JP2014141358A - Production method and production system of glass molding - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a production method of a glass molding capable of suppressing formation of an article defect in other mold mounted on a support base even when an abnormality occurs in one of the molds mounted on the support base.SOLUTION: The production method of a glass molding comprises a material exchange step (S60) of dissembling a mold, taking the molded glass molding, charging a new glass raw material into the mold from which the glass molding has been taken off, assembling the mold and the mold is supplied to an exchange part. When an abnormality of the mold is detected (YES is judged in S30, S34, S38 or S42) in the material exchange step, a dummy mold is fed to a feed part instead of the mold judged to be abnormal (S44). Alternatively, when the number of the mold is less than the prescribed number required for operating a production apparatus continuously, the number corresponding to the insufficient number of the dummy molds are fed to the feed part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a glass molded body manufacturing method and manufacturing system, and more particularly, to a glass molded body manufacturing method and manufacturing system that perform heat treatment, press processing, and cooling processing while conveying a mold.

  Conventionally, an apparatus for manufacturing a glass molded body such as a lens by sequentially performing a heating process, a pressing process, and a cooling process while conveying a plurality of molds placed on a support table by a rotary table has been used. Yes.

  As an apparatus for producing such a glass molded body, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-56532) discloses a rotary table, a take-out / insertion chamber, a heating chamber, a press chamber, a slow cooling chamber, and a quenching chamber. And a processing apparatus including each processing chamber.

  When manufacturing a glass molded body using the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, first, a glass material is arranged in each mold, a plurality of molds are taken out into an insertion / insertion chamber, and placed on a support base. Put. The support table that supports the plurality of molds is transferred along the conveyance path by the rotary table, and the heating process, the press process, the slow cooling process, and the rapid cooling process are performed on each mold and the glass material. Then, the mold for which these processes are completed is taken out of the apparatus from the take-out / insertion chamber.

  Next, the molding die carried out of the apparatus is disassembled, and the glass molded body whose molding has been completed is taken out from the molding die. Then, the mold is assembled by being filled with a new glass material, and is again carried into the apparatus. By repeating such a process as one molding cycle, a glass molded body can be continuously produced.

JP 2008-56532 A

  Here, in the apparatus described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, there is an abnormality in the mold such that the mold taken out from the apparatus cannot be disassembled or the glass mold cannot be removed even if the mold is disassembled. May occur. If an abnormality occurs in such a mold, it may be possible to repair the abnormality of the mold by stopping the apparatus. However, if the apparatus is stopped, the temperature in the apparatus fluctuates or glass molding is performed. In reality, it is very difficult to stop the device because the production amount of the body is reduced. For this reason, in the event that an abnormality occurs in the mold, in order not to stop the production of the glass molded body, the mold in which the abnormality has occurred is excluded and only other normal molds are carried into the apparatus. Various processes were carried out by placing them on a support base in the apparatus.

  However, when a glass molded body including various processing steps is continuously manufactured in a state where a support base on which the mold is placed and a support base on which the mold is not placed are mixed, heat treatment and cooling treatment are performed. In this case, there is a difference between the temperature of the support base on which the mold is not placed and the temperature of the support base on which the mold is placed. When the mold is placed on a support base on which the mold has not been placed and the next molding cycle is performed, the temperature of the mold can be controlled as desired due to the influence of the support base at different temperatures. As a result, there is a risk that defective molding of the glass molded body (thickness deficiency, assholes, etc.) may occur.

  In particular, when a plurality of (for example, four) molds are placed on a common support and these molds are simultaneously subjected to various processing steps, the remaining number (for example, 3) excluding the mold in which an abnormality has occurred. The support table on which the molds are placed is transferred through the processing chambers under the same temperature conditions as the other support tables. The amount of heat radiation from the heater increases, or the temperature of the entire support base changes. For this reason, there exists a possibility that the quality of the glass molded object shape | molded with the said shaping | molding die may deteriorate.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the purpose of the present invention is that, even if an abnormality occurs in any of the molds placed on the support base, This is to prevent the occurrence of molding defects in the mold.

  The method for producing a glass molded body of the present invention includes at least an upper mold and a lower mold, a supply unit to which a molding mold containing glass material is supplied, a transport mechanism that transports the mold along a transport path, and A plurality of processing units including a heating unit, a pressing unit, and a cooling unit provided along the conveyance path, and a carry-out unit for carrying out a molding die subjected to various processes in the plurality of processing units to the outside. , A method of manufacturing a glass molded body using a glass molded body manufacturing apparatus comprising: a heating step of heat-treating a molding die in a heating unit; and a pressing die that has undergone the heating step is pressed in a pressing unit Then, the press step for press-molding the glass material accommodated in the interior, the cooling step for cooling the mold after the press step in the cooling unit, and the molding die carried out from the carry-out unit are disassembled to complete the molding. Glass molding The mold is assembled with a new glass material loaded into the mold from which the glass molded body has been removed, and the mold unit is supplied to the supply unit. The material exchange step detects abnormalities in the mold. In this case, the pseudo mold is supplied to the supply unit in place of the mold determined to be abnormal, or the number of molds is less than the predetermined number required to continuously drive the manufacturing apparatus. The number of pseudo molds corresponding to the shortage number is supplied to the supply unit.

  According to the present invention, by placing the pseudo mold, it is possible to suppress the increase and decrease in the radiant heat from the heater to the other mold where no abnormality has occurred, and the heat capacity of the entire support base Can be prevented from changing. Thereby, it can prevent that another shaping | molding die becomes high temperature in the case of heat processing and a press process.

  Moreover, since the change in the heat capacity of the entire support table can be suppressed, the support table is prevented from being excessively cooled during the cooling process, and the temperature of the mold used in the next cycle is prevented from being lowered. it can. For this reason, since it becomes the temperature history similar to the case where the other shaping | molding die and a support stand have mounted the normal shaping | molding die, it can prevent that a shaping | molding defect generate | occur | produces in a glass molded object.

  The glass molded body manufacturing system of the present invention includes at least an upper mold and a lower mold, and transports a predetermined number of molds along a transport path, a supply unit to which a mold that contains a glass material is supplied. A conveying mechanism, a plurality of processing units including a heating unit, a pressing unit, and a cooling unit provided along a conveying path, and a mold for carrying out various types of processing in the plurality of processing units. Disassembling and disassembling the unloading part and the mold that has been unloaded from the unloading part, taking out the glass molded body that has been molded, loading the glass mold with the new glass material, and assembling the mold The assembly mechanism, an abnormality detection mechanism that detects an abnormality of the mold in the disassembly / assembly unit, and when the abnormality detection mechanism detects an abnormality of the mold, the mold determined to be abnormal is replaced with a pseudo mold. Mold change mechanism and molding in supply section Or and a supply mechanism for supplying a pseudo-mold.

  According to the present invention, even if an abnormality occurs in any of the molds during the manufacturing process of the glass molded body, the temperature fluctuation for each molding cycle is reduced by placing the pseudo mold, and the glass Generation | occurrence | production of a molding defect can be suppressed in a molded object.

It is a horizontal sectional view which shows the structure of the manufacturing apparatus of the glass forming body used by this embodiment. These are AA sectional drawing in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the manufacturing method of the glass forming body of this embodiment. It is a figure showing a metallic mold unit at the time of exchanging one of a plurality of metallic molds with a pseudo metallic mold. It is a graph which shows the temperature log | history of the support part in which the normal type | mold and pseudo mold of Example 1 were mounted. It is a graph which shows the temperature history of the support part in which the regular type | mold in Comparative Example 1 was mounted, and the support part in which nothing is mounted. It is a graph which shows the temperature history of the support part of the die unit of each cycle of Example 2. 6 is a graph showing a temperature history of a support portion of a mold unit in each cycle of Comparative Example 2.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method for producing a glass molded body of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, a glass molded body is manufactured by a glass molded body system including the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view showing a configuration of a glass molded body manufacturing apparatus used in the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an AA sectional view in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes an apparatus housing 2 formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape, a rotary table 4 provided in the apparatus housing 2, and a rotary table. 4 and an inner casing 6 having an arcuate horizontal cross section provided above 4. The device casing 2, the inner casing 6, and the turntable 4 are arranged concentrically.

  The device housing 2 is attached with a substantially circular top cover and a bottom plate (not shown) at the top and bottom, and the inside thereof is in a sealed state. The internal space of the apparatus housing 2 is an inert gas atmosphere. As the inert gas, nitrogen, argon, or the like is used, and the oxygen concentration is preferably 5 ppm or less. It should be noted that the oxidation of the mold unit 8 and the surface alteration of the glass material can be prevented by making the internal space an inert gas atmosphere in this way.

  The upper lid is formed with a carry-in / carry-out port (not shown) through which the mold can be carried into the apparatus and the mold can be carried out of the apparatus, and a carry-in / carry-out section 46 is formed in the apparatus below. Has been. In the present embodiment, the carry-in / carry-out unit 46 is shown as an example having both the supply unit and the carry-out unit in the present invention. However, the carry-in unit (supply unit) and the carry-out unit (carry-out port) are provided separately. May be.

  The turntable 4 includes a turntable 10, a drive shaft (not shown) connected to the center of the turntable 10, and a drive mechanism (not shown) such as a motor that rotates the drive shaft. . On the turntable 10, the number of mold units 8 (eight in the present embodiment) corresponding to the number of processing chambers are arranged at regular intervals. As will be described later, the mold unit 8 includes a support 12 and a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) molds 52 placed on the support 12. If these mold units 8 are arranged in contact with each other, heat exchange occurs between the adjacent support bases 12, making it difficult to individually control the temperature. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the mold unit 8 is spaced apart as described above, the temperature control can be individually performed for each mold unit 8.

  The mold unit 8 disposed on the turntable 10 is intermittently transferred to each processing chamber in the inner casing 6 as the turntable 10 rotates. In the present embodiment, the rotary table 4 conveys the mold unit 8 along the circumference of a predetermined radius by intermittently rotating the drive mechanism by 45 degrees every predetermined time. The path along which the mold unit 8 is transported corresponds to the transport path of the present invention. Further, the rotary table 4 stops for a predetermined stop time set in advance during each rotation operation. The stop time of the rotary table 4 is determined to be longer than the time required for the press process in the press chamber 26 described later.

  The inner casing 6 is concentrically coaxial with the apparatus housing 2 and has an inner wall 6A extending in an arc shape over an angular range of 270 degrees in the horizontal direction, and is located radially outside the inner wall 6A and is circular over an angular range of 270 degrees in the horizontal direction. It has an outer wall 6B that extends in an arc shape, a ceiling that closes between the inner wall 6A and the upper part of the outer wall 6B, and a bottom that closes between the inner wall 6A and the lower part of the outer wall 6B. The inner wall 6A, the outer wall 6B, the ceiling portion, and the bottom portion form a processing space having a circular cross section in the inner casing 6. An arc-shaped slit 6 </ b> C is formed at the bottom of the inner casing 6 along the conveyance path of the mold unit 8.

The processing space of the inner casing 6 is divided into six chambers in an angle range of 45 degrees in the rotation direction of the turntable 4. These six chambers are arranged along the conveyance path of the mold unit 8 in the first heating chamber 20, the second heating chamber 22, the soaking chamber 24, the press chamber 26, the first annealing chamber 28, and the second annealing chamber. They are arranged in the order of 30. The first heating chamber 20, the second heating chamber 22, and the soaking chamber 24 in this embodiment correspond to the heating section of the present invention, and the press chamber 26 of the present embodiment corresponds to the pressing section of the present invention. The 1st slow cooling chamber 28 and the 2nd slow cooling chamber 30 of a form correspond to the cooling part of this invention.
A shutter (not shown) is provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber to partition adjacent processing chambers. In this embodiment, a shutter is also provided between the soaking chamber 24 and the press chamber 26, but the shutter between the soaking chamber 24 and the press chamber 26 may be omitted.

  Heaters 32, 34, respectively, are provided on both sides of the transport path of the first heating chamber 20, the second heating chamber 22, the soaking chamber 24, the press chamber 26, the first annealing chamber 28, and the second annealing chamber 30, respectively. 36, 38, 40, and 42 are provided. These heaters 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 are respectively a first heating chamber 20, a second heating chamber 22, a soaking chamber 24, a press chamber 26, a first annealing chamber 28, and a second annealing chamber. The inside 30 is heated to a predetermined temperature.

  A press mechanism (not shown) is provided on the upper lid above the press chamber 26. The press mechanism is provided with a drive mechanism such as a motor or a hydraulic cylinder provided corresponding to each of the plurality of molds placed on the support base 12, and by driving this drive mechanism, one end of the drive mechanism is provided. The attached press head presses each mold 52 of the mold unit 8 in the press chamber 26 from above, and presses the glass material. A support member that supports the rotary table 4 from below when the press mechanism presses each mold 52 of the mold unit 8 is provided at a position corresponding to the lower side of the press mechanism of the rotary table 4. Is desirable.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a quenching section 44 and a carry-in / carry-out section 46 are formed between the second annealing chamber 30 and the first heating chamber 20 in the transfer path in the apparatus housing 2. The rapid cooling section 44 is an area for rapidly cooling the mold unit 8, and no heater is disposed around it. Further, the carry-in / carry-out unit 46 exchanges, through the carry-in / carry-out port, a mold containing a glass molded body that has been molded and a mold containing a new glass material that has not been molded. It is an area for. The carry-in / carry-out unit 46 is provided with a carry-in / carry-out mechanism capable of moving the mold unit 8 up and down. When the mold unit 8 is lifted by the carry-in / carry-out mechanism, the carry-in / carry-out unit The molding die 52 that has been molded can be taken out and a new molding die 52 can be placed on the support base 12. This carry-in / carry-out mechanism corresponds to the supply mechanism and the carry-out mechanism of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mold unit 8 includes a support base 12 and a plurality of (four in this embodiment) molds 52 placed on the support base 12. As the material of the mold 52, silicon carbide, cemented carbide, silicon nitride, or the like is used. The support base 12 includes a base portion 12A and a plurality of (four in this embodiment) columnar support portions 12B provided upright on the base portion 12A. Each mold 52 is placed on each support portion 12 </ b> B of the support base 12. The molding die 52 has an upper die 54 and a lower die 56 having molding surfaces formed in accordance with the shape of the glass molded body to be manufactured, and a cylinder that regulates the mutual position of the upper die 54 and the lower die 56 in the radial direction. And a mold 58. A release film is formed on the molding surfaces of the upper mold 54 and the lower mold 56. The glass material 60 is disposed in a state of being sandwiched between the upper mold 54 and the lower mold 56. In a state where the glass material 60 is heated to the glass yield point temperature or higher, by pressing the upper and lower molds 54 and 56 in a relatively close direction, the shape of the molding surface is transferred to the glass material, and a glass molded body having a desired shape (Optical element) can be press-molded.

  In addition, the glass molded body manufacturing system of the present embodiment is not illustrated, but the molding 52 taken out from the apparatus 1 is disassembled, the molded glass molded body is taken out, and the molded glass piece is taken out. A disassembling / assembling mechanism including a robot arm for assembling the forming mold 52 by loading a new glass material 60 into the mold 1, an abnormality detecting mechanism for detecting an abnormality of the forming mold described in detail later in the disassembling / assembling mechanism, When the abnormality detection mechanism detects an abnormality of the mold 52, a mold exchanging mechanism that replaces the mold that is determined to be abnormal and the pseudo mold is provided.

  Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing a glass molded body by the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. In the following description, a method of manufacturing a glass molded body will be described by paying attention to one mold unit 8, but in the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, depending on the number of processing chambers. A plurality of mold units 8 are arranged on the turntable 10 of the turntable 4 in an equiangular range of 45 degrees. The plurality of mold units 8 are continuously transported along the transport path by the rotary table 4, and processes such as heat treatment, press processing, and slow cooling processing are performed in parallel in each processing chamber.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the method for producing a glass molded body of the present embodiment.
First, when the rotary table 4 rotates and the mold unit 8 that accommodates the glass molded body for which the molding process has been completed reaches the carry-in / carry-out unit 46, the mold unit 8 is lifted by the carry-in / carry-out mechanism, A plurality of molds 52 for which processing has been completed are simultaneously carried out of the apparatus casing 2 from the outlet. Then, these molds 52 are held by a robot hand (not shown), and a material exchange step (S60) described later is performed. Moreover, immediately after taking out these shaping | molding dies 52, the shaping | molding die 52 in which the new glass material was accommodated is supplied in an apparatus from carrying in / out opening (S44).

  When a preset stop time (hereinafter referred to as a tact time) of the rotary table 4 has elapsed since the completion of the previous rotation operation, the shutter provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber is opened. Thus, the rotary table 4 rotates 45 degrees counterclockwise in plan view. Thereby, the mold 25 is conveyed into the first heating chamber 20 while being held by the support 12. At this time, since the support portion 12B of the support base 12 passes through the slit 6C provided at the bottom of the inner casing 6, the support portion 12B and the inner casing 6 do not interfere with each other.

  When the mold unit 8 is transferred to the first heating chamber 20, a first heating step (S12) for heating the mold unit 8 is performed. The inside of the first heating chamber 20 is maintained at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass yield point temperature (Ts) by the heaters 32 provided on both sides of the transport path. The mold unit 8 transferred to the first heating chamber 20 is heated by the heaters 32 provided on both sides of the transfer path.

  When a preset tact time elapses from the previous rotation of the turntable 4, the shutter provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber is opened, and the turntable 4 is turned counterclockwise in plan view. Rotate 45 degrees. Thereby, the mold unit 8 is conveyed into the second heating chamber 22.

  When the mold unit 8 is conveyed to the second heating chamber 22, a second heating step (S14) is performed in which the mold 52 of the mold unit 8 is heated to about the glass yield point temperature (Ts). The second heating chamber 22 is maintained at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass yield point temperature (Ts) by the heater 34. Thereby, the glass material 60 in the mold unit 8 conveyed into the second heating chamber 22 is heated until it reaches about the glass yield point temperature (Ts).

  When a preset tact time elapses from the previous rotation of the turntable 4, the shutter provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber is opened, and the turntable 4 is turned counterclockwise in plan view. Rotate 45 degrees. As a result, the mold unit 8 is transferred into the soaking chamber 24.

  When the molding die 52 is conveyed to the soaking chamber 24, a soaking step (S16) is performed for soaking the molding die 52 and the glass material 60 accommodated therein. The inside of the soaking chamber 24 is maintained at a glass yield point temperature (Ts) by a heater 36. Thereby, the shaping | molding die 52 and the glass material 60 are soaked so that the temperature may become uniform temperature distribution by the glass yield point temperature (Ts) grade.

  When a preset tact time elapses from the previous rotation of the turntable 4, the shutter provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber is opened, and the turntable 4 is turned counterclockwise in plan view. Rotate 45 degrees. Thereby, the mold unit 8 is conveyed into the press chamber 26.

When the mold unit 8 is conveyed to the press chamber 26, a press step (S18) is performed. In the pressing step, the mold unit 8 of the mold unit 8 is pressed by the press mechanism while the mold unit 8 is heated by the heater 38 so as to maintain the glass yield point temperature (Ts) or so, and the glass material is press-molded. The press load is preferably set as appropriate within a range of 30 to 500 kgf / cm ² .

When the press step is completed and the tact time has elapsed from the previous rotation of the turntable 4, the shutter provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber is opened, and the turntable 4 is viewed in plan view. Rotate 45 degrees counterclockwise. Thereby, the mold 52 of the mold unit 8 is conveyed into the first slow cooling chamber 28.
In the first slow cooling chamber 28, a first slow cooling step (S20) is performed in which the mold 52 is slowly cooled while the mold 52 is heated by the heater 40. It is preferable to appropriately set the cooling rate for the time in the range of 10 to 100 ° C./min.

When the first slow cooling step is completed and a preset tact time has elapsed since the previous rotation, the shutter provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber is opened, and the rotary table 4 rotates 45 degrees counterclockwise in plan view. Thereby, the mold 52 of the mold unit 8 is conveyed into the second slow cooling chamber 30.
In the second slow cooling chamber 30, a second slow cooling step (S <b> 22) is performed in which the mold 52 is slowly cooled while the mold 52 is heated by the heater 42. It is preferable to appropriately set the cooling rate for the time in the range of 10 to 100 ° C./min.

  When the tact time elapses from the previous rotation of the rotary table 4, the shutter provided between the circumferential end of the inner casing 6 and each chamber is opened, and the rotary table 4 rotates 45 degrees counterclockwise in plan view. . Thereby, the mold 52 of the mold unit 8 is conveyed from the second slow cooling chamber 30 to the rapid cooling unit 44.

  When the mold 52 is conveyed to the quenching section 44, a quenching step (S24) is performed. The quenching section 44 is not provided with a heater and has a temperature similar to that around the apparatus. For this reason, the mold unit 8 and the internal glass molded body are rapidly cooled. The cooling rate at this time is faster than the cooling rate in the slow cooling step, and is preferably set as appropriate within a range of 30 to 300 ° C./min, for example. Moreover, you may spray cooling gas toward the die unit 8 as needed.

Further, when a preset tact time elapses from the previous rotation of the rotary table 4, the rotary table 4 rotates 45 degrees and the mold unit 8 is transferred to the loading / unloading unit 46.
When the mold unit 8 that accommodates the glass molded body for which the molding process has been completed reaches the carry-in / carry-out section 46, the mold unit 8 is raised by the lifting mechanism, and the mold for which the molding process has been completed from the carry-in / carry-out port. A plurality of 52 are simultaneously carried out of the apparatus housing 2. (S26). Here, only the mold 52 is taken out, and the support base 12 remains in the apparatus.

  Next, the molding die 52 carried out from the carry-in / carry-out unit 46 is disassembled, the molded glass molded body is taken out, and a new glass material 60 is loaded into the molding die 52 from which the glass molded body has been taken out and molded. A material exchange step (S60) for assembling the mold 52 and supplying the forming mold 52 to the loading / unloading section 46 is performed.

  In the present embodiment, when an abnormality of the mold 52 is detected in the material replacement step (S60), a pseudo mold (hereinafter also referred to as a dummy mold) is carried out and loaded instead of the mold 8 determined to be abnormal. To the unit 46. Alternatively, when the number of molds 8 is less than the predetermined number, the number of pseudo molds corresponding to the shortage number is supplied to the carry-out / carry-in unit 46.

Here, it is desirable that the dummy mold of the present embodiment satisfies one or more of the following conditions.
First, it has a specific heat capacity equivalent to that of a regular mold.
The specific heat capacity of the dummy mold is preferably within the range of ± 50% of the specific heat capacity of the regular mold, more preferably within the range of ± 20% of the specific heat capacity of the regular mold. Most preferably, it is the same material as the specific heat capacity of the mold.

The material of the dummy type may be ceramic or metal such as silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (Si ₃ N ₄ ), tungsten carbide (WC), tungsten alloy, stainless steel, nickel chrome steel, carbon steel, etc. desirable. All of the materials exemplified here have a specific heat capacity in the range of 400 to 700 J / (kg · K).

Second, it has a maximum width equivalent to the maximum width of a regular mold.
The maximum width of the dummy mold is preferably in the range of ± 50% of the maximum width of the regular mold, more preferably in the range of ± 20% of the maximum width of the regular mold, Most preferably, it is the same as the maximum width of the regular mold. Here, the maximum width refers to the maximum width of the portion that holds the molding die or the dummy die.

Third, it must be an integral structure that cannot be easily separated and disassembled.
Of the first to third conditions, the first condition has the highest priority.

  When the abnormality of the mold 52 is detected, for example, when the mold 52 cannot be disassembled, when the glass molded body cannot be removed from the mold 52, or when the mold 52 cannot be assembled, This is the case when the assembly is not in time within a predetermined time. In short, it is determined that the mold 52 is abnormal when the glass mold is taken out and the mold 52 containing the new glass material 60 cannot be supplied to the glass mold manufacturing apparatus 1.

  Moreover, the case where the number of the shaping | molding die 8 is less than predetermined number is a case where the number of shaping | molding die required in order to manufacture a glass molded object continuously using the manufacturing apparatus 1 cannot be prepared, for example. is there. Specifically, in the manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, eight mold units 8 are used, and four molds 52 are placed on each mold unit. For this reason, 32 molds are required in the apparatus, and in addition, at least one mold unit, that is, four molds, is required to perform the material exchange step outside the apparatus. At least 36 molds are required. Therefore, in this embodiment, since new processing or additional processing of the mold is performed, the case where only 36 molds can be prepared corresponds to the case where the number of the molds 8 is less than the predetermined number.

Hereinafter, this material exchange step (S60) will be described in detail.
First, the mold 52 carried out of the apparatus is disassembled by the disassembly / assembly mechanism (S28). The disassembly of the mold 52 in the present embodiment refers to an operation of pulling the upper mold 54 upward from a state where the upper mold 54 and the lower mold 56 are inserted into the body mold 58 or an operation of pulling the lower mold 56 downward. . On the molding surface of the lower die 56 after decomposition, a press-molded glass molded body is placed.
Here, when the upper die 54 or the lower die 56 is pulled out from the barrel die 58, any of the plurality of molding dies 52 cannot be disassembled normally (for example, YES in S30). ), The abnormality detection mechanism detects this and determines that an abnormality has occurred. Whether or not the mold can be normally disassembled as described above can be determined based on, for example, whether or not a load (suction pressure or the like) when the upper mold or the lower mold is pulled out from the trunk mold exceeds a predetermined level. it can. In this case, when the load when the upper mold or the lower mold is pulled out from the trunk mold exceeds a predetermined level, it is determined that the normal mold cannot be disassembled.

  The molding die 52 determined to be abnormal is replaced with a dummy die (pseudo mold) by the die exchange mechanism, skipping steps (S32 to S42) described later (S52). Then, the supply mechanism supplies the dummy mold to the manufacturing apparatus 1. When the mold 52 can be normally disassembled (NO in S30), the mold 52 does not need to be replaced with a dummy mold. When processing a plurality of molds 52 at the same time, the molds 52 and dummy molds that have normally undergone steps S32 to S42 are supplied to the manufacturing apparatus 1 simultaneously.

  Next, the glass molded body is taken out from the normally disassembled mold 52 (S32). Here, when the glass molded body cannot be taken out from the molding die 52 in any of the molding dies 52 due to the glass molded body sticking to the molding surface or the glass molded body missing or cracking (in S34). In the case of YES), the abnormality detection mechanism detects this and determines that an abnormality has occurred. Whether or not the glass molded body can be taken out can be determined based on, for example, whether or not the pressure when adsorbing the molded body on the mold 52 is within a predetermined range. For example, when the molded body is absent or cracked, the adsorbing pressure becomes a predetermined range or less. Further, when the molded body is stuck to the molding die 52, it becomes a predetermined range or more to be adsorbed. In such a case, it may be determined that the glass molded body cannot be taken out.

  The molding die 53 determined to be abnormal in S34 is replaced with a dummy die by a die exchange mechanism (S52), skipping steps (S36 to S42) described later. When the glass molded body can be taken out from the mold 52 (NO in S34), it is not necessary to replace the mold 52 with a dummy mold.

  Next, the glass molded body taken out from the normally disassembled mold 52 is subjected to quality inspection, for example, whether it is molded into a predetermined shape (S36). In the quality inspection, when the quality of the glass molded body is low (such as YES in S38), such as when the glass molded body does not meet the predetermined evaluation criteria continuously, the abnormality detection mechanism performs this. Is detected and it is determined that an abnormality has occurred. The mold 53 determined to be abnormal is replaced with a dummy mold by the mold exchanging mechanism (S52), skipping steps (S39 to S42) described later. When the glass molded body satisfies the predetermined evaluation standard (YES in S38), it is not necessary to replace the molding die 52 with a dummy die.

  Next, a new glass material 60 is supplied onto the molding surface of the lower die 56, and the molding die 52 is assembled (S40). The assembly of the mold 52 in the present embodiment is an operation reverse to the disassembly, and the operation of inserting the lower mold 56 into the cylinder mold 58 into which the upper mold 54 is inserted, or the cylinder mold in which the lower mold 56 is inserted. The operation of inserting the upper die 54 into the 58 is referred to as an operation. Glass material is accommodated in the mold 52 after assembly.

Here, the turntable 4 of the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus 1 rotates every predetermined tact time. For this reason, before the tact time elapses, a new mold unit 8 must be supplied into the manufacturing apparatus 1. For this reason, when the mold 52 cannot be assembled normally, for example, when the mold 52 cannot be assembled before the tact time elapses, or when it cannot be completely assembled due to galling when inserted into the body mold. In the case of YES in S42, the abnormality detection mechanism detects this and determines that an abnormality has occurred, and the mold replacement mechanism replaces the mold 52 that cannot be assembled with a dummy mold (S52). Whether or not the mold can be assembled can be determined based on, for example, a load (pressure) when the upper mold or the lower mold is inserted into the body mold. If the load when the upper mold or the lower mold is inserted into the body mold exceeds a predetermined level, it may be determined that the mold cannot be assembled. When the mold 52 is normally assembled before the tact time elapses (NO in S42), it is not necessary to replace the mold 52 with a dummy mold.
When the number of molds 8 is less than the predetermined number, a number of pseudo molds corresponding to the shortage number are prepared in advance and supplied to the carry-out / carry-in section 46 in the same manner as the regular mold 52. That's fine.

  Then, the regular mold 52 loaded with the new glass material 60 or the dummy mold exchanged by the mold exchange mechanism is placed on the support base 12 lifted by the carry-in / carry-out mechanism, and the mold 52 and the dummy are placed. The mold is supplied to the loading / unloading section (S44). The dummy mold placed on the support base 12 in this manner is subjected to the steps S12 to S24 simultaneously with other regular molds 52 in the same manner as the regular mold 52. That is, in the heating step (S12, S14), the slow cooling step (S20, S22), etc., the heating or cooling process is performed simultaneously with the regular mold 52. In the pressing step (S18), it is preferable that the press head is brought into contact with the dummy mold by the pressing mechanism. Thereby, the temperature fluctuation of a press head can be reduced.

  Through the above process, the mold 52 that has been determined to have some abnormality and replaced with a dummy mold is transferred onto a tray provided at a predetermined position near the manufacturing apparatus 1, and the operator detects the abnormal portion. Will be repaired.

  In the above embodiment, four molds are simultaneously used for the material exchange step (S60). When one mold is replaced with a dummy mold, three regular molds 52 and one dummy mold are used. Is carried to the carry-in / carry-out port of the manufacturing apparatus 1 while being gripped by a robot hand or the like at the same time, placed on the support table supported by the carry-in / carry-out mechanism through the carry-in / carry-out port, and the support table is lowered The mold 52 and the dummy mold are supplied to the carry-in / carry-out unit (S44). By repeating such steps, a glass molded body can be continuously produced.

  FIG. 4 is a view showing the mold unit 8 when one of the plurality of molds 52 is replaced with a dummy mold 62. As shown in the figure, when an abnormality occurs in any of the plurality of molds 52, a dummy mold 62 is placed on the support base 12 in place of the mold 52 in which an abnormality has occurred.

  Hereinafter, when the inventors of the present application place the dummy mold 62 on the support base 12 instead of the regular mold 52 (hereinafter referred to as “regular mold”), neither the dummy mold 62 nor the regular mold is placed. The fact that the variation in the mold temperature could be reduced as compared with the above will be described as an experiment.

―Experiment 1―
In this experiment, a support base having two support portions is used, a regular mold is placed on one support portion, and a dummy mold is placed on the other support portion (Example 1), and one support portion. In the case where the regular mold is placed on the other side and nothing is installed on the other side (Comparative Example 1), the temperature history of each support part when the glass molded body is manufactured by the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus 1 is shown. It was measured. In this experiment, the normal type material is silicon carbide (specific heat is about 700 J / (kg · K)), the dummy type material is stainless steel (specific heat is about 500 J / (kg · K)), and the maximum width Both (outer diameter dimensions) were 30 mm.

  FIG. 5 is a graph showing the temperature history of each support part on which the regular mold and the dummy mold of Example 1 are placed, and FIG. 6 shows the support part on which the regular mold in Comparative Example 1 is placed, and It is a graph which shows the temperature history of the support part in which nothing is mounted. FIG. 6 also shows the temperature history of the support portion on which the regular type in Example 1 is placed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the temperature history (solid line) of the support portion on which the normal mold is placed and the temperature history (one-dot chain line) of the support portion on which the dummy die is placed are substantially equal. Thereby, it turned out that it becomes a temperature history substantially equivalent to the case where a regular type | mold is mounted by mounting a dummy type | mold.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the temperature history (two-dot chain line) of the support portion on which nothing is placed in Comparative Example 1 is the temperature history (solid line) of the support portion on which the normal type of Example 1 is placed. ), The temperature increased during the heat treatment. Further, in the press process, the press head does not come into contact with the support base, and there is no heat transfer from the mold to the press head, so that the temperature of the support portion further increased. Moreover, since the heat capacity of the mold unit decreases during the cooling process on the latter stage of the manufacturing process, the temperature tends to decrease, and the temperature becomes lower than that of Example 1 when the manufacturing of the glass molded body is completed.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, when nothing is placed on one of the two support parts and a regular mold is placed on the other support part, the temperature of the support part on which the regular mold is placed is also increased. Variations occurred. That is, the temperature history (broken line) of the support portion on which the regular type shown in FIG. 6 is placed is the same as the temperature history (two-dot chain line) of the support portion on which nothing is placed. Tended to increase, and the temperature tended to decrease during the cooling process. And the temperature of the support stand became a temperature lower than Example 1 at the time of completion of a manufacturing process.

  From the above experiment, in the support base on which a plurality of molding dies are placed, by placing a dummy mold on the support portion, compared to the case where nothing is placed on the support portion, the original temperature history (that is, It can be seen that the temperature deviation from the temperature history (when all the regular types are mounted) can be reduced.

―Experiment 2―
Next, for Example 2 and Comparative Example 2 described below, each of the cases where a series of glass forming processes was performed on the mold unit using the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus 1 for three consecutive cycles. The temperature history of the support part of the mold unit was measured. In addition, 1 cycle here means repeating S12-S24 of the flowchart of FIG. 3 once. In Experiment 2, as in Experiment 1, the normal material was silicon carbide, the dummy material was stainless steel, and the maximum width (outer diameter) was 30 mm for both.

  In Example 2, using a support stand in which only one support portion is erected, a regular mold is placed on the support stand in the first cycle, and a dummy mold is placed on the support stand in the second cycle. In the cycle, a glass mold was manufactured by placing a regular mold on a support base.

  In Comparative Example 2, the normal type is placed on the support base in the first cycle, and neither the normal type nor the dummy type is placed on the support base in the second cycle, and the normal type is placed on the support base in the third cycle. Was manufactured into a glass molded body. In the mold unit on which nothing was placed, the press head was not brought into contact with the support base in the press process.

  FIG. 7 is a graph showing the temperature history of the support portion of the mold unit in each cycle of Example 2, and FIG. 8 is a graph showing the temperature history of the support portion of the mold unit in each cycle of Comparative Example 2. is there. As shown in FIG. 7, in Example 1, the dummy type was used in the second cycle, but the temperature history of the second cycle using the dummy type is substantially the same as the temperature history of the first cycle using the normal type. equal. Further, it can be seen that even if the dummy mold is used in the second cycle, the temperature history in the third cycle is hardly affected.

  On the other hand, in Comparative Example 2, as shown in FIG. 8, the temperature becomes higher than that in Example 2 during the heat treatment and press processing in the second cycle, but at the end of the second cycle, Example 2 It becomes low temperature compared with. Furthermore, since the 3rd cycle starts from a low temperature state, it turns out that the temperature of a regular type | mold (support part) does not rise to target temperature in heat processing, but press temperature falls.

  Experiment 2 shows the following. If the lens is molded without placing the mold on the mold unit, the mold will be colder than the desired temperature in the next cycle, resulting in molding such as cracking of the press molded product or insufficient thickness. Defects may occur. On the other hand, according to the present invention, by using the dummy mold, the temperature history during the cycle using the dummy mold becomes substantially equal to the temperature history of the cycle using the normal mold. For this reason, even at the start of the next cycle, it is possible to start manufacturing the glass molded body from substantially the same temperature as at the start of the regular mold cycle, thereby preventing the occurrence of molding defects.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when an abnormality is found in the mold 52, or when the number of molds 52 is less than a predetermined number, by attaching a dummy mold to the support base 12, the following An effect is obtained.
When the glass molded body is manufactured without placing the regular mold or the dummy mold 62 on any one of the support portions 12B of the mold unit 8, the mold 52 placed on the other support portion 12B becomes a heater. Receive more radiant heat. Moreover, since the shaping | molding die 52 is not mounted, the heat capacity of the whole mold unit 8 falls. For this reason, the shaping | molding die 52 mounted in the other support part 12B becomes higher temperature compared with the case where a regular type | mold is mounted in all the support parts 12B in the case of heat processing and a press process.

  On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, by placing the dummy mold 62, the increase in radiant heat from the heater to the other mold 52 is reduced, and the heat capacity of the mold unit 8 is reduced. Since it can suppress, it can prevent that the other shaping | molding die 52 becomes high temperature in the case of heat processing and a press process.

  Further, when the glass molded body is manufactured without placing the regular mold and the dummy mold 62 on any of the support portions 12B of the mold unit 8, the temperature of the support portion 12B of the support base 12 at the end of the cycle is obtained. However, it is lower than when the regular type is placed. For this reason, in the next cycle, the temperature of the molding die 52 does not rise sufficiently, and defective molding occurs. On the other hand, according to this embodiment, since the temperature drop can be prevented by placing the dummy mold 62, the temperature of the mold 52 is reduced in the next cycle. Can be suppressed.

  Further, when the glass molded body is manufactured without placing the regular mold or the dummy mold 62 on any one of the support portions 12B of the mold unit 8, the press head is formed into the mold (or the dummy mold) during the pressing process. ) Do not touch. For this reason, the temperature of a press head will fall and the temperature of the shaping | molding die which performs a next press process will fall. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since the temperature of the press head can be prevented from being lowered by placing the dummy mold 62, the molding mold 52 to be subjected to the pressing process after the dummy mold 62. The temperature can be prevented from decreasing.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the use of the dummy mold 62 allows the other mold 52 and the support base 12 to place the regular mold even when an abnormality occurs in the mold 52. Since the press treatment can be performed at the same temperature as in the case of forming the glass, it is possible to prevent the molding failure from occurring in the glass molded body.

  Further, for example, when performing steps such as disassembling and assembling the mold using a loader, an error may occur if the mold 52 is not provided, but by using the dummy mold 62, The occurrence of such an error can be suppressed.

  In addition, although this embodiment demonstrated the case where the manufacturing apparatus of the glass forming body by which a mold unit is conveyed on the circumference with a rotary table was used, it does not restrict to this but conveys a mold unit on a straight line. Even in this case, the present invention can be applied. In this case, instead of the replacement unit, a supply unit to which the mold unit is supplied on the upstream side and a carry-out unit for taking out the mold unit on the downstream side may be provided.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the manufacturing method of the glass molded object using the metal mold | die unit provided with four support parts was demonstrated, not only this but the support stand for conveying a single shaping | molding die, Alternatively, the present invention can be applied to a method of manufacturing a glass molded body using a mold unit provided with a plurality of (for example, two, three, five or more) support portions.

  In addition, the glass molded body manufacturing apparatus in the present embodiment includes a first heating chamber 20, a second heating chamber 22, a soaking chamber 24, a press chamber 26, a first annealing chamber 28, a second annealing chamber 30, and a rapid cooling. However, the number of the processing units is not limited to this, and may be seven or less or nine or more as necessary. For example, a third heating chamber is provided between the second heating chamber 22 and the soaking chamber 24, or a second press chamber is provided between the first annealing chamber 28 and the second annealing chamber 30. Can do. Even when the number of processing units is increased or decreased, it is preferable that the arrangement angles of the processing units be equal.

  In this embodiment, the mold exchanging mechanism and the carry-in / carry-out mechanism of the carry-in / carry-out unit 46 are provided separately. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mold 52 is carried in from the manufacturing apparatus 1 by the articulated robot arm. -You may carry out and replace the mold.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the mold 52 is replaced with the pseudo mold by the mold exchanging mechanism using the disassembly / assembly mechanism for disassembling / assembling the mold and the abnormality detecting mechanism for detecting the abnormality of the mold. However, these operations can also be performed manually.

The present invention will be summarized below with reference to the drawings.
In the method for producing a glass molded body of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, an exchange unit 46 that carries in and out a molding die 52 that includes at least an upper die 54 and a lower die 56 and contains a glass material 60 therein, and The rotary table 8 that conveys the mold 52 along the conveyance path, and the first and second heating units 20 and 22, the soaking unit 24, the press unit 26, and the first and first units provided along the conveyance path. A glass molded body manufacturing apparatus 1 including a plurality of processing units including two slow cooling units 28 and 30 is used. Then, in this method, as shown in FIG. 3, the heating step (S12, S14) in which the forming die is heat-treated in the heating unit, and the forming die that has undergone the heating step are pressed in the pressing unit 26 and accommodated inside. The press step (S18) for press-molding the glass material that has been pressed, the cooling steps (S20, S22) for cooling the mold 52 that has undergone the press step in the cooling unit, and the mold 52 that has been carried out from the replacement unit 56 are disassembled Then, the glass molded body that has been molded is taken out, a new glass material is loaded into the molding die 52 from which the glass molded body has been taken out, the molding die is assembled, and a material exchanging step of supplying the molding die 52 to the exchanging unit 46 ( S60), and when an abnormality of the mold is detected in the material exchange step (YES in S30, S34, S38, and S42), it is replaced with the mold determined to be abnormal. Supply the mold (dummy mold) to the supply unit (S44), or if the number of molding dies is less than the predetermined number necessary to continuously drive the manufacturing apparatus, the number corresponding to the shortage number A dummy mold is supplied to the supply unit.

  The specific heat of the pseudo mold is preferably within a range of ± 50% of the specific heat of the mold.

  In the material exchange step, when a pseudo mold is supplied to the supply unit instead of the mold, the heating step heats the mold and the pseudo mold at the same time, and the cooling step simultaneously molds and the pseudo mold. Are preferably cooled at the same time.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a number of mold units 8 corresponding to the number of processing chambers are arranged on the turntable 10 at regular intervals. Thus, since the mold unit 8 is spaced apart, the temperature can be individually controlled for each mold unit 8.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass molding manufacturing apparatus 2 Apparatus housing 4 Turntable 6 Inner casing 8 Mold unit 10 Turntable 12 Support base 12A Base 12B Support part 20 First heating chamber 22 Second heating chamber 24 Soaking chamber 26 Press chamber 28 First annealing chamber 30 Second annealing chamber 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 Heater 44 Rapid cooling section 46 Replacement section 52 Mold 60 Glass material (glass molding)
62 Pseudo mold (dummy mold)

Claims (13)

A supply unit that includes at least an upper mold and a lower mold and is supplied with a molding mold containing a glass material therein;
A transport mechanism for transporting the mold along a transport path;
A plurality of processing units including a heating unit, a pressing unit, and a cooling unit provided along the conveyance path;
A method for producing a glass molded body using a glass molded body production apparatus comprising: an unloading unit for unloading a mold subjected to various processes in the plurality of processing units;
A heating step of heat-treating the mold in the heating unit;
A press step of pressing the molding die that has undergone the heating step with the press unit, and press-molding the glass material housed therein;
A cooling step of cooling the molding die that has undergone the pressing step in the cooling section;
Disassembling the mold carried out from the carry-out part, taking out a glass molded body that has been molded, loading a new glass material into the mold from which the glass molded body has been taken out, assembling the mold, A material exchange step for supplying a mold to the supply unit;
When an abnormality of the mold is detected in the material exchange step, a pseudo mold is supplied to the supply unit instead of the mold determined to be abnormal, or the number of the molds is the manufacturing apparatus. When the predetermined number necessary for continuous driving is not reached, the number of pseudo molds corresponding to the shortage number is supplied to the supply unit.
A method for producing a glass molded body. The method for producing a glass molded body according to claim 1, wherein a specific heat of the pseudo mold is within a range of ± 50% of a specific heat of the mold. In the material exchange step, when a pseudo mold is supplied to the supply unit instead of the mold,
In the heating step, the mold and the pseudo mold are heated simultaneously,
The method for producing a glass molded body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the cooling step, the mold and the pseudo mold are simultaneously cooled. The method for producing a glass molded body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a maximum width of the pseudo mold is within a range of ± 50% of a maximum width of the mold.   In the material exchange step, if the mold cannot be disassembled, the glass molded body cannot be removed from the mold, the assembly of the mold is not completed, or the glass molded body is a predetermined The at least one of cases where the evaluation standard is not satisfied, the mold in which the abnormality is found is replaced with the pseudo mold, and the pseudo mold is supplied to the supply unit. 5. The method for producing a glass molded body according to any one of items 1 to 4. The press part has a press head for pressing the mold,
The method for producing a glass molded body according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, in the pressing step, the press head is brought into contact with the pseudo mold. A supply unit that includes at least an upper mold and a lower mold and that is supplied with a mold that contains a glass material therein;
A transport mechanism for transporting a predetermined number of the molds along a transport path;
A plurality of processing units including a heating unit, a pressing unit, and a cooling unit provided along the conveyance path;
An unloading mechanism for unloading the mold on which various processes have been performed in the plurality of processing units;
Disassembling / disassembling the molding die carried out from the carry-out section, taking out a glass molded body that has been molded, loading the glass molding body with a new glass material, and assembling the molding die An assembly mechanism;
An abnormality detection mechanism for detecting an abnormality of the mold in the disassembly / assembly unit;
A mold exchanging mechanism for exchanging the mold and the pseudo mold determined to be abnormal when the abnormality detecting mechanism detects an abnormality of the mold; and
A supply mechanism for supplying the mold or the pseudo mold to the supply unit;
A glass molded body manufacturing system comprising:   The abnormality detection mechanism is configured such that the mold cannot be disassembled, the glass molded body cannot be removed from the mold, the assembly of the mold is not completed, or the glass molded body is a predetermined one. The manufacturing system according to claim 7, wherein the mold is determined to be abnormal in at least one of cases where the evaluation standard is not satisfied.   The supply mechanism supplies a number of pseudo molds corresponding to a shortage number to the supply unit when the number of the molds is less than a predetermined number required to continuously drive the manufacturing apparatus. The manufacturing system according to claim 7. When the mold and the pseudo mold are exchanged by the mold exchange mechanism,
The said manufacturing system is the said manufacturing system of any one of Claims 7-9 which heats and cools the said shaping | molding die and the said pseudo | simulation metal mold | die simultaneously.   11. The manufacturing system according to claim 7, wherein a specific heat of the pseudo mold is within a range of ± 50% of a specific heat of the mold.   12. The manufacturing system according to claim 7, wherein the maximum width of the pseudo mold is within a range of ± 50% of the maximum width of the mold. The transport mechanism includes a rotary table,
The said manufacturing system of any one of Claims 7-12 with which the said carrying-out part and the said supply part are provided in the same position.

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