JP2007229648A - Spin coat apparatus for lens - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spin coat apparatus for lens adaptive to lens face shapes of various lenses and forming a suitable coating film in the application of a coating liquid on a lens by a spin coat method. <P>SOLUTION: The spin coat apparatus 1 is provided with a rotary holding table 3 rotating around a vertical axis while a lens L for glasses is placed on the rotary holding table 3, a spin cup 5 provided with, on the side surface covering the surroundings of the rotary holding table 3, an opening part 56 for recovering a hard coat liquid LQ spinning out from a concave face La of the rotated lens L of glasses, and a discharge part 8 for discharging the hard coat liquid LQ on the concave face La of the lens L for glasses. The hard coat liquid LQ is applied onto the concave face La of the lens L of glasses by relatively moving the spin cup 5 and the rotary holding table in the vertical axis direction in accordance with the lens face shape of the lens L for glasses. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a spin coater that applies a coating solution to lens surfaces of various lenses.

In general, coating is applied to various industrial fields as a method for protecting an object to be coated and imparting appearance performance to the object to be coated, and as a method for providing a high function to the object to be coated with high added value. It is used.
In the field of optics, for example, in the lens manufacturing industry, it is a common practice to improve the performance and function by applying various coating processes to the lens surface. In recent years, plastic lenses have been rapidly spread and widely used in various devices because they are excellent in moldability and processability, are lightweight, and are difficult to break. In particular, in the case of a plastic spectacle lens, the surface of the lens is used after being subjected to various coating processes such as a primer process, a hard coat process, and an antireflection process.

The primer processing is processing for imparting functions such as improving adhesion between the plastic spectacle lens substrate and the hard coat film and improving impact resistance. Generally, the primer composition is applied to the surface of the plastic spectacle lens. After the coating, a heat curing treatment is performed.
Hard coat processing is processing that provides functions such as improving the durability of the plastic spectacle lens surface and improving adhesion to the antireflection film. Generally, a hard coating composition is applied to the surface of the plastic spectacle lens. After the coating, a heat curing treatment is performed.
Furthermore, the antireflection processing is processing that prevents the surface reflection of the plastic spectacle lens and prevents the decrease in the transmittance of the optical system, the increase in light that does not contribute to the image formation, and the decrease in the contrast of the image. This antireflection treatment is performed by applying an antireflection film composition on a hard coat layer formed directly on a plastic spectacle lens substrate or on a hard coat layer formed on a plastic spectacle lens substrate via a primer layer. Then, it is performed by performing a curing treatment.

  A spin coating method is preferably used for such coating processing such as primer processing, hard coating processing, and antireflection processing. In the spin coating method, a coating composition as a coating solution is discharged onto the surface of a rotating plastic spectacle lens that is held on a rotating table of a spin coating apparatus to form a coating film. The formation of a coating film by spin coating is widely used because a uniform film can be obtained over the entire surface of the plastic spectacle lens and the processing speed can be high.

However, when a coating film is formed on the surface of the lens using a spin coater, the surplus of the coating liquid discharged on the surface of the rotating lens is scattered radially toward the outer periphery of the lens by the rotational centrifugal force. . The scattered coating liquid collides with the wall surface of the spin cup to become mist and adheres to the surface of the lens, or the coating liquid adhered to the wall surface of the spin cup dries and becomes dust and adheres to the surface of the lens. It was difficult to prevent the appearance failure due to.
In order to cope with such problems, a spin head (same as the rotary table) that rotates the sample around the vertical axis with a sample placed on the upper surface, and a chemical splash prevention cup (same as the spin cup) that covers the periphery of the spin head are provided. A spin coater is disclosed in which an exhaust port for discharging air containing chemical mist floating on the spin head is provided on the wall surface of the chemical splash prevention cup above the spin head (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-43665

However, when spin-coating a coating solution onto the lens surface of a lens, unlike a semiconductor wafer or optical disk or other flat coated object as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the coating is applied to a lens surface having a curved surface. Liquid processing is required. Particularly in spectacle lenses, a meniscus lens having a convex surface and a concave surface on the lens surface is common, and the curvature of the lens surface varies depending on the prescription.
In view of these problems, the present invention provides a lens spin coat apparatus that can form a suitable coating film corresponding to various lens surface shapes in a coating process of a coating liquid by a spin coating method of a lens. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, a spin coating apparatus for a lens according to the present invention is a spin coating apparatus that performs a coating process on a lens by a spin coating method, and the lens is placed on an upper surface around a vertical axis. A rotation holding table that rotates, a spin cup that covers the periphery of the rotation holding table, and a discharge unit that discharges a coating liquid to the lens, and the side wall of the spin cup is shaken off from the rotating lens. An opening for collecting the coating liquid is provided.

  According to this configuration, when the coating process is performed on the lens surface of the lens by the spin coating method, an opening for collecting the coating liquid is provided on the side wall of the spin cup that covers the periphery of the rotation holding table. The coating liquid discharged from the discharge unit and shaken off from the lens surface is collected from the opening on the lens surface of the lens that is mounted on the rotation holding table and rotates. This prevents the coating liquid shaken off from the lens surface from colliding with the side wall of the spin cup and scattering, and enables the formation of a suitable coating film that suppresses appearance defects due to the scattered coating liquid. A device is obtained.

  In the spin coating apparatus for a lens of the present invention, the spin cup and the rotation holding table are arranged so that the position where the coating liquid shaken off from the rotating lens reaches the spin cup side wall is the opening position. Based on the lens surface shape of the lens and the number of rotations when the lens is rotated, the rotation holder is relatively moved in the vertical axis direction.

  According to this configuration, the spin cup that covers the periphery of the rotation holding table provided with the opening for collecting the coating liquid on the side wall, and the rotation holding table on which the lens that performs the coating process on the lens surface is rotated. Relative movement in the vertical axis direction of the holding base supports various lens surface shapes with different curvatures, and the coating liquid shaken off from the rotating lens surface collides with the side wall of the spin cup and scatters. It is possible to obtain a spin coat apparatus that can prevent the appearance defect caused by the scattered coating liquid and can form a suitable coating film.

  The lens spin coating apparatus according to the present invention further includes a pair of detection sensors for detecting the coating liquid on the upper and lower surfaces of the spin cup side wall across the opening along the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table. And when the pair of detection sensors detect the adhesion of the coating liquid shaken off from the rotating lens, the position correction is performed such that the spin cup and the rotation holding table are relatively moved in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table. It is performed.

  According to this configuration, the pair of detection sensors includes the pair of detection sensors that detect the coating liquid in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table sandwiching the opening that collects the coating liquid provided on the side wall of the spin cup. When a change in the detection value is detected, position correction is performed in which the rotation holding table and the spin cup on which the lens to be coated is placed on the lens surface are relatively moved in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table. As a result, the coating liquid shaken off from the rotating lens surface is stopped by the stop position of the opening due to an erroneous input of input information such as coating processing conditions input to the spin coat apparatus, or an increase in the viscosity of the coating liquid. Even if the stop position of the rotary holding base is shifted, the position is corrected to a predetermined position to prevent the coating liquid from colliding with the side wall of the spin cup and scattering, and suppressing appearance defects due to the scattered coating liquid Thus, a spin coat apparatus that can form a suitable coating film can be obtained.

First, the configuration of the spin coater according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a spin coater of the present invention showing a mode in which a coating solution is spin-coated on a concave surface of a lens, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the spin coater in FIG. It is an arrow view.

  1 and 2, a spin coat apparatus 1 is an apparatus that performs a coating process on a plastic spectacle lens L by a spin coat method. The spin coat apparatus 1 includes a base 2, a rotation holding table 3 that holds the spectacle lens L, a rotation mechanism 4 that rotates the rotation holding table 3, and a cylindrical spin cup 5 that houses the rotation holding table 3. A lifting / lowering table 6 for holding and fixing the spin cup 5, a lifting / lowering unit 7 for lifting / lowering the lifting / lowering table 6 (spin cup 5), a discharge unit 8 for discharging a coating liquid, a control unit 9, and an operation unit 10. Yes.

  The base 2 has, for example, a circular shape, and three guide shafts 21 are fixed at positions that surround the outer periphery of the cylindrical spin cup 5 disposed above the base 2. The three guide shafts 21 are disposed at substantially equal distances from the center on the central angle that divides the circular shape into three equal parts. The rotation mechanism 4 is attached to the center of the base 2, and the lifting unit 7 is attached to the upper surface of the base 2 between the rotation mechanism 4 and the three guide shafts 21.

  The rotation holding table 3 is a cylindrical holding table arranged substantially horizontally with respect to the base 2, and the substantially cylindrical center is connected to the center axis of the rotation shaft 46 of the rotation mechanism 4. It rotates with 46 rotation. A spectacle lens L on which the hard coat liquid LQ is spin-coated is placed on the rotation holder 3 and has a vacuum chuck function for holding the spectacle lens L. The rotation holding table 3 is disposed in the spin cup 5. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a spectacle lens L to be spin coated, which will be described later, is placed and held on the rotation holding table 3 with the concave surface La, which is one of the lens surfaces, on the discharge unit 8 side. An aspect is shown.

  The rotation mechanism 4 includes a spindle motor 41, a drive shaft 42 of the spindle motor 41, a substantially cylindrical first pulley 43 that is integrally provided at substantially the center of the outer peripheral surface of the drive shaft 42, and the first pulley 43. A timing belt 44 wound around the outer peripheral surface of one pulley 43, a substantially cylindrical second pulley 45 provided adjacent to the first pulley 43 and wound around the outer peripheral surface; The rotary shaft 46 is provided integrally with the inner peripheral surface of the second pulley 45 and has one end connected to the lower portion of the rotary holding base 3.

  The rotation shaft 46 extends upward in the vertical direction of the base 2 with the second pulley 45 on the lower surface side of the base 2 and is rotatably attached to the base 2 via a bearing or the like. The rotary shaft 46 is provided with a suction pipe connected to a vacuum suction device (not shown) along the central axis. The spindle motor 41 is rotationally driven based on a control signal from the control unit 9.

The spin cup 5 is a container for housing the rotation holding table 3 connected to the rotation shaft 46 of the rotation mechanism 4 in the cup and processing an excess coating liquid generated when spin coating is performed. Side plate portion 51, bottom plate portion 52, cylindrical side walls 53, 54, upper plate portion 55, and liquid detection sensors 57, 58, and the bottom surface of bottom plate portion 52 is fixed to the upper surface of lifting platform 6. Has been.
Further, an exhaust pipe 51 </ b> A connected to an exhaust fan is provided on the side surface of the cylindrical side plate portion 51. The bottom plate portion 52 is connected and fixed to the lower end surface of the cylindrical side plate portion 51, and has a hole penetrating vertically at the center of the circular shape, and the rotation shaft 46 is inserted through this hole.

  The cylindrical side walls 53 and 54 are formed in a cylindrical shape having substantially the same inner diameter, have an inner diameter that allows the spectacle lens L to be attached to and detached from the rotation holding table 3, and have a cylindrical side plate portion with a substantially center of the cylindrical shape. With the approximate center of 51, it is provided inside the side plate portion 51 so as to cover the periphery of the rotation holding table 3.

The cylindrical side wall 53 is connected and fixed to the bottom plate portion 52. On the other hand, the cylindrical side wall 54 is connected and fixed to the upper plate portion 55, and an opening 56 having a predetermined width α in which the cylindrical upper end surface of the side wall 53 and the cylindrical lower end surface of the side wall 54 are separated by a predetermined distance is formed. Is formed. That is, the cylindrical side walls 53 and 54 are configured as inner cups of the spin cup 5.
The predetermined width α of the opening 56 will be described later with reference to FIG.

Further, a pair of liquid detection sensors 57, on the side of the side wall 53 forming the opening 56 and the side of the rotation holding base 3 (rotating shaft 46) of the side wall 54, with the opening 56 sandwiched in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding base 3. 58 is installed. The size of each of the liquid detection sensors 57 and 58 in the vertical axis direction of the rotary holding base 3 is about a predetermined width α of the opening 56.
The liquid detection sensors 57 and 58 are, for example, capacitive sensors, detect changes in the detection value (capacitance value) on the sensor surface, and the detection signal is output to the control unit 9.

A rotating body-shaped region β formed by the cylindrical side plate portion 51, the bottom plate portion 52, the upper plate portion 55, and the cylindrical side walls 53 and 54 is drained of excess coating liquid generated when spin coating is performed. The bottom plate portion 52 is provided with a drain pipe 52A connected to the storage container. The drain plate 52A functions as an air exhaust duct containing a mist of the container and excess coating liquid.
The spin cup 5 configured as described above is attached to the upper surface of the lifting platform 6.

The lifting platform 6 has a hole penetrating vertically in the center and a guide hole that passes through the three guide shafts 21 that are fixed to the base 2. A rotating shaft 46 is inserted through a hole penetrating vertically at the center.
The elevating unit 7 is a hydraulic cylinder. When the hydraulic pump 71 is operated based on a control signal from the control unit 9, the rod 72 is expanded and contracted, and the elevating platform 6 is along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 46 of the rotating mechanism 4. Move up and down in the vertical direction. That is, the spin cup 5 attached to the lifting platform 6 moves up and down along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 46 of the rotating mechanism 4.

  The discharge unit 8 includes a discharge valve 81 and a discharge nozzle 82, and applies the hard coat liquid LQ from above the rotation holding table 3 toward the application surface (upper surface) of the spectacle lens L placed on the rotation holding table 3. A device for discharging. The discharge valve 81 operates based on a control signal from the control unit 9 and discharges the hard coat liquid LQ in a container tank (not shown) from the discharge nozzle 82 via a pipe. When the hard coat liquid LQ is discharged from the discharge nozzle 82, it is preferable that the position of the discharge nozzle 82 and the center of the rotating spectacle lens L (the center of the drive shaft 42) are substantially matched.

The control unit 9 controls the operation of the spindle motor 41 of the rotation mechanism 4, the discharge valve 81, and the hydraulic pump 71 of the lifting unit 7.
The operation unit 10 includes lens shape information such as the curvature and outer diameter of the concave surface La and the convex surface Lb of the spectacle lens L to be applied, the type and application time of the application liquid used for the application process, and the rotation speed and rotation time of the rotation mechanism 4. These application processing conditions are input in advance from the operation unit 10 and stored in the control unit 9 before the application processing.

  Next, a spin coating method in which the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to the lens surface of the spectacle lens L using the spin coat apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

In FIG. 1, a spectacle lens L placed on the rotation holding table 3 and coated with the hard coat liquid LQ is made of a transparent resin obtained by curing a polymerizable composition, and one surface of the lens surface is a concave surface La, and the other surface Is a meniscus lens having a convex surface Lb.
The spectacle lens L in the present embodiment is a lens before frame processing (so-called lens processing) on the spectacle frame, and has a substantially circular shape with a plane of about 75 mm. In addition, a primer film is formed in advance on the lens surface (concave surface La and convex surface Lb) of the spectacle lens L in the previous step.

  The primer film is formed of urethane resin or the like by a dipping method, a spinner method, a roll coating method, a spray method, an ink jet method or a flow method in addition to the spin coating method. It is formed when it is necessary to improve adhesion or when it is necessary to improve impact resistance.

  The hard coat liquid LQ as a coating liquid is obtained by diluting an organosilicon compound with an organic solvent, adding water or thin hydrochloric acid, acetic acid or the like as necessary to perform hydrolysis, and further, inorganic oxide fine particles in the organic solvent. After adding a colloidally dispersed sol, a curing catalyst, surfactant, antistatic agent, ultraviolet absorber, antioxidant, etc. are added as necessary, and the mixture is prepared with sufficient stirring. The durability of the lens surface of the spectacle lens L is improved by being cured after application.

The coating process of the hard coat liquid LQ for the spectacle lens L is performed separately on the concave surface La and the convex surface Lb of the spectacle lens L.
First, lens shape information such as curvature and outer diameter of the concave surface La and the convex surface Lb of the spectacle lens L to be applied from the operation unit 10, the type and application time of the application liquid used for the application process, the rotation speed and rotation of the rotation mechanism 4 Application processing conditions such as time are input.

  Then, the spectacle lens L on which the primer film is formed in advance is attached to the rotation holding table 3. When the spectacle lens L is attached, the convex surface Lb is set to the rotation holding table 3 side, and the approximate lens center is set to the approximate center position of the rotation holding table 3. Then, by operating the vacuum suction device, the spectacle lens L is sucked and held on the rotation holding table 3 by vacuum. As a result, the hard coat liquid LQ can be applied.

A control signal is output from the control unit 9 to the lifting unit 7 based on input information such as the curvature of the concave surface La that is input from the operation unit 10 and stored in the control unit 9 in advance. When a control signal is input to the lifting / lowering unit 7, the hydraulic pump 71 is actuated to expand / contract the rod 72, and the spin cup 5 fixed to the lifting / lowering base 6 and the lifting / lowering base 6 becomes the axis of the rotating shaft 46 of the rotating mechanism 4. It goes up and down along the direction and stops at a predetermined position. The predetermined position at which the spin cup 5 stops is that the line indicated by the arrow a in FIG. 1 is the center position of the width α of the opening 56 formed between the side wall 53 and the side wall 54 of the spin cup 5. It is a substantially coincident position. A detailed description of the predetermined position will be described later with reference to FIG.
In addition, when raising and lowering the lift cup 6 and the spin cup 5 attached to the lift base 6, it is desirable that the discharge unit 8 that discharges the hard coat liquid LQ is moved up and down in conjunction with the lift base 6.

  The spindle motor 41 is rotationally driven based on a control signal from the control unit 9 in the rotation holding table 3 on which the spectacle lens L is sucked and held. When the spindle motor 41 is driven to rotate, the rotation holding table 3 rotates via the drive shaft 42 (first pulley 43), the timing belt 44, and the rotation shaft 46 (second pulley 45). That is, the spectacle lens L attached to the rotation holding table 3 rotates. The number of rotations of the rotation holding table 3 is approximately 800 rpm as a low-speed rotation.

Then, the discharge valve 81 of the discharge unit 8 is operated based on the control signal of the control unit 9, and about 2 cc of the hard coat liquid LQ is discharged from the discharge nozzle 82 onto the concave surface La of the spectacle lens L.
Then, after holding the rotation holding table 3 in a low-speed rotation (approximately 800 rpm) state for a predetermined time, the rotation of the spindle motor 41 is controlled based on the control signal of the control unit 9, and the rotation number of the rotation holding table 3 is increased from approximately 800 rpm. After shifting to about 1800 rpm as a high speed rotation and holding the high speed rotation for about 15 seconds, the rotation of the spindle motor 41 is stopped.

  The hard coat liquid LQ discharged on the approximate center of the concave surface La of the rotating spectacle lens L spreads uniformly on the concave surface by the centrifugal force of the rotating spectacle lens L. Then, when the rotation speed of the rotation holding table 3 shifts to high speed rotation, the excessive hard coat liquid LQ is moved from the concave surface La of the spectacle lens L toward the side walls 53 and 54 of the spin cup 5 by centrifugal force. While being shaken off radially, a coating film having a predetermined film thickness is formed substantially uniformly on the concave surface La.

The film thickness of the hard coat liquid LQ applied on the concave surface La is controlled by the low-speed rotation holding time that elapses from the end of the discharge of the hard coat liquid LQ. In the case of the present embodiment, a coating film having a film thickness of about 2 μm is formed by holding the low speed rotation for about 2 seconds.
On the other hand, the excessive hard coat liquid LQ that has been swung radially from the concave surface La of the spectacle lens L toward the side walls 53 and 54 of the spin cup 5 is formed between the cylindrical side wall 53 and the side wall 54 of the spin cup 5. It collect | recovers from the opening part 56 formed in the middle, and is accommodated in the area | region (beta) of a rotary body.

Here, with reference to FIG. 3, the excessive hard coat liquid LQ that is shaken off radially will be described. In addition, a predetermined position where the spin cup 5 moves up and down and the width α of the opening 56 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a partial explanatory view around the opening 56 of the spin coater 1 of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, the direction of the excess hard coat liquid LQ that is swayed radially from the concave surface La of the rotating spectacle lens L toward the side walls 53 and 54 of the spin cup 5 forms the concave surface La of the spectacle lens L. A substantially θ / 2 direction a (an arrow shown in FIG. 1) at an angle θ between a tangent line c having a contact point at the outer shape position e of the spectacle lens L on the curved surface (center 0) and a horizontal line d at the outer shape position e of the spectacle lens L. the same as a).
The arrow a direction of the excessive hard coat liquid LQ shaken off radially is when the rotating eyeglass lens L has a rotational speed of about 1800 rpm, and approaches the direction of the horizontal line d as the rotational speed increases.

  The width α of the opening 56 formed between the side wall 53 and the side wall 54 of the spin cup 5 is such that at least the tangential line c and the horizontal line d extend to the surface of the side walls 53 and 54 on the region β (see FIG. 1) side. It is set larger than the width γ of the side intersecting the vertical line. The width α of the opening 56 is appropriately set in consideration of the viscosity of the coating solution to be used, the maximum outer diameter and minimum curvature of the spectacle lens to which the coating solution is applied.

  The predetermined position at which the elevator cup 6 and the spin cup 5 fixed to the elevator table 6 are stopped is such that the two-divided center line in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table 3 (rotating shaft 46) having the width α of the opening 56 is the above. This is a position that coincides with the substantially two-divided center point in the vertical axis direction of the side width γ.

Then, the hard coat liquid LQ that is radially swung from the concave surface La of the rotating spectacle lens L, collected from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 and accommodated in the rotary body-shaped region β is partially a side plate portion. It collides with 51 and bounces back into a mist. And a part is accommodated in a liquid state.
The mist of the hard coat liquid LQ is provided on the side surface of the side plate portion 51 and is accommodated in an accommodation container (not shown) together with air from an exhaust pipe 51A connected to an exhaust fan. In addition, the liquid hard coat liquid LQ flows into the drainage pipe 52A disposed in the bottom plate portion 52 and is stored in another storage container (not shown).

  In such a coating process, when excessive hard coat liquid LQ shaken off from the concave surface La of the rotating spectacle lens L collides with the side wall 53 or the side wall 54 without being recovered from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5. The position correction for moving up and down the lift cup 6 and the spin cup 5 attached to the lift board 6 is performed. That is, position correction is performed in which the spin cup 5 and the rotation holding table 3 (glasses lens L) move relative to each other.

  When the excessive hard coat liquid LQ shaken off from the concave surface La collides with the side wall 53 or the side wall 54, the liquid detection sensor 57 or the liquid detection sensor 58 attached in the vertical direction across the opening 56 Hard coat liquid LQ is scattered. When the hard coat liquid LQ is scattered on the sensor surface, a change in the detection value (capacitance value) is detected, and the detection signal is output to the control unit 9.

  When the detection signal is input from the liquid detection sensor 57, the hydraulic pump 71 of the lifting unit 7 is operated based on the control signal of the control unit 9, the rod 72 is contracted, and is attached to the lifting platform 6 and the lifting platform 6. The provided spin cup 5 descends a predetermined distance along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 46 and stops. The predetermined distance to descend is about the width α of the opening 56. Thereby, the excessive hard coat liquid LQ shaken off from the concave surface La is recovered from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 and accommodated in the rotary body-shaped region β.

  On the other hand, when the detection signal is input from the liquid detection sensor 58, the hydraulic pump 71 of the lifting unit 7 is operated based on the control signal of the control unit 9, the rod 72 extends, and the lifting platform 6 and the lifting platform 6. The spin cup 5 attached to is raised by a predetermined distance along the axial direction of the rotation shaft 46 and stopped. The predetermined distance that rises is about the width α of the opening 56 as in the case of the descent.

  The excessive hard coat liquid LQ swung off from the concave surface La of the rotating spectacle lens L does not collect from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 and collides with the side wall 53 or the side wall 54. Occurs when the rotational speed of the rotation holding table 3 or the input information of the coating liquid is erroneously input, the viscosity of the coating liquid increases, or the like.

  The eyeglass lens L on which the coating film of the hard coating liquid LQ is formed in this way is removed from the rotary holding table 3 and then heated for about 10 minutes in a temperature environment of approximately 100 ° C. Curing process).

Then, the preliminarily fired spectacle lens L is placed on the rotation holding table 3 of the spin coater 1, and the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to the convex surface Lb which is the other lens surface.
Application processing of the hard coat liquid LQ to the convex surface Lb will be described with reference to FIG. The convex surface Lb application process and the pre-baking method are the same as in the case of the concave surface La, except that the spin cup 5 is moved to a predetermined position after the spectacle lens L is held on the rotation holding table 3. Detailed description will be omitted as appropriate.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the spin coater of the present invention showing a mode in which the hard coat liquid LQ is spin-coated on the convex surface Lb which is one lens surface of the spectacle lens L.
In FIG. 4, the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to the convex surface Lb of the spectacle lens L with the concave surface La on which the hard coat liquid LQ has been applied and pre-baked being placed on the rotation holding base 3 side, and the lens center is approximately centered. It is set at a substantially central position of the rotation holding table 3. Then, the vacuum suction device is operated, and the spectacle lens L is sucked and held on the rotation holding table 3 by vacuum.

  Then, when the hydraulic pump 71 of the elevating unit 7 is operated based on the control signal of the control unit 9, the rod 72 is contracted, and the elevating platform 6 and the spin cup 5 fixed to the elevating platform 6 are attached to the base 2. Guided by the three guide shafts 21 provided, the guide shaft descends along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 46 and stops at a predetermined position. As in the case of the concave surface La, the line indicated by the arrow b in FIG. 4 indicates the side wall 53 and the side wall of the spin cup 5 at a predetermined position where the elevator cup 6 and the spin cup 5 attached to the elevator board 6 stop. The center position of the width α (see FIG. 3) of the opening 56 formed between the opening 54 and the opening 54 substantially coincides with the center position.

  Then, the spindle motor 41 is driven to rotate, the spectacle lens L attached to the rotation holding table 3 rotates, and the hard coat liquid LQ is discharged from the discharge nozzle 82 of the discharge unit 8 onto the convex surface Lb of the spectacle lens L. The hard coat liquid LQ is applied by the same spin coating method as that for the concave surface La. And the spectacle lens L by which the hard-coat liquid LQ was apply | coated to the convex surface Lb is provisionally baked.

  In addition, when spin-coating the hard coat liquid LQ onto the convex surface Lb, the excessive hard coat liquid LQ discharged onto the convex surface Lb of the rotating spectacle lens L is radiated from the convex surface Lb radially by centrifugal force in FIG. And is collected from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 and accommodated in the region β. As in the case of the concave surface La, the direction indicated by the arrow b is a tangent line with the external position of the spectacle lens L on the curved surface forming the convex surface Lb of the spectacle lens L as a contact, and a horizontal line at the external position of the spectacle lens L. It is approximately half the central angle direction of the included angle.

In addition, before the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to the lens surfaces of the spectacle lens L, it is preferable to clean the lens surface of the spectacle lens L adsorbed and held on the rotation holding table 3 with pure water.
In the pure water cleaning, for example, the spectacle lens L adsorbed and held on the rotation holding table 3 is rotated at about 800 rpm, and a nozzle (not shown) is moved from the central portion of the spectacle lens L toward the outer peripheral portion, while being purely applied to the lens surface. Supply about 5cc / sec of water. Then, the lens surface can be cleaned by shifting the spectacle lens L to a high-speed rotation of approximately 1800 rpm for about 15 seconds, shaking off the pure water on the lens surface, and drying.

  Also during the pure water cleaning, the spin cup 5 and the rotation holding table 3 are relatively moved to predetermined positions, and the pure water shaken off from the lens surface of the rotating spectacle lens L is opened in the spin cup 5. It is recovered from the portion 56 and accommodated in the rotary body-shaped region β. Therefore, in this embodiment, pure water used for pure water cleaning also has a function as a coating solution.

  As described above, the spectacle lens L on which the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to the lens surfaces of the concave surface La and the convex surface Lb and pre-baked is heated for about 1.5 hours in a temperature environment of about 125 ° C. The main baking (main curing process) of the coated hard coat liquid LQ is performed. As a result, a hard coat film is formed on the lens surface of the spectacle lens L.

Thereafter, the spectacle lens L on which the hard coat film is formed, if necessary, on the hard coat film, an antireflection film imparting a function of preventing surface reflection is formed, or further, on the outermost surface of the spectacle lens L, After the antifouling film imparting water and oil repellency performance is formed, a lens shape processing to be put into a spectacle frame is performed, and a plastic spectacle lens is completed.
The antireflection film and the antifouling film can be formed by applying each coating solution by spin coating using the spin coater 1 and then drying by heating. In addition to the spin coating method, a dipping method, a roll coating method, a spray method, an ink jet method, or a flow method can also be used.

  According to the above-described spin coating apparatus 1 for a lens, the following effects can be obtained.

  When the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to the lens surfaces (concave surface La and convex surface Lb) of the spectacle lens L by the spin coat method, the side walls 53 and 54 of the spin cup 5 that covers the periphery of the rotation holding table 3 Since the opening 56 is provided in between, the excessive hard coat liquid discharged from the discharge unit 8 and radiated off from the lens surface onto the rotating lens surface placed on the rotation holding table 3 and rotated. LQ is recovered from the opening 56. Thereby, the hard coat liquid LQ shaken off from the lens surface is prevented from colliding with the side wall 53 or the side wall 54 of the spin cup 5 and scattering, and the appearance defect due to adhesion of the scattered hard coat liquid LQ is suppressed. A spectacle lens L on which a hard coat film is formed is obtained.

  In addition, at least one of the spin cup 5 and the rotation holding table 3 is relatively moved in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table 3 so as to correspond to the lens surface shapes of various spectacle lenses L having different curvatures. The hard coat liquid LQ shaken off from the rotating lens surface is prevented from colliding with the side wall 53 or the side wall 54 of the spin cup 5 and scattering, and the appearance defect due to adhesion of the scattered hard coat liquid LQ is suppressed. A spectacle lens L on which a suitable hard coat film is formed is obtained.

  In addition, a pair of liquid detection sensors 57 and 58 for detecting the hard coat liquid LQ and the like in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table 3 across the opening 56 provided between the side wall 53 and the side wall 54 of the spin cup 5. When the pair of liquid detection sensors 57 and 58 detect a change in detection value, the rotation holding table 3 on which the spectacle lens L is placed and the spin cup 5 are arranged in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table 3. When the relative movement position correction is performed, the stop position of the opening 56 is shifted due to erroneous input of input information such as coating processing conditions input to the spin coating apparatus 1 or the occurrence of an increase in the viscosity of the hard coating liquid LQ. Even in such a case, the hard coat liquid LQ shaken off from the rotating lens surface is prevented from colliding with the side wall of the spin cup 5 and scattering, and the appearance defect due to adhesion of the scattered hard coat liquid LQ is prevented. Spin-coating apparatus 1 that allow the formation of suitable coating won is obtained.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following modifications are also included in the present invention as long as the object of the present invention can be achieved.

(Modification 1)
In the spin coater 1, the spin cup 5 and the spectacle lens L (rotation holding table 3) correspond to the shape of the lens surface (concave surface La and convex surface Lb) of the spectacle lens L, and the spin cup 5 is connected to the rotation holding table 3. Although the case where the relative movement of the (rotating shaft 46) ascending / descending in the vertical axis direction has been described, the spectacle lens L (the rotating mechanism 4 including the rotation holding base 3) may perform the relative movement of ascending / descending. A spin coat apparatus 100 in which the spectacle lens L (rotation holding table 3) moves up and down will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a spin coater 100 showing a spin coat mode according to a modification of the present invention.

  In FIG. 5, the spin coater 100 moves the rotating mechanism 4 (the rotation holding table 3 and the spectacle lens L) up and down with respect to the spin cup 5, and the excess hard coat discharged onto the lens surface of the spectacle lens L. The liquid LQ is recovered from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 and stored in the region β. Accordingly, the spin coater 1 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 is different in that the rotary mechanism 4 is raised and lowered while the spin cup 5 is raised and lowered. For this reason, about the same structure as the spin coater 1 shown in FIGS. 1-4, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted suitably. The same applies to the spin coating method in which the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to the lens surface of the spectacle lens L, and this is also omitted as appropriate.

  The spin coat apparatus 100 includes a base 90, a rotation holding table 3 that holds the spectacle lens L, a rotation mechanism 4 that rotates the rotation holding table 3, a cylindrical spin cup 5 that houses the rotation holding table 3, Elevating platform 20 to which rotating mechanism 4 is attached, elevating unit 7 that elevates and lowers elevating platform 20 (rotating mechanism 4 and rotation holding platform 3), discharge unit 8 that discharges coating liquid, control unit 9, and operation unit 10 is provided.

  The base 90 has, for example, a circular shape, and three guide shafts 91 are fixed at positions that surround the outer periphery of the cylindrical spin cup 5 disposed above the base 90. The three guide shafts 91 are disposed at substantially equal distances from the center on the central angle that divides the circular shape into three equal parts. The rotation mechanism 4 is attached to the center of the base 90, and the lifting unit 7 is attached to the upper surface of the base 90 between the rotation mechanism 4 and the three guide shafts 91.

The rotation mechanism 4 includes a spindle motor 41, a drive shaft 42 of the spindle motor 41, a first pulley 43, a timing belt 44, a second pulley 45, and a rotation shaft connected to the lower part of the rotation holding table 3. 46. The rotating mechanism 4 has a rotating shaft 46 rotatably attached to the lifting platform 20 via a bearing or the like.
The spin cup 5 is a container for housing the rotation holding table 3 connected to the rotation shaft 46 of the rotation mechanism 4 in the cup and processing an excess coating liquid generated when spin coating is performed. The side plate portion 51, the bottom plate portion 52, the cylindrical side walls 53 and 54, the upper plate portion 55, and the liquid detection sensors 57 and 58 are configured and fixed to a housing (not shown).

In the coating process of applying the hard coat liquid LQ onto the lens surface of the spectacle lens L using the spin coat apparatus 100 configured as described above, the spectacle lens L is sucked and held on the rotation holding table 3. Then, the rod 72 is expanded and contracted by the operation of the hydraulic pump 71 of the lifting unit 7 based on the control signal of the control unit 9, and the rotating mechanism 4 attached to the lifting platform 20 and the lifting platform 20 is attached to the base 90. Guided by the three guide shafts 91 provided, it moves up and down along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 46 and stops at a predetermined position.
When the elevator 20 and the rotating mechanism 4 attached to the elevator 20 are moved up and down, the discharge unit 8 that discharges the hard coat liquid LQ is preferably moved up and down in conjunction with the lift 20.

  Then, the spindle motor 41 rotates and the spectacle lens L attached to the rotation holding table 3 rotates, and the hard coat liquid LQ is discharged from the discharge nozzle 82 of the discharge unit 8 onto the concave surface La of the spectacle lens L. Then, the hard coat liquid LQ is applied. During spin coating of the hard coat liquid LQ onto the concave surface La, the excessive hard coat liquid LQ discharged onto the lens surface of the rotating spectacle lens L is subjected to centrifugal force from the concave surface La to the side walls 53 and 54 of the spin cup 5. 5 is swung out in the direction indicated by the arrow a in FIG. 5, collected from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 and accommodated in the region β, and the coating film having a predetermined thickness on the concave surface La. Is formed substantially uniformly.

The spectacle lens L on which the coating film of the hard coat liquid LQ is formed on the concave surface La is removed from the rotary holding table 3 and then subjected to temporary baking (temporary curing process). And the coating process of the hard-coat liquid LQ is performed to the convex surface Lb which is the other lens surface.
After the spectacle lens L is sucked and held on the rotation holding table 3, the rod 72 is expanded and contracted by operating the hydraulic pump 71 of the lifting unit 7 based on the control signal of the control unit 9 after the spectacle lens L is sucked and held by the rotation holding table 3. The elevator 20 and the rotating mechanism 4 attached to the elevator 20 move up and down along the axial direction of the rotary shaft 46 and stop at a predetermined position (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5).

  And the coating film of a predetermined film thickness is formed substantially uniformly on the convex surface Lb similarly to the concave surface La. In the spin coating of the hard coat liquid LQ on the convex surface Lb, the excessive hard coat liquid LQ discharged onto the lens surface of the rotating spectacle lens L is radiated from the convex surface Lb by centrifugal force in two directions in FIG. It is shaken off in the direction indicated by the dotted line arrow b, recovered from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 and accommodated in the region β.

  In this way, the coating process of applying the hard coat liquid LQ onto the lens surface of the spectacle lens L using the spin coat apparatus 100 can obtain the same effects as the spin coat apparatus 1 in the above-described embodiment. In addition, the degree of freedom in designing the spin coater can be improved by appropriately selecting an elevating method for relatively moving the rotation holding table and the spin cup.

(Modification 2)
When excessive hard coat liquid LQ shaken off from the lens surfaces (concave surface La and convex surface Lb) of the rotating spectacle lens L collides with the side wall 53 or the side wall 54 without being recovered from the opening 56 of the spin cup 5. It is preferable that the position correction for moving the lift cup 6 and the spin cup 5 attached to the lift base 6 to be performed in the above is performed at the time of pure water cleaning before the coating process of the hard coat liquid LQ.
Thereby, consumption of the hard coat liquid LQ to be used can be suppressed. In addition, a more suitable coating film can be formed.

(Modification 3)
Although the spin coater 1 has been described in the case where the pair of liquid detection sensors 57 and 58 are disposed at a position sandwiching the opening 56 of the spin cup 5, a configuration in which the liquid detection sensors 57 and 58 are not used may be employed. . In this case, the lens surface of the spectacle lens L adsorbed and held on the rotation holding table 3 is subjected to pure water cleaning or the like before the hard coat liquid LQ is applied to each lens surface of the spectacle lens L. The eyeglass lens L and the opening 56 of the spin cup 5 may be manually moved relative to each other based on the state in which the cleaning liquid (pure water) discharged on the surface is shaken off by the centrifugal force.

(Modification 4)
The spin coater 1 has been described in the case where the hard coat liquid LQ is used as the coating liquid on the lens surface of the spectacle lens L. However, a surface coating liquid other than the hard coat liquid LQ for performing a surface treatment on the lens, for example, a primer liquid, a reflection liquid It may be a case of a composition liquid for a protective film, a water repellent liquid, a dyeing liquid or the like. Even these coating liquids can be spin-coated in the same manner as the hard coating liquid LQ.

(Modification 5)
In addition to the spectacle lens L, the spin coat apparatus 1 can be applied to optical lenses such as a light control lens, a camera lens, a telescope lens, a projector lens, and a microlens. Even these lenses can be spin-coated in the same manner as the eyeglass lens L.

The side surface schematic diagram of the spin coater of this invention which shows the aspect which spin-coats to the concave surface of a lens. FIG. 2 is an arrow view of a cross section along the line AA of the spin coater in FIG. 1. Partial explanatory drawing of the periphery of the opening of the spin coater of the present invention. The side surface schematic diagram of the spin coater of this invention which shows the aspect which spin-coats to the convex surface of a lens. The side surface schematic diagram of the spin coat apparatus which shows the aspect which spin-coats concerning the modification of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,100 ... Spin coater, 2,90 ... Base, 3 ... Rotation holding base, 4 ... Rotation mechanism, 5 ... Spin cup, 6,20 ... Lifting table, 7 ... Lifting unit, 8 ... Discharge part, 9 ... Control part 41 ... Spindle motor 46 ... Rotating shaft 51 ... Side plate part 51A ... Exhaust pipe 52 ... Bottom plate part 52A ... Drain pipe 53, 54 ... Side wall 55 ... Upper plate part 56 ... Opening , 57, 58 ... Liquid detection sensor as a detection sensor, 71 ... Hydraulic pump, 72 ... Rod, 81 ... Discharge valve, 82 ... Discharge nozzle, L ... Eyeglass lens as lens, La ... Concave surface as lens surface, Lb ... A convex surface as a lens surface, LQ: a hard coating solution as a coating solution, α: a width of the opening 56, β: a region of a rotating body shape.

Claims (3)

A spin coat apparatus for applying a coating to a lens by a spin coat method,
A rotation holding base that mounts the lens on the upper surface and rotates around a vertical axis;
A spin cup covering the periphery of the rotary holding table;
A discharge unit for discharging a coating liquid to the lens,
A spin coating apparatus for a lens, wherein an opening for collecting the coating solution shaken off from the rotating lens is provided on a side wall of the spin cup. In the spin coating apparatus of the lens of Claim 1,
The spin cup and the rotation holding table are arranged so that the position where the coating liquid shaken off from the rotating lens reaches the spin cup side wall is the opening position, the lens surface shape of the lens and the lens A spin coating apparatus for a lens, wherein the rotation holding table is relatively moved in a vertical axis direction based on a rotation speed at the time of rotation. In the spin coating apparatus of the lens of Claim 1 or 2,
The spin coater is
A pair of detection sensors for detecting the coating liquid on the upper and lower surfaces of the spin cup side wall across the opening along the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table, respectively,
When the pair of detection sensors detect adhesion of the coating liquid shaken off from the rotating lens, position correction is performed such that the spin cup and the rotation holding table are relatively moved in the vertical axis direction of the rotation holding table. A spin coating apparatus for a lens.

Images