JP2732895B2 - Optical element molding device with centering mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an optical element molding apparatus having a centering mechanism for molding an optical element by press-molding a heat-softened glass material by a molding die.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the fine adjustment mechanism of the mold shift of the optical element molding device which heats and softens the glass material and press-molds the glass material with a molding die to mold the optical element is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. This is described in the invention of JP-A-63-257676 (Patent No. 2686109).

The mold shift adjusting mechanism of the invention according to the same application holds the end of the upper mold 1 and forms the rear surface in a planar shape as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, and mounts the mount shaft at the center of the rear surface. The upper surface of the upper die mount 2 provided with the mounting plate 2 is slidably contacted with the flat back surface of the mount 2, and the mounting shaft 2a penetrates the fixed plate 3 and the upper holding plate 6 which are inserted at an interval 3a with the outer periphery of the mounting shaft 2a. A pair of holders 4a attached to the upper surface of the fine adjustment ring 4 which rotates along a groove formed in the fixing plate 3 so that the mount shaft 2a can be moved in the radial direction, and is attached to each holder 4a. And a moving unit including a fine adjustment screw 5 and a moving amount measuring stylus 5a. As an adjustment method, the fixing of the upper holding plate 6 and the fixing plate 3 is performed by tightening the fixing screw 7 of the mount shaft 2.
The fine adjustment screw 4 is released while loosening the elasticity of the spring 8, and the fine adjustment screw 4 attached to the holder 4 a of the fine adjustment ring 4 is rotated by rotating the fine adjustment ring 4 along the groove formed in the fixing plate 3. 1 in the direction in which the upper mold 1 is moved (shift direction).
The fine adjustment ring 4 is finely adjusted via the fine adjustment screw 5 in the moving unit installed above, and the upper holding plate 6 is finely moved to perform the required adjustment, so that the stylus for measuring the amount of movement arranged opposite to the fine adjustment screw 5. After performing the measurement while measuring the shift amount in 5a, the upper holding plate 6 and the fixing plate 3 are fixed again.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The mold shift adjusting mechanism of the optical element molding apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-257676 has the following problems.

The shift adjustment mechanism of the upper mold 1 is provided with a nut 7 of the mount shaft.
Is rotated upward to weaken the reaction force of the spring 8 and reduce the crimping force between the upper mount 2 and the fixed plate 3, and then rotate the fine adjustment ring 4 to shift and adjust the position of the fine adjustment screw 5. By pressing the upper holding plate 6 by turning the fine adjustment screw 5, the upper die 1 together with the upper die 2 is finely moved along the fixed plate 3.

In this mechanism, when the upper holding plate 6 is finely moved, it is pressed at one point by the fine adjustment screw 5, and furthermore, since there is no guide mechanism for regulating the moving direction, the frictional resistance and the frictional resistance at the contact portion between the upper holding plate 6 and the fixed plate 3 are reduced. It is greatly affected by the shape and the like, and is likely to move in a direction different from the pushing direction of the fine adjustment screw 5. In particular, in the molding of an optical element that requires high-precision alignment, if the above-described problem occurs, the centering operation cannot be performed with high accuracy and in a short time.

The upper die mount 2, the upper holding plate 6, and the fixed plate 3 of the shift adjusting mechanism of the same application have different steady-state temperatures during heating, and therefore have different dimensional changes due to thermal expansion. Therefore, the dimensional change in the axial direction is absorbed by the spring 8, but the dimensional change in the radial direction is displaced on the contact surface between the components. Since there is no fixed portion serving as a reference, the direction of deviation is different for each heating and cooling cycle, and there is a problem that the axis of the upper mold 1 changes, and shift adjustment is always performed for each heating and cooling cycle. I needed to.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem of the mold shift adjusting mechanism of the conventional optical element molding apparatus, and to perform high-accuracy and short-time alignment of the molding die in the shift direction (horizontal direction). It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical element molding apparatus which is capable of performing a heating and cooling cycle and is stable.

[Means and actions for solving the problem]

1 and 2 are conceptual diagrams of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view, and FIG. 2 is a partially longitudinal front view.

In order to solve the above problems, the mold shift fine adjustment mechanism of the optical element molding apparatus according to the present invention comprises inserting a glass material 10 between the upper mold 1 and the lower mold 9 to press the upper and lower molds. In an optical element molding apparatus for producing an optical element by using
Slide plate 11 to which mount 2 holding the end of
And a guide plate supported by a column 46 that allows the slide plate 11 to freely slide in a direction perpendicular to the mold axis A.
It comprises a moving means 13 having a guide function for enabling fine movement of the slide plate 11 in two directions perpendicular to the guide plate 12 at right angles.

The slide plate 11 to which the mount 2 for holding the upper mold 1 is fixed is moved by a moving means 13 having a guide function.
The mold 12 is finely moved independently in two directions forming a right angle on the upper surface 12 to finely adjust the shift of the mold 1.

Further, the fixing of the slide plate 11 on the upper side of the guide plate 12 is performed by the fixing bolt 15 and is performed after the fixing bolt 15 is loosened during the fine adjustment of the shift.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 3 and 4 show a first embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a mold shift (horizontal direction) fine adjustment mechanism of an optical element molding apparatus. The figure is a partially longitudinal front view of the mechanism.

The upper mold 1 is held by an upper mold mount 2 fixed to a slide plate 11. The slide plate 11 is a guide plate 12 which can freely slide in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the upper mold 1.
The slide plate 11 is mounted thereon, and is fixed by four fixing bolts 15 screwed to the guide plate 12. Each insertion hole 30 of the slide plate 11 has a diameter larger than the diameter of each fixing bolt 15.

The slide plate 11 has a quadrilateral shape, and the parallelism of the facing surface and the perpendicularity of two adjacent sides are processed with high precision. On each of the four sides of the slide plate 11, a guide block 16 having an inclined surface 36 in the longitudinal direction is provided on the guide plate 12 so as to face each other. Each guide block 16 is integrally fixed to the guide plate 12.

Further, between each side of the slide plate 11 and the guide block 16, one side of the slide plate 11 and the inclined surface of the guide block 16 are provided.
A wedge 17 having an angle equal to the angle formed by 36 is inserted, and each wedge 17 is guided to a side of the slide plate 11 by a wedge moving screw 18 attached to an end face 37 of each guide block 16 via a connecting member 31. It is configured to be able to slide freely between the blocks 16.

On a guide block 16 corresponding to two sides adjacent to the slide plate 11, a length measuring device 19 is installed via a length measuring device holder 20, and the displacement of the measuring block 21 erected on the slide plate 11 is changed. It is configured to be able to measure the amount of movement of the slide plate 11 while measuring the distance.

Wedges 17-1 and 17-2 for the slide plate 11 located on two adjacent sides, and guide blocks 16-1 and 16
The two parts -2 are fixed by fixing screws 22 screwed into the screw holes 32 of the slide plate 11 from the side.

 Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 show an adjustment procedure of the shift fine adjustment mechanism by a plan view of the present embodiment.

The adjustment procedure for the shift adjustment in the Y direction (see FIG. 5) will be described below.

As a first adjustment procedure, each fixing bolt 15 and the fixing screw 22 are loosened, the fixing of the slide plate 11 is released, and the wedge 17a in the shift adjustment direction is moved by loosening the wedge moving screw 18a, and the guide block 16a is moved. , Slide plate 1
Provide a gap between 1 (See FIG. 5) As a second procedure, the wedge 17a loosened in the first procedure and the wedge 17b on the opposite side are moved in the direction of the arrow 38 by inserting the wedge moving screw 18b. At this time, guide block 16
Since b is integrated with the guide plate 12, the slide plate 11 is slightly moved in the adjustment direction (the direction of the arrow 39) by the guide block 16b and the wedge 17b. This movement amount is read by the measuring device 19 and necessary fine movement adjustment is performed. When the slide plate 11 moves, the guide blocks 16c and 16d and the wedges 17c and 17d on both sides in the movement direction serve as guides and prevent the slide plate 11 from shifting in the lateral direction. (See FIG. 6.) The slide plate 11 adjusted by the above procedure is fixed to the guide plate 12 by the third procedure. Slide plate in the first step
Wedge 17a with a gap between 11 and guide block 16a
Is moved by the wedge moving screw 18a to eliminate a gap between them. Next, tighten the fixing bolts 15 and slide the slide plate 11 to the guide plate.
12 and tighten the fixing screw 22 on the side surface of the guide block 16b to form a wedge that serves as the reference surface of the slide plate 11.
17b is fixed to the guide block 16b. At this time, the guide block 16b and the wedge 17b serve as reference blocks,
This is a reference position for dimensional change due to thermal expansion of the slide plate 11. (See FIG. 7) By the above procedure, the shift adjustment of the slide plate 11 in the Y direction is possible.

Also in the X direction, the guide block 16c and the wedge 17c as the moving means and the guide block 16 facing the guide block 16c
d, the shift can be adjusted through the wedge 17d in the same procedure as in the Y direction.

When adjusting in the X direction, the guide block 16a, wedge 17a, guide block 16b, and wedge 17b serving as the moving means in the Y direction serve as a guide when the slide plate 11 moves in the X direction. Can be.

As an effect of the present embodiment, the angle between the slide plate 11 and the guide block 16 and the angle of the wedge 17 are made acute, so that the slide plate with respect to the rotation of the wedge moving screw 18 is formed.
Since the amount of movement of 11 can be reduced, it is possible to set the degree of movement that matches the adjustment accuracy of the mold shift. For example, when the screw pitch of the wedge moving screw 18 is 0.5 mm, when the wedge moving screw 18 makes one rotation when the angle of the wedge 17 is 1 °, the slide plate 11 moves about 0.0086 mm. If the angle of the wedge 17 is set to 0.5 ° under the same conditions, the wedge moving screw 1
8, It can be reduced to 1/2 of 0.0043mm per rotation.

In addition, since the wedge format is used, the slide plate 11, wedge 17, and guide block 16 are always flat on adjustment, so there is little generation of moments other than the movement direction, and stable fine adjustment is possible. is there. In the drawing, reference numeral 14 denotes a heater for the upper and lower dies 1 and 9, and reference numeral 46 denotes a support for supporting the guide plate 12.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 8 and 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway plan view and FIG. 9 is a partially longitudinal front view.

In the second embodiment, components other than the moving means 40 and 41 are the same as those of the first embodiment.
The configuration is the same as that of the embodiment. Guide block 16, wedge
17, moving means 40 and 41 comprising the wedge moving screw 18 are respectively installed at two sides adjacent to the slide plate 11. On the opposing surfaces of the moving means 40 and 41, an elastically deformable block 23 whose front end is machined so as to be easily elastically deformed is in contact with the side surface of the slide plate 11, and the preload is always applied to the moving means 40 and 41. Is fixed on the guide plate 12. A length measuring device 19 is provided above the elastic deformation block 23.
Has been installed through 20.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 10, FIG.
11 and 12 are plan views showing the adjustment procedure of the second embodiment. The shift adjustment in the Y direction will be described below.

As a first procedure, the fixing bolt 15 and the fixing screw 22 are loosened to release the fixing of the slide plate 11.

(See FIG. 10.) As a second procedure, the wedge 17a of the moving means 41 in the Y direction is inserted and moved by the wedge moving screw 18, whereby the slide plate 11 is slightly moved in the adjustment direction. At this time, moving means 41
The elastically deformable block 23 installed on the opposite surface of the slide plate 11 is elastically deformed by the moving amount of the slide plate 11. (See FIG. 11.) The slide plate 11 adjusted by the first and second procedures as described above.
After the fixing bolts 15 are tightened, the fixing screws 22 installed on the side surfaces of the guide blocks are tightened, whereby the fixing block 15 is completely fixed on the guide plate 12. (Refer to FIG. 12.) The shift adjustment of the slide plate 11 in the Y direction can be performed by the above procedure. Also, in the X direction, the shift can be adjusted in the same procedure as in the Y direction.

The effects of the present embodiment include, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment,
By using the elastic deformation block 23, the mechanism of each moving means is simplified, and the time for fine adjustment of the shift of the mold can be reduced.

(Third Embodiment) FIGS. 13 and 14 show a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a plan view, and FIG. 14 is a partially longitudinal front view.

At a plurality of planes where the slide plate 11 and the guide plate 12 overlap, from the upper surface of the slide plate 11 to the lower surface, through holes 42 for air injection are opened, and buoyancy is exerted on the opening edge of each through hole 42. Air chamber 24 to be generated is provided and each through hole
A pneumatic joint 25 is attached to the upper side of 42 so as to be able to supply pressure-controlled clean air through the pneumatic tube 26.

Other configurations are the same as those of the other embodiments. That is,
This embodiment can be applied to the first and second embodiments.

 Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

When the fine movement of the slide plate 11 is performed by the moving means, the pressure in the air chamber 24 is increased by injecting controlled air into the plurality of air chambers 24, and the slide plate 11 is guided by the guide plate.
The slide plate 11 is adjusted so that the slide plate 11 is raised.

As an effect, the slide plate 11 and the guide plate 12 are machined with high precision, but when the temperature rises during heating, the frictional resistance increases, and the stick-slip phenomenon easily occurs during movement. In this embodiment, since the slide plate 11 is levitated by air pressure, the same phenomenon does not occur, and smooth movement is possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, by using the moving means having the guide function, the adjustment in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the mold can be performed independently in the two directions forming the right angle. The two sides of the slide plate can be fine-adjusted and fixed against the dimensional change due to the thermal expansion that occurs when the slide plate holding the mold is heated by the moving means. By restricting the direction and position of the thermal expansion of the mold, it is possible to perform fine adjustment of the mold shift of the optical element molding apparatus with high precision without causing a positional shift occurring in each heating and cooling cycle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 and 2 are conceptual views of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view, FIG. 2 is a front view, and FIGS. 3 to 7 are second views of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view, Fig. 4 is a partially longitudinal front view, Figs. 5 to 7 are explanatory views showing an adjustment procedure, Figs. 8 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway plan view, FIG. 9 is a partially longitudinal front view, FIG. 10 to FIG.
13 and 14 show a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a plan view, FIG. 14 is a partially longitudinal front view, and FIGS.
The figures are a plan view and a vertical sectional front view showing a shift fine adjustment mechanism of a molding die in a conventional optical element molding apparatus. 1 upper mold 2 upper mold mount 9 lower mold 10 glass material 11 slide plate 12 guide plate 13 moving means 14 heater 15 fixed Bolt 46

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An optical element molding apparatus for manufacturing an optical element by inserting a glass material between an upper mold and a lower mold and pressing the glass material by a relative movement between the upper mold and the lower mold. A slide plate holding the one mold, and the slide plate with respect to the axis of the upper mold and the lower mold.
A guide plate that is slidable in the radial direction; and a moving unit that has a guide function for individually finely moving the slide plate in two directions at right angles along the guide plate. An optical element molding device having a centering mechanism.