KR101216834B1 - Contact lens automatic manufacture apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus.
The automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes a mold injection unit for injecting a mold for manufacturing a contact lens, a cutting unit for cutting and separating the mold from a mold fixing frame integrally formed with the mold injected from the mold injection unit, and the mold injection unit. And a lens molding liquid placed between the cutting unit and the transfer unit for transferring the mold injected from the mold injection unit to the cutting unit, a clamping unit for fixing the respective cut molds, and a mold fixed to the clamping unit. It includes a plurality of lens forming unit comprising a molding liquid injection device for injecting.
According to the automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to automatically produce not only a general lens but also a color lens through a single equipment, and a color lens as well as a general lens through a one-stop unmanned automation process from molding a mold to coloring a lens and forming a lens. It can be produced automatically in large quantities up to a maximum, and the efficiency of cutting can be maximized by minimizing the defect rate that can occur during lens production through improved cutting precision and precise transfer.

Description

Contact lens automatic manufacture apparatus

The present invention relates to an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus, which manufactures various types of contact lenses through a casting molding method, but injects a mold used for manufacturing a lens, cuts an injected mold, assembles a cut mold, and molds a lens. The automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus for mass production of contact lenses by autonomous automation with one stop.

Generally, glasses and contact lenses are used to correct vision, and contact lenses are used for cosmetic purposes by coloring the surface of the lens as well as correcting vision.

Such contact lenses are largely divided into hard type and soft type, and in the case of hard type, soft type lenses are widely used than hard type lenses because they have difficulty in mass production, high production cost, and high manufacturing cost.

Soft lenses are divided into general lenses and color lenses depending on whether they are colored on the surface of the lens, and are divided into 1 ton, 2 tons, and 3 tons according to the number of colors to be colored in color lenses.

The manufacturing method of the contact lens is divided into the lathe cutting method and the casting method, and the casting method is divided into the fixed casting method and the rotary casting method.

The lathe cutting method has the advantage of low facility investment cost by processing each lens individually using a small lathe, but it has a disadvantage of high labor consumption and difficulty in mass production due to the large number of processes. It is mainly used in the manufacture of hard contact lenses.

The fixed casting method has the advantage of producing reproducible molds by reproducing the upper mold and lower mold according to the design of the lens and by inserting monomers between them and injecting UV rays to produce a large number of lenses. However, there is a problem in that the molds must be manufactured individually according to the design.

The rotational casting method has the advantage of manufacturing a lens of various designs through a single mold by injecting monomer into the lower mold and by centrifugal force and ultraviolet irradiation by rotation, but it is difficult to manufacture a high myopia lens and to ensure reproducibility of lens manufacturing. Has a difficult problem.

In the case of a color lens, unlike a general lens, a process of coloring a color on a lower mold is added before monomer injection.In the conventional art, before assembling the upper and lower molds, a person manually colored the lower mold and naturally dried and put it back into the manufacturing facility. However, it is difficult to maintain the consistency of coloring as it is manually colored, and the manufacturing time and process are complicated, and the defect rate caused by the deformation of the mold, the contamination by dust, etc., and the change of the lens specification are increased. Has been.

In addition, conventionally there is no facility that can produce a general lens and color lenses in parallel, so each lens is manufactured through a separate equipment, and the investment cost is excessive, and an automatic process is required as manual work is required in the middle. There has been a problem that mass production is difficult.

In addition, there has been a problem in that the manufacturing cost increases as the accuracy rate is lowered during the cutting and transferring process of the injection mold.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention can be produced by the one-stop unmanned automation process from injection to molding of the soft lens manufacturing mold as well as can produce a common lens and color lenses in parallel It is to provide an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus that can minimize the defect rate by ensuring the precision in the process of cutting, transporting and coloring.

In order to achieve the above object, the automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention cuts and separates a mold from a mold injection unit for injecting a mold for manufacturing a contact lens, and a mold fixing frame integrally formed with a mold injected from the mold injection unit. A transfer unit which is located between the cutting unit, the mold injection unit, and the cutting unit to transfer the mold injected from the mold injection unit to the cutting unit, a clamping unit that fixes each of the cut molds, and the clamping unit. A plurality of lens molding units comprising a molding liquid injection device for injecting the lens molding liquid into the fixed mold.

In addition, the mold injected from the mold injection unit is arranged in a circular shape, including a radial mold fixing frame for fixing the mold, and the upper mold injection unit and the lower mold injection unit for injecting the upper and lower molds, respectively It is made to include.

In addition, the clamping unit is fixed to the mold of the lower mold, characterized in that for maintaining the clamping state until the mold discharge after the injection of the lens molding liquid for the precise manufacturing of the contact lens.

In addition, the lens molding unit is composed of a general lens molding unit for molding a general lens and a color lens molding unit for molding a color lens, the color lens molding unit is printed with a pad printing unit for printing a paint to be colored in the mold It further comprises an ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating ultraviolet rays for coloring of the paint.

In addition, the color lens forming unit comprises a plurality of pad printing unit corresponding to the number of colors to be colored.

In addition, the pad printing unit is to print the color to be colored through the vertical reciprocating transfer to the lower mold, characterized in that the reciprocating transfer by the servo motor.

In addition, the cutting unit is provided in front of the general lens molding unit and the color lens molding unit, respectively, the transfer unit comprises a six-axis robot, each lens according to the type of lens to be manufactured using the injection mold Characterized in that the transfer to the cutting unit provided at the front end of the molding unit.

In addition, the cutting unit is made to include an individual cutter corresponding to each mold, the individual cutter further includes a cutting position adjusting device that can adjust the cutting position to prevent the generation of the gate remaining in the mold after cutting. .

The present invention of the configuration as described above has the effect that can be automatically produced through a single equipment as well as color lenses.

In addition, there is a feature that can automatically produce a large amount of color lenses as well as ordinary lenses through a one-stop unmanned automation process from molding of the mold to lens coloring and lens molding.

In addition, it is possible to maximize the production efficiency by minimizing the defect rate that can occur during lens production through improved cutting precision and precise transfer.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2 is a plan view of an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
3 is a perspective view of another automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 4a, 4b is a perspective view of an embodiment of a cutting unit included in the automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention,
5 is a perspective view of a clamping unit of a lens molding unit included in an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a mold for manufacturing a contact lens of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a plan view of an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is one of the present invention A perspective view of an automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment. Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 in detail the automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the contact lens automatic manufacturing apparatus of the present invention to inject the mold 110 used in the manufacture of the contact lens integrally with the mold fixing frame 120 The mold is separated from the cutting unit 300 for cutting and separating the mold from the mold fixing frame by receiving the transfer unit 200 and the mold fixing frame 120 and the mold 110 for transferring the mold injection unit 100 and the injected mold. It comprises a lens forming unit 400 for manufacturing a general lens or a color lens by using.

The mold injection unit 100 includes a top mold injection unit 100a and a bottom mold injection unit 100b configured to inject a mold 110 for manufacturing a contact lens, respectively, to inject a top mold and a bottom mold. . The mold injection unit 100 may inject the mold 110 individually, but it is preferable to inject a plurality of molds at a time to simplify mass production and manufacturing process. In addition, it is preferable to arrange the mold radially as shown in FIG. 6 for convenience of subsequent processes such as cutting and conveying, and to provide the mold fixing frame 120 at the center to injection-transfer a plurality of molds 110 at once.

The automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention manufactures a contact lens through a fixed casting method or a cast molding method among the various contact lens manufacturing methods described above. The cast molding method is a method of manufacturing a contact lens by injecting a monomer for molding a lens into a lower mold and then assembling an upper mold, and then removing the mold after the monomer is solidified. That is, an upper mold and a lower mold are required to be manufactured according to the design of the lens for manufacturing the contact lens, and the mold injection unit 100 is configured to inject the mold as described above.

The mold injection unit 100 includes an upper mold core 110a and a lower mold core 110b for integrally injecting the mold 110 and the mold fixing frame 120. Each core is preferably made of a metal material. And precise manufacture of the lens is due to the precision of the mold, so the manufacture of a precise core is essential.

The cores 110a and 110b of the mold injection unit 100 are made of a male and female core, operated by pneumatic or hydraulic pressure, and injected with mold raw materials between the male and female cores, and then molded and fixed to form a mold fixing frame 120 separated from the male and female cores. The mold 110 is discharged.

The discharged mold 110 is transferred to the cutting unit 300 by the transfer unit 200. The transfer unit 200 is controlled by the control device 500 and transfers the discharged mold 110 to the cutting unit 300, but the cutting unit 300 is used to accurately cut the mold 110 from the mold fixing frame 120. It is essential to precisely transfer to the mold fixing part 322 provided in. This is because, if the gate remains in the mold 110 after cutting, the equipment alarm by the gate during the transfer of the mold may occur for molding the lens, and the mold 110 may not be accurately positioned, which may cause a failure rate increase.

The transfer unit 200 may take any mold 110 from the upper mold injection unit 100a and the lower mold injection unit 100b and transfer the mold 110 to the cutting unit 300. It is preferable to use a six-axis robot that should be able to take out the mold from the two mold injection units (100a, 100b), be able to effectively utilize space and location, and have a predetermined precision or more in order to reduce the defective rate.

The 6-axis robot can transfer the mold discharged from a plurality of mold injection units to a plurality of cutting positions due to the high degree of freedom due to the transfer, and can transfer relatively long distances from a fixed position according to the 6-axis freedom. Since the space and place occupied by the unit 300 can be minimized, the size of the automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus can be reduced, and there is no limitation in the operation, thereby transferring the mold 110 to the correct cutting position.

The cutting unit 300 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B in a structure in which the mold 110 is cut and separated from the mold fixing frame 120.

The cutting unit 300 includes an upper cutting part 310 and a lower cutting part 320, and a mold fixing part capable of fixing the mold 110 in the upper cutting part 310 or the lower cutting part 320. 322 and a cutting blade 312 for cutting the mold from the mold fixing frame 120 are installed, and the mold fixing part 322 is installed on the lower cutting part 320 and the upper part is installed for easy cutting and improving the cutting precision. It is preferable to install the cutting edge 312 in the cutting unit (310).

In addition, the automatic contact lens manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, as described above, may cause a problem that an equipment alarm and a failure rate may increase due to a gate remaining in the mold after cutting the mold 110. It is essential to cut 110 accurately. However, when the plurality of molds 110 are injected at the same time, there is a difference in shrinkage rate for each mold. When simultaneously cutting a plurality of injected molds, some molds are accurately cut, but there is a high possibility that gates remain in other molds. Therefore, in order to minimize the possibility of equipment alarms that may occur due to the remaining gates, the cutting unit 300 of the present invention installs individual cutting edges 312 corresponding to each mold in the upper cutting portion 310 and each cutting edge ( In order to precisely adjust the cutting position of the 312, the position adjusting unit 314 is provided for each cutting edge 312. 4a and 4b is a position adjustment portion 314 is made of a screw type is the structure that the cutting position is adjusted back and forth when the screw of the position adjustment portion 314 is rotated clockwise, counterclockwise. Of course, if the means for adjusting the cutting position can be employed without being limited to those shown in Figures 4a, 4b. It is also possible to adjust the cutting position electrically by using a solenoid, etc., but the important thing should be a method that can precisely adjust the cutting position.

The present invention is a device that can produce a general lens and a color lens at the same time includes a lens forming unit 410 for manufacturing a general lens and a lens molding unit for the color lens (420a, 420b, 420c) for manufacturing a general lens It is done by As shown in FIG. 2, the cutting unit 300 may be separately provided for each lens molding unit for use in cutting, but only one cutting unit 300 may be provided and then transferred to each lens molding unit for cutting. In the former case, there is a problem that the cost of the equipment increases, but there is an advantage of simplifying the transfer process of the mold, while the latter has a problem that the transfer process of the mold is complicated, but there is an effect of reducing equipment cost and convenience of equipment management. .

The cutting unit 300 reciprocates up and down as shown in FIG. 4B, and the upper cutting part 310 is reciprocated by a hydraulic or electric driving source by cutting the mold.

The lens molding unit 400 includes a clamping unit 430 for fixing the cut mold and a lens molding solution injection device 450 for injecting a lens molding monomer into the mold. Of course, a device for transferring the mold cut from the cutting unit 300 to the clamping unit 430 is required, which may be applied in various ways such as a method of forming and transferring a vacuum or using a mechanical forceps. In view of the light weight and the curved surface, a method of forming and transporting a vacuum is preferable in view of precision and transport efficiency.

The clamping unit 430 is a unit for fixing the mold 110 moving by an automated process in a configuration for fixing the individual molds cut. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the clamping unit 430 of the present invention includes a clamping jaw 432 for fixing the mold 110 at both sides and a clamping support 434 for supporting the clamping jaw 432. The clamping jaw 432 fixes the individual mold 110 after receiving the mold 110 cut from the cutting unit, and is fixed until the lens is completed and discharged, such as the injection of the lens molding solution and the coloring of the color. It is characterized by maintaining. This is to solve the problem that the contact position of the mold is not maintained even if the conventional contact lens manufacturing apparatus manually moves the mold or transfers the mold by mechanical configuration, and thus the position of the mold is changed during manufacturing of the lens, thereby increasing the defective rate. This is to minimize the defect rate in manufacturing the lens by securing the positional accuracy during the transfer of the mold, and to secure the precision of the coloring according to the parallel production of the color lens.

The clamping jaw 432 is hydraulically or pneumatically or electrically driven and is installed in the clamping support 434 to fix and release the mold while rotating back and forth. The clamping unit 430 is disposed radially to fix the plurality of molds, but it is not necessarily the same as the number of injection molds. In addition, the clamping unit 430 is installed on the disc-shaped support 440 while rotating to perform the manufacturing process of lens molding liquid injection, molding, drying and discharge. This minimizes the acceleration and deceleration of the transfer and increases the efficiency of the transfer, while minimizing the positional error of the mold during the transfer.

The lens molding solution injector 450 is a device for injecting a monomer for molding a lens and injecting an appropriate monomer according to the design, frequency, size, etc. of the lens. The lens molding liquid injector 450 is connected to the molding liquid storage part to precisely control the amount of the molding liquid injected into the mold through a solenoid valve. However, the lens molding unit 400 for a color lens further includes a printing unit for coloring unlike the lens molding unit for a general lens. As the conventional coloring process is performed manually, there is a problem that the consistency of coloring is inferior, contamination occurs due to dust, etc., and the accuracy of the position is not guaranteed, thereby increasing the defective rate. In order to solve the problem, the present invention has an effect of automatically performing coloring and arranging a plurality of printing pads on a transport path of the lens according to the number of colors to be colored to automatically perform coloring up to 3 tons. Coloring takes place on the surface of the lower mold and is carried out through the vertical reciprocating motion of the printing unit. However, it is very important to secure the positional accuracy of the printing unit for the accuracy of coloration and uniform coloration. Therefore, it is preferable to drive the printing unit using a precise servomotor to secure the positional accuracy.

After manufacturing the paint through the printing unit to manufacture the color lens to the Hayoung mold, the molded lens is discharged through an ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating ultraviolet rays for coloring of the paint. That is, the lens molding unit for the color lens further includes an ultraviolet irradiation device for coloring the printed paint.

As described above, the present invention has the feature of automatically producing parallel lenses and color lenses in one stop, and has an effect of maximizing manufacturing efficiency by minimizing a defective rate.

Mold injection unit: 100 Transfer unit: 200
Cutting unit: 300 Lens forming unit: 400
Control Unit: 500

Claims (7)

A mold injection unit for injecting a mold for manufacturing a contact lens;
A cutting unit for cutting and separating the mold from a mold fixing frame integrally formed with the mold injected from the mold injection unit;
A transfer unit positioned between the mold injection unit and the cutting unit to transfer the mold injected from the mold injection unit to the cutting unit;
It includes a plurality of lens forming unit comprising a clamping unit for fixing each of the mold and a molding liquid injection device for injecting the lens molding liquid into the mold fixed to the clamping unit,
The lens molding unit includes a general lens molding unit for molding a general lens and a color lens molding unit for molding a color lens,
The color lens molding unit further comprises a pad printing unit for printing the paint to be colored in the mold and an ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating ultraviolet rays for coloring of the printed paint.
In claim 1,
The mold to be ejected from the mold injection unit is arranged in a circular shape, including a radial mold fixing frame for fixing the mold, and includes an upper mold injection unit and a lower mold injection unit for injecting the upper mold and the lower mold, respectively. Contact lens automatic manufacturing device, characterized in that made.
In claim 2,
The clamping unit is fixed to the mold of the lower mold, the contact lens automatic manufacturing device, characterized in that to maintain the clamping state until the mold is discharged after receiving the cut mold for precise manufacturing of the contact lens.
In claim 2,
And the color lens forming unit comprises a plurality of pad printing units corresponding to the number of colors to be colored.
In claim 2,
The pad printing unit is a contact lens automatic manufacturing device, characterized in that for printing the color to be colored through the vertical reciprocating transfer to the lower mold, the reciprocating transfer by a servo motor.
In claim 2,
The cutting unit is provided in front of the normal lens molding unit and the color lens molding unit, respectively,
The transfer unit comprises a six-axis robot, the contact lens automatic manufacturing device, characterized in that for transferring to the cutting unit provided at the front end of each lens forming unit according to the type of lens to be manufactured using the injection mold.
In claim 1,
The cutting unit includes an individual cutter corresponding to each mold, and the individual cutter further includes a cutting position adjusting device capable of adjusting a cutting position to prevent generation of a gate remaining in the mold after cutting. Contact lens automatic manufacturing device.

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