CN111976081A

CN111976081A - Molding method for optical element and corresponding jig and mold

Info

Publication number: CN111976081A
Application number: CN201910433676.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 许晨祥; 栾仲禹; 席逢生; 黄桢; 干洪锋; 刘丽; 卢彬
Original assignee: Ningbo Sunny Opotech Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ningbo Sunny Opotech Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-23
Filing date: 2019-05-23
Publication date: 2020-11-24

Abstract

The application relates to a jig which comprises a jig base body and a cover plate, wherein the jig base body comprises two jig arms and a connecting part for connecting the two jig arms; the jig arms are provided with a plurality of mounting grooves, for any jig arm, the mounting groove of the jig arm is positioned on one side of the jig arm facing to the other jig arm, each mounting groove of the jig arm corresponds to one mounting groove of the other jig arm, and two end parts of each strip-shaped element to be molded are suitable for being embedded into the two corresponding mounting grooves of the two jig arms; the cover plate is suitable for covering the mounting grooves, so that the strip-shaped elements to be molded are fixed between the two jig arms. The application also provides a corresponding mold and a molding method for optical elements. The manufacturing efficiency can be improved; the yield of products can be improved; the production cost can be reduced.

Description

Molding method for optical element and corresponding jig and mold

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of optical technology and optical element processing, in particular to a molding processing method of an optical element and a corresponding jig and a corresponding mould.

Background

The optical element is a basic constituent unit of the optical system. Most optical elements, such as lenses, prisms, mirrors, etc., function as imaging. There are also optical elements that may play a particular role in optical systems, such as reticles, filters, gratings, etc. Generally, an optical element includes an optical zone for imaging (or performing other optical functions) and a structural zone for supporting and protecting the optical zone. In compact optical devices, the structured regions of the optical element may be made by a molding process. The following description will be given taking an optical reflection element as an example.

The optical reflection element is an optical element having at least one reflection surface. The reflecting surface is an optical surface which reflects light regularly according to the reflection law. The reflecting element in the optical device plays the roles of deflecting the light path, reducing the volume of the instrument, changing the positive and negative relation of the image and the like. The existing optical reflection element includes two basic types, one is a total reflection prism, which is implemented according to the total reflection principle, and one surface of the total reflection prism can reflect incident light when inclined at a certain angle (for example, when satisfying the total reflection angle range); the other is a specular reflection element, which forms a reflection layer on the surface of an object by means of coating so that the reflection layer can completely reflect incident light. For the first type, i.e., the total reflection prism, if the incident light is incident on the reflection surface at an angle not within the total reflection angle range, the light is refracted at the reflection surface, resulting in light leakage. If a non-incident region and a non-exit region are designed on the surface of the total reflection prism and a molding layer (which can be made by a molding process) is disposed at the corresponding positions, unnecessary light can be prevented from entering the prism, thereby effectively suppressing the stray light phenomenon. In addition, the molding layer is provided on a part of the surface of the optical reflection element (including the total reflection prism and the specular reflection element), so that the strength of the optical element can be enhanced, and the optical element can be used as a structural member for mounting (sometimes referred to as assembling) the optical element in combination with other elements, so that the flatness and the mounting accuracy can be improved, and further, the optical system can be assembled by assembling a plurality of optical elements.

On the other hand, compact electronic devices such as consumer electronic terminals (e.g., smart phones) are an important application direction of optical elements. In recent years, the development of smart phones has put increasing demands on miniaturization of optical elements. Taking the optical reflection element as an example, due to the limitation of the size of the mobile phone, the volume of the optical reflection element used in the mobile phone camera module is often small, and it is difficult to directly mold the optical reflection element to form the required molding layer. To overcome this problem, an optical element having a large area may be manufactured, a reflective layer is formed on the optical element, a molding layer is formed on the surface of the optical element by molding, and the optical element is cut to obtain the desired optical reflective element. This approach can solve the problem that it is difficult for a smaller monolithic optical element to be directly molded to form a molded layer. However, the lower mold of the molding apparatus cannot be taken out, and the worker needs to perform the placement and position adjustment and arrangement of the optical elements in the molding apparatus. In the existing molding process, the molding equipment needs to heat the molding material at high temperature to make the molding material become fluid and solidify the molding material at higher temperature. In short, the molding equipment generates higher temperature during operation, the arrangement and installation of optical elements in the molding equipment are not only inefficient, but also workers must endure high temperature for a long time, and both the problem of relatively harsh working environment and the problem of product yield and manufacturing efficiency are troubling the production and manufacturing of products.

Further, in mass production, a large-area optical element in a plate shape is often manufactured in the prior art, and then the plate-shaped optical element is molded and cut in the transverse and longitudinal directions to obtain an optical element unit with a proper size. For example, in the case of a molded plate-shaped optical element, the optical element may be cut into a plurality of strip-shaped optical elements in the transverse direction, and then cut into optical element units having a suitable size in the longitudinal direction. However, when the plate-shaped optical element is molded, the molding layers are mainly formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the plate-shaped optical element, and most of the resulting optical element units have only two surfaces to which the molding layers are attached after the transverse and longitudinal cuts are made (note that the optical element unit located in the edge area of the plate-shaped optical element may have three surfaces to which the molding layers are attached). In other words, the molding layer attached to two or three surfaces may not be enough to cover all the non-light-incident surface and the non-light-emitting surface of the optical element. Therefore, in order to overcome the problem of stray light, further processing, such as roughening (sometimes referred to as roughening), is often required for the uncovered non-light-incident surface and non-light-emitting surface, which increases the number of processing steps of the optical element, and is not favorable for improving the production efficiency and reducing the cost.

Therefore, there is a need for a solution for molding optical devices that helps to improve manufacturing efficiency, product yield, and reduce cost.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to overcoming the deficiencies of the prior art and providing a solution for molding optical components that helps to improve manufacturing efficiency and product yield.

In order to solve the technical problem, the invention provides a jig which comprises a jig base body and a cover plate, wherein the jig base body comprises two jig arms and a connecting part for connecting the two jig arms; the jig arms are provided with a plurality of mounting grooves, for any jig arm, the mounting groove of the jig arm is positioned on one side of the jig arm facing to the other jig arm, each mounting groove of the jig arm corresponds to one mounting groove of the other jig arm, and two end parts of each strip-shaped element to be molded are suitable for being embedded into the two corresponding mounting grooves of the two jig arms; the cover plate is suitable for covering the mounting grooves, so that the strip-shaped elements to be molded are fixed between the two jig arms.

Wherein the depth of the mounting groove is consistent with the thickness of the strip-shaped element to be molded.

Wherein the width of the mounting groove is consistent with the width of the strip-shaped element to be molded.

The depth of the mounting groove is smaller than the thickness of the strip element to be molded, and the bottom surface of the cover plate is provided with a groove matched with the mounting groove, so that the circumferential surfaces (the outer side surfaces of the ring around the axis of the strip element) and the end surfaces of the two end parts of the strip element to be molded are supported against the jig.

The jig base body is provided with a positioning hole so that the jig base body can be detachably connected with the die.

The jig base body is provided with a fixing structure so that the jig base body can be detachably connected with the cover plate.

Wherein, for each jig arm, the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves is determined by the thickness of a molding layer to be molded. Specifically, the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves may be twice the thickness of the molding layer, or slightly larger than twice the thickness of the molding layer. When the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves is twice of the thickness of the molding layer, the cutting times can be reduced, and the molding material can be saved. When the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves is slightly larger than twice of the thickness of the molding layer, an ejector pin can be arranged at a position between two strip-shaped elements so as to perform demolding after molding.

The connecting part is single, and the single connecting part and the two jig arms form a concave shape.

Wherein the concave opening portion of the jig base is provided at a position corresponding to the injection port of the molding material.

The two connecting parts and the two jig arms form a 'return' shape.

Wherein at least one of the connection parts has a flow guide passage provided at a position corresponding to the injection port of the molding material.

Wherein the connecting parts are single or multiple, and at least one connecting part is provided with an air escape channel.

Wherein, the air escape channel is a through hole or a groove.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a mold comprising an upper mold and a lower mold; the lower die is suitable for accommodating the jig in any one of the preceding paragraphs, and after the upper die and the lower die are closed, the upper surface, the lower surface and the outer side surface of the jig are all pressed by the die, and the inner side surface of the jig, the upper die, the lower die and the strip-shaped element to be molded form a molding cavity together.

Wherein a distance between the lower surface of the upper mold and the top surface of the strip-shaped member to be molded, and a distance between the upper surface of the lower mold and the bottom surface of the strip-shaped member to be molded are determined by the set thickness of the molding layer.

Wherein, the upper die and/or the lower die is provided with an air escape channel, and the molding cavity is communicated with the outside air through the air escape channel.

The upper die and/or the lower die are/is provided with a micropore, and a thimble for opening the die extends into the micropore.

Wherein, micropore and stretch into micropore have the clearance between the thimble, the clearance forms escapes the gas passageway, the shaping chamber passes through escape the gas passageway and external gas intercommunication.

Wherein, the distance between the micropore and the thimble extending into the micropore is 10-40 microns.

Wherein the mold has a molding material injection port communicating with the molding cavity.

Wherein the molding material injection port is communicated with the molding cavity through the opening part of the jig; or the molding material injection opening is communicated with the molding cavity through a flow guide channel positioned at the connecting part of the jig.

Wherein the upper mold and/or the lower mold has a protruding structure located above or below the strip-shaped element to be molded.

The protruding structures are protruding strips, and the axes of the protruding strips are crossed with the axes of the strip-shaped elements to be molded. For example, the axis of said ribs may be perpendicular to the axis of said strip-shaped elements to be molded.

The convex strip is arranged above or below the central area of the strip-shaped element to be molded.

Wherein, the distance between the convex strip and the strip-shaped element to be molded is not zero and is less than 100 micrometers.

Wherein, the distance between the convex strips and the strip-shaped elements to be molded is 10-50 microns.

The number of the convex strips can be one or a plurality of convex strips.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a molding processing method for an optical element, including: 1) preparing any one of the jigs, and embedding a plurality of strip-shaped elements to be molded into the mounting grooves of the jig base body, wherein the strip-shaped elements to be molded are strip-shaped optical elements to be molded; 2) covering the jig base body with the cover plate to fix the plurality of bar-shaped optical elements to be molded in the jig; 3) preparing any one of the molds described above, and installing a jig in which the plurality of strip-shaped optical elements to be molded are arranged in the mold; 4) injecting a liquid molding material into the molding cavity; 5) opening the mold after the molding material is solidified, and taking out the combined body of the jig and the optical element molding jointed board; and 6) separating the jig to obtain the optical element molding jointed board.

Wherein, the step 6) is followed by: 7) and transversely and longitudinally cutting the optical element molding jointed board to obtain a finished single optical element, wherein the longitudinal cutting is the cutting with the cutting direction perpendicular to or oblique to the strip-shaped optical element to be molded, and the transverse cutting is the cutting with the cutting direction parallel to the strip-shaped optical element to be molded.

Wherein the step 7) comprises: 71) firstly, transversely cutting the optical element molding jointed board to obtain a strip-shaped optical element with the outer peripheral surface wrapped by a molding layer; and 72) then carrying out longitudinal cutting on the strip-shaped optical element with the outer peripheral surface wrapped by the molding layer to obtain an optical element unit, and further obtaining a single optical element finished product.

Wherein the step 7) comprises: 71) firstly, longitudinally cutting the optical element molding jointed board to obtain a strip-shaped semi-finished product with a molding layer and an optical material layer arranged at intervals; 72) then, subjecting the cut surface of the bar-shaped semi-finished product to optical surface processing (any one or more processing steps or processes for processing an optical surface are understood as optical surface processing, and the optical surface processing may include, for example, polishing or grinding or other smooth processing such as etching or photoetching for forming a desired optical surface); and 73) finally, transversely cutting the strip-shaped semi-finished product to obtain an optical element unit, and further obtaining a single optical element finished product.

Compared with the prior art, the application has at least one of the following technical effects:

1. this application is suitable for and fixes a plurality of optical element and form a makeup on a tool to reach improvement production efficiency, reduce the operating time of staff under the high temperature.

2. The optical element molding device can arrange products according to required positions through the grooves and the fixing plates, so that the optical element is not easy to displace in the molding process, and the yield of the products is improved.

3. The present application may allow a plurality of strip-shaped optical elements to be molded at a time, thereby obtaining a strip-shaped intermediate member (referred to as an intermediate product) whose outer peripheral surface is surrounded by a molding layer in a batch.

4. The strip-shaped intermediate piece with the outer peripheral surface wrapped by the molding layer can be obtained after molding, and a required optical element finished product can be obtained conveniently through cutting.

5. According to the method, the strip-shaped intermediate piece with the outer peripheral surface wrapped by the molding layer can be obtained after molding, and the method is beneficial to reducing processing steps such as roughening after molding, so that the production efficiency is improved, and the cost is reduced.

6. The possibility that the strip-shaped optical element is bent when being impacted by molding material fluid can be reduced through the convex strips or other convex structures in the lower die and the upper die, so that the product yield is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a jig for molding a bar-shaped optical element according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a fixture substrate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of the jig base of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a jig base after embedding a plurality of bar-shaped optical elements to be molded;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a mold closed according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a molded panel of optical components after molding is complete in one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 illustrates a method of making a molded panel of optical elements according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a molded panel of optical elements showing schematic cut lines in one embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For a better understanding of the present application, various aspects of the present application will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description is merely illustrative of exemplary embodiments of the present application and does not limit the scope of the present application in any way. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. The expression "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It should be noted that the expressions first, second, etc. in this specification are used only to distinguish one feature from another feature, and do not indicate any limitation on the features. Thus, a first body discussed below may also be referred to as a second body without departing from the teachings of the present application.

In the drawings, the thickness, size, and shape of an object have been slightly exaggerated for convenience of explanation. The figures are purely diagrammatic and not drawn to scale.

It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "has," "including," and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Moreover, when a statement such as "at least one of" appears after a list of listed features, the entirety of the listed features is modified rather than modifying individual elements in the list. Furthermore, when describing embodiments of the present application, the use of "may" mean "one or more embodiments of the present application. Also, the term "exemplary" is intended to refer to an example or illustration.

As used herein, the terms "substantially," "about," and the like are used as terms of table approximation and not as terms of table degree, and are intended to account for inherent deviations in measured or calculated values that will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict. The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a jig for molding a bar-shaped optical element according to an embodiment of the present application. The jig 100 may arrange a plurality of strip-shaped optical elements 200, and place the strip-shaped optical elements 200 in a mold (note that, the mold is not shown in fig. 1) to form a molding layer on the surface of the strip-shaped optical elements 200, thereby cutting out individual optical elements (e.g., reflective optical elements). Referring to fig. 1, in the present embodiment, a jig 100 includes a jig base 10 and a cover plate 20. The jig base 10 includes two jig arms 11 and a connecting portion 12 connecting the two

jig arms

11a, 11 b. The connecting portion 12 and the two

jig arms

11a and 11b may form a "concave" shape (or referred to as a "U" shape). Further, fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a jig base in an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3 shows a schematic top view of the jig base of fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a jig base after embedding a plurality of bar-shaped optical elements to be molded. Referring to fig. 2-4, in the present embodiment, the

jig arms

11a and 11b and the connecting portion 12 can be integrally formed, and the jig base body manufactured by the integrally forming process has higher structural strength, so that the reduction of the jig precision due to the loosening of the connecting portion after long-time use can be prevented. The two

jig arms

11a, 11b each have a plurality of mounting grooves 13. For any one of the jig arms 11a, the mounting groove 13a of the jig arm 11a is located on a side thereof facing the other jig arm 11b, each of the mounting grooves 13a of the jig arm 11a corresponds to one of the mounting grooves 13b of the other jig arm 11b, and both

end portions

210a, 210b of each to-be-molded strip-shaped optical element 200 are adapted to be fitted into the two mounting

grooves

13a, 13b of the two

jig arms

11a, 11b corresponding to each other. In this embodiment, the cover plate 20 is adapted to cover the mounting grooves 13, so that the bar-shaped optical elements 200 to be molded are fixed between the two

jig arms

11a and 11 b.

In the embodiment, the jig can provide stable support for the plurality of strip-shaped optical elements, and can help the plurality of strip-shaped optical elements to be arranged according to required positions, so that the optical elements are not easy to displace in the molding process, and the yield of products is improved. In addition, because the optical element does not need to be arranged at the molding equipment, the working time of the worker at high temperature can be reduced, and the product yield can be improved. Furthermore, the jig base body manufactured by the integral forming process has higher structural strength, so that the volume occupied by the connecting part can be properly reduced, the space of a forming cavity of the molding equipment is more fully utilized, and the production efficiency is improved. And the jig base body has higher structural strength, can better protect the bar-shaped optical element, and reduces the risks of bending, breaking and damage of the bar-shaped optical element.

It should be noted that although the jig base body is manufactured by an integral molding process in the embodiment of fig. 1, this is not the only embodiment of the present application. In some variations of the present disclosure, the jig base may be formed by a non-integral molding process, such as forming the two

jig arms

11a and 11b and the connecting portion 12 separately, and then fixing them together or connecting them together in a detachable manner. In these embodiments where the jig base is formed by a non-integral molding process, the two

jig arms

11a and 11b and the connecting portion 12 may be formed of different materials. When the detachable connection mode is adopted, the parts of the jig base body can be conveniently replaced. Compared with the comparative example in which the two

jig arms

11a and 11b are completely separated (for example, the jig base body only provides two jig arms, and simultaneously provides an adaptive U-shaped cover plate, and the comparative example in which the connection function is performed through the U-shaped cover plate, and for example, only provides two jig arms and two corresponding cover plates, and the comparative example in which the connection function is performed through the bar-shaped optical element itself), the above modified embodiment can better protect the bar-shaped optical element and reduce the risk of bending, breaking and damage of the bar-shaped optical element because the structural strength of the jig base body can be enhanced through the connecting portion 12.

Further, still referring to fig. 1-4, in one embodiment of the application, the mounting groove 13 is open at the top and one side, wherein the open side is the side facing the other jig arm 11b (referring to fig. 2 and 3) except the jig arm 11a where the mounting groove is located. In this way, the bar-shaped optical element 200 to be molded can be inserted from the top opening of the mounting groove 13, and both

end portions

210a, 210b of the bar-shaped optical element 200 to be molded are respectively held against the two mounting

grooves

13a, 13b of the two

jig arms

11a, 11b, which correspond to each other, as shown in fig. 4. Specifically, with respect to any one end portion (e.g., the left end portion 210a or the right end portion 210b) of the bar-shaped optical element 200 to be molded, four faces of the end portion, which are an end face (e.g., the left end face or the right end face) and three side faces (other three side faces except the top face, in fig. 4, the bottom face, the front face, and the rear face of the

end portions

210a, 210b of the bar-shaped optical element 200 to be molded) around the axis, respectively, may bear against the mounting groove 13 (e.g., the left side mounting groove 13a or the right side mounting groove 13 b). Further, after the bar-shaped optical elements 200 to be molded are embedded in all the mounting grooves 13, the top surfaces of the

jig arms

11a, 11b (the number of the cover plates 20 may be two) may be covered with the cover plates 20 so that the top surfaces of the

end portions

210a, 210b of the bar-shaped optical elements 200 to be molded are abutted against the bottom surfaces of the cover plates 20, thereby fixing the plurality of bar-shaped optical elements 200 to be molded in the jig 100. In this embodiment, the jig 100 can provide a plurality of bearing surfaces for the two

end portions

210a and 210b of each to-be-molded strip-shaped optical element 200, and has excellent stability and reliability, which is helpful for improving the yield of molding. In addition, since the staff can arrange the bar-shaped optical elements 200 to be molded at required positions outside the molding apparatus, the arrangement time in the mold of the molding apparatus is greatly reduced, which is helpful for improving the working environment and improving the product quality. In addition, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the molding layer (which may also be referred to as a molding layer) can be controlled by the position design of the mounting groove 13, and the molding layer can wrap the periphery (i.e., the outer peripheral surface around the axis) of the strip-shaped optical element 200 to be molded, which is advantageous for improving the production efficiency and reducing the production cost. Specifically, in the above-described embodiment, the strip-shaped intermediate member whose outer peripheral surface is covered with the molding layer can be obtained after molding, so that the desired optical element unit can be obtained by cutting. For example, the optical element unit with four surfaces covered by the molding layer can be obtained by cutting (for example, a large-area plate-shaped optical element can be cut into a plurality of strip-shaped optical elements by transverse cutting before molding, then molding is carried out, and finally transverse and longitudinal cutting is carried out on the strip-shaped optical element jointed board wrapped by the molding layer), thereby being beneficial to reducing roughening processing steps after molding, improving production efficiency and reducing cost. For example, in the case that the finished optical element has only one incident surface and one emergent surface, the molding layer is formed on the four cut surfaces without further roughening the other non-incident surfaces and the non-rough surfaces, so that the number of process flows is reduced, and the manufacturing process is simplified.

Further, still referring to fig. 1 to 4, in one embodiment of the present application, in the

jig arms

11a, 11b, the depth of the mounting groove 13 may be in conformity with the thickness of the bar-shaped optical element 200 to be molded. The width of the mounting groove 13 may be identical to the width of the bar-shaped optical element 200 to be molded. The design can ensure that the strip-shaped optical element is not easy to displace after being placed in the groove.

In another embodiment of the present application, the depth of the mounting groove may be smaller than the thickness of the bar-shaped optical element to be molded. Meanwhile, the bottom surface of the cover plate may have a groove adapted to the mounting groove, so that the circumferential surfaces (the circumferential surfaces refer to the outer side surfaces around the axis of the bar-shaped optical element) and the end surfaces of the two end portions of the bar-shaped optical element to be molded are both supported by the jig. I.e. the part of the strip-shaped optical element above the fixation side, can be compensated by providing a corresponding recess in the cover plate so that the optical element remains relatively fixed.

Further, still referring to fig. 1, 2 and 3, in one embodiment of the present application, the jig base 10 has positioning holes 14 so that the jig base 10 is detachably connected with the mold. In this embodiment, the jig substrate 10 has at least two jig positioning structures, which may be through holes, the through holes are matched with the positioning portions of the lower mold, and the positioning portions of the lower mold may be protruding columns. The jig is matched with the convex column positioned on the lower die through the through hole positioned on the jig, so that the jig and the lower die are accurately installed, and the jig is prevented or restrained from displacing relative to the die in the molding process.

Further, still referring to fig. 1, 2 and 3, in an embodiment of the present application, the jig base 10 further has a cover plate connection structure 15, so that the jig base 10 is detachably connected with the cover plate 20. The cover plate 20 may also be referred to as a fixing plate. In the present embodiment, each

jig arm

11a or 11b corresponds to one cover plate 20. The cover plate 20 may be magnetically fixed to the jig arm. For example, a magnet is disposed on the cover plate, and the jig arms of the jig base are made of a magnetic material (e.g., a ferromagnetic material). Or for example, the cover plate is made of magnetic material (such as ferromagnetic material), and the jig arm is provided with a magnet. Besides magnetic fixation, the cover plate and the jig base body can be detachably fixed through mechanical connection modes such as screws or rivets. The cover plate and the jig base body can be fixed more accurately through the mechanical structure. Through the cover plate, the bar-shaped optical element to be molded can be fixed in the jig to prevent or inhibit the bar-shaped optical element to be molded from being displaced during the molding process.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, in the jig base body, for each of the jig arms, a pitch between adjacent two of the mounting grooves is determined by a thickness of a molding layer to be molded. Specifically, the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves may be twice the thickness of the molding layer, or slightly larger than twice the thickness of the molding layer. When the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves is twice of the thickness of the molding layer, the cutting times can be reduced, and the molding material can be saved. When the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves is slightly larger than twice of the thickness of the molding layer, an ejector pin can be arranged at a position between two strip-shaped optical elements so as to perform demolding after molding.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the connecting portion is single, and the single connecting portion and the two jig arms form a concave shape, as shown in fig. 1 to 4. Wherein the concave opening portion of the jig base is provided at a position corresponding to the injection port of the molding material.

In another embodiment of the present application, the number of the connecting portions is two, and the two connecting portions and the two jig arms form a "return" shape. Wherein at least one of the connection parts has a flow guide passage provided at a position corresponding to the injection port of the molding material.

Further, still referring to fig. 1-4, in one embodiment of the present application, an air escape groove 16 may be provided in the fixture base 10 on the connecting portion 12 to allow air to escape during the molding process, so that the molding material can fill the entire molding space to prevent or inhibit air bubbles from occurring in the molded layer. In this embodiment, the air escape slot 16 can be replaced by other types of air escape channels (e.g. a hole-shaped air escape channel).

Further, according to an embodiment of the application, a mould matched with the jig is also provided. FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a mold closed according to an embodiment of the present application. It is to be noted that the section shown in fig. 5 is a section parallel to the axis of the strip-shaped element to be molded. Referring to fig. 5, in the present embodiment, the mold includes an upper mold 300 and a lower mold 400; the lower mold 400 is adapted to accommodate the jig 100 of the previous embodiment, and after the upper mold 300 and the lower mold 400 are closed, the upper mold 300, the lower mold 400, the jig 100 and the to-be-molded strip-shaped optical element 200 together form a molding cavity 600. Specifically, after the upper mold 300 and the lower mold 400 are closed, the upper surface, the lower surface, and the outer side surface of the jig 100 are all pressed by the molds, and the inner side surface of the jig 100, the upper mold 300, the lower mold 400, and the strip-shaped element 200 to be molded together form a molding cavity 600. Thus, all the outer side surfaces of the jig are in close contact with the mold, thereby reducing waste caused by the overflow of the molding fluid. And all the outer side surfaces of the jig are in close contact with the mold, so that the jig can be prevented or inhibited from being coated or partially coated by the molding fluid, and the difficulty in separating the molding jointed board from the jig is reduced.

Further, in an embodiment of the present application, the mold may have a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, the first side having a molding material injection port, at least one of the connection portions of the jig is disposed at the second side, and the connection portion disposed at the second side has an air escape passage, which is a through hole or a groove. In this embodiment, a groove or a through hole may be provided as an air escape passage on the connecting portion of the opposite end of the molding fluid inflow port, and the air escape passage may be formed to communicate the molding cavity with the outside in cooperation with the air escape passage of the mold.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the interval between the lower surface of the upper mold 300 and the top surface of the to-be-molded bar-shaped optical element 200, and the interval between the upper surface of the lower mold 400 and the bottom surface of the to-be-molded bar-shaped optical element 200 are determined by the set thickness of the molding layer (i.e., the design thickness of the molding layer).

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the upper mold and the lower mold each have an air escape passage through which the molding cavity communicates with the outside air. In a variant embodiment, it is also possible for only the upper mold to have said air escape passage, or for only the lower mold to have said air escape passage.

Further, in an embodiment of the present application, the upper mold and the lower mold have a micro-hole, and a thimble for opening the mold extends into the micro-hole. Thus, after the model material is formed, the ejector pins can be used for separating the mould from the formed molding jointed board. It should be noted that the molded panels may be integral with the jig, i.e., the jig and molded panels are separated from the mold.

Further, in an embodiment of the present application, a gap is provided between the micro hole and the thimble extending into the micro hole, the gap forms an air escape channel, and the molding cavity is communicated with the external air through the air escape channel. The distance between the micro-hole and the thimble extending into the micro-hole can be 10-40 microns.

Further, in one embodiment of the present application, the mold has a molding material injection port in communication with the molding cavity. In the molding, the molding material may be melted into a liquid state by heating, and then the liquid molding material may be injected into a molding cavity in the mold from the molding material injection port. In this embodiment, the jig base is in a shape of a Chinese character 'ao', and the molding material injection port is communicated with the molding cavity through an opening portion of the jig.

Further, in another embodiment of the present application, the jig base is in a "square" shape. At least one connecting part of the jig base body is provided with a flow guide channel, and the flow guide channel is arranged at a position corresponding to the injection port of the molding material. The molding material injection port can be communicated with the molding cavity through a flow guide channel positioned on the connecting part of the jig.

Further, referring to fig. 5, in one embodiment of the present application, the upper mold 300 and the lower mold 400 each have a protrusion structure 500, and the protrusion structure 500 is located above or below the to-be-molded strip-shaped optical element 200. When the protrusion structures 500 are provided above and below the bar-shaped optical element 200 to be molded, the effect of preventing bending is good, and the provision of the protrusion structures 500 above and below does not increase the proportion of waste materials, compared to the case where only the protrusion structures 500 are provided above or only below. The protrusion structure 500 may be a protruding strip, and an axis of the protruding strip intersects with an axis of the to-be-molded strip-shaped optical element. For example, the axis of the rib may be perpendicular to the axis of the strip-shaped optical element to be molded. In particular, the ribs may be disposed above or below the central region of the strip-shaped optical element to be molded. The distance between the convex strips and the strip-shaped optical elements to be molded is not zero and is less than 100 micrometers, and preferably, the distance between the convex strips and the strip-shaped optical elements to be molded can be selected within the range of 10-50 micrometers. In the present embodiment, the middle of the bar-shaped optical element to be molded can be supported, thereby reducing the possibility of bending of the optical element. The convex strip is not contacted with the optical element, so that the bar-shaped optical element to be molded is prevented from being broken due to direct impact when the jig is arranged on the lower die and the upper die is closed to the lower die. And set up the interval upper limit of sand grip and the bar optical element of waiting to mould, can ensure that the optical element is crooked the back sand grip can support and wait to mould the bar optical element, avoids further crooked. Note that the pitch between the protruding strips and the bar-shaped optical elements to be molded in this embodiment refers to the pitch exhibited when the bar-shaped optical elements to be molded are not bent. The number of the convex strips can be one or a plurality of convex strips. The number of the convex strips may be determined according to the length of the strip-shaped optical element to be molded. Note that more ribs contribute to better preventing the bending of the strip-shaped optical element to be molded, but more ribs mean that the area on the strip-shaped optical element to be molded where the molding layer cannot be formed is also more, and may cause more waste. Fig. 6 shows a molded panel of optical elements after molding in one embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 6, it can be seen that a plurality of strip-shaped optical elements 200 are joined together by molding layer 221 to form a panel. The surface of the molding layer 221 of the flat plate may have a center slit 222, and the center slit 222 is formed by a convex strip of the mold.

Further, fig. 7 illustrates a method for manufacturing a molded panel for optical components according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 7, the method includes the following steps.

Step S10, a plurality of bar-shaped optical elements to be molded are inserted into the mounting grooves of the jig base.

Step S20, cover the jig base body with the cover plate to fix the plurality of bar-shaped optical elements to be molded in the jig.

Step S30, the jig on which the plurality of bar-shaped optical elements to be molded are arranged is mounted in a mold, and a molding cavity jointly constituted by the upper mold, the lower mold, the jig, and the bar-shaped optical elements to be molded is formed in the mold.

Step S40, a liquid molding material is injected into the molding cavity.

And step S50, opening the mold after the molding material is solidified, and taking out the combined body of the jig and the optical element molding jointed board. The curing of the molding material may be by cooling or by heating to a higher temperature.

Step S60, separating the jig to obtain the optical element molding jointed board.

In the above embodiment, the jig fixes each optical element and then is disposed on the lower mold, and forms a molding space together with the upper mold, the molding material is heated to form a molding fluid, and then the molding fluid flows into the molding space by high pressure to fill up the entire molding space and coat each optical element, and then the molding fluid is cured (where the way of curing the molding fluid may be by applying a higher temperature to reach the curing temperature, or by cooling down), so as to form a molding panel of optical elements. The mould also comprises at least one inflow port for molding fluid, and when the number of the connecting sides of the jig is one, the opposite side of the connecting side of the preferable jig corresponds to one side of the forming mould with the inflow port so as to avoid interference on the inflow of the molding fluid; when the number of the connecting sides of the jig is two, preferably, one of the connecting sides is provided with a groove corresponding to the inlet of the forming mold, so that the molding fluid can smoothly flow into the molding space. Further, in order to completely fill the entire molding space with the molding fluid, the upper mold and/or the lower mold may further have an air outlet passage (i.e., an air escape passage) so that the air in the molding space may flow out when the molding fluid is introduced into the molding space under high pressure, and a relatively low air pressure may be maintained in the molding space. After the molding is solidified and formed, the upper die and the lower die of the die are separated from each other, at the moment, because the molding and the forming die are tightly combined, the jointed board optical element and the jig are not easy to fall off from the upper forming die, therefore, a plurality of micropores are arranged on the upper die and the lower die, the micropores are suitable for enabling the thimble to pass through, and the molding equipment drives the thimble to push the optical element to mold the jointed board, so that the optical element and the jig are separated from the forming die together. The plurality of micropores can also connect the molding space with the outside air to play a role in ventilation. Also, the molding fluid is difficult to flow out of the channel due to the small diameter of the cells. Specifically, the liquid molding material has a high molecular structure, a large molecular volume, a small molecular chain spacing, and a high overall viscosity, so that the molding fluid is not easily leaked from the micropores by designing the size of the micropores. And the gas is composed of small molecules, so that the gas can pass through the micropores, thereby playing a role in ventilation. Note that in actual production, ejector pins for separating the mold and the molded product after molding tend to protrude into the minute holes. Therefore, the structure for ventilation is actually an air escape channel formed by the gap between the thimble and the micropore. Specifically, the clearance between the thimble and the micropore is the clearance between the outer peripheral surface of the thimble and the wall of the micropore. The clearance is less than a suitable threshold value, which simultaneously achieves the effect of gas escape and prevention of leakage of the liquid molding material. It should be noted that, when the connecting portion of the jig has the air escape channel, the air escape channel disposed on the connecting portion of the jig can also be designed based on the above principle. I.e. the size of the air escape channel may be smaller than a suitable threshold value, so that the air escape channel can simultaneously achieve the effect of air escape and prevention of leakage of the liquid molding material.

And cutting the optical element molding jointed board to obtain a plurality of strip-shaped optical elements with the outer peripheral surfaces wrapped by the molding layers. And further cutting the strip-shaped optical element with the outer peripheral surface coated with the molding layer to obtain the required monomer small-size optical element. The optical element may be, for example, a reflective optical element. The reflective optical element may be a reflective prism or other reflective element having a plurality of reflective surfaces, for example, a reflective element having two reflective surfaces and a cross section of a parallelogram.

Further, in one embodiment, for the optical element molding jointed board, cutting (which may be referred to as transverse cutting) may be performed along the direction of the axis of the original strip-shaped optical element to obtain a plurality of strip-shaped optical elements with their outer peripheral surfaces wrapped by the molding layer. Then, the strip-shaped optical element is cut (which may be referred to as longitudinal cutting) to obtain an optical element unit, and the optical element unit is processed into a finished optical element. Since the cut surface may be used as the incident surface or the exit surface of the finished optical element, and the cut surface may be rough in terms of the incident surface or the exit surface, the optical element unit with four cut surfaces covered with the molding layer may be further processed, for example, polished, etched, etc., so that the cut surface is smoother for use as the incident surface or the exit surface. In general, in this embodiment, the cut surface of the optical strip may be first subjected to any desired optical surface treatment, which may be any one or more of the steps or processes for processing the optical surface. Specifically, the optical surface processing treatment may include, for example, a smooth treatment such as polishing or grinding, or other treatment for forming a desired optical surface such as etching or photolithography.

Note that, when the bar-shaped optical element whose outer peripheral surface is covered with the molding layer is cut (i.e., longitudinally cut), the cut surface may be perpendicular to the axis of the bar-shaped optical element or may be oblique to the axis of the bar-shaped optical element. When the cut surface is inclined to the axis of the bar-shaped optical element, a reflecting element having two reflecting surfaces with a parallelogram in cross section can be obtained. When the cutting surface is perpendicular to the axis of the strip-shaped optical element, the obtained optical element can be obliquely cut again to obtain the prism with the shape of the prism.

Further, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a molded panel of optical elements showing exemplary lines of cuts in one embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 8, in this embodiment, for the optical element molding panel, the optical element molding panel may be cut longitudinally (in this embodiment, longitudinal cutting may be understood as cutting in a direction perpendicular to or oblique to an axial direction of the original strip-shaped optical element to be molded, and in fig. 8, a cutting direction 280 is longitudinal and perpendicular to the axial direction of the original strip-shaped optical element to be molded) to obtain a strip-shaped semi-finished product in which the molding layer and the optical material layer are arranged at intervals, and then the strip-shaped semi-finished product is cut transversely (in this embodiment, transverse cutting may be understood as cutting in a direction parallel to the axial direction of the original strip-shaped optical element to be molded, i.e., cutting along the axial direction of the original strip-shaped optical element to be molded, and in fig. 8, a cutting direction 290 is transverse and parallel to the axial direction of the original strip-shaped optical element to be molded) to obtain, thereby obtaining the required finished product of the monomer optical element. In this embodiment, the strip-shaped semi-finished product in which the molding layer and the optical material layer are arranged at intervals may be polished and etched, so that the cutting surface of the optical material layer is smoother to meet the requirements of the light incident surface or the light emergent surface, and then the strip-shaped semi-finished product is separated into a plurality of optical element units. The scheme is more suitable for processing technologies such as polishing, etching and the like, and is beneficial to batch production and improvement of production efficiency. Note that, in this embodiment, the optical material layer refers to a functional layer formed by an optical material (such as a lens material of resin or glass) of the strip-shaped semi-finished product, which is originally to be molded into the strip-shaped optical element. The term "molding layer spaced apart from the optical material layer" means that adjacent optical material layers are actually separated by the molding layer, and the molding layer itself in the bar-shaped semifinished product can be joined together to form a structure in which the optical material layer is surrounded by the molding layer.

It is to be noted that a partial area (or the entire area) of the surface of the above-mentioned strip-shaped optical element to be molded may be coated with a film, for example, a reflective film. And taking the coated strip-shaped optical element as a strip-shaped optical element to be molded. After molding and cutting in this way, a coated monolithic optical element can be obtained.

It is noted that the above-described strip-shaped optical element to be molded may be replaced with other strip-shaped elements requiring the attachment of a molding layer.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present invention and are not limited. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A jig is characterized by comprising a jig base body and a cover plate, wherein the jig base body comprises two jig arms and a connecting part for connecting the two jig arms;

the jig arms are provided with a plurality of mounting grooves, for any jig arm, the mounting groove of the jig arm is positioned on one side of the jig arm facing to the other jig arm, each mounting groove of the jig arm corresponds to one mounting groove of the other jig arm, and two end parts of each strip-shaped element to be molded are suitable for being embedded into the two corresponding mounting grooves of the two jig arms;

The cover plate is suitable for covering the mounting grooves, so that the strip-shaped elements to be molded are fixed between the two jig arms.

2. The jig of claim 1, wherein the depth of the mounting groove is in conformity with the thickness of the strip-shaped element to be molded.

3. The jig of claim 1, wherein the width of the mounting groove is identical to the width of the strip-shaped element to be molded.

4. The jig according to claim 1, wherein the depth of the mounting groove is smaller than the thickness of the strip-shaped element to be molded, and the bottom surface of the cover plate is provided with a groove adapted to the mounting groove, so that the circumferential surface (the outer side surface of the ring around the axis of the strip-shaped element) and the end surface of the two ends of the strip-shaped element to be molded are supported by the jig.

5. The jig of claim 1 wherein the jig base has a positioning structure to facilitate detachable connection of the jig base to the mold.

6. The jig of claim 1, wherein the jig base has a fixing structure so that the jig base and the cover plate are detachably connected.

7. The jig of claim 1, wherein for each jig arm, the distance between two adjacent mounting grooves is twice the thickness of the molding layer of the finished optical element or more than twice the thickness of the molding layer of the finished optical element.

8. The jig of claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is single, and the single connecting portion and the two jig arms form a concave shape; the concave opening part of the jig base body is arranged at a position corresponding to the injection port of the molding material.

9. The jig of claim 1, wherein the number of the connecting parts is two, and the two connecting parts and the two jig arms form a shape of a Chinese character 'hui'; at least one of the connecting portions has a flow guide passage provided at a position corresponding to the injection port of the molding material.

10. The jig of claim 1, wherein the connecting parts are single or multiple, wherein at least one of the connecting parts has an air escape channel; the air escape channel is a through hole or a groove.

11. A mould is characterized by comprising an upper mould and a lower mould; the lower die is suitable for accommodating the jig of any one of claims 1 to 11, after the upper die and the lower die are closed, the upper surface, the lower surface and the outer side surface of the jig are all pressed by the die, and the inner side surface of the jig, the upper die, the lower die and the strip-shaped element to be molded form a molding cavity together.

12. The mold of claim 11, wherein the mold has a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the first side having a molding material injection port, at least one of the connecting portions of the jig is disposed on the second side, and the connecting portion disposed on the second side has an air escape channel; the air escape channel is a through hole or a groove.

13. The mold according to claim 11, wherein a distance between the lower surface of the upper mold and the top surface of the strip-shaped component to be molded, and a distance between the upper surface of the lower mold and the bottom surface of the strip-shaped component to be molded are determined by the set thickness of the molding layer.

14. The mold according to claim 11, characterized in that the upper mold and/or the lower mold has an air escape channel through which the molding cavity communicates with the outside air.

15. The mold according to claim 11, wherein the upper mold and/or the lower mold has a micro-hole into which a pin for opening the mold protrudes.

16. The mold of claim 15, wherein a gap is provided between the micro-hole and the ejector pin extending into the micro-hole, the gap forming an air escape passage through which the molding cavity communicates with an external air.

17. The mold of claim 16 wherein said micro-holes are spaced from said pins extending into said micro-holes by a distance of 10-40 microns.

18. The mold according to claim 12, wherein the molding material injection port communicates with the molding cavity through an opening portion of the jig; or the molding material injection opening is communicated with the molding cavity through a flow guide channel positioned at the connecting part of the jig.

19. Mould according to claim 11, characterized in that said upper mould and/or said lower mould have protruding structures located above or below said strip-shaped element to be moulded.

20. The mold according to claim 19, wherein said protruding structure is a rib, the axis of said rib intersecting the axis of said strip-shaped element to be molded.

21. The mold according to claim 20, wherein said rib is arranged above or below a central region of said strip-shaped elements to be molded; the distance between the convex strips and the strip-shaped elements to be molded is not zero and is less than 100 micrometers.

22. The mold of claim 21, wherein said ribs are spaced from said strip-like elements to be molded by a distance of 10-50 microns.

23. A molding process for optical components, comprising:

1) preparing the jig of any one of claims 1 to 10, inserting a plurality of bar-shaped elements to be molded, which are bar-shaped optical elements to be molded, into the mounting grooves of the jig base;

2) covering the jig base body with the cover plate to fix the plurality of bar-shaped optical elements to be molded in the jig;

3) preparing a mold according to any one of claims 11 to 22, mounting a jig in which the plurality of strip-shaped optical elements to be molded are arranged in the mold;

4) injecting a liquid molding material into the molding cavity;

5) opening the mold after the molding material is solidified, and taking out the combined body of the jig and the optical element molding jointed board; and

6) and separating the jig to obtain the optical element molding jointed board.

24. A molding process for optical elements according to claim 23, further comprising, after said step 6):

7) and transversely and longitudinally cutting the optical element molding jointed board to obtain a finished single optical element, wherein the transverse cutting is the cutting with the cutting direction parallel to the strip-shaped optical element to be molded, and the longitudinal cutting is the cutting with the cutting direction perpendicular to or oblique to the strip-shaped optical element to be molded.

25. The molding process method for an optical element according to claim 24, wherein said step 7) includes:

71) firstly, transversely cutting the optical element molding jointed board to obtain a strip-shaped optical element with the outer peripheral surface wrapped by a molding layer; and

72) and then longitudinally cutting the strip-shaped optical element with the outer peripheral surface coated with the molding layer to obtain an optical element unit, and further obtaining a single optical element finished product.

26. The molding process method for an optical element according to claim 25, wherein said step 7) includes:

71) firstly, longitudinally cutting the optical element molding jointed board to obtain a strip-shaped semi-finished product with a molding layer and an optical material layer arranged at intervals;

72) then, carrying out optical surface processing treatment on the cutting surface of the strip-shaped semi-finished product; and

73) and finally, transversely cutting the strip-shaped semi-finished product to obtain an optical element unit, and further obtaining a single optical element finished product.