JP2009057255A - Molding device and molding method of optical element - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a molding technique of an optical element having a high production efficiency, capable of suppressing the lowering of an operating efficiency due to troubles and capable of performing high-mix low-volume production using molding raw materials of various shapes. <P>SOLUTION: In the molding device 101, a plurality of molding tools 131 are circulated by connecting in a loop shape a molding part 102, a left mold detachment stage 114 and a right mold detachment stage 115 by a carrying conveyor 103, a uniaxial robot 113, a discharge stage 109 and a charge rail 110, and the transfer of a molding raw material 134 and a molded optical element 135 to the molding tools 131 is each independently performed in parallel at the left mold detachment stage 114 (left discharge supply robot 104) and the right mold detachment stage 115 (right discharge supply robot 108). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique effective when applied to a molding technique of an optical element by mold molding.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a molding method in which a blank material, that is, a molding material is precisely molded by using a mold having a functional surface of optical accuracy to produce an optical element and a process such as polishing is omitted has been put into practical use. Since this method has a feature that an optical element having an aspherical surface can be easily formed, it is considered that this method will continue to occupy an important position as a molding method of the optical element.

As such a molding technique, for example, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. The configuration of the conventional example will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) of Patent Document 1. FIG.
That is, the molding material 3 is placed on the belt 12 in advance and sequentially transferred. The annealing portion 15 has the highest temperature in the vicinity, and is set to the same temperature as the cooling stage 9 of the molding portion 14. Then, the temperature is set so that the temperature gradually decreases as it proceeds to the left, and the molding material 3 fed from the left is gradually preheated as the belt 12 is transferred, and the molded product 2 is gradually reversed. It is a mechanism to be cooled.

  After the molding material 3 is transferred to the belt 12, an empty molding block 1 (mold) composed of the upper mold 1a and the lower mold 1b is introduced from the mold insertion port 16, and is sequentially idled. The mold inlet 16 is provided in the rail 11 on the downstream side of the mold disassembly / assembly stage 10.

  The feeding tact of the molding block 1 and the feeding tact of the belt 12 are matched, and the molding block 1 is disassembled when the first molding block 1 is transferred to the mold disassembly / assembly stage 10. The molding material 3 adsorbed by the adsorption arm 13 is supplied thereto, and then the molding block 1 is assembled, conveyed to the preheating stage 7 through the rail 11, and preheated by the preheating head 4.

The molding block 1 that has been preheated is transferred to the molding stage 8 and immediately press-molded by the molding head 5.
After completion of the molding, the molding block 1 is cooled to a temperature below the glass transition point at which the molded product 2 is solidified by the cooling head 6 of the cooling stage 9. The cooled molding block 1 is transferred to the mold disassembly / assembly stage 10 maintained at the same temperature as the cooling stage 9, the molding block 1 is disassembled as described above, and the molded product 2 is adsorbed by the adsorption arm 13 to lower mold. Remove from 1b and transfer to belt 12. The molded product 2 transferred to the belt 12 is sequentially stepped in accordance with the molding tact, and is gradually cooled to room temperature after being held at the same temperature as the cooling stage 9 for a certain time.

On the other hand, after the molded arm 2 is transferred to the belt 12, the suction arm 13 sucks the molding material 3 fed stepwise and supplies it to the lower mold 1b. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated.
In the conventional example, the temperature range of the temperature increase / decrease of the molding block 1 (mold) can be greatly reduced by the above-mentioned means, so the number of preheating and cooling stages can be reduced, the molding machine structure can be simplified and the mold can be simplified at the same time. Although it is a wonderful invention that can greatly reduce the number of uses, it has the following technical problems.

  Since the molding device of the conventional example is a molding system that circulates the mold in the molding device, the required time of each of the preheating stage, molding stage, cooling stage, and disassembly / assembly stage is the same. It is transported to the next stage. That is, since the optical element is taken out every required time, it is desired to shorten the required time in order to increase production efficiency.

  For example, when the optical element diameter is small, the mold is also small and the heat capacity is small, so the preheating time and the cooling time are shortened, and the required time can be shortened. Further, if a material having a low glass transition point is selected as the material of the molding material, the molding material softens in a short time, so that the preheating time and the molding time can be shortened and the required time can be shortened. Moreover, since the preheating time and the molding time can be shortened by using a heater having a sufficiently large capacity for the heater used in the preheating stage and the molding stage, the required time can be shortened.

  As described above, the time required for the preheating stage, the molding stage, and the cooling stage may be relatively easily shortened depending on conditions such as the size and material of the molding material, the size of the mold, and the heater capacity.

  However, at the disassembly / assembly stage, complicated and detailed operations that require extremely high-precision positioning, such as upper die extraction, optical element adsorption / removal, molding material adsorption / supply, and upper die insertion, are repeated. Therefore, it is expected that it is difficult to shorten the required time easily. As a result, it is difficult to increase the production efficiency and the cost rate of the product cannot be lowered, so that it is difficult to gain an advantage in the market.

  On the disassembly / assembly stage, the optical element attached to the upper mold may fall while the upper mold is being pulled out. In this case, the optical element may fall outside the center of the lower mold or the center of the lower mold. An adsorption error will occur because it falls. When this adsorption error occurs, the apparatus is temporarily stopped, it is necessary to call an operator by lighting a warning light or a buzzer, and remove the optical element that has been dropped manually.

  Especially in the case of factories in recent years, in order to reduce labor costs, workers are in charge of holding a number of molding devices, and it takes time to notice even if an error occurs in the device. For this reason, it took time to restore the molding apparatus, which caused the factory operation rate to decrease.

  Also, when you want to perform continuous molding using several types of molding materials with different shapes, you can suck different molding materials in order using only one suction arm, so that the shape that can be sucked There were limitations.

In addition, when several types of molds having upper and lower molds having different shapes are used for continuous molding, the shape of the optical element that can be adsorbed is limited for the same reason. For this reason, even when it is desired to produce a variety of products in small quantities, it was necessary to perform the molding in several steps.
JP-A-3-45522

  An object of the present invention is to provide an optical element molding technique that has high production efficiency, can suppress a reduction in operating rate due to a failure, and can be produced in a variety of small quantities using various shapes of molding materials.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a molding unit that molds an optical element from the molding material by molding using a molding die that is composed of an upper mold, a lower mold, and a body mold and in which a molding material is enclosed.
A plurality of mold detachment parts for disassembling and assembling the mold; and
A plurality of take-out supply units for taking in and out the optical element and the molding material with respect to the molding die disassembled in the mold desorption part;
A transport unit for transporting the plurality of molding dies so as to circulate between the molding unit and the mold detaching unit;
Provided is a molding apparatus in which the optical element and the molding material are taken in and out of the plurality of molding dies circulated between the molding units by a parallel operation of the plurality of mold detaching units and the taking-out and feeding unit. To do.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a molding portion for molding an optical element from the molding material by molding using a molding die composed of an upper mold, a lower mold, and a body mold and enclosing the molding material, and the molding The plurality of molds are circulated and moved between a plurality of mold detaching parts for disassembling and assembling the mold, and the optical element is taken out from the mold and the molding material is removed from each of the plurality of mold detaching parts. Provided is a method of forming an optical element that performs supply operations in parallel with a time difference.

  According to the above-described molding technique of the present invention, for example, a plurality of molding dies encapsulating continuously molded optical elements are alternately transferred to separate mold attaching / detaching units, and a plurality of take-out supply units The optical element can be taken out from multiple molds in parallel with a time difference using the, and the molding material can be supplied. Even if one mold removal part cannot be used, the remaining mold removal part is optical. The element can be taken out and the molding material can be supplied, and the shape of the molding material and the shape of the optical element that can be mixed in the case of continuous molding are reduced, so that high-mix low-volume production is possible. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a molding technique of an optical element that is high in production efficiency, can suppress a reduction in operating rate due to a failure, and can be produced in various kinds and in small quantities using various shapes of molding materials.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration example of a molding apparatus that performs an optical element molding method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are side views showing an example of the configuration and operation of the mold detachment portion provided in the molding apparatus of the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a molding die used in the molding apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing the optical elements arranged on the optical element palette of the molding apparatus of the present embodiment.
FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing the molding material arranged on the molding material pallet of the molding apparatus of the present embodiment.

2A and 2B are side views of the left mold removal robot 106 of the molding apparatus 101 in FIG. 1 as viewed from the direction of the arrow AA.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, the mold 131 used in the present embodiment includes an upper mold 131a, a lower mold 131b, and a body mold 131c.

  The upper mold 131a and the lower mold 131b face each other by being detachably fitted to the body mold 131c, and a molding surface 132a and a molding surface 132b for transferring and forming a desired optical function surface are formed on each facing surface. Is provided.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, in the molding apparatus 101 of the present embodiment, the molding unit 102 includes a heating stage 102a, a molding stage 102b, and a cooling stage 102c, and a molding die 131 put into the heating stage 102a is fixed. A transport mechanism (not shown) that can be transported to the molding stage 102b after a certain time, transported to the cooling stage 102c after a certain time, and discharged from the molding unit 102 after the certain time.

  The conveyance conveyor 103 (conveyance unit) is installed so that the molding die 131 delivered from the molding unit 102 is transferred to the conveyance stage 105. The conveyor stopper 103a is for abutting and stopping the molding die 131 that has flowed through the conveyor 103, and whether or not the molding die 131 has reached the position of the conveyor stopper 103a can be detected by the transmission sensor 103b.

  The mold drawing robot 120 includes a pulling claw 120a that can be opened and closed at the tip, and the mold 131 stopped by the conveyor stopper 103a can be held by the drawing claw 120a and moved onto the transfer stage 105.

  Then, after the mold 131 on the transfer stage 105 is moved, the mold pull-in robot 120 and the pull-in claw 120a can be retreated to a position that does not interfere with the movement of the transfer stage 105.

  The left extraction / supply robot 104 (removal / supply unit) is an orthogonal three-axis robot including a left X-axis 104x, a left Y-axis 104y, and a left Z-axis 104z. The left Z-axis 104z includes a left optical element head 104a and a left A molding material head 104b is attached.

  The left optical element head 104 a can adsorb the optical element 135 from the mold 131 from which the upper mold 131 a has been removed on the left mold attaching / detaching stage 114 and place it on the left optical element palette 111.

  The left molding material head 104b sucks the molding material 134 from the left molding material pallet 112, and supplies the molding material 134 into the molding die 131 from which the upper die 131a is removed on the left die removal stage 114. be able to.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a plurality of concave portions matching the shape of the optical element 135 or the molding material 134 are provided on the pallet surfaces of the left optical element palette 111 and the left molding material palette 112, respectively. The optical element 135 or the molding material 134 can be placed side by side.

  The single-axis robot 113 (conveyance unit) is for moving the conveyance stage 105. The single-axis robot 113 (conveyance unit) moves the conveyance mold 103 from the conveyance conveyor 103 to the conveyance stage 105. A left mold detachment transfer position 105-2, which is a position for transferring from 105 to the left mold detachment stage 114, and a right mold detachment transfer position, which is a position for transferring the mold 131 from the transfer stage 105 to the right mold detachment stage 115. 105-3 and the mold 131 can be freely moved between four positions, ie, a discharge position 105-4, which is a position where the mold 131 is transferred from the transfer stage 105 to the discharge stage 109 (transfer section).

A suction hole 105a is provided at the center of the transfer stage 105 so that the mold 131 can be sucked and held from below when the mold 131 is placed.
In the left mold detachment transfer position 105-2, a left mold detachment stage 114 is provided at the same height as the transfer stage 105, and the mold 131 may be slid from the transfer stage 105 to the left mold detachment stage 114 for transfer. Even when the transfer is performed by sliding from the left mold attachment / detachment stage 114 to the transfer stage 105, there is no possibility of being caught on the way.

A left chuck 106 a is provided at a position opposite to the transfer stage 105 with the left mold removal stage 114 interposed therebetween.
When the left chuck 106a moves forward and closes the chuck, the left chuck 106a grips the barrel 131c of the molding 131 adsorbed from below on the transfer stage 105, and returns the left chuck 106a to the original position as it is. The mold 131 can be transferred from the transfer stage 105 at the left mold removal / transfer position 105-2 to the left mold removal stage 114.

  The left mold detaching stage 114 is provided with a left mold detaching robot 106 (mold detaching part) adjacent to the left mold detaching stage 114, and the upper mold 131 a of the mold 131 transferred to the left mold detaching stage 114 is provided in the left mold detaching robot 106. The left mold suction unit 106b that can adsorb the upper mold 131a is attached, and the upper mold 131a can be moved up and down.

  Around the right-type detachment transfer position 105-3, there are a right-type detachment stage 115, a right-type chuck 107a, a right-type detachment robot 107 (type detachment part) having the same configuration as the above-described left-type detachment transfer position 105-2. ), A right-type suction unit 107b is provided.

  At the discharge position 105-4, a discharge stage 109 is provided so that the forming mold 131 can be slid and transferred from the transfer stage 105, and the input rail 110 (transfer section) provided on the left side of the terminal is a forming section 102. Connected to the inlet (heating stage 102a).

  The right take-out and supply robot 108 (take-out and supply unit) is composed of an orthogonal three-axis robot composed of a right X-axis 108x, a right Y-axis 108y, and a right Z-axis 108z. The right Z-axis 108z includes a right optical element head 108a and A right forming material head 108b is attached.

  The right optical element head 108a can adsorb and remove the optical element 135 from the mold 131 from which the upper mold 131a is removed on the right mold attaching / detaching stage 115, and can place it on the right optical element palette 116.

  The right molding material head 108b sucks the molding material 134 from the right molding material pallet 117, and supplies the molding material 134 into the molding die 131 from which the upper die 131a is removed on the right die removal stage 115. be able to. A plurality of concave portions matching the shape of the optical element 135 or the molding material 134 are provided on the respective surfaces of the right optical element palette 116 and the right molding material palette 117 in the same manner as the left side. 134 can be placed side by side.

  A discharge pusher 109 a is provided in front of the discharge position 105-4, and the mold 131 on the transport stage 105 at the discharge position 105-4 can be pushed out to the discharge stage 109. A discharge sub pusher 109b is provided on the right side of the end of the discharge stage 109, and the mold 131 transferred onto the discharge stage 109 can be pushed out onto the input rail 110 by the discharge pusher 109a.

  The input pusher 110a is provided on the opposite side to the entrance of the molding portion 102 of the input rail 110, and the molding die 131 pushed onto the input rail 110 by the discharge sub pusher 109b can be input to the molding portion 102.

Hereinafter, the operation of the molding apparatus 101 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
The plurality of molding dies 131 enclosing the molding material 134 are continuously fed into the molding unit 102 from the side of the feeding rail 110. The molding die 131 passes through a heating stage 102a, a molding stage 102b, and a cooling stage 102c provided in the molding unit 102 in this order, and each process of heating, pressurization, and cooling is executed, whereby a molding material 134 is obtained. The optical element 135 onto which the molding surface 132a and the molding surface 132b of the molding die 131 are transferred is molded, and then is discharged from the molding unit 102 to the transport conveyor 103.

  The mold 131 is conveyed on the conveyor 103, reaches the conveyor stopper 103a, and stops. Then, the transmission sensor 103b is shielded from light, and as a result, the transport conveyor 103 stops the transport operation, and then the conveyor stopper 103a is opened.

At this time, the transfer stage 105 is stopped at the receiving position 105-1.
Next, the mold drawing robot 120 moves forward to a position where the mold 131 stopped on the transport conveyor 103 can be gripped with the drawing claws 120a opened. Then, after gripping the mold 131 with the pull-in pawl 120a, the mold pull-in robot 120 moves backward and transfers the mold 131 onto the transport stage 105 at the receiving position 105-1. Thereafter, after opening the pulling claw 120a, the forming die 131 is sucked and held on the transport stage 105 from below by the sucking hole 105a. Thereafter, the mold pull-in robot 120 retreats to a position where the mold 131 and the pull-in claw 120a do not interfere with each other even if the transport stage 105 moves.

  The transfer stage 105 that holds the mold 131 by suction from the suction hole 105a moves from the receiving position 105-1 to the left mold removal / transfer position 105-2. After the conveyance stage 105 arrives at the left mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-2, the suction holding of the mold 131 is released.

  Thereafter, the left mold chuck 106a moves forward, grips the mold 131 on the transport stage 105, and moves backward as it is to transfer the mold 131 onto the left mold removal stage 114. Thereafter, the left mold attaching / detaching robot 106 descends, the upper mold 131a is adsorbed by the left mold adsorbing unit 106b, and ascended as it is, the upper mold 131a is pulled out, and the left mold attaching / detaching robot 106 stands by as it is.

  The left picking and feeding robot 104 starts its operation when the molding die 131 blocks the transmission sensor 103b on the conveyor 103, and sucks the molding material 134 from the left molding material pallet 112 by the left molding material head 104b. In a state, it waits at a position where it does not interfere with the left-type detachable robot 106.

  After confirming that the left mold removal robot 106 has attracted the upper mold 131a and waited in the sky, the left take-out supply robot 104 resumes operation, and the left optical element head 104a attracts the optical element 135 on the lower mold 131b. Instead, the molding material 134 already adsorbed by the left molding material head 104b is supplied onto the lower mold 131b.

The left extraction supply robot 104 places the optical element 135 extracted from the mold 131 on the left optical element palette 111.
Thereafter, the upper mold 131 a is inserted into the body mold 131 c by lowering the left mold removal robot 106, and the molding material 134 is enclosed in the molding mold 131.

The transfer stage 105 stands by at the left mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-2 for a while after the mold 131 is transferred to the left mold attachment / detachment stage 114.
Normally, in the case of the present embodiment, the molding required time T0 per molding die 131 in the heating stage 102a, molding stage 102b, and cooling stage 102c in the molding unit 102 is one molding in the left mold desorption stage 114. Since the time required for replacing the molding material 134 and the optical element 135 with respect to the mold 131 is shorter than the required time T1, the molding element 134 is supplied after the optical element 135 is taken out by the left mold removal stage 114, and the left mold is detached. Before the mold 131 is transferred again to the transfer stage 105 at the transfer position 105-2, the mold 131 that has come out of the molding unit 102 is stopped by the conveyor stopper 103a and detected by the transmission sensor 103b. Is faster.

  Therefore, in order to increase the production efficiency of the apparatus, when the mold 131 is transferred to the left mold detachment stage 114 and then the mold 131 coming out from the molding unit 102 is detected by the transmission sensor 103b, the transport stage 105 is detected. The left mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-2 moves to the receiving position 105-1.

  However, when an error or the like occurs in the molding unit 102, the required time T0 per one mold 131 in the heating stage 102a, the molding stage 102b, and the cooling stage 102c is the time required for replacement in the left mold removal stage 114. When equal to or greater than T1, the arrival of the forming die 131 at the conveyor stopper 103a is delayed, so the transfer stage 105 continues to stand by at the left die attaching / detaching transfer position 105-2, and the forming material 134 is loaded as described later. After the enclosed mold 131 is transferred from the left mold removal stage 114, it moves to the discharge position 105-4.

  When the transfer stage 105 moves to the receiving position 105-1, the mold 131 is transferred from the transfer conveyor 103 to the transfer stage 105 in the same manner as described above, and the transfer stage 105 moves to the right mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-3. Move to.

  After moving to the right mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-3, the suction holding of the molding die 131 is released, the molding die 131 is transferred to the right die attachment / detachment stage 115 by the right die chuck 107a, and is moved upward by the right die adsorption unit 107b. The right mold removal robot 107 stands by in a state where the mold 131a is sucked and pulled out.

  The right take-out and supply robot 108 starts operating when the forming die 131 blocks the transmission sensor 103b on the conveyor 103, and the right forming material head 108b causes the forming material 134 from the right forming material pallet 117. In a state where the right-type desorption robot 107 does not interfere.

  After confirming that the right mold removal robot 107 has attracted the upper mold 131a and waited in the sky, the right take-out and supply robot 108 resumes operation, and the right optical element head 108a attracts the optical element 135 on the lower mold 131b. Instead, the molding material 134 already adsorbed by the right molding material head 108b is supplied onto the lower mold 131b. The optical element 135 taken out at this time is placed on the right optical element palette 116. Thereafter, the upper mold 131 a is inserted into the body mold 131 c by lowering the right mold removal robot 107, and the molding material 134 is sealed inside the molding mold 131.

The transfer stage 105 stands by at the right mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-3 for a while after the mold 131 is transferred to the right mold attachment / detachment stage 115.
Usually, in the case of the present embodiment, the replacement required time T1 in the left mold removal stage 114 and the replacement required time T2 in the right mold removal stage 115 are substantially the same, so the replacement operation is started first in the left mold removal stage 114. Accordingly, the replacement operation at the left-type detachment stage 114 is completed earlier than the right-type detachment stage 115. Accordingly, the transport stage 105 moves from the normal right-type attachment / detachment transfer position 105-3 to the left-type attachment / detachment transfer position 105-2 in order to increase production efficiency.

  After confirming that the transfer stage 105 has moved to the left mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-2, the left mold chuck 106a moves forward, and the mold 131 enclosing the optical element 135 is conveyed from the left mold attachment / detachment stage 114. Transfer to stage 105.

  After the left mold chuck 106a is opened, the mold 131 is sucked and held on the conveyance stage 105, and after the left mold chuck 106a is retracted, the conveyance stage 105 is moved from the left mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-2 to the discharge position 105-4. Move to.

  After the movement to the discharge position 105-4, the suction holding of the mold 131 is released, the discharge pusher 109 a moves forward, and the mold 131 on the transport stage 105 is moved to the end of the discharge stage 109. Thereafter, the mold 131 is pushed out to the charging rail 110 by the discharge sub pusher 109b. Then, the molding die 131 is thrown into the molding part 102 by the throwing pusher 110a.

  The transfer stage 105 is movable after the molding die 131 is transferred to the discharge stage 109, and when the molding material 134 is completely enclosed in the molding die 131 on the right die attaching / detaching stage 115. Then, it moves to the right type detachment transfer position 105-3. Alternatively, when the mold 131 has been stopped by the conveyor stopper 103a first, the mold 131 is moved to the receiving position 105-1, the mold 131 is transferred by the mold drawing robot 120, and the left mold desorption transfer position 105-. Move to 2.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the left mold detachment capable of independently performing the replacement operation of the molding material 134 and the optical element 135 for each molding die 131 in parallel with each other in the molding apparatus 101. By providing the robot 106, the left take-out and supply robot 104, the right mold detaching robot 107, and the right take-out and supply robot 108, the optical mold is maintained while maintaining a time difference with respect to the plurality of molds 131 circulating in the molding unit 102. The operation of taking out the element 135 and the operation of supplying the molding material 134 can be performed in parallel.

  Further, when the same type of optical element 135 is molded by the left and right left mold desorption stages 114 and the right mold desorption stage 115, the molding material 134 and the optical element 135 are exchanged in one of the mold desorption stages. If an error occurs in the middle, the replacement operation is temporarily stopped at the mold removal stage on the side where the error has occurred, but the mold 131 that has flowed later to the other mold removal stage is transported and molded. The material 134 and the optical element 135 are exchanged, and the molding die 131 in which the replacement of the molding material 134 and the optical element 135 is started later is discharged earlier than the molding die 131 on the mold detachment stage in error. By discharging to stage 109, production delays due to errors in either left mold removal stage 114 or right mold removal stage 115 It can be reduced.

  Further, for example, when a molding experiment is continuously performed using several types of molding materials 134 having different shapes, the left extraction supply robot 104 provided on each side of the left mold removal stage 114 and the right mold removal stage 115. Each of the right extraction and supply robot 108 includes the left optical element head 104a, the left molding material head 104b, the right optical element head 108a, and the right molding material head 108b. Each of the right take-out and supply robot 108 can have a head shape that matches the molding material 134 to be used, and the degree of freedom of the shape of the molding material 134 that can be mixed during continuous molding can be increased. For the same reason, the degree of freedom of the shape of the optical element 135 can be increased.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the production tact time, which is the time required for production per optical element 135, can be shortened, and the cost can be lowered by increasing the production efficiency. In particular, when the molding apparatus 101 is operated by a small number of people, the molding apparatus 101 continues to be produced even if an error occurs in one stage (the left mold removal stage 114 or the right mold removal stage 115). You can raise the rate.

  In addition, since continuous molding can be performed while changing the shape of the molding material 134 one by one in order, the performance and cost of the optical element 135 can be compared and examined in a short time for each shape of the molding material 134.

  In addition, since the plurality of molding dies 131 having different shapes of the molding surfaces 132a and 132b of the upper die 131a and the lower die 131b of the molding die 131 can be alternately and continuously molded, the left mold desorption stage 114 and The right-type detachment stage 115 can simultaneously mold the optical elements 135 having different shapes, and can cope with a large variety of small-quantity production.

Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the configuration exemplified in the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, the present invention can be widely applied not only to optical elements but also to general precision parts.

It is a top view which shows the structural example of the shaping | molding apparatus which implements the shaping | molding method of the optical element which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the structural example of the type | mold removal | desorption part with which the shaping | molding apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention was equipped. It is a side view which shows the structural example of the type | mold removal | desorption part with which the shaping | molding apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention was equipped. It is sectional drawing which shows the structural example of the shaping | molding die used with the shaping | molding apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the optical element arrange | positioned on the optical element palette of the shaping | molding apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the raw material for shaping | molding arrange | positioned at the optical element pallet of the shaping | molding apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Molding apparatus 102 Molding part 102a Heating stage 102b Molding stage 102c Cooling stage 103 Conveyor 103a Conveyor stopper 103b Transmission sensor 104 Left picking and feeding robot 104a Left optical element head 104b Left molding material head 104x Left X axis 104y Left Y axis 104z Left Z-axis 105 Transfer stage 105-1 Receiving position 105-2 Left mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-3 Right mold attachment / detachment transfer position 105-4 Discharge position 105a Adsorption hole 106 Left mold removal robot 106a Left mold chuck 106b Left adsorption unit 107 Right type removal robot 107a Right type chuck 107b Right type suction unit 108 Right take-out and supply robot 108a Right optical element head 108b Right molding material head 108x Right X axis 108y Right Y axis 108z Right Z axis 109 Discharge stage 109a discharge pusher 109b discharge sub pusher 110 loading rail 110a loading pusher 111 left optical element pallet 112 left molding material pallet 113 single axis robot 114 left mold removal stage 115 right mold removal stage 116 right optical element palette 117 right molding material pallet 120 Mold Draw Robot 120a Pull Claw 131 Mold 131a Upper Mold 131b Lower Mold 131c Body Mold 132a Molding Surface 132b Molding Surface 134 Molding Material 135 Optical Element

Claims (4)

A molding part that molds an optical element from the molding material by molding using a molding die composed of an upper mold, a lower mold, and a body mold and enclosing the molding material;
A plurality of mold detachment parts for disassembling and assembling the mold; and
A plurality of take-out supply units for taking in and out the optical element and the molding material with respect to the molding die disassembled in the mold desorption part;
A transport unit for transporting the plurality of molding dies so as to circulate between the molding unit and the mold detaching unit;
The optical element and the molding material are taken in and out of the plurality of molding dies circulated between the molding units by a parallel operation of the plurality of mold detaching units and the take-out supply unit. Forming equipment. The molding apparatus according to claim 1,
The molding unit includes a heating stage that heats the molding die in which the molding material is sealed, a pressure stage that pressurizes the molding die, and a cooling stage that cools the molding die,
The plurality of molds are sequentially passed through the heating stage, the pressure stage, and the cooling stage, so that the heating, pressurization, and cooling of the plurality of molds are performed in parallel. A molding apparatus characterized by that.   A molding part that molds an optical element from the molding material by molding using a molding die composed of an upper mold, a lower mold, and a body mold and encapsulating the molding material, and a plurality of parts for disassembling and assembling the molding mold A plurality of the molds are circulated and moved between the mold detachable portions, and the optical element is taken out from the mold and the molding material is supplied to the molds in each of the plurality of mold detachable portions in parallel with a time difference. A method for molding an optical element, which is performed as described above. In the molding method of the optical element according to claim 3,
The molding unit performs heating, pressurization, and cooling on the plurality of molding dies in parallel by sequentially passing the plurality of molding dies through a heating stage, a pressure stage, and a cooling stage. Optical element molding method.

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