JP5401241B2 - Manufacturing method of plastic lens - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing a plastic lens by cast polymerization, and more specifically to produce a plastic lens having excellent optical characteristics even when a surface defect is included on the lens surface after mold release. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a plastic lens that can be used.

  Examples of a method for obtaining a plastic lens by molding plastic into a lens shape include a casting polymerization method in which a plastic lens raw material liquid is polymerized in a mold. In the casting polymerization method, the lens optical surface is formed by transferring the molding surface shape.

  Since high surface accuracy is required for plastic lenses, particularly spectacle lenses, high surface accuracy is also required for molding surfaces for forming lens optical surfaces. Therefore, polishing is performed on the molding surface to finish it into a mirror surface (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-299290 A

  However, even when the mirror-polished mold forming surface is transferred to the lens surface, scratches may occur on the lens surface at the time of mold release or subsequent cleaning, etching, or the like. Further, when a slight defect exists on the mirror-polished mold surface, the defect may be generated by transferring the defect onto the lens surface. As a countermeasure against the surface defects, firstly, the surface of the lens is polished to remove the surface defects, and secondly, it is possible to perform molding after removing the defects on the molding surface. .

  However, the first countermeasure has a problem that the surface accuracy is lowered by polishing for defect removal. Also in the second countermeasure, polishing the molded surface having a desired shape causes a reduction in surface accuracy. Further, since it is necessary to inspect for defects for each mold, the number of processes increases and productivity is lowered.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is a method for producing a plastic lens by cast polymerization, and a plastic capable of obtaining a high-quality plastic lens even when a surface defect is included on the lens surface after mold release The object is to provide a method of manufacturing a lens.

As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above object, the present inventors have formed a film on the surface of the lens including surface defects, and applied the polishing treatment to the effect of surface defects on the lens optical characteristics. It was found that a high-quality plastic lens can be obtained. This is because the amount of polishing removal can be reduced by the masking effect by the coating, and hence the surface accuracy deterioration due to polishing can be suppressed.
The present invention has been completed based on the above findings.

That is, the above object was achieved by the following means.
[1] Injecting a plastic lens raw material liquid into the cavity of a mold having two molds facing each other with a predetermined interval and a cavity formed by closing the interval,
Obtaining a plastic lens substrate having a transferred surface on which the molding surface shape is transferred by performing a curing reaction of the plastic lens raw material liquid in the cavity,
Releasing the plastic lens substrate from the mold,
A method for producing a plastic lens comprising:
The method for producing a plastic lens, wherein the transferred surface includes a surface defect, further comprising forming a film on the transferred surface including the surface defect, and subjecting the formed film surface to a polishing treatment. .
[2] The surface defect is a surface defect generated due to the process up to the formation of the coating film at the time of the release or after the release due to the transfer of the surface defect on the molding surface [1]. ] The manufacturing method of description.
[3] The surface defect is a surface defect observed by a visual inspection shown in JIS-T7313, and the polishing process makes the surface defect invisible in the inspection, according to [1] or [2]. The manufacturing method as described.
[4] The manufacturing method according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the surface defect is a convex surface defect formed by transferring a concave surface defect on a molding surface.
[5] The manufacturing method according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the thickness of the coating film is determined based on a surface defect shape, and a coating film having the determined thickness is formed.
[6] The surface defect is a surface defect formed by transferring a surface defect having a depth more than 55 times the surface roughness of the molding surface to the transfer surface [1] to [5]. The manufacturing method in any one of.
[7] The surface defect is a surface defect formed by transferring a surface defect having a depth of more than 55 times and less than 2417 times the surface roughness of the molding surface to the surface to be transferred [6]. The manufacturing method as described in.
[8] The manufacturing method according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the coating is a hard coat coating.
[9] The manufacturing method according to any one of [1] to [8], wherein the plastic lens substrate is made of a urethane-based or allyl-based resin.

  According to the present invention, a spectacle lens having excellent optical properties can be provided.

Specific examples of surface defects are shown. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows an example of the shaping | molding die which can be used in this invention. An example of a cutting device is shown. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the manufacturing procedure of the optical lens by cast polymerization. It is explanatory drawing of a dip method. It is explanatory drawing of a spin coat method. It is explanatory drawing of a projection test | inspection.

  According to the present invention, a plastic lens raw material liquid is injected into the cavity of a mold having two molds facing each other with a predetermined interval and a cavity formed by closing the interval. The present invention relates to a method for producing a plastic lens, comprising: obtaining a plastic lens substrate having a transferred surface on which a molding surface shape is transferred by performing a curing reaction of a raw material liquid; and releasing the plastic lens substrate from a mold. . In the production method of the present invention, the transfer surface includes a surface defect, and a film is formed on the transfer surface including the surface defect, and the formed film surface is subjected to polishing treatment.

  In the present invention, the “surface defect” means a surface defect observed by visual inspection shown in, for example, JIS-T7313. Specifically, the surface defect on the molding surface is transferred to the lens surface. By this, it is a concave or convex flaw generated at the time of the mold release or due to the process up to the film formation after the mold release. When observed with an optical microscope, for example, a scratch having a shape as shown in FIG. 1 is included. The upper three types in FIG. 1 (also called “caterpillar”, “line”, and “hairline type” from the left) have a width of about 0.01 to 0.3 mm and a height or depth of about 0.1 to 6 μm. Are convex or concave flaws, and are mainly generated by slight contact. On the other hand, the lower two types in FIG. 1 (also referred to as “shell” and “dot type” from the left) are defects caused by relatively large collisions, with a width of about 0.2 to 0.5 mm and a height or depth. The thickness is about 5 to 32 μm.

After the casting polymerization, when the surface defects exist on the surface of the released lens, it has been common to perform a polishing process on the lens surface. In addition, when there are scratches generated due to contact between the molds on the molding surface, the molding surface is usually polished until the scratches can be removed.
On the other hand, in this invention, a film is formed on the lens base material surface containing a surface defect. However, simply forming a coating film causes the effects of surface defects on the coating film, and it is still difficult to obtain a high-quality lens. Therefore, in the present invention, the coating is further subjected to a polishing treatment. Thereby, the amount of polishing can be greatly reduced by the masking effect of the film, compared with the method of polishing the lens surface and the molding surface to remove surface defects, and the surface accuracy deterioration due to polishing can be suppressed. Furthermore, since the surface defect on the lens surface is made unquestioned unlike the conventional handling of the mold, the handling of the mold becomes easy and the productivity is improved. Further, since polishing the mold surface reduces the mold life accordingly, according to the present invention, the mold life can be extended.

  The surface defects in the present invention are, for example, about 0.01 to 0.5 mm in width and about 0.1 to 32 μm in height or depth, and in particular, relatively large surface defects, specifically convexes having a depth of 6 to 32 μm. It is preferable to form and polish a film on a lens surface having a concave or convex surface defect or a concave or convex surface defect having a width of 0.05 to 5 mm. This is because the surface defect can be eliminated only by the masking effect by the coating if the scratch is relatively small or narrow. Moreover, if it is in the said range, the influence of a surface defect can be eliminated with comparatively little polishing amount.

  The surface defects can occur, for example, at the time of mold release or in a process such as cleaning and etching after the mold release. Alternatively, there may be a case where a surface defect is generated by transferring a mold-formed surface having damage due to contact between molds, contact to a storage rack during storage, handling accident such as dropping during assembly, or the like onto the lens surface. Such damage on the molding surface may become obvious when a slight one is transferred to the lens surface even though it is difficult to see visually. Even in such a case, the application of the present invention is suitable.

The shape of the surface defect includes a concave shape and a convex shape, and the present invention can be applied to any shape of the surface defect. In either case of a concave defect or a convex defect, the amount of polishing can be reduced by the masking effect of the coating compared to the case where the lens surface is polished and the surface defect is removed.
In addition, the surface defect which generate | occur | produces on a molding surface is often generated by contact as described above, and in this case, the surface defect shape on the molding surface is often concave. In order to remove the concave surface defect, the molding surface must be removed to the depth of the concave portion, and the removal amount increases. On the other hand, when a concave defect on the molding surface is transferred to the lens surface, it becomes a convex defect, and a convex defect also occurs on the surface of the film formed thereon. If it is a convex defect, it can be eliminated by removing the convex part by polishing, so that the amount of polishing can be greatly reduced as compared with the concave defect. This is one of the advantages of the present invention.

  The production method of the present invention includes (1) a polymerization step, (2) a mold release step, (3) a coating formation step, and (4) a coating polishing step. Hereinafter, each process will be described sequentially.

Polymerization Step and Mold Release Step In this step, in order to obtain a lens-shaped molded body by cast polymerization, a plastic lens raw material liquid is injected into the mold, and then the plastic lens raw material liquid is cured in the mold.
The mold used in the present invention may be a mold having two molds facing each other with a predetermined interval and a cavity formed by closing the interval, and is used in normal casting polymerization. The mold can be used without any limitation. The interval may be closed by a cylindrical gasket, or may be closed by winding an adhesive tape around the sides of two molds instead of the gasket. Hereinafter, although the shaping | molding die which can be used in this invention is demonstrated based on FIG. 2, the shaping | molding die used in this invention is not limited to the aspect shown in FIG.

(i) Mold In FIG. 2, a mold 10 is a first mold 11 that is a concave mold having a molding surface on the concave surface side to form the front surface (convex surface) of the lens, and a rear surface (concave surface) of the lens. A cavity 14 is formed inside the second mold 12 having a molding surface on the convex side and a cylindrical gasket 13 surrounding the end surfaces of both molds. The plastic lens raw material liquid is injected into the cavity 14 from the injection port 15. The gasket 13 functions as an outer peripheral holder of the gasket and plays a role of determining the thickness of the lens.

  The first mold and the second mold have a non-transfer surface (non-use surface 17) that can be handled by a manufacturing jig and a transfer surface (use surface 16) for transferring the optical surface of the lens. The use surface 16 is a surface for transferring the optical surface shape and surface state of the lens.

  The molding surfaces of the first mold and the second mold may be mirror-finished by polishing or may be machined surfaces.

  In the present invention, the “machined surface” refers to a surface that has not been polished after grinding and / or cutting. “Grinding” refers to a processing method that uses a fixed abrasive to cut and remove a member. “Cutting” refers to a processing method that uses a cutting tool to cut a member. It is the processing method which creates (forms). On the other hand, “polishing” is a processing method that reduces unevenness on the surface of a member and smoothes the surface. Usually, the surface roughness of the molded surface after polishing is less than 2 μm as the surface roughness Rt or Rz.

  Transferring the mirror-finished molding surface to the lens surface is advantageous in obtaining a lens having high surface smoothness. On the other hand, since the surface accuracy of the polished surface is reduced by polishing, the surface accuracy of the lens surface formed is inferior to the case of transferring the machined surface. On the other hand, using a machined surface as a molding surface is advantageous in that the surface shape created by machining can be accurately reproduced on the lens surface (transfer target surface).

  However, the lens surface to which the machined surface is transferred has unevenness due to the roughness of the molding surface (machined surface) and waviness due to machined traces, so it is difficult to use as it is as a product lens. It is. On the other hand, when a coating film is formed on the surface to be transferred, unevenness on the lens surface can be masked by forming the coating film, so that the surface smoothness of the lens outermost surface can be improved. However, although the unevenness due to the roughness can be reduced by the masking effect by the coating film, it is difficult to eliminate the waviness due to the processing mark so as not to affect the optical characteristics. This is because the wavelengths of the roughness component and the swell component are different. Since the swell component is a long wavelength component, specifically a component having a wavelength of 0.05 to 5 mm, for example, it is difficult to mask even with a coating. In contrast, in the present invention, the coating is subjected to a polishing treatment. As a result, it is possible to reduce waviness on the surface of the coating, and as a result, it is possible to obtain a high-quality plastic lens in which deterioration of optical properties due to waviness is suppressed. Therefore, in the present invention, the machined surface can be used as a molding surface.

The machined surface is preferably a surface that has been ground and / or cut, and more preferably a surface having a final surface shape formed by grinding. The final surface shape is a surface shape transferred to the lens surface.
Below, the manufacturing method of the mold which has a machined surface as a shaping | molding surface is demonstrated.

The upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 can be obtained, for example, by processing both sides of thick glass blanks that have been pressed. Therefore, at the time of mold production, first, this glass blank is prepared.
By processing this glass blank, the surface defect layer on the press surface of the glass blank is removed, and the use surface 16 and the non-use surface 17 are made to have a curvature radius with a predetermined accuracy, and at the same time, the fine and uniform roughness is used with high accuracy. A surface 16 and a non-use surface 17 are obtained. The working surface is processed by machining as described above. Similarly, the non-use surface can be formed by machining.

  In the grinding step, for example, a diamond wheel is used in a free-form surface grinding machine that performs NC control, and both surfaces (the use surface 16 and the non-use surface 17) of the glass blank are ground to a predetermined radius of curvature. By this grinding, the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 are formed from the glass blanks. In addition to the above processing device, for example, the grinding process processing device is formed by directing the YZ plane in addition to two processing wheels (moving direction Z axis, tool rotation axis Y axis) capable of rotating and linearly moving. It is also preferable to use a processing machine having a three-axis configuration of the X axis that translates the mold. In addition, as for the surface shape of a processing grindstone, a grindstone cross-sectional shape turns into a circular arc or an ellipse normally. As processing conditions, for example, the conditions shown in Table 1 below can be adopted, but the processing conditions are not limited thereto.

  On the other hand, for example, an NC control curve generator can be used in the cutting process. This NC-controlled curve generator is a computer-controlled curved surface shape that allows the distance of the cutting blade to the lens material and the distance to the rotational axis to be formed by rotating the circular mold around the rotational axis that passes through a specific point of the curved surface that is the machining target. To create a curved surface shape for processing purposes. That is, this curve generator rotates the mold at its geometric center and moves the cutting edge of the diamond cutting blade linearly from the lens outer periphery to the center so as to trace the optical surface shape, thereby creating a spiral shape of the processing trace. To be processed.

  In FIG. 4, an NC control curve generator 11 used for cutting a mold surface cuts the surface of a molded mold A by using sintered polycrystalline diamond or single-crystal natural diamond as a cutting tool. Used as a cutting blade B. In the cutting process, the mold A is attached to the lower shaft C, and the lower shaft C is rotated (single-axis control). The cutting tool F or H of the upper shaft D is controlled from the outer periphery of the mold A in two directions, the radial direction and the vertical direction. Therefore, the curve generator 11 cuts the surface of the mold A by controlling the total of three axes. The curve generator 11 has one lower axis C, which cannot move in the X and Y directions, and rotates at that position. The upper shaft D includes a first upper shaft portion G to which a first cutting tool F for roughing is attached, and a second upper shaft portion I to which a second cutting tool H for finishing cutting is attached. The upper shaft D slides in the horizontal direction with respect to the shaft C, and the first and second upper shaft portions G and I are switched. In order to create a molding surface on the convex side of the mold A, the processing is automatically performed by transferring the design shape height data of the convex surface represented by a matrix to the NC control unit.

  The machining accuracy of the above-described machining by grinding and / or cutting is within 3 μm (mold diameter 50 mm), and the maximum surface roughness (Rt or Rz) is usually 2 to 5 μm. Moreover, the wavelength of the undulation component existing on the surface is 0.05 to 5 mm. Accordingly, the transfer surface of the lens substrate to which the molding surface having the above surface property is transferred similarly has a maximum surface roughness (Rt or Rz) of about 2 to 5 μm and a wave component wavelength of about 0.05 to 5 mm. It becomes. In the present invention, the surface property can be improved by performing film formation and film polishing as described later.

  In order to obtain a mold having a polishing surface (mirror surface) as a molding surface, the mold surface after the machining may be subjected to polishing treatment. The polishing process can be performed in the same manner as the film polishing process described later.

(ii) Plastic lens raw material liquid The plastic lens raw material liquid injected into the cavity of the molding die can usually contain raw material monomers, oligomers and / or prepolymers of various polymers constituting the plastic lens substrate. A mixture of two or more monomers can be included to form a coalescence. If necessary, a catalyst selected according to the kind of monomer can be added to the lens raw material liquid. The lens raw material liquid may also contain various commonly used additives.

  Specific examples of the plastic lens raw material liquid include, for example, a copolymer of methyl methacrylate and one or more other monomers, a copolymer of diethylene glycol bisallyl carbonate and one or more other monomers, and a copolymer of polyurethane and polyurea. Examples include a raw material solution capable of polymerizing a polymer, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, unsaturated polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, polythiourethane, sulfide resin using ene-thiol reaction, vinyl polymer containing sulfur, and the like. . Of the above, urethane and allyl are preferred, but are not limited thereto. Injection of the plastic lens raw material liquid into the cavity can be performed in the same manner as in normal casting polymerization. The polymerization conditions (heating temperature, heating program, heating time, etc.) may be selected appropriately depending on the type of plastic lens raw material liquid.

  Next, the lens-shaped polymer (plastic lens substrate) obtained by the polymerization step is released from the mold. The mold release can be performed by a usual method when producing a plastic lens by casting polymerization.

An example of the manufacturing procedure of the optical lens including the polymerization step and the release step using the mold 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, a monomer that is a raw material of the optical lens is prepared (S1). This monomer is preferably a thermosetting resin, prepared by adding a catalyst and an ultraviolet absorber to the resin, and filtered through a filter (S2).

  Next, the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 are assembled to the gasket 13 to complete the mold 10 (S3). Then, the monomer prepared as described above is injected into the cavity 14 of the mold 10 and is cured by heat polymerization in an electric furnace (S4). When the polymerization of the monomer is completed in the mold 10, a plastic optical lens is molded, and the optical lens is released from the mold 10 (S5).

  After releasing the optical lens, a heat treatment called annealing is performed in order to remove distortion inside the lens caused by polymerization (S6). Thereafter, visual inspection and projection inspection are performed on the optical lens as intermediate inspection. Optical lenses are classified into finished products and semi-finished products (semi-products) at this stage.

Film Forming Step Next, a film is formed on the transfer surface of the lens after the above releasing step. For both the finished product and the semi-finished product, a film is formed on the lens surface including at least surface defects.

  The lens surface on which the film is formed is a transfer surface having surface defects. In the present invention, the “transfer surface” refers to a surface that has not been subjected to polishing or machining after release. Prior to the formation of the film, pretreatment such as a cleaning and drying process, a dirt removing process, a static electricity removing process, and the like can be performed on the surface to be transferred. Examples of the pretreatment include, but are not limited to, washing with a solvent, removing static electricity and removing dirt by blowing ionized air.

  In the present invention, it is not essential to directly form a film to be polished on the surface to be transferred, and a film indirectly formed through another layer can also be used as a film to be polished. Further, the coating film to be polished is not limited to one layer, and a plurality of coating films can be formed on the transfer surface, and two or more of them can be used as the polishing film. However, from the viewpoint of productivity, it is preferable that the coating film to be polished has a single layer.

  The film can be formed by, for example, a known film forming method (coating method) such as a dip method or a spin coating method. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the dip method can be performed by immersing the lens substrate 1 in a coating solution 22 in the dip tank 21 for a predetermined time (for example, about 30 seconds). On the other hand, in the spin coating method, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the lens substrate 1 is transported to the spin processing unit 30 and mounted on the spinner 31. The spinner 31 rotates the lens substrate 1 at a predetermined speed, and blows off the excess liquid of the coating solution dropped on the surface of the lens substrate 1 with a centrifugal force. The rotation speed of the spinner 31 can be variably set freely. Spin conditions (for example, spin rotation speed, rise, fall, stop, etc.) can be set by a program, and may be appropriately determined depending on the type of lens substrate and the cleaning state.

  A coating film can be formed by subjecting the coating film applied as described above to curing treatment by heat curing, photocuring such as ultraviolet rays, solvent removal, or the like, if necessary. The film can also be formed by depositing an inorganic or organic material by a known film formation method such as vapor deposition or sputtering.

  The film formed in this way is a film having substantially the same refractive index as that of the lens substrate, or a film having substantially the same Abbe number, because reflection and scattering at the interface are caused by the difference in optical performance between the lens substrate and the film. Preferred to avoid what happens.

  The thickness of the film is determined based on the surface defect shape, and it is preferable to form a film having the determined thickness. Specifically, it is preferable that the thickness be such that surface defects appearing on the surface of the film can be removed with an appropriate polishing amount. Although depending on the surface defect shape on the lens surface, the thickness of the coating can be set to 2 μm to 13 μm, for example, in consideration of the degree of surface defects that may occur in a normal manufacturing process. Further, the depth or height of surface defects that can be made invisible in the visual inspection shown in JIS-T7313 by the coating usually has an upper limit on the film thickness value of the coating. For example, a surface defect having a depth or height of about 30 to 40 μm can be eliminated by a film having a thickness of 30 to 40 μm. It is also preferable to predict the degree of defects by sampling. For example, as a result of sampling, when a defect having a depth of 6 μm occupies 80% or more of the entire defect and a defect having a depth of 13 μm occupies about 100% of the entire defect, the defect depth occupying 80% or more. It is preferable to form a film having a thickness of 6 μm or more based on the above, and more preferably a film having a thickness of about 13 μm to 14 μm based on the defect depth occupying almost 100%. Alternatively, when using a mold having a machined surface as a molding surface, a thicker film, for example, a film having a thickness of about 40 to 50 μm, should be formed in order to eliminate the influence of the surface property deterioration due to the machined surface. Is also suitable. Note that if a film with a desired thickness cannot be formed by a single film formation, the film formation may be repeated a plurality of times.

  As the coating, it is preferable to apply a functional film (hard coat film, photochromic layer, polarizing film, etc.) formed on the lens. This is because the function of the functional film can be imparted together with the formation of the film.

  In the polishing step, the higher the hardness of the coating, the more the polishing can be performed without breaking the shape. Therefore, from the viewpoint of maintaining high surface accuracy, it is preferable to form a film having a hardness higher than that of the lens substrate. The hardness is, for example, indentation hardness and / or Martens hardness.

Examples of the high hardness film include a film having an indentation hardness of 56 mgf / μm ² or more. An example of such a coating is a coating generally called a hard coat coating.

  The hard coat film is not particularly limited, but a film obtained by adding a particulate metal oxide to an organosilicon compound is suitable. In addition, it can replace with an organosilicon compound and can also use an acrylic compound.

  Examples of the organosilicon compound include various alkoxysilanes. Preferred alkoxysilanes include tetraalkoxysilane and trialkoxysilane. The organosilicon compound is used alone or in a mixed state of two or more. For example, in order to enhance the adhesion to the lens substrate, an alkoxysilane having an epoxy group (glycidoxy group) introduced may be contained.

As the particulate metal oxide, titanium oxide, silicon oxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide, iron oxide, antimony oxide, tin oxide, tungsten oxide, or a complex thereof can be used. In particular, titanium oxide, silicon oxide, zirconium oxide, and tin oxide are preferable.
And it is possible to adjust the refractive index of a hard-coat layer with the kind and quantity of a particulate metal oxide.

  In addition, as the film, a film having a light control performance generally called a photochromic film can be used. The photochromic film can be formed, for example, by applying a curing process such as ultraviolet irradiation after coating on the surface of the lens substrate by a process according to the coating process and the rotation process. Moreover, you may perform application | coating of a photochromic liquid by the method of Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2005-218994.

The photochromic liquid can be formed from a curable component, a photochromic dye, a polymerization initiator, and optionally added additives.
The curable component that can be used for forming the photochromic film is not particularly limited, and is a known curable component having a radically polymerizable group such as a (meth) acryloyl group, a (meth) acryloyloxy group, a vinyl group, an allyl group, or a styryl group. Photopolymerizable monomers and oligomers and their prepolymers can be used. Among these, a compound having a (meth) acryloyl group or a (meth) acryloyloxy group as a radically polymerizable group is preferable because of easy availability and curability. The (meth) acryloyl represents both acryloyl and methacryloyl.

  As the photochromic dye that can be added to the photochromic liquid, known ones can be used, for example, photochromic compounds such as fulgimide compounds, spirooxazine compounds, chromene compounds, etc. In the present invention, these photochromic compounds are It can be used without particular limitation.

Examples of the fulgimide compound, spirooxazine compound, and chromene compound are described in, for example, JP-A-2-28154, JP-A-62-228830, WO94 / 22850, and WO96 / 14596. Can be preferably used.
The photochromic liquid contains surfactants, antioxidants, radical scavengers, UV stabilizers, UV absorbers, in order to improve the durability of the photochromic dye, improve the color development rate, improve the fading rate and improve the moldability. Additives such as agents, mold release agents, anti-coloring agents, antistatic agents, fluorescent dyes, dyes, pigments, perfumes and plasticizers may be added. As these additives, known compounds can be used without any limitation. Preferable additives include hindered amine compounds and hindered phenol compounds.

  Examples of the coating film include a coating film having a polarization performance generally called a polarizing film. The polarizing film generally uses the polarizing property of the dichroic dye, and the polarizing property of the dichroic dye is manifested mainly by uniaxial orientation of the dichroic dye. Therefore, usually, an alignment film for uniaxially orienting the dichroic dye is provided below the dye film (dichroic dye film). In the present invention, the alignment film may be a coating film to be polished. The arrangement film and the dye film will be described below.

The alignment film may be formed by depositing a film forming material by a known film forming method such as vapor deposition or sputtering, or may be formed by a known coating method such as a dip method or a spin coat method. Suitable examples of the film forming material include silicon oxide, metal oxide, and composites or compounds thereof. More preferably, an oxide of a material selected from Si, Al, Zr, Ti, Ge, Sn, In, Zn, Sb, Ta, Nb, V, and Y, or a composite or compound of these materials can be used. . Among these, SiO and SiO ₂ are preferable from the viewpoint of easy function provision as an array film.

  On the other hand, examples of the polarizing film formed by the coating method include a sol-gel film containing an inorganic oxide sol. Examples of the coating solution suitable for forming the sol-gel film include a coating solution containing at least one of alkoxysilane and hexaalkoxydisiloxane together with the inorganic oxide sol. From the viewpoint of ease of imparting a function as an array film, the alkoxysilane is preferably an alkoxysilane represented by the following general formula (1), and the hexaalkoxydisiloxane is preferably the following general formula (2). It is the hexaalkoxy disiloxane represented by these. The coating solution may contain one or both of alkoxysilane and hexaalkoxydisiloxane, and further contains a functional group-containing alkoxysilane represented by the following general formula (3) as necessary. You can also.

Si (OR ¹ ) _a (R ² ) _4-a (1)
(R ³ O) ₃ Si—O—Si (OR ⁴ ) ₃ (2)
R ⁵ —Si (OR ⁶ ) _b (R ⁷ ) _3-b (3)

R ¹ in the general formula (1) and R ³ and R ⁴ in the general formula (2) are each independently an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, and may be any of linear, branched, and cyclic. May be. Specific examples of the alkyl group include, for example, methyl group, ethyl group, n-propyl group, isopropyl group, n-butyl group, isobutyl group, sec-butyl group, tert-butyl group, pentyl group, cyclopentyl group and the like. Can be mentioned. Of these, a methyl group and an ethyl group are preferable.

R < ² > in the said General formula (1) is a C1-C10 alkyl group, As a specific example, a C1-C5 alkyl group illustrated above, a hexyl group, a heptyl group, an octyl group, And 2-ethylhexyl group. Among these, a methyl group, an ethyl group, a propyl group, and a butyl group are preferable. A in the general formula (1) is 3 or 4.

R ⁵ in the general formula (3) is an organic group having one or more functional groups selected from the group consisting of a glycidoxy group, an epoxy group, an amino group, and an isocyanate group, and R ⁶ and R ⁷ are each independently C is an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, and b is 2 or 3. Specific examples of the alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms are as described above.

The inorganic oxide constituting the inorganic oxide sol is selected from Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Al, In, Ge, Bi, Fe, Cu, Y, Zr, Ni, Ta, Si, Ti, and the like 1 Examples thereof include oxides composed of more than seed elements. Of these, SiO ₂ , TiO ₂ , ZrO ₂ , CeO ₂ , ZnO, SnO ₂ and indium tin oxide (ITO) are preferred from the viewpoints of stability and ease of production of the fine particle sol. Among these, silica (SiO ₂ ) sol is particularly preferable from the viewpoint of achieving both chemical stability and film hardness increasing effect. The inorganic oxide sol may contain only one kind of inorganic oxide particles or two or more kinds. The size of the inorganic oxide particles constituting the inorganic oxide sol is preferably 1 to 100 nm, more preferably 5 to 50 nm, from the viewpoint of increasing the film hardness and suppressing haze of the film itself.

  The said coating liquid can be prepared by mixing each said component with various additives, such as a solvent and a catalyst arbitrarily. In the coating solution, the content of the inorganic oxide sol as a solid content is preferably 0.1 to 60 mol%, more preferably 2 to 55 mol%, and still more preferably based on the total solid content in the coating solution. Is 15 to 50 mol%, particularly preferably 25 to 40 mol%. If it is in the said range, the arrangement | sequence film | membrane which has moderate hardness can be formed. The content of other components may be appropriately set in consideration of the hardness of the alignment film, the adhesion with other films such as a polarizing film, and the like. For example, the “component (A)”, the inorganic oxide sol is combined with the alkoxysilane represented by the general formula (1) and the hexaalkoxydisiloxane represented by the general formula (2) to “component (B)”, When the functional group-containing alkoxysilane represented by the general formula (3) is described as “component (C)”, the blending amount of the component (B) from the viewpoint of the hardness of the alignment film and the adhesion to other films. Is preferably 40 to 99.9 mol%, more preferably 45 to 90 mol%, still more preferably 50 to 80 mol, based on the total molar amount of the solid content in component (A) and component (B). %, Particularly preferably 60 to 75 mol%. The molar ratio [(B) / (A) (solid content)] between the component (B) and the solid content in the component (A) is preferably 99.9 / 0.1 to 40/60, more The ratio is preferably 90/10 to 45/55, more preferably 80/20 to 50/50, and particularly preferably 75/25 to 60/40. The molar ratio [[(A) (solid content) + (B)] / (C)] of the solid content in the component (A) and the total amount of the component (B) and the component (C) is preferably 99. 0.9 / 0.1 to 85/15, more preferably 98/2 to 85/15.

  When the alignment film is a film to be polished, a process of forming grooves in a certain direction is performed after the film polishing process described later. When a coating solution containing a dichroic dye is applied to the surface of the alignment film in which grooves are formed by this step, the dichroic dye is oriented along the grooves or in a direction perpendicular to the grooves. Thereby, a dichroic dye can be uniaxially oriented and the polarization property can be expressed well. The formation of the groove can be performed, for example, by a rubbing process performed for alignment treatment of liquid crystal molecules. The rubbing step is a step of rubbing the surface to be polished with a cloth or the like in a certain direction. For details, refer to, for example, US Pat. No. 2,400,087 and US Pat. No. 4,865,668. What is necessary is just to set the depth and pitch of the groove | channel formed so that a dichroic dye can be uniaxially oriented. In addition, since the groove | channel formed in an arrangement | sequence film | membrane can be masked with the polarizing film formed on it, it cannot become the factor which reduces the optical characteristic of a product lens.

  In the case where the array film is a film to be polished, the thickness is as described above. On the other hand, when a coating other than the array film is to be polished, the thickness of the array film is preferably 0.02 to 5 μm, more preferably 0.05 to 0.5 μm.

  The alignment film may be formed directly on the transfer surface, or indirectly through another layer. Examples of the layer that can be formed between the transfer surface and the alignment film include the hard coat film and a primer for improving adhesion. As the primer, a known adhesive layer can be used without any limitation. Specific examples include a coating film formed by applying an olefin-based, acrylic-based, epoxy-based, or urethane-based resin solution that is a polyurethane resin, vinyl acetate, or ethylene vinyl copolymer. What is necessary is just to determine the film thickness of a primer suitably.

  Next, the polarizing film (dichroic dye film) formed on the array film will be described.

  “Dichroism” means a property in which the color of transmitted light varies depending on the propagation direction because the medium has selective absorption anisotropy with respect to light. Light absorption increases in a specific direction of the dye molecule, and light absorption decreases in a direction perpendicular to the dye molecule. Among dichroic dyes, those that exhibit a liquid crystal state in a certain concentration and temperature range when water is used as a solvent are known. Such a liquid crystal state is called lyotropic liquid crystal. If the dye molecules can be arranged in one specific direction using the liquid crystal state of the dichroic dye, stronger dichroism can be expressed. The dichroic dye can be uniaxially oriented by applying a coating solution containing the dichroic dye on the alignment film in which the grooves are formed, thereby forming a polarizing film having good polarization properties. it can.

  The dichroic dye is not particularly limited, and various dichroic dyes usually used for polarizing elements can be used. Specific examples include azo, anthraquinone, merocyanine, styryl, azomethine, quinone, quinophthalone, perylene, indigo, tetrazine, stilbene, and benzidine dyes. In addition, those described in US Pat. No. 2,400,087 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-527786 can also be used.

  The coating solution containing a dichroic dye is a solution or a suspension, and preferably an aqueous solution or an aqueous suspension using water as a solvent. Although content of the dichroic pigment | dye in a coating liquid is about 1-50 mass%, for example, as long as desired polarization property is obtained, it is not limited to the said range.

  The coating liquid may contain other components in addition to the dichroic dye. Examples of other components include dyes other than dichroic dyes, and a polarizing lens having a desired hue can be produced by blending such dyes. Furthermore, additives such as a rheology modifier, an adhesion promoter, a plasticizer, and a leveling agent may be blended as necessary from the viewpoint of improving applicability and the like.

  The method for applying the coating liquid is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include known methods such as the above-described dipping method and spin coating method. When the polarizing film is a film to be polished, the thickness thereof is as described above. On the other hand, when a coating other than the polarizing film is to be polished, the thickness of the polarizing film is not particularly limited, but is, for example, about 0.05 to 5 μm.

Since most of the dichroic dyes are water-soluble, it is preferable to perform a water-insoluble treatment after coating and drying the coating solution in order to improve film stability. The water insolubilization treatment can be performed, for example, by ion exchange of the terminal hydroxyl group of the dye molecule or by creating a chelate state between the dye and the metal salt. For this purpose, it is preferable to use a method in which the formed polarizing film is immersed in an aqueous metal salt solution. The metal salt that can be used is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include AlCl ₃ , BaCl ₂ , CdCl ₂ , ZnCl ₂ , FeCl _2, and SnCl ₃ . Among these, AlCl ₃ and ZnCl ₂ are preferable from the viewpoint of safety. After the water-insoluble treatment, the surface of the polarizing film may be further dried.

  Further, in order to increase the film strength and stability, the polarizing film is preferably subjected to a dichroic dye fixing treatment after the water-insoluble treatment. The immobilization treatment can be performed, for example, by applying a coupling agent solution on the polarizing film. As a coupling agent, a well-known thing with a silane coupling agent can be used. After application of the coupling agent solution, heat treatment (annealing) can be performed to cure the coupling agent. The annealing temperature can be determined according to the type of coupling agent used.

Film polishing process The polishing process for polishing the film to be polished uses, for example, a polishing dish in which polyurethane or felt is adhered to a rubber hollow dish, and fine particles such as cerium oxide, zirconium oxide, and aluminum oxide are used as an abrasive. Both surfaces of the lens on which the coating film is formed are polished. By this polishing step, the influence of surface defects on the optical characteristics can be reduced or eliminated, and the surface accuracy sufficient as an optical functional surface can be achieved. In addition, when a mold having a machined surface as a molding surface is used, it is possible to reduce waviness on the surface of the coating (waviness caused by machining marks on the molding surface).

  The polishing amount of the film may be determined in accordance with the degree of surface defects. For example, if it is 1 μm or more, the influence of surface defects that can occur on the lens surface on the lens outermost surface can be effectively reduced. . Moreover, if it is a surface defect which may generate | occur | produce in a normal manufacturing process, generally it can eliminate with the grinding | polishing amount of about 5 micrometers or less. However, as shown in the examples to be described later, for a severe defect, an appropriate polishing amount may be determined according to the degree of the defect, and for example, a polishing amount of about 10 μm is also preferable. In addition, the said grinding | polishing amount shall mean the total amount of grinding | polishing amount of a grinding | polishing target film, when a coating film of 2 layers or more is used as a grinding | polishing target film.

Through the above steps, it is possible to obtain a high-quality plastic lens in which the influence of the lens surface defect on the optical characteristics is eliminated. The plastic lens is suitable as a spectacle lens that requires high optical characteristics. In the obtained plastic lens, a functional film such as an antireflection film or a water repellent film can be further formed on the coating film. Although it does not specifically limit as a plastic lens manufactured by this invention, The thing which has a film in the following order toward a lens outermost surface from a to-be-transferred surface can be mentioned.
Transfer surface-hard coat film (film to be polished);
Transfer surface-hard coat film (film to be polished)-antireflection film;
Transfer surface-hard coat film (film to be polished) -array film-polarizing film-water repellent film;
Transfer surface-hard coat film (film to be polished) -primer-array film-polarizing film-water repellent film;
Transfer surface-Array film (film to be polished)-Polarizing film-Water repellent film;
Transfer surface-alignment film-polarizing film (film to be polished) -water repellent film.
In addition, since the coating film formed on the mirror-finished coating film normally becomes a mirror surface as well, it can be used as a product lens without further polishing.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention further, this invention is not limited to the aspect shown to the following specific example.

[Example 1]
(1) Production of surface defects on the mold surface A scratching needle is attached to a mold forming surface having a surface roughness Ra of 1.1 nm measured by an atomic force microscope (AFM) with a friction tester to produce a concave flaw. did. Table 2 shows the ratio of the depth of the scratch produced on the molding surface and the surface roughness Ra (1.1 nm). In the measurement here, the size of the object to be measured was 10 μm square.

(2) Assembly of molding die The molding die schematically shown in Fig. 2 was assembled so that the molding surface (machined surface) formed in (1) above was placed in the cavity.

(3) Production of lens base material The urethane-based plastic lens raw material liquid is injected into the cavity of the molding die assembled in (2) above, and heat polymerization is performed. After the curing reaction is completed, the lens base material is taken out from the molding die. . When the taken out lens base material was observed by visual inspection shown in JIS-T7313, convex scratches corresponding to the scratches intentionally formed in (1) above were confirmed in all lens base materials. It was done.

(4) Formation of coating The hard coat solution was directly applied to both surfaces of the lens base material by the dipping method, and dried and solidified under the conditions of precure 80 ° C. for 20 minutes and 120 ° C. for 1 hour. The thickness of the formed film was about 13 μm on one side, and the indentation hardness was 61 mgf / μm ² . Table 2 shows the results of observation of the obtained plastic lens with a film by visual inspection shown in JIS-T7313.

(5) Polishing treatment of coating The polishing treatment was performed on both surfaces of the lens base material on which each coating film was formed. The polishing amount in each polishing treatment was about 3 to 5 μm on one side. Table 2 shows the results of observing the polished plastic lens by visual inspection shown in JIS-T7313.

When the scratch depth of the molding surface is 60 nm or less, scratches cannot be confirmed by visual inspection during the formation of the hard coat film. However, if the scratch depth exceeds 60 nm, even if a hard coat film is formed, scratches on the lens are observed by visual inspection, which is not preferable as the lens quality. As shown in Table 2, scratches that could not be removed by film formation could be eliminated by film polishing. From this result, for scratches with a depth of more than 55 times the surface roughness Ra of the molding surface, it is possible to obtain a favorable lens as a quality without scratches being confirmed by visual inspection by polishing the coating. Recognize. Therefore, it is preferable to perform film formation and film polishing on the surface of the lens substrate on which scratches having a depth of more than 55 times the surface roughness Ra of the molding surface are transferred. As shown in Table 2, according to this example, even if the scratch is 7273 times deeper than the surface roughness Ra of the molding surface, the effect on the outermost surface of the lens can be effectively achieved by coating and polishing. It was confirmed that it can be reduced. For surface defects on the surface of the lens base material caused by surface defects on the molding surface, the film thickness is preferably set to a value exceeding the depth of the surface defects on the molding surface, and the polishing amount is mold molding. It is preferable to set a value equal to or greater than the depth of surface defects on the surface. Specifically, it is preferable that the film thickness is about the maximum value of the scratch depth on the molding surface + about 1 to 2 μm, and the polishing amount is about the same as the maximum value of the scratch depth. From the viewpoint of eliminating surface defects with an appropriate removal amount as shown in Example 2 described later, film formation and film polishing are scratches having a depth of 2417 times or less with respect to the surface roughness Ra of the molding surface. Application to the surface of the lens substrate to which the surface roughness Ra = 6 nm (about 14 μm depth) is preferably transferred. That is, it is preferable to perform film formation and film polishing on the surface of the lens base material to which scratches having a depth of more than 55 times and not more than 2417 times the surface roughness Ra of the molding surface are transferred. More preferably, it is more than 55 times and not more than 900 times (when the surface roughness Ra = 6 nm, the depth is about 6 μm).
In this example, defects on the surface of the lens substrate to which scratches having a depth of 55 times the surface roughness Ra of the molding surface are transferred are invisible by visual inspection and projection inspection by hard coat film formation. We were able to. However, in this case as well, the surface property of the outermost surface of the lens can be further enhanced by polishing the film.
As the above-mentioned projection test, there is a projection inspection in which a non-defective product or a defective product is judged by whether or not a projected image of surface defects such as machining traces and scratches appears on a screen placed on the exit side by allowing predetermined light to enter the lens. is there. This projection inspection is an inspection method to which the Schlerin method is applied. For example, the surface property is inspected by a projection inspection apparatus 40 using an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp shown in FIG. In this projection inspection, the ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp in the projection inspection apparatus 40 is turned on to irradiate the lens 1 to be examined, and the projection images of the optical surfaces 2 a and 2 b are projected onto the screen 41. Then, the operator observes the projected images of the optical surfaces 2a and 2b displayed on the screen 41 with the naked eye, and visually inspects whether surface defects such as machining traces appear on the screen. According to this method, since surface defects can be observed more clearly, relatively minor surface defects tend to be observed as projected images. In the present invention, it is preferable to eliminate the surface defect so as not to be detected by the appearance inspection and the projection inspection.

[Example 2]
(1) Production of surface defects on the mold surface 10% to the molding surface of a mold having a surface roughness Ra of 6 nm measured by a Taylor Hobson foam tallysurf apparatus (model FTS PGI 840) or the like A 23% HF solution was deposited to create surface defects. By controlling the contact time (reaction time) with the HF solution, defect samples having a depth of 2.2 to 14.5 μm were prepared. The defect shape was constituted by a straight line or a curve having a width of about 1 mm and a length of about 3 mm. The defect position was a position near 15 mm from the geometric center on the molding surface. Table 3 shows the ratio of the depth of the defect produced on the molding surface and the surface roughness Ra (6 nm).

(2) Assembly of molding die The molding die schematically shown in Fig. 2 was assembled so that the molding surface (machined surface) formed in (1) above was placed in the cavity.

(3) Production of lens base material The urethane-based plastic lens raw material liquid is injected into the cavity of the molding die assembled in (2) above, and heat polymerization is performed. After the curing reaction is completed, the lens base material is taken out from the molding die. . When the taken out lens base material was visually inspected by JIS-T7313 and the appearance inspection by the above-mentioned projected image, the scratches intentionally formed in (1) above were found in all lens base materials. Corresponding convex scratches were confirmed.

(4) Formation of coating The hard coat solution was directly applied to both surfaces of the lens base material by the dipping method, and dried and solidified under the conditions of precure 80 ° C. for 20 minutes and 120 ° C. for 1 hour. The thickness of the formed film was about 13 μm on one side, and the indentation hardness was 61 mgf / μm ² . Table 3 shows the results of the visual inspection shown in JIS-T7313 and the appearance inspection by the above-mentioned projection image for the obtained plastic lens with a coating. Both lenses were not preferable in terms of lens quality because defects were confirmed in both inspections.

(5) Polishing of the coating A polishing treatment was performed on both surfaces of the lens substrate on which each of the coatings was formed. Polishing was performed by enclosing and expanding a gas inside an elastic body (rubber) having a hollow structure, and pressing a polishing tool with a polishing pad (nonwoven fabric or velor) on the surface against the coating surface. Polishing was performed by relatively reciprocating or rotating the polishing tool on the coating. The processing conditions are an upper shaft pressure of 300 mbar, a rotation speed of 500 rpm, an upper shaft swing distance of 10 mm, a lower shaft angle of 5 °, and a polishing time of 1 to 120 minutes using toroX manufactured by LHO. An aqueous solution containing cerium oxide or alumina as an abrasive and cooling agent was supplied to the polished surface. The amount of polishing in each polishing process was about 10 μm on one side. Table 3 shows the results of visual inspection shown in JIS-T7313 and appearance inspection using the above-mentioned projected image on the polished plastic lens.

  As shown in Table 3, defects up to a depth of 13.5 μm could be eliminated by film formation and film polishing so that they were not observed in both JIS-T7313 and the inspection by projection image. In this example, since the film having a thickness of 13 μm was used, the influence of surface defects having a depth exceeding the film thickness could not be completely eliminated, but JIS was compared with the lens substrate before the film was formed. -The effect of reducing surface defects was confirmed in both T7313 and projection image inspection. From the above results, it is possible to reduce the influence of surface defects on the surface of the lens substrate by performing film formation and film polishing on the molding surface, and in order to eliminate the influence more effectively, the molding surface It can be confirmed that it is preferable to form a film having a thickness exceeding the above defect depth.

  The present invention is suitable for the production of spectacle lenses that require high optical properties.

Claims (9)

Injecting a plastic lens raw material liquid into the cavity of a mold having two molds facing each other with a predetermined interval and a cavity formed by closing the interval;
Obtaining a plastic lens substrate having a transferred surface on which the molding surface shape is transferred by performing a curing reaction of the plastic lens raw material liquid in the cavity,
Releasing the plastic lens substrate from the mold,
A method for producing a plastic lens comprising:
The method for producing a plastic lens, wherein the transferred surface includes a surface defect, further comprising forming a film on the transferred surface including the surface defect, and subjecting the formed film surface to a polishing treatment. . The surface defect is a surface defect generated due to a process up to the formation of the coating film at the time of the mold release or after the mold release by transferring the surface defect on the molding surface. Manufacturing method. The said surface defect is a surface defect observed by the visual test | inspection shown by JIS-T7313, The manufacturing method of Claim 1 or 2 which makes the said surface defect invisible in the said test | inspection by the said grinding | polishing process. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the surface defect is a convex surface defect formed by transferring a concave surface defect on a molding surface. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the coating is determined based on a surface defect shape, and a coating having the determined thickness is formed. The surface defect is a surface defect formed by transferring a surface defect having a depth of more than 55 times the surface roughness of the molding surface to the transfer surface. The manufacturing method as described in. 7. The surface defect according to claim 6, wherein the surface defect is a surface defect formed by transferring a surface defect having a depth greater than 55 times and less than or equal to 2417 times the surface roughness of the molding surface to the transfer surface. Production method. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the film is a hard coat film. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the plastic lens substrate is made of a urethane-based or allyl-based resin.