveying a gob dish by preventing the nonalignment of the center axis of an optical glass material supporting part provided at the tip of the conveyor arm for conveying the material into a molding device with the center axis of a gob dish placed on the former center axis due to the temp. change by the heat of a heating furnace with a simple structure. CONSTITUTION:A conveyor arm 20 is provided at the base end of a gob dish supporting part placing a gob dish 23 placing an optical glass material 2 to convey the dish through a preheating furnace 9, a heating furnace 10 and a molding chamber 3. A temp. control means 22 is arranged to a conveyor arm main body constituting the base end of the arm 20 to keep the arm at a desired temp., hence the dimensional change due to the heat of the furnace 9 and 10 is prevented, the center axis of the gob dish 23 is aligned with that of the gob dish supporting part 43, and the optical glass material is conveyed with a high productivity by this conveyor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conveying device for placing an optical glass material on a tip portion thereof and conveying it between a heating furnace and a molding chamber.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION After heating and softening an optical glass material,
As a prior art document relating to a conveying device that conveys the optical glass material between the heating furnace and the molding chamber when the optical glass element is pressed to form the optical glass element, for example, JP-A-61-182122 is known. There is a bulletin. The technical content described in this publication is that the optical glass material placed on the frustoconical gob plate that has been placed in the magazine and transferred to the preheating furnace is preheated to a predetermined temperature, and then The optical glass material is raised together with the gob tray by the gob tray transfer means and transferred to the gob tray support part at the end of the transfer arm and transferred to the next step, the main heating furnace, where it stops and the desired molding temperature is reached. Heat to.

The optical glass material which has been heated and softened to a desired forming temperature in the main heating furnace is further conveyed by the conveying arm to the forming point in the forming chamber which is the next step. In the vicinity of the gob tray support portion at the tip of the transfer arm on which the optical glass material is placed and in the molding chamber, the axis of the optical glass material placed on the transfer arm is a pair of upper and lower parts. An engagement contact portion is provided that abuts so as to engage with each other when they coincide with the axis of the mold. That is, the center axis of the optical material is always aligned with the vertical axis of the mold. Further, in the gob plate transfer means, even when the gob plate on which the optical glass material is placed is transferred from the magazine to the gob plate support portion of the transport arm, the optical glass material axial center, that is, the central axis of the gob plate. The central axes of the gob plate support shafts of the transfer arm are substantially aligned with each other.

[0004]

However, according to the technique described in the above publication, since the transfer arm moves between the preheating furnace and the main heating furnace and reaches the forming point of the forming chamber, the length of the conveying arm is long. When the optical glass material is heated in the main heating furnace and when it is transported to the molding point and press-molded by the upper and lower molds, the rear end side (base The end side) is always in the main heating furnace and the preheating furnace, so that the base end is always heated.

Therefore, the temperature on the rear end side of the transfer arm changes with time in the main heating furnace, the preheating furnace, or the outside of the heating furnace, and if the heating time or cooling time becomes long, the length of the transfer arm becomes long. , Its displacement becomes large.
Also, in order to change the glass material of the optical element, if press molding is performed using optical glass material of other glass material, the heating temperature will be different and the set temperature time of the preheating furnace and the main heating furnace will be different. Naturally, the temperature on the rear end side of the arm also differs. Therefore, each time the glass material changes, the displacement amount due to the temperature of the transfer arm also changes. As a result, the central axis of the gob plate lifted by the gob plate transfer means and the central axis of the glass material supporting portion at the tip of the transfer arm are displaced, and even if the side surface of the gob plate has a reverse taper shape. Since the positional deviation is large, there has been a problem that it cannot be placed on the gob plate supporting portion of the gob plate transfer arm.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to convey a gob tray supported by a gob tray transfer means without carrying out a large-scale configuration of a transfer arm or a device around the preheating furnace. The position of the arm with the gob plate support is
It is an object of the present invention to provide a stable conveying device for an optical glass material which is almost constant regardless of time or molding conditions.

[0007]

The concept of the optical glass material conveying device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a sectional view from the front showing the concept of an optical glass material conveying device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view showing the transfer arm of the optical glass material shown in FIG. Figure 3
It is sectional drawing from the front of the conveyance arm of FIG. The box-like shape shown on the left side of the base 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a molding chamber 3 in which a pair of molding dies 4 and 5 are vertically opposed to each other. On the right side wall 14 of the molding chamber 3, there is formed an opening 15 which is connected to a cylindrical main heating furnace 10 in which a passage for a transfer arm 20 on which the optical glass material 2 is placed is formed. Also,
The main heating furnace 10 is the side wall 1 of the box-shaped preheating furnace 9.
6 is connected to the passage opening 17 of the transfer arm 20 formed in FIG. Further, the side wall 18 of the preheating furnace 9 has an opening / closing opening 19 for the transfer arm 20 similar to the opening 17 described above.
Are formed.

At a lateral position facing the inlet / outlet opening 19 of the preheating furnace 9, a belt-shaped long transfer arm 2 is formed.
0 is provided, and the drive portion 13 provided on the pedestal 21 is connected to the base end portion thereof. Further, the transfer arm 20 is driven by a drive unit 13 arranged at the base end thereof to position the preheating furnace 9, the main heating furnace 10 and the molding points 12 between the molding dies 4 and 5 in the molding chamber 3. In addition, the optical glass material 2 placed on the tip of the transfer arm 20 can be preset so that it can be stopped and controlled.

A drive unit 1 for driving the transfer arm 20.
In the vicinity of 3, the temperature adjusting means 22 for adjusting the temperature of the base end portion of the transfer arm 20 is arranged. Further, a notch 26 is formed at the tip of the transfer arm 20 and a gob dish support portion is provided. Further, at the center position of the bottom surface in the preheating furnace 9, the gob plate 23 on which the optical glass material 2 is placed is placed.
The magazine 25 on which the optical glass material 2 is placed is slidably arranged, and the gob tray 23 on which the optical glass material 2 is placed is transferred and placed below the gob tray support formed on the tip of the transfer arm 20. Therefore, a column-shaped gob tray transfer means 24 configured to be movable up and down is provided. That is, the optical glass material 2 heated in the preheating furnace 9 is transferred from the magazine 25 onto the transfer arm 20 by the gob plate transfer means 24 via the gob plate 23 and transferred into the main heating furnace 10. Is configured.

Next, the operation of the conveying device for the optical glass material 2 having the above structure will be described. The gob tray 23, on which the optical glass material 2 preheated to a temperature below the transition point in the preheating furnace 9 is placed, is placed on the upper end surface of the gob tray transfer means 24 and lifted. At the same time, the drive unit 13 of the transfer arm 20 is actuated to move the tip of the transfer arm 20 forward into the preheating furnace 9 through the opening 19 to transfer the optical glass material 2 on the gob plate transfer means 24 to the gob plate 23. And transfer it to the gob plate support part at the tip end via. Optical glass material 2
The transport arm 20 on which is placed moves forward by the drive unit 13 and enters the main heating furnace 10 through the opening 17 and is stopped, so that the optical glass material 2 is heated to a moldable temperature above the transition point. The transport arm 20 on which the optical glass material 2 heated to a desired moldable temperature is placed moves forward in the direction of the molding chamber 3 by the operation of the drive unit 13 and moves from the opening 15 to
The molding chamber 3 is moved to the molding point 12 between the pair of upper and lower molding dies 4 and 5 and stopped. Although not shown, the optical glass material 2 movably arranged at the molding point 12 raises the lower mold 5 by the operation of the lower mold driving means and presses it into a predetermined shape with the upper mold 4. Molded. In the above-mentioned series of molding steps, the optical glass material 2 at the tip of the transfer arm 20 is transferred while being heated in the main heating furnace 10 and while being pressed into a desired shape by the upper and lower molds 4 and 5. The base end portion of the arm 20 is continuously heated by the preheating furnace 9 and the main heating furnace 10.

[0011]

[Embodiment 1] A specific example of a conveying device for an optical glass material of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the entire forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the optical glass material conveying apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of the configuration of the molding apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a front view showing the conveying means mounted on the molding apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and showing a part of the conveying means in section. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10 are explanatory views of a series of operating states in which the gob tray on which the optical glass material is placed is transferred to the transfer arm by the gob tray transfer means. In the drawings, the same members, shapes and configurations in FIGS. 1 to 3 used for explaining the concept of the present invention are designated by the same reference numerals,
The description is omitted.

A molding chamber 3 is arranged on the left side of the base 1 shown in FIG. Inside this molding chamber 3, a pair of upper and lower molding dies 4 and 5 are disposed so as to face each other. A mold release ring drive unit 7 for releasing the molded optical element from the molds 4 and 5 is disposed at one lateral position of the molding chamber 3. Further, at the other lateral position of the molding chamber 3, it is connected to an opening on one side of the main heating furnace (electric furnace) 10 which is connected to an opening 15 provided on the side wall 14.

At the position facing the opening 19 provided in the other side wall 18 of the preheating furnace 9, the above-mentioned molding die 4,
5, the optical element on the gob dish formed by 5 is conveyed to the magazine 8, or the optical glass material 2 on the magazine 8 which moves the bottom part in the preheating furnace 9 is received through the gob dish 23 and the preheating furnace 9, main heating furnace 10 and molding chamber 3
A transfer arm 20 for transferring to the molding point 12 and the like, a drive unit 13 for driving the transfer arm 20, and the like are arranged in series.

The pair of upper and lower molding dies 4 and 5 comprises a base 14
Inside the molding chamber 3 constituted by four pillars standing on the upper surface of the lower plate 27 fixed on the table 6 stacked and placed thereon, and the side wall 28 and the upper plate 29 closing the periphery of the pillars. It is deployed in the central position of. The base end of the upper mold 4 is detachably mounted on the outer periphery of a block-shaped holder 30 fixedly mounted on the inner surface of the upper plate 29 via a cylindrical mounting ring 31. , A cylindrical mounting ring 34 on the upper surface of a movable shaft 33 movably supported up and down via a bearing 32 mounted in a hole formed in the table 6.
Is installed through. A heater 44 is wound around and mounted on the outer periphery of the holder 30. The movable shaft 3
A heater 45 is also embedded in the inside of the unit 3.

On the outer periphery of each of the pair of molding dies 4 and 5 in the molding chamber 3, mold release rings 35 and 36 are provided to release the molded optical element from the upper mold 4 and the lower mold 5, respectively. It is fitted. The mold release rings 35, 36 are connected to the respective tip ends of the two drive rods 37, 38 of the mold release ring drive unit 7 and penetrate through an opening 39 formed in the side wall 28 of the molding chamber 3. It is configured to move up and down.
Cylinder-shaped movable shaft 3 connected to the base end of the lower die 5
It is in contact with an eccentric cam 41 arranged at a position below 3. The eccentric cam 41 is connected to an encoder 42 mounted at a lateral position of the base 1 and is rotationally driven to move the movable shaft 33 up and down.

Next, a carrying device for carrying the optical material 2 for molding into the molding chamber 3 and the main heating furnace 9 will be described. The transfer arm drive unit 13 is configured to drive the gob plate support portion at the tip of the transfer arm 20 so as to move back and forth between the preheating furnace 9, the main heating furnace 10, and the molding chamber 3. , 13b, 13c are attached to the mounting seats 13d, 13e, 13f of the respective cylinders and are stacked in three stages, and the optical glass material 2 of the supporting portion of the transfer arm 20 is preheated by the preheating furnace 9 and the main heating furnace 10. And molding room 3
It is configured to be conveyed to each position of the molding point 12 and stop-controlled. That is, the transfer arm 20 is
It is driven by the first cylinder 13a through the seat 13g so as to be able to move back and forth, and the first cylinder 13a is attached to the mounting seat 13d.
Since the second cylinder 13b is driven to move back and forth by the second cylinder 13b, and the second cylinder 13b is driven to move forward and backward by the third cylinder 13c via the mounting seat 13e, the stop position of the transfer arm 20 in three stages ( The gob tray transfer position, the position in the main heating furnace 10, the position of the molding point) are controlled.

In such a case, when the temperature adjusting means 22 arranged at the base end of the transfer arm 20 acts as a heating means for heating the base end of the transfer arm 20, the temperature of the base end rises. Therefore, the temperature difference between the preheating furnace 9 and the main heating furnace 10 other than the base end portion and the heating furnace is reduced, so that the dimensional change of the base end portion of the transfer arm 20 is reduced. When the temperature adjusting means 22 arranged at the base end of the transfer arm 20 acts as a cooling means for cooling the base end of the transfer arm 20, the base end is heated by the preheating furnace 9 and the main heating furnace 10. Even if it is carried out, the temperature can be maintained at a substantially constant level by cooling or even in a place other than the heating furnace, so that the dimensional change of the base end portion of the transfer arm 20 is reduced. According to the above, when the gob plate support portion 43 at the tip of the transfer arm 20 puts the gob plate 23 on which the optical glass material 2 is placed and reaches the position of the gob plate transfer means 24, the optical glass material 2 is surely moved. When the gob tray supporting portion 43 of the transfer arm 20 returns to the position of the gob tray transferring means 24 after the pressing, the positional deviation from the gob tray transferring means 24 is reduced. In particular, when the temperature adjusting means 22 acts so as to cool the base end portion below the temperature in the vicinity of the temperature outside the heating furnace, the positional deviation becomes extremely small.

Incidentally, each cylinder 13a, 13b, 13c
Reference numerals 33a, 33b, and 33c shown at the tip end of the are stoppers for controlling the operation amount. The bottom of the preheating furnace 9 is shown in FIG.
The magazine 8 which moves in the Y direction indicated by the arrow is a belt-shaped magazine, and the gob tray 23 (FIGS.
An inverse tapered hole for mounting 9) is bored, and an optical glass material 2 mounted on a tapered gob plate 23 whose diameter is reduced downward is supported on this magazine 8. ing. The hump plate 23 on the magazine 8 is the transfer arm 20.
It is configured to be transferred and supported on an inversely tapered gob plate support portion 43 formed at the tip of the. The state of this transfer will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10 show the gob plate 23 placed on the magazine 8,
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a main part of a procedure for transferring to a gob plate support portion 43 provided at a tip end portion of a transfer arm 20 via a claw member 53.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the magazine 8
A cylinder 46 that pushes up the gob tray 23 upward and a push-up portion 47 that connects the piston rod 24 are arranged at the lower position. The push-up member 47 at the tip of the piston rod 24 of the cylinder 46 is configured to temporarily push up the gob tray 23 from above the magazine 8. Further, the transfer arm 20 is arranged at a position above the side of the magazine 8 and moves in the direction of arrow 48 shown in FIG. 8 by operating the cylinder 13a. This movement causes the transfer arm 20 to move the piston rod 2 as shown in FIG.
4 penetrates into the notch 26, and is inserted into the notch 26 until it reaches the position where the axis of the piston rod 24 is coaxial with the axis of the gob tray support 43. Then, by operating the piston rod 24 downward in the state shown in FIG. 9, the gob tray 23 can be transferred onto the gob tray support portion 43 of the transfer arm 20 as shown in FIG. Is configured.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the vicinity of the pre-heating furnace 9 in which the heater 11 is embedded in the surrounding wall in the left-right direction, the optical material 2 placed on the magazine 8 via the gob tray 23 is pre-heating furnace 9. A supply chamber 49 for sequentially supplying to the gob tray transfer means 24 and a storage chamber 50 for storing the pressed optical element are provided. That is, the magazine 8 on which a plurality of gob trays 23 are placed is sequentially conveyed in the Y direction from the supply chamber 49 and transferred into the preheating furnace 9, and the optical element (glass lens) after completion of molding is completed. The magazine 8 supporting the gob tray 23 on which (1) is mounted is configured to be stored in the storage chamber 50. Each gob tray 23 on the magazine 8 that is sequentially transported from the supply chamber 49 is stopped and controlled in the preheating furnace 9 and preheated together with the optical glass material 2 to a predetermined temperature near the temperature at the time of molding. It is configured. The optical glass material 2 preheated in the preheating furnace 9 is shown in FIG.
~ Gob tray 2 by the gob tray transfer means 24 shown in FIG.
After being transferred to the gob plate support portion 43 of the transfer arm 20 together with 3, the transfer arm 20 is placed on the transfer arm 20 and transferred into the main heating furnace (electric furnace) 10 to be stop-controlled. . The main heating furnace 10 is configured to heat and soften the preheated optical glass material 2 to a temperature equal to or higher than the transition point, for example, a moldable temperature equal to or higher than 600 ° C.
An electric furnace is used as the main heating furnace 10 because a high temperature atmosphere that can heat and soften the optical glass material 2 can be obtained.

Next, the structure of the transfer arm 20 will be described with reference to the drawings. 4 to 6 show a transfer arm related to the transfer device of this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing the transfer arm in an enlarged manner and a part thereof in a cross section. As shown in the figure, the main body 51 of the transfer arm 20 formed into a long strip shape.
A notch 26 is formed at the tip of the notch 2
The claw member 52 provided with the gob tray support portion 43 formed so as to fit the outer periphery of the gob tray 23 in the deep portion of 6 was formed in a plate shape with a material having poor thermal conductivity (for example, zirconia). It is mounted via the cross-section member 53. Also, over the entire upper surface and lower surface of the main body 51 of the transfer arm 20 in the longitudinal direction,
As shown in FIG. 6, a sheet-shaped ceramic heater 54,
Although not shown, 55 is integrally mounted by means of screws or the like, and is configured to be controlled so that the temperature of the main body 51 is always kept constant (320 ° C. in this embodiment).

The operation (process) of this embodiment having the above structure will be described. First, of the gob trays 23 placed on the magazine 8 transported from the supply chamber 49, the gob tray 23 on which the optical glass material 2 to be molded is placed reaches a predetermined position in the preheating furnace 9. Then, the magazine 8 is stopped and the gob plate 23
Together with, the optical glass material 2 is preheated to a temperature below the transition point (for example, about 350 ° C.). Then, the push-up cylinder 46 is driven to raise the piston rod 24 connected to the tip of the push-up cylinder 46, and the gob tray 23 on the magazine 8 is driven.
Push up. Then, the first cylinder 1 of the transfer means 13
3a is actuated, the transfer arm 20 is stopped in the preheating furnace 9 through the opening 19 of the preheating furnace 9, and the gob on which the optical glass material 2 is placed in the order shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. The plate 23 is transferred onto the gob plate support portion 43 of the claw member 52 of the transfer arm 20.

Next, the second cylinder 13b is operated to advance the transfer arm 20 to position the optical material 2 in the main heating furnace 10 and stop it. At this position, the optical glass material 2 is heated to a temperature not lower than the transition point, for example, a temperature not lower than 600 ° C. As a result, the optical glass material 2 is softened by heating to a moldable viscosity.

Next, the third cylinder 13c is actuated to move the transfer arm 20 forward to move the optical glass material 2 into the molding chamber 3
The molding point 12 is positioned between the upper mold 4 and the lower mold 5 and stopped. The eccentric cam 41 is rotated by the encoder 42, and the lower die 5 is moved up together with the movable shaft 33. As a result of this rise, the lower mold 5 pushes up the optical glass material 2 from the gob tray 23, and the upper mold 4 and the lower mold 5 cause the optical material 2 to move.
Press-mold. After the press molding is maintained for a predetermined time, the lower mold 5 is driven by the eccentric cam 41, and the release rings 35 and 36 driving unit 7 is driven at a slightly lowered position. By this drive, the upper mold release ring 35 is slightly lowered, and the lower mold release ring 36 is also slightly lifted, pushing the outer peripheral portions of the optical elements protruding to the outer peripheral portions of the molding dies 4 and 5 to form the molding dies. The optical element is released from 4, 5. Next, each release ring 3
The molds 5 and 36 are returned to their original positions by the release ring driving unit 7, and the optical elements are placed on the lower mold 5. Then, the lower die 5 is further lowered by the eccentric cam 41, and the optical element is placed on the gob tray 23. Then, the lower mold 5 returns to the bottom dead center of the original position.

Then, the third cylinder 13c and the second cylinder 13b are operated to retract the transfer arm 20,
The gob tray 23 on which the optical element is placed is positioned in the preheating furnace 9 at the gob tray transfer position and stopped. Then
The optical elements are placed on the magazine 8 together with the gob dish 23 in the reverse order of the order in which the optical glass material 2 is placed together with the gob dish 23, that is, in the order shown in FIGS. 10, 9, 8 and 7. Transfer. After that, the first cylinder 13a is operated to retract the transfer arm 20, and the claw member 52 of the transfer arm 20 is moved.
Back to the original position outside the preheating furnace 9, and the next gob dish 23
Wait until is prepared.

FIG. 11 shows the temperature fluctuation of the transfer arm main body 51 constituting the transfer arm 20 during the above-mentioned molding process. As shown in FIG. 11, while the optical glass material 2 is being heated in the main heating furnace 10 and being press-formed by the upper mold 1 and the lower mold 2, the main body 51 of the transfer arm 20 is preheated in the preheating furnace 9. While being continuously heated in the main heating furnace 10, the heaters 54 and 55 arranged in the transfer arm main body 51 (rear end)
After about 5 minutes, the temperature of the rear end of the transfer arm 20 is maintained at a predetermined constant temperature (320 ° C.) by the temperature adjusting means.
(On the other hand, in the case of the conventional transfer arm body in which the temperature adjusting means is not provided, the temperature is about 450 ° C.) The temperature of the rear end portion of the transfer arm 20 is higher than that of the conventional preheating furnace. Since 9 also comes close to the temperature of the main heating furnace 10 and the temperature difference is reduced, the dimensional change of the entire length of the transfer arm 20 is also reduced. It should be noted that the heat insulating material 53 is provided between the claw member 52 disposed at the tip of the transfer arm 20 and the transfer arm 51.
Since it is configured to intervene, it is less affected by the heat transfer between the members, that is, between the claw 52 and the transfer arm main body 51.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the heaters 54 and 55 are mounted on the upper surface and the lower surface of the transfer arm main body 51 as the temperature adjusting means, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned structure, and for example, the transfer arm 51. The same effect can be obtained by embedding it inside or by disposing it on only one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the transfer arm body 51. These are also included in the technical scope of this embodiment.

In this embodiment, since the temperature adjusting means by the heaters 54 and 55 is provided, the transfer arm 51 is provided.
Temperature reaches a predetermined constant temperature (about 320 ° C.) close to the temperature of the main heating furnace 10 after about 5 minutes, the temperature change of the transfer arm 20 is small, and therefore the displacement amount is small, and the transfer arm 20 is moved to the gob tray 23. In this state in which the displacement of the axis of the changing means 24 is reduced, the tapered gob tray 23 can be stably placed on the inversely tapered gob tray placing portion of the transfer arm 20. Further, even if the set temperature time of the preheating furnace 9 and the main preheating furnace 10 varies depending on the glass material, the heater of the transfer arm main body 51 can be adjusted to a temperature close to the temperature of the heating furnace 10. The transfer arm 20
It is not necessary to adjust the shaft center of the gob dish support portion 43 and the gob dish transfer means 24, and it is possible to cope with various types of production of glass materials.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the transfer arm 20
About 5 minutes after the main body 51 is heated by the heater, the temperature becomes close to the temperature of the main heating furnace 10, so that the preparation time for press molding of the glass material can be close. In the above embodiment, the heater is set to 320 ° C., but the temperature may be further increased to reduce the temperature difference from the main heating furnace 10. As described above, since the temperature adjusting means is obtained by only mounting the heaters 54 and 55 on the transfer arm main body 51, there are great advantages such as a simple structure and low cost.

[0030]

Second Embodiment A second embodiment of the optical glass material conveying device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 12 is a side view showing a transfer arm of Example 2 of the optical glass material of the present invention, a part of which is shown in cross section. Since the configuration other than the transfer arm is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. Further, in the figure, the same members, shapes and configurations as those of FIGS. 4 to 10 used in the above-described first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 12, a belt-shaped transfer arm 20 is provided.
Is provided with a long groove 57 in the axial direction (longitudinal direction) in the transfer arm main body 56, and an upper surface of the long groove 57 is sealed with a lid 60 so that a temperature-controlled fluid such as water or oil is filled in the long groove 57. It is configured to circulate.

At the tip of one outer side surface of the transfer arm body 56, water is supplied to the inside of the long groove 57 so as to supply water.
The tip of the US-based fluid supply pipe 58 is integrally mounted by welding. Further, the tip of the fluid discharge pipe 59 is integrally attached to the rear end side of the transfer arm body 56 by welding so as to be connected to the rear end of the long groove 57, and the water in the long groove 57 is attached. Is configured to be discharged to the outside. The rear ends of the pipes 58 and 59 described above are connected to a fluid supply device (not shown) at a position sufficiently distant from the preheating furnace 9 via a flexible pipe so that the water is subjected to a predetermined treatment by the fluid supply. It is designed to circulate. That is, in order to control the temperature of the transfer arm main body 56 heated in the main heating furnace 10 and the preheating furnace 9 to a predetermined temperature, the temperature is kept low by the fluid supply pipe 58 to the long groove 57 in the transfer arm main body 56. Supply conditioned water,
The temperature inside the long groove 57 rises and the water is discharged into the pipe 5 for discharging fluid.
It is configured to return (circulate) to the fluid supply device from 9.

In the transfer arm 20 having the above structure, the optical glass material 2 and the optical elements are transferred while controlling the temperature of the transfer arm main body 56 to 40.degree. That is, temperature-controlled water is supplied to the transfer arm main body 56 to bring the temperature of the transfer arm main body 56 to around 40 ° C.
Stand by at the side position. Thereafter, similarly to the first embodiment, the operation of the transfer arm driving unit 13 causes the gob tray 23 on which the optical glass material 2 is placed in the preheating furnace 9 to be placed on the gob tray placing section 43 by the gob tray transfer means. Then, the optical glass material 2 is heated and softened in the main heating furnace 10 and conveyed to the position of the molding point 12 in the molding chamber 3. Then, the molded optical element is moved from the molding chamber 3 to the preheating furnace 9 through the main heating furnace 10, and the optical element is transferred to the magazine 8 via the gob plate 23 by the gob plate transfer means. Then, the side position of the preheating furnace 9 is reached. During the movement of the transfer arm 20, the temperature-controlled water is circulated in the long groove 57 provided in the transfer arm main body 56 to cool the transfer arm main body 56 heated in the preheating furnace 9 and the main heating furnace 10. The transfer arm body 56 is controlled to around 40 ° C.

Since the temperature of the transfer arm 20 is not changed by the above control, the size of the entire length of the transfer arm 20 does not change, and when the transfer arm 20 reaches the position of the transfer means 24 for mounting the gob tray 23, Or gob plate 23
When it reaches the position of the transfer means 24 for transferring to the magazine 8, the misalignment between the gob tray 23 and the transfer means 24 is eliminated. Further, there is no misalignment between the center of the molding point and the gob tray 23. Further, the number of steps for interposing a heat insulating material or the like in the joint portion between the transfer arm main body 56 and the transfer arm drive unit 13 can be omitted. In the above embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the gob tray 23 is described as having an inverse taper shape. However, if the transfer arm is not thermally deformed (changes in size) due to the temperature of the heating furnace, the size of the transfer arm changes. Therefore, the outer peripheral surface of the gob tray may be formed into a tubular shape and the holes of the gob tray supporting portion may be fitted with the same diameter.

Although the preheating furnace and the main heating furnace are used in the above embodiment, the preheating is started when the magazine enters the preheating furnace, and the main heating (transfer) is performed at the gob tray transfer position. By performing heating at a temperature higher than the point temperature, glass can be press-molded in one heating furnace without arranging the main heating furnace in parallel with the preheating furnace.

[0036]

According to the present invention, since the temperature adjusting means is provided in the transfer arm body, the change in temperature of the transfer arm is reduced and the dimensional change of the transfer arm is reduced.
Therefore, the misalignment of the axis between the gob tray transfer means in the preheating furnace and the gob tray mounting portion of the transfer arm is reduced, and the optical glass material can be stably placed on the transfer arm. Further, even if the temperature adjustment setting time of the preheating furnace and the main heating furnace fluctuates, since the transfer arm is adjusted to a constant temperature, there is no need to adjust the position of the gob tray transfer means and the transfer arm. It has become possible to produce various optical elements with different glass types. Further, since the transport arm is simply provided with the temperature adjusting means, the cost of the molded optical element is good, and there is no molding interruption due to the inability to place the gob tray, so that the molding can be performed with high productivity. And so on.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an outline of a conveying means in an optical glass molding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view showing a conveying means of the optical glass material shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a part of FIG. 2 in section.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of main means according to the first embodiment of the conveying means of the optical glass molding apparatus of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view from the front of the optical glass molding apparatus shown in FIG.

6 is a front view showing a main part of a conveying means of the optical glass forming apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 together with a gob plate on which an optical glass material is placed, and a part of the cross section.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a working state of a main part of the carrying means shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view showing a working state of a main part of the transporting device, which is subsequent to FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view showing the action state of the main part of the conveying means, which is subsequent to FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view showing the action state of the main part of the transporting device following FIG.

FIG. 11 is a graph comparing the temperature fluctuations of the conveying means and the conventional conveying means in the optical glass molding apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged front view showing a main part of a transfer arm according to a second embodiment of the transfer means in the optical glass molding apparatus of the present invention together with a gob plate on which an optical glass material is placed, and a part of the transfer arm in cross section. Is.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Base 2 Optical Glass Material 3 Molding Room 4 Upper Mold 5 Lower Mold 6 Table 7 Release Ring Drive 8 Magazine 9 Preheating Furnace 10 Main Heating Furnace 11,44,45 Heater 12 Molding Point 13 Conveyor Drive 13a, 13b, 13c, 46 Cylinder 14, 16, 18, 28 Side wall 15, 17, 19, 39 Opening 20 Transfer arm 21 Stand 22 Control member 23 Gob tray 24 Gob tray transfer means 25 Sliding hole 26 Notch 27 Bottom Plate 29 Top plate 30 Holder 31, 34 Mounting ring 32 Bearing 33, 40 Movable shaft 35, 36 Release ring 37, 38 Drive rod 41 Eccentric cam 42 Encoder 43 Gob tray support 47 Push-up member 48 Arrow 49 Supply chamber 50 Storage Chamber 51, 56 Transfer arm main body 52 Claw 53 Heat insulating member 54, 55 Temperature adjusting means Mick heater) 57 long groove 58 fluid supply pipe 59 fluid discharge pipe 60 cover

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] October 1, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Claim 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Therefore, the temperature on the rear end side of the transfer arm changes with time in the main heating furnace, the preheating furnace, or the outside of the heating furnace, and if the heating time or cooling time becomes long, the length of the transfer arm becomes long. , Its displacement becomes large.
Further, in order to change the glass material of the optical element, when it comes to performing the press molding with an optical glass material of another glass material, different heating temperature, the heating of the set temperature of the preheating furnace and the heating furnace
Since the time is different, the temperature on the rear end side of the transfer arm naturally differs. Therefore, each time the glass material changes, the displacement amount due to the temperature of the transfer arm also changes. As a result, the central axis of the gob plate lifted by the gob plate transfer means and the central axis of the glass material supporting portion at the tip of the transfer arm are displaced, and even if the side surface of the gob plate has a reverse taper shape. Since the positional deviation is large, there has been a problem that it cannot be placed on the gob plate supporting portion of the gob plate transfer arm.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Fig. 11

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

FIG. 11

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mounting portion for arranging an optical material is formed on a tip side, and a base end side is dried so that the optical glass material arranged on this mounting portion is conveyed between a heating furnace and a molding chamber. Temperature adjusting means for adjusting the transfer arm connected to the arm drive unit and the transfer arm main body forming the base end of the transfer arm so as to reduce dimensional changes of the transfer arm main body caused by heating in the heating furnace. An optical glass material transporting device comprising: