CN113461313A

CN113461313A - Multi-station glass molding system and method of making same

Info

Publication number: CN113461313A
Application number: CN202010233618.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 洪水斌; 郑文池; 周明源
Original assignee: Young Optics Inc
Current assignee: Young Optics Inc
Priority date: 2020-03-30
Filing date: 2020-03-30
Publication date: 2021-10-01

Abstract

A multi-station glass molding system comprising: first to third processing stations, first and second conveying mechanisms. The second processing station includes a heater, a platen, a base, and a servo motor. The platen is thermally coupled to a heater. The servo motor may drive the platen. The controller is electrically connected with the heater and the servo motor. The base is exposed to the outside. The first conveying mechanism is connected with the first processing station and the second processing station. The second conveying mechanism is connected with the second processing station and the third processing station. In addition, a manufacturing method of the multi-station glass molding system is provided.

Description

Multi-station glass molding system and method of making same

Technical Field

The invention relates to a glass molding system and a manufacturing method thereof, in particular to a multi-station glass molding system and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background

Since the glass lens is superior to the plastic lens in temperature resistance, it is suitable for an optical lens in the application fields of vehicle and security, etc., where the variation of the environmental temperature is large. In recent years, as the demand for the above-mentioned application fields has exploded, the demand for manufacturing glass lenses has also sharply increased.

The molding systems for manufacturing glass lenses can be classified into two types, one is a single-station glass molding system, and the other is a multi-station glass molding system. The single-station glass molding system is implemented by integrating the manufacturing processes of multiple glass molds in the same workstation, compared to the multi-station glass molding system, which distributes the different manufacturing processes among different workstations. The single station glass molding system is slow to manufacture and is difficult to meet the existing manufacturing requirements. For faster manufacturing speeds, multi-station glass molding systems have become the mainstream for glass lens manufacturing.

In conventional multi-station glass press systems, one processing station is typically dedicated to performing a glass press process. In the processing station, an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve are usually provided, wherein a lower mold core is arranged in the inner sleeve to serve as a placing table for the glass material, and the outer sleeve accommodates the inner sleeve and is higher than the inner sleeve. Then, the pressing plate applies pressure to the upper mold core to make the upper mold core approach to the lower mold core so as to perform a pressing process on the glass material. The outer sleeve applies a reaction force to the press plate when the press plate is pressed down to a critical point, so that the press plate cannot be pressed down any more, which means that the press of the glass material is completed. In other words, the conventional multi-station glass molding system can control the molding distance of the upper mold core by the height of the outer sleeve.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a multi-station glass molding system which adopts fewer components, can monitor the actual molding depth in real time and has good manufacturing yield.

The invention provides a manufacturing method of a multi-station glass molding system, which is used for manufacturing the multi-station glass molding system.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-station glass molding system, comprising: the device comprises a first processing station, a second processing station, a controller, a third processing station, a first conveying mechanism and a second conveying mechanism. The second processing station includes a heater, a platen, a base, a servo motor, and a power supply. The base is provided with a first positioning structure, and the first positioning structure can correspond to a second positioning structure of a mold. The base is exposed to the outside. The servo motor may drive the platen. The power supply is electrically connected with the servo motor. The controller is electrically connected with the heater and the servo motor. And the first conveying mechanism is connected with the first processing station and the second processing station. And the second conveying mechanism is connected with the second processing station and the third processing station.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-station glass molding system including a first processing station, a second processing station, a third processing station, a first conveying mechanism, and a second conveying mechanism. The second processing station includes a heater, a platen, a base, a servo motor, and a controller. The platen is thermally coupled to a heater. The base is provided with a first positioning structure, and the first positioning structure can correspond to a second positioning structure of a mold. The base is exposed to the outside. The servo motor can receive a current of a certain magnitude to drive the platen in an axial direction. And the controller is electrically connected with the heater and the servo motor. The first conveying mechanism is connected with the first processing station and the second processing station. And the second conveying mechanism is connected with the second processing station and the third processing station.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a multi-station glass press molding system, which mainly comprises the following steps. A first processing station is assembled. A second processing station is assembled. The second processing station comprises a heater, a pressing plate, a base, a servo motor, a power supply and a controller, wherein the pressing plate is thermally coupled with the heater, the base is provided with a first positioning structure, the first positioning structure can correspond to a second positioning structure of a mold, the base is exposed to the outside, the servo motor is coupled with the pressing plate, the power supply is electrically connected with the servo motor, and the controller is electrically connected with the heater and the servo motor. A third processing station is assembled. And assembling a first conveying mechanism and a second conveying mechanism, wherein the first conveying mechanism is connected with the first processing station and the second processing station, and the second conveying mechanism is connected with the second processing station and the third processing station.

Based on the above, in the multi-station glass molding system according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the base is exposed to the outside and the outer sleeve is omitted, the manufacturing cost of the glass lens can be reduced. In addition, the embodiment of the invention also provides a manufacturing method for manufacturing the multi-station glass molding system.

The foregoing description is only an overview of the technical solutions of the present invention, and in order to make the technical means of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention may be implemented in accordance with the content of the description, and in order to make the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the following preferred embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a multi-station glass press molding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2A-2E are schematic cross-sectional views of different processing stations of the multi-station glass press system of the embodiment of fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is a graph of time versus press distance for different workpieces produced by the multi-station glass press molding system of the embodiment of FIG. 1 during a first heat press process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the steps for making the multi-station glass molding system of FIG. 1.

Detailed Description

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a multi-station glass press molding system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2A-2E are schematic cross-sectional views of different processing stations of the multi-station glass press system of the embodiment of fig. 1. FIG. 3 is a graph of time versus press distance for different workpieces produced by the multi-station glass press molding system of the embodiment of FIG. 1 during a first heat press process.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2A-2E, in the present example, the multi-station glass molding system 100 includes a plurality of processing stations PS 1-PS 5 (five for example) and a plurality of transport structures TM 1-TM 5 (five for example). In this example, the processing stations PS 1-PS 5 are dedicated to different steps in the glass molding process. Referring to fig. 1 and 2A-2E, the processing station PS1 is dedicated to the loading and unloading steps in the glass molding process. Station PS2 (or first station) is dedicated to the preheating step in the glass molding process. The processing station PS3 (or called second processing station) and the processing station PS4 (or called third processing station) are dedicated to the first and second heating and pressing steps of the glass molding process, respectively. Processing station PS5 is dedicated to the cooling step in the glass molding process. The processing stations PS 1-PS 5 can also be considered as different zones where different steps are performed. The specific architecture of each processing station PS 1-PS 5 is described in the following paragraphs.

Referring to fig. 2A, the processing station PS1 includes a conveyor CB, a base B, and a first positioning structure FS1 of a mold (molding mold) M. The base B is arranged on the conveying belt CB. The base B has an accommodating space AS. In addition, a first positioning structure FS1 is disposed in the accommodating space AS of the base B, and the first positioning structure FS1 may correspond to a second positioning structure FS2 (not shown in fig. 2A and fig. 2C) of the mold M. In this example, the first and second positioning structures FS1 and FS2 of the mold M are, for example, a lower mold core (mold core) and an upper mold core (mold core), respectively. It is worth mentioning that the base B is exposed to the outside, in other words, the outer side of the base B is not provided with an outer sleeve.

Referring to fig. 2B, processing station PS2 (or the first processing station) includes heaters H1, H2 and a connecting rod R1. The heaters H1 and H2 are members that can generate heat when energized, and the heaters H1 and H2 are disposed to face each other. One end of the link R1 is mechanically coupled to the heater H1, wherein the link R1 is adapted to be forced to drive the heater H1 so that the heater H1 moves in the axial direction of the link R1.

Referring to fig. 2C, the processing station PS3 (or called as the second processing station) includes a second positioning structure FS2 of the mold M, heaters H3 and H4, a connecting rod R2, a servo motor SM1, a platen P, a power supply PS, and a controller C. The second positioning structure FS2 is, for example, an upper core of the mold M. The heaters H3, H4 are provided to face each other. The platen P is disposed between the heater H3 and the second positioning structure FS2, and is thermally coupled to the heater H3. The servo motor SM1 is electrically connected to the power supply PS, and the servo motor SM1 is mechanically coupled to the link R2, wherein the link R2 is adapted to receive a force from the servo motor SM1 to drive the heater H3 so as to move the heater H3 along the axial direction of the link R2. The power supply PS is configured to supply a current to the servo motor SM 1. The Controller C may be a calculator, a Microprocessor (MCU), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or other Programmable Controller (Microprocessor), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Programmable Controller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or the like.

Referring to fig. 2D, the processing station PS4 (or the third processing station) has a similar structure to that of the processing station PS3 because its function is similar to that of the processing station PS3, and thus is not described herein again.

Referring to fig. 2E, processing station PS5 includes heaters H5, H6, and link R3. The heaters H5, H6 are provided to face each other. One end of the link R3 is mechanically coupled to the heater H5, wherein the link R3 is adapted to be forced to drive the heater H5 so that the heater H5 moves in the axial direction of the link R3.

Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2A to fig. 2E, in the present embodiment, the conveying structures TM1 to TM5 are, for example, structures capable of gripping or pushing the workpiece W and conveying the workpiece W in one direction. The transport structures TM 1-TM 5 (indicated by arrows) may be transport arms or motors with push rods.

The operation of the multi-station glass molding system 100 of the present embodiment will be described in detail in the following paragraphs.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2A, first, the conveyor CB transports the susceptor B having the first positioning structure FS1 to the workstation PS 1. In the station PS1, a raw workpiece W (e.g., glass material) can be placed on the first positioning structure FS1 (lower mold core) of the mold M to complete the loading step. Transport mechanism TM1 and moves susceptor B from workstation PS1 to workstation PS 2.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2B, the susceptor B is disposed on the heater H2 by the conveying mechanism TM 1. In station PS2, link R1 drives heater H1 to move down into contact with base B so that base B is disposed between heaters H1 and H2. The heaters H1, H2 transfer heat to the workpiece W to preheat the workpiece W to complete the preheating step, wherein the temperature range in celsius for the entire preheating step falls within the range of 450 to 500 degrees, but not limited thereto. After the preheating step, the link R1 drives the heater H1 to move away from the susceptor B, and the transfer mechanism TM2 moves the susceptor B from the station PS2 to the station PS 3.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2C, the susceptor B is disposed on the heater H4 by the conveying mechanism TM 2. In the workstation PS3, the general practice is: the servo motor SM1 drives the link R2 to drive the heater H3, the platen P and the second positioning structure FS2 (upper mold core) to move downward, so that the second positioning structure FS2 contacts the workpiece W. The heaters H3, H4 transfer heat to the workpiece W, and the platen P nips the other side of the workpiece W by the second positioning structure FS2 to complete the first heat-nip step, in which the temperature range in celsius of the entire first heat-nip step falls within the range of 500 degrees to 600 degrees.

In the present embodiment, since the base B is exposed to the outside, i.e. the outer side of the base B is not provided with the outer sleeve, that is, the reaction force exerted by the outer sleeve and the second positioning structure FS2 in the prior art to control the pressing distance (or the pressing distance) of the second positioning structure FS2 is lacked in the heating and pressing process of fig. 2C, if the pressing distance is not controlled, the yield is decreased and the number of unnecessary steps is increased. In the following paragraphs, how the station PS3 of the multi-station glass molding system 100 of the present embodiment controls the press forming distance will be described in detail.

Referring to fig. 3, the time period for performing the first thermal pressing process is divided into three time periods, which are respectively referred to as a first time period T1, a second time period T2, and a third time period T3, wherein the first time period T1 represents: the second positioning structure FS2 is not in contact with the workpiece W or slightly in contact with the workpiece W, and the second time period T2 represents the meaning: the second positioning structure FS2 is heated by the heaters H3, H4 after contacting the workpiece W, and the third time period T3 represents meaning: and forming the workpiece W.

First, in a first time period T1, the controller C outputs a control signal CS to the power supply PS, so that the power supply PS outputs a current having a first current magnitude to the servo motor SM1 for a first time period, wherein the first current magnitude is a fixed value. At this time, after the servo motor SM1 receives the current with the first current, the driving link R2 drives the heater H3, the platen P, and the second positioning structure FS2 to press down to the workpiece W. The encoder of the servo motor SM1 also obtains the first height information of the platen P according to the first time length and the current of the first current magnitude.

Then, in a second time period T2, the controller C outputs the control signal CS to the power supply PS, so that the power supply PS outputs a current having a second current magnitude to the servo motor SM1 for a second time period, wherein the second current magnitude is a fixed value. At this time, after the servo motor SM1 receives the current with the second current, the link R2 is driven to drive the heater H3, the platen P, and the second positioning structure FS2 to press and heat the workpiece W, and the workpiece W is in a molten state due to the heating relationship, so that the pressing distance in this time period is greatly increased. The encoder of the servo motor SM1 also obtains second height information of the platen P according to the second time length and the current of the second current magnitude.

Finally, in the third time period T3, the controller C outputs the control signal CS to the power supply PS, so that the power supply PS outputs a current having a third current magnitude and lasting for a third time period to the servo motor SM1, wherein the third current magnitude is a fixed value. At this time, after the servo motor SM1 receives the current with the third current, the link R2 is continuously driven to drive the heater H3, the platen P, and the second positioning structure FS2 to press and heat the workpiece W, and the workpiece W is formed, so that the pressing distance in this period is not greatly increased. The encoder of the servo motor SM1 also obtains third height information of the platen P based on the third time duration and the current of the third current magnitude.

Accordingly, the controller C can estimate the height position of the platen P based on the first to third height information of the platen P obtained by the encoder of the servo motor SM 1. It should be noted that, since the third time period T3 is the workpiece forming stage, the pressing distance does not vary much, and in other embodiments, the controller C may estimate the height position of the pressing plate P only according to the first and second height information. Then, the controller C determines whether the height falls within a preset height range according to the estimated height position of the platen P. If the height position of the pressing plate P falls within the preset height range, which means that the error introduced by the heating and pressing step of the workpiece W is small, and that the first heating and pressing process is not problematic, the controller C continues to operate the step of the processing station PS 3. If the height position of the platen P does not fall within the preset height range, it means that the error introduced by the heating and pressing step of the workpiece W is large, which means that the step is problematic (e.g., the workpiece 9 of fig. 3, obviously, the pressing distance is small). At this time, the controller C sends an alarm signal to notify the user to stop the multi-station glass molding system 100 or directly stop the multi-station glass molding system 100.

In view of the above, in the multi-station glass molding system 100 of the present embodiment, since the base B is exposed to the outside (i.e., the outer sleeve is not disposed outside the base B), the manufacturing distance can be monitored in real time without using the outer sleeve, and the manufacturing yield is good.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2D, the susceptor B is disposed on the heater H4 by the conveying mechanism TM 3. In the station PS4, the process is the same as that of the station PS3, and thus the description is omitted here.

Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2E, the susceptor B is disposed on the heater H6 by the conveying mechanism TM 4. In the station PS5, the link R3 drives the heater H5 to move down to contact the susceptor B, so that the susceptor B is held by the heaters H5, H6, wherein the temperature range of the whole cooling step is smaller than that of the first pressing step, and falls within a range of 590 to 20 degrees celsius, for example. Therefore, the workpiece W is less likely to be chipped by rapid cooling. After the cooling step is completed, the conveyor TM5 susceptor B is finally moved from the station PS5 to the station PS 1. And the work W (glass lens) having completed the above steps is taken out in the station PS1 to complete the blanking step (not shown).

It should be noted that, the following embodiments follow the contents of the foregoing embodiments, descriptions of the same technical contents are omitted, reference may be made to the contents of the foregoing embodiments for the same element names, and repeated descriptions of the following embodiments are omitted.

Referring to fig. 2C again, in another embodiment, the first to third height information of the pressing plate P can also be obtained by a variable current method.

In detail, the controller C may perform first to third procedures, wherein the first procedure may move the servo motor SM1 by a first distance D1 at a first speed V1 during a first period T1, the second procedure may move the servo motor SM1 by a second distance D2 at a second speed V2 during a second period T2, and the third procedure may move the servo motor SM1 by a third distance D3 at a third speed V3 during a third period T3. That is, in different time periods T1 to T3, the controller C sets the servo motor SM1 to move a certain distance at a certain speed. However, in each of the time periods T1 to T3, the states of the workpiece W at different times in each of the time periods T1 to T3 are different, and the different states of the workpiece W cause the platen P to receive different resistance from the workpiece W, but in order to satisfy the condition of moving at a specific speed for a specific distance, the current value (i.e., the variable current) applied to the servo motor SM1 by the power supply PS in any one time period is also different. However, the servo motor SM1 can determine the first to third height information of the platen P according to the variable current value and the time length of different time periods T1-T3 to determine the height position of the platen P. The subsequent steps are substantially similar to the preceding paragraphs and will not be described herein.

The manufacturing method for manufacturing the multi-station glass press system of fig. 1 has the following steps S100 to S400 as described in fig. 4, which will be described in the following paragraphs.

In step S100: the first processing station PS2 is assembled.

In step S200, the second processing station PS3 is assembled, the second processing station PS3 includes a heater H3, a platen P, a base B, a servo motor SM1, a power supply PS, and a controller C, the platen P is thermally coupled to the heater H3, the base B has a first positioning structure FS1, the first positioning structure FS1 can correspond to the second positioning structure FS2 of the mold M, wherein the base B is exposed to the outside, the servo motor SM1 is coupled to the platen P, the power supply PS is electrically connected to the servo motor SM1, and the controller C is electrically connected to the H3 heater and the servo motor SM 1.

In step S300, the third processing station PS4 is assembled.

In step S400, the first conveying mechanism TM1 is connected to the first processing station PS2 and the second processing station PS3, and the second conveying mechanism TM2 is connected to the second processing station PS3 and the third processing station PS 4.

In summary, compared with the multi-station glass molding system in the prior art, the design of the outer sleeve is adopted, so that the manufacturing cost of the glass lens cannot be effectively reduced. In the multi-station glass molding system of the embodiment of the invention, because the base is exposed to the outside (namely, the outer sleeve is not arranged outside the base), the outer sleeve is omitted, and the manufacturing cost of the glass lens can be reduced. In addition, under the condition of not using an outer sleeve, when the multi-station glass molding system utilizes the pressing plate to press the workpiece, the controller can judge the height of the pressing plate according to the current value of the power supply and the current application time length of the power supply. Alternatively, the controller may specify different speeds and distances that the servo motor moves at different time periods, and determine the platen height based on the current values and time durations used during these time periods. The controller judges whether the pressing distance meets the preset range according to the height of the pressing plate. If not, the controller sends out a warning signal or stops the machine to remind a user of removing obstacles of the multi-station glass molding system. Therefore, the multi-station glass molding system can monitor the actual molding depth in real time, reduce the subsequent quality management cost and have good manufacturing yield. In addition, the embodiment of the invention also provides a manufacturing method for manufacturing the multi-station glass molding system.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-station glass molding system, comprising:

a first processing station;

a second processing station including a heater, a platen, a base, a servo motor, a power supply, and a controller, wherein:

the platen is thermally coupled to the heater;

the base is provided with a first positioning structure, the first positioning structure can correspond to a second positioning structure of a mold, and the base is exposed to the outside;

the servo motor is coupled with the pressure plate;

the power supply is electrically connected with the servo motor; and

the controller is electrically connected with the heater and the servo motor;

a third processing station;

the first conveying mechanism is connected with the first processing station and the second processing station; and

and the second conveying mechanism is connected with the second processing station and the third processing station.

2. The multi-station glass press system of claim 1, wherein the controller is operable to execute a first program comprising:

outputting the control signal to the power supply to enable the power supply to output the current with a first current magnitude to the servo motor for a first time length; and

and outputting the control signal to the power supply so that the power supply outputs a current with a second current magnitude to the servo motor for a second time length.

3. The multi-station glass press system of claim 2, wherein the first program further comprises:

and outputting the control signal to the power supply so that the power supply outputs a current with a third current magnitude to the servo motor for a third time length.

4. The multi-station glass molding system of claim 3, wherein the first current magnitude is a fixed value, the second current magnitude is a fixed value, and the third current magnitude is a fixed value.

5. A multi-station glass molding system, comprising:

a first processing station;

a second processing station including a heater, a platen, a base and a controller:

the platen is thermally coupled with the heater;

the servo motor can receive a current with a specific magnitude to drive the pressure plate along an axial direction; and

the controller is electrically connected with the heater and the servo motor;

a third processing station;

6. The multi-station glass press system as in claim 5, wherein the controller is capable of executing a first program and a second program comprising: the first program may move the servo motor a first distance at a first speed for a first period of time; the second program may cause the servo motor to move a second distance at a second speed for a second period of time.

7. The multi-station glass press molding system of claim 6, wherein the controller further executes a third program that causes the servo motor to move a third distance at a third speed for a third period of time.

8. The multi-station glass press system of claim 7, wherein the first speed is a fixed value, the second speed is a fixed value, and the third speed is a fixed value.

9. The multi-station glass press molding system of claim 7, wherein the second processing station further comprises a power supply in electrical communication with the servo motor, the power supply supplying current to the servo motor, wherein,

the current value supplied to the servo motor by the power supply is a non-constant value in the first period,

the current value supplied to the servo motor by the power supply is a non-constant value in the second period,

and in the third time interval, the current value supplied to the servo motor by the power supply is an indeterminate value.

10. A method of manufacturing a multi-station glass molding system, comprising:

assembling a first processing station;

assembling a second processing station, wherein the second processing station comprises a heater, a pressing plate, a base, a servo motor, a power supply and a controller, the pressing plate is thermally coupled with the heater, the base is provided with a first positioning structure, the first positioning structure can correspond to a second positioning structure of a mold, the base is exposed to the outside, the servo motor is coupled with the pressing plate, the power supply is electrically connected with the servo motor, and the controller is electrically connected with the heater and the servo motor;

assembling a third processing station; and

and assembling a first conveying mechanism and a second conveying mechanism, wherein the first conveying mechanism is connected with the first processing station and the second processing station, and the second conveying mechanism is connected with the second processing station and the third processing station.