JP2734467B2 - Glass forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a suction finger when a glass material is carried in and a glass molded product is carried out when a high precision optical element such as an aspherical lens is formed by a press molding apparatus. The present invention relates to a glass forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, attention has been paid to a method of directly press-molding a softened glass material for optical use in a molding die instead of a method of processing an optical element by grinding and polishing.

[0003] Usually, in this type of molding, a glass material in a softened state is pressed by using a molding die member that slides in the barrel die in the barrel die, and the molding surface corresponding to the molding surface of the die member is pressed. An optical element press molding apparatus is used in which the optical function surface is formed on the glass material. In this case, a suction finger is used to carry the glass material into and out of the molding die. The suction finger is provided with a suction pad at a mold insertion portion to be inserted into a molding die, and the vacuum negative pressure guided to the mold insertion portion provides:
The above glass material is sucked and has the function of sucking and holding on the suction pad, or, similarly, by its vacuum negative pressure,
It functions to suck the glass molded product and suck and hold it on the suction pad.

[0004]

However, as described above, the suction finger used for carrying in the glass material and carrying out the glass molded product needs to perform a control operation while ensuring an accurate relative position with respect to the molding die. However, since the temperature of the press forming equipment in use, especially the temperature near the mold and the temperature of the suction pad part are quite high, even if accurate positioning is performed at room temperature, the effect of the thermal expansion of each member is actually so,
A considerable error occurs, and sufficient positioning and correction cannot be performed.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made on the basis of the above circumstances, and regulates the relative position between the die insertion portion of the suction finger and the molding die when the glass material is carried in and the glass molded product is carried out. By doing so, it is an object of the present invention to provide a glass forming apparatus capable of correcting a positioning error each time a press forming operation is performed.

For this reason, according to the present invention, a suction member for holding / removing a glass material into and out of a pair of mold members for press-molding the glass material is provided, and the mold provided on the suction finger is provided. A guide member equipped with a suction pad on an insertion member, and provided with a positioning pin guided by a vertical operation on the mold insertion member, and a positioning hole corresponding to the positioning pin for guiding the positioning pin on a molding body side. In the glass forming apparatus, the suction finger sucks and holds the glass material by a negative pressure applied to the suction pad, transports the glass material to a required location, and also forms the glass molded article formed by the press forming apparatus. Control means for rotating the suction hand about a vertical axis and moving up and down in the vertical axis direction in order to suck and hold the suction pad on the suction pad and carry it out. The horizontal compliance spring means provided at the end of de, characterized in that the horizontal compliance spring means via a spacer for insulation holds the mold insert.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A case where the suction finger positioning apparatus of the present invention is applied to a press forming apparatus for an optical element shown in the drawings will be specifically described below. The illustrated press forming device
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a glass material (glass blank) is loaded into a molding die 1, and press forming is performed by operating a movable portion (described later) of the molding die 1 by operating a press operation mechanism 2. The press molding is preferably performed in an inert gas atmosphere such as a nitrogen gas atmosphere. To this end, the mold 1, the press operation mechanism 2, and the like are provided in a molding chamber 3 having an airtight structure.

The molding chamber 3 is disposed on a gantry 10 and is provided with a gate valve 11 at an entrance 301 for carrying in a glass material and carrying out a molded product, and is communicated with the outside via this. ing. Further, a mold exchange chamber 12 is provided on the gantry 10 adjacent to the molding chamber 3, and the exchange chamber 12 is connected to the molding chamber 3 via a gate valve 13. Communicating.

A suction finger 4 is provided in the molding chamber 3 as a replacement means for introducing (loading) the glass material into and out of the molding die 1 (outgoing). ing. Absorption finger-4
The suction hand 402 is attached to the upper end of the rotating shaft 401 which penetrates the floor of the molding chamber 3 and is vertically introduced into the molding chamber 3 from the outside.
The mold insertion member 420 is attached to the tip of the second member 02 via a horizontal compliance spring means 410, and the mold insertion member 420 is provided with a suction pad 403 (FIG. 3).
And FIG. 4). The rotating shaft 401 is rotatably connected to a piston rod 14A of a cylinder mechanism 14 provided on the gantry 10, and is configured to be vertically moved in the axial direction by the operation of the piston rod 14A. The motor 14 is rotated via a gear train 16 by an electric motor 15 provided at 14A. In this embodiment, as the control means for controlling the vertical movement and the turning movement in the horizontal plane of the suction hand 402,
Although the cylinder mechanism 14 and the electric motor 15 are provided as described above, it goes without saying that other appropriate means may be used.

In this embodiment, in particular, the suction pad 403 has a cone-shaped suction surface 40 for sucking a spherical glass material (glass blank) G as shown in FIG.
3A, and a ring-shaped suction surface 403 located on the outer periphery of the suction surface 403A and suctioning the periphery of the glass molded product G '.
B, and carries out both operations of carrying in the glass material to the mold and carrying out the glass molded product.
Then, the negative pressure passage 40 provided in the mold insertion member 420 is provided.
4 communicates with the center portion of the suction pad 403,
By applying a negative pressure thereto, a vacuum / suction force can be applied to the suction pad 403. Therefore, when the glass material is sucked, the suction surface 403A works (see FIG. 6A), and when the glass molded product is sucked, the suction surface 403B works (see FIG. 6B).

The horizontal compliance spring means 410
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper, middle, and lower three-stage plate-shaped holding blocks 411A, 411B, and 411C and the upper and middle holding blocks 411A and 411B are parallel at both front and rear ends. The pair of leaf springs 412 and 412 provided and the leaf springs 412 and 412
By changing the phase, the middle and lower holding blocks 411
B and 411C, a pair of leaf springs 413 and 413 are installed in parallel at both left and right ends.
In this embodiment, a spacer 430 for heat insulation is provided between the horizontal compliance spring means 410 and the mold insertion member 420.

The base end of the mold insertion member 420 is positioned at the front and rear of the lower surface thereof and guided by a vertical operation.
Two positioning pins 440 and 440 are provided. Correspondingly, positioning holes 441A and 441A for guiding the positioning pins 440 and 440 are provided on the molding die 100 side.
A block-shaped guide member 441 having 41B is mounted. Note that tapered portions for guiding in the horizontal direction are formed at the tips of the positioning pins 440 and 440. Also, one of the positioning holes, that is, 441
B is formed in a long hole for matching at the time of fitting in consideration of thermal expansion. In addition, the mold insertion member 42
An abutting member 450 that regulates the vertical movement amount is disposed between the guide member 441 and the guide member 441. In this case, the abutting member 450 includes a positioning pin 440,
It is located on the lower surface of the mold insertion member 420 and located between 440.

In this embodiment, the mold insertion member 4 is used.
Reference numeral 20 denotes a heater 4 for heating the suction pad 403.
60 is embedded, and a thermocouple 470 for measuring and controlling the heating temperature by the heater 460 is provided. The suction hand 402 and the mold insertion member 4
A vacuum hose 480 having a bellows portion 481 communicating with the negative pressure passage 404 is disposed between the hose 480 and the vacuum hose 480. Therefore, the horizontal compliance spring means 4
10 does not hinder the centering operation.

In a state where the glass material is sucked on the suction pad 403, the rotation shaft 4 is controlled based on the control of the cylinder mechanism 14 and the rotation control of the electric motor 15.
01 by the axial movement and the rotation movement of the mold insertion member 4.
20 is introduced into the mold 1, the glass material is placed on the molding surface of the lower mold member 101, and after molding, the same mold insert member 420 is introduced into the mold 1, and the suction pad 403 is formed.
In the state in which the molded product is sucked, the rotating shaft 401 is removed from the molding die 1 by the axial operation and the rotating operation in the opposite direction. At this time, when the glass material G accesses the molding surface of the lower mold member 101 or the suction pad 403 accesses the glass molded product on the molding surface, the positioning pins 440 and 440 are moved during the vertical operation. Positioning hole 4
41A and 441B, it is possible to correct a horizontal relative position shift due to thermal expansion. Further, in this embodiment, the operation amount in the vertical direction is regulated by the function of the abutting member 450, and the error in the vertical direction due to thermal expansion can be corrected.

In this molding apparatus, the entrance 30
1, a loading / unloading unit 17 for loading and unloading the glass material and the molded product with respect to the molding chamber 3 is arranged on the gantry 10. The loading / unloading means 17
Mounts the replacement chamber-171 on a piston rod 18A extending upward from the cylinder mechanism 18,
Opening 171A at the upper end of the exchange chamber-171
The table 172 can be moved up and down from the table, and the table 172 can be moved up and down by elevating means (for example, a piston / cylinder mechanism) 173 provided in the exchange chamber-171.

However, when loading or unloading a glass material or a molded article into or from the molding chamber-3,
With the glass material placed on the table 172, the piston rod 18A is raised and the exchange chamber-171 is raised under the control of the cylinder mechanism 18 to open the opening 1 thereof.
71A is brought into airtight contact with the gate valve 11. In this state, the inside of the exchange chamber-171 is replaced with a predetermined atmosphere, the gate valve 11 is opened, and the molding chamber-3 and the exchange chamber-171 communicate with each other.
Further, the placing table 172 is introduced into the molding chamber-3 by the elevating means 173, and the glass material is delivered to the suction finger-4 and the molded product is received. Then, thereafter, the elevating / lowering means 173 is operated in reverse, the placing table 172 is returned to the exchange chamber-171, the gate valve 11 is closed, and the cylinder mechanism works.
The replacement chamber-171 is lowered, and the
2 can be taken out and a new glass material can be brought into it.

In this embodiment, a required robot 19 is used to carry the glass material into the placing table 172 and take out the molded product therefrom. The robot 19 is
The glass material is replaced from the stocker 20 with the table 172 by using an adsorption means or the like, and
The molded product is taken out from 72 to a required place. That is, the robot 19 has an X-axis arm 191 and a Y-axis arm 192, and the suction arm 193 provided on the Y-axis arm 192 is moved by the X-Y arm by the action of both arms. It can be moved in the axial direction. The stocker 20 has an electric motor 20B provided on a frame 20A and a pallet 20C fixed to a rotating shaft thereof. The pallet 20C is turned by driving the electric motor 20B. At a location corresponding to the robot 19, a molded product is received and a glass material is delivered. In this embodiment, a cooling stand 21 is separately prepared, and the molded product taken out of the placing stand 172 by the suction hand 193 is temporarily placed on the cooling stand 21 and naturally or forcibly cooled to a desired temperature. .

The above-mentioned molding die 1 includes a molding die 100.
In addition, a four-piece structure in which four sets of the lower mold member 101 and the upper mold member 102 which are dispersedly arranged in four directions with respect to the center thereof are incorporated so as to be vertically slidable is provided. In order to receive the glass material and take out the molded product, an opening 100A for entering and exiting is formed in a side portion of the body mold 100. And the above-mentioned body mold 100
Are arranged and fixed on the pallet 5 in the molding chamber-3. The pallet 5 is guided from the exchange chamber 12 to the guide rail 6B laid in the molding chamber 3 through the gate valve 13 via the guide rail 6A in the exchange chamber 12. , At the press position in the molding chamber-3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the above-mentioned press operation mechanism 2 is arranged such that the guide rail 6B
An operation member 201 for pushing up is arranged below the upper side of the molding die 1.
The pressing operation members 202 are arranged, and these are held by a common holder-block 203. The operating member 201 has its upper end connected to the molding chamber 3 via an annular member 204 provided at the bottom of the molding chamber 3.
3, and has a lower end connected to a piston rod 206 extending upward from a cylinder mechanism 205 for pushing up. Further, the lower mold member 10 is provided at the upper end of the operation member 201.
1 is attached to the lower die member 101 while sliding with respect to the trunk die 100.
Can be pushed up in common.

The operating member 202 is guided by a sliding portion provided at the lower end of the holder block 203 so that it can move up and down.
3, is held downward so as to be able to move relative to the holder block 203 to a predetermined position. In this embodiment, a structure in which disc springs are stacked is adopted as the elastic mechanism 208, but other suitable mechanisms and structures may be employed.

A common rod 209 is connected to the upper end of the holder block 203, and is connected to the common rod 209.
Is connected to a piston rod 211 extending through a ceiling portion of the molding chamber 3 and extending from the inside to the outside, and extending downward from a cylinder mechanism 210 for pressing arranged at an upper portion of the molding chamber 3. Have been.

When the glass material is press-formed by using the press operation mechanism 2, first, the cylinder mechanism 210 works so that the holder-block 20 is pressed.
3 is raised, and the upper die member 102 is raised, so-called,
Open the mold. Then, the glass material is introduced into the molding die 1 by the suction hand 402 described above, and the holder block 203 is lowered again.
Falls on the glass material. Thereafter, the cylinder mechanism 210 is further operated, and the holder block 20 is moved.
3, the operation member 202 is moved to the upper mold member 1
02 is pressed. After the upper mold member 102 is completely pushed out, during the cooling process, the cylinder mechanism 205
01 through the push-up piece 207 and the lower mold member 101.
Is pressed upward to secure the R surface. After the molding, when the cylinder mechanism 210 is operated and the holder block 203 is raised, the upper die member 102 is raised and the mold is opened.

The above-mentioned mold exchange chamber 12 is provided with mold exchange means 7. Mold exchange means 7
Is provided with an exchanging means 701 so that the pallet 5 on which the mold 1 is mounted and fixed can be moved along the guide rail 6A into the molding chamber 3 through the gate valve 13. To the guide rail 6B.

In the exchanging means 701, a coupling hand 703 is attached to a tip of a rod 702 extending into the mold exchange chamber 12, and an actuator 705 is attached to a base end of the rod 702 via a thrust bearing 704. The motor 706 mounted on the actuator 705 allows the rod 702 to be rotated via an L-shaped crank 707.
When the actuator 705 is driven, the rod 702 can be moved in the longitudinal direction by moving the actuator 705 along a guide rail 708 arranged in parallel with the rod 702. It is configured.

Thus, the rod 702 is rotated by the operation of the motor 706, and the operation of engaging and disengaging the coupling hand 703 with respect to the pallet 5 is performed by this operation, and the operation of the actuator 705 is performed. Then, the above pallet 5
It can move along the guide rail 6A.
Thus, under the control of the exchanging means 701, the pallet 5 is brought to the guide rail 6B of the molding chamber 3 via the gate valve 13 and set at the pressing position of the press operating mechanism 2, or Conversely, it can be withdrawn back to the mold change chamber-12.

The mold exchange means 7 has a pallet replacement means 711 for moving the pallet 5. The pallet replacement means 711 includes a piston rod 71 which advances and retreats in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 6A.
A cylinder mechanism 712 having 2A is provided on one side of the mold exchange chamber 12, and two stages 713A, 713 are provided at the tip of the piston rod 712A.
A feeder 713 having B is mounted. Each of the stages 713A and 713B is provided with the above-described guide rail 6A. The other side of the mold exchange chamber 12 has an opening for taking in and out the mold 1, and a door 12A is provided therein.

Then, the door 12A is previously opened, the cylinder mechanism 712 is operated, and the feed base 713 is protruded from the opening of the mold exchange chamber 12 so that, for example, the stage 713A is opened. On the guide rail 6A,
Place the pallet 5 on which the new mold 1 is mounted, and
By operating the cylinder mechanism 712 in reverse,
3 and, as shown in FIG. 2, when the cylinder 12 is biased to the side where the cylinder mechanism 712 is located, the door 12 </ b> A is closed, and the gas replacement in the mold exchange chamber 12 is performed. The guide rail 6A of the stage 713B is located at the center (pallet replacement position) of the mold exchange chamber-12.

Therefore, by the operation of the exchange means 701,
From the molding chamber 3, the used mold 1 together with the pallet 5 on which the mold 1 has been placed can be taken out onto an empty stage 713B. After that, the cylinder mechanism 712 is operated to position the stage 713A at the center of the mold exchange chamber 12, and the exchanging means 701 is again operated to form the guide rail 6A from above. The new mold 1 can be transferred together with the pallet 5 to the guide rail 6B of the chamber-3, and can be set at the press position of the press operation mechanism 2. The used mold 1 can be removed from the pallet 5 by opening the door 12A after replacing the new mold 1 with the molding chamber-3.

[0029]

According to the present invention, as described above, the present invention is provided with a suction finger for holding a glass material and moving in and out of a pair of mold members for pressing and molding the glass material. The mold insertion member provided on the finger is provided with a suction pad, and the mold insertion member is provided with a positioning pin that is guided by a vertical operation, and the positioning pin correspondingly guides the positioning pin to the molding body side. In a glass forming apparatus equipped with a guide member having a hole, the suction finger is provided with a negative pressure applied to the suction pad.
Adsorb and hold the glass material, transport it to the required location,
In order to adsorb and hold the glass molded article formed by the press molding apparatus on the suction pad and carry it out, the control means for rotating the suction hand about a vertical axis and moving up and down in the vertical axis direction is provided. Horizontal compliance spring means is provided at the tip of the hand, and the horizontal insertion spring means holds the mold insertion member via a spacer for heat insulation. Therefore, even under conditions in which the mold member side undergoes a temperature change in the process of heating, press forming, cooling, etc., the thermal effect based on this temperature difference only acts on the mold insertion member, and due to the function of the above-described heat insulating spacer, the horizontal compliance is reduced. The compensation function can be compensated without affecting the spring means. As a result, when holding a lens of a glass material or a molded product heated at a high temperature by suction, the positioning means, the guide member, and the horizontal compliance means can realize suction holding with higher positioning accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a press forming apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the press forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view showing a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view showing a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a use mode of the present invention in (A) and (B).

FIG. 6 shows (A) how to use the suction pad of the present invention.
It is an upper surface perspective view shown by (B).

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 molding die 100 trunk die 101 lower die member 102 upper die member 2 press operation mechanism 201, 202 operation member 203 holder block 208 elastic mechanism 4 suction finger 401 rotary shaft 402 suction hand 403 suction pad 403A, 403B suction surface 410 Horizontal compliance spring means 411A, 411B, 411C Holding block 412, 413 Leaf spring 420 Type insertion member 430 Spacer 440 Positioning pin 441 Guide member 441A, 441B Positioning hole 450 Butt member G Glass material G 'Glass molded product

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A suction pad for holding / removing a glass material into and out of a pair of mold members for press-molding the glass material, and a suction pad provided on a mold insertion member provided on the suction finger. And a positioning pin is provided on the mold insertion member to be guided by a vertical operation, and a guide member having a positioning hole for guiding the positioning pin is mounted on the molding die corresponding to the positioning pin. In the glass forming apparatus, the suction finger sucks and holds the glass material by a negative pressure applied to the suction pad, carries the glass material to a required location, and also transfers the glass molded product formed by the press forming apparatus to the suction pad. A control means for rotating the suction hand about a vertical axis and moving up and down in the vertical axis direction for sucking, holding and carrying out is provided. A glass forming apparatus provided with a compliance spring means, wherein the horizontal compliance spring means holds the mold insertion member via a spacer for heat insulation.