JP5701706B2 - Cured product manufacturing method, cured product manufacturing apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing a cured product for producing a cured product.

  When a cured product is produced by sandwiching and molding a liquid curable material with a molding die (for example, a mold) composed of an upper mold and a lower mold, voids (cavities) may be formed in the cured product. This is due to the following reasons.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of a conventional method for producing a cured product. In the conventional method for producing a cured product, first, a curable material 30 is applied to the lower mold 20 as shown in FIG.

At this time, the upper surface of the curable material 30 applied to the lower mold 20 has a flat shape. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the surface shape (liquid surface shape) of the liquid curable material 30 when applied to the lower mold 20. FIG. 5 shows a typical liquid surface shape of a curable material having a contact angle with the lower mold of 90 °, a specific gravity of 1.0, and a volume of 5000 mm ³ (5 cc). When only the surface tension of the curable material is considered, the liquid surface shape can be circular as shown by the dotted line in FIG. However, when the gravity is also taken into consideration, the liquid surface has a substantially flat top surface as shown by a solid line in FIG.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6B, the upper mold 10 is brought close to the lower mold 20 to which the curable material 30 is applied. When the upper mold 10 is brought close to the lower mold 20 until the upper mold 10 comes into contact with the curable material 30, the shape of the upper surface of the curable material is almost flat, as shown in FIG. The upper mold 10 and the curable material 30 are simultaneously contacted at multiple points. Therefore, bubbles are generated according to the uneven shape of the upper mold 10. If the upper mold | type 10 and the lower mold | type 20 are closed in this state, as shown in FIG.6 (d), the produced | generated bubble will mix in hardened | cured material and a void will be made in the manufactured hardened | cured material.

  Therefore, Patent Documents 1 to 4 propose techniques for preventing the mixing of bubbles. For example, in Patent Document 1, the upper mold is curved so as to have a convex shape, and the upper mold and the surface of the reactive raw material liquid are gradually brought into contact with each other from the central portion to the both ends. A reaction casting method for discharging outward is described.

  Patent Document 2 describes a method of preventing air bubbles from being mixed by pressing an optical member against an uncured optical material resin to spread the optical material resin in a concavo-convex pattern.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, a predetermined amount of radiation-curable resin liquid is hung on the center of a glass lens, the top and bottom of the glass lens is inverted and brought close to a mold, and the glass lens is placed between the mold and the mold. A method of manufacturing a resin-bonded lens that does not contain air bubbles by curing the sandwiched resin liquid is described.

  Moreover, in patent document 4, after making photocurable resin adhere to both a board | substrate and a mold, depressurizing the atmosphere where the board | substrate and the mold were installed, and defoaming from the photocurable resin adhering to both, A method for producing an optical element in which bubbles are prevented from being mixed by adhering decured photo-curing resins to each other and curing them is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-50446 (published March 2, 1993) JP 2008-46469 A (published February 28, 2008) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-130209 (published on May 13, 1994) JP2011-85791A (released on April 28, 2011)

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, the upper mold is bent by an external force, and then the bent upper mold is returned to a horizontal position, so that the accuracy such as flatness of the manufactured molded product may be deteriorated.

  Further, in the techniques of Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, when applying a resin to a lens, it is necessary to reverse the top and bottom of the lens. Therefore, when molding a cured product, the lens and the lower mold are aligned each time. There is a problem that the manufacturing process and the manufacturing apparatus are complicated.

  Moreover, in the technique of patent document 4, since it is necessary to depressurize the atmosphere in which the board | substrate and the metal mold | die were installed when defoaming, there exists a problem that a manufacturing process and a manufacturing apparatus become complicated.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, The main objective is to provide the manufacturing technology of the hardened | cured material which can suppress mixing of a bubble by a simple method.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is a method of manufacturing a cured product using a mold composed of an upper mold and a lower mold, wherein the first curable material is used as the lower mold. First application step of applying, and first proximity step of bringing the upper die and the lower die close so that the first curable material comes into contact with the upper die after the first application step And after the first proximity step, a separation step of separating the upper die and the lower die vertically, and after the separation step, a second application for applying a second curable material to the lower die After the step, after the second coating step, after the second proximity step of bringing the upper die and the lower die closer, and after the second proximity step, the first and second curable materials are cured. And a curing step for producing the cured product.

  According to the above configuration, when the upper mold and the lower mold are combined (second proximity step), the lower mold curable material comes into contact with the upper mold at almost one point, and spreads from there to the surroundings. The room for air bubbles to be mixed into the material can be successfully eliminated.

  That is, the first curable material applied to the lower mold is attached to the upper mold once the upper mold and the lower mold are brought close to each other. Thereafter, the first curable material attached to the upper mold is brought close to the second curable material applied to the lower mold by bringing the upper mold to which the first curable material is adhered, The second curable material applied to the lower mold can be brought into contact so as to initially contact at approximately one point. At this time, the first curable material wets and spreads outward from the one point due to surface tension, and therefore, the bubbles inside the upper mold and the lower mold are pushed outward. As a result, mixing of bubbles into the cured product can be suppressed.

  Further, at this time, the upper mold and the lower mold need only be moved in the separation / contact direction (typically, the vertical direction). Therefore, it is not necessary to perform alignment in the left-right direction every time a cured product is manufactured.

  In the present invention, unlike the technique described in Patent Document 4, first, a part of the curable material for forming a cured product is applied to the lower mold (first application step), and the first proximity is applied. After the process is executed, the remaining curable material is applied to the lower mold (second application process). Thus, in the present invention, all the curable material is not applied to the lower mold before the first proximity process. Accordingly, the curable material is prevented from adhering to a plurality of points of the upper mold in the first proximity process, and the curable material applied to the upper mold and the curable property applied to the lower mold in the second proximity process. Contact with the material can begin at approximately one point. Therefore, as described above, in the second proximity step, the bubbles inside the mold can be pushed out toward the outside, thereby preventing the bubbles from being mixed into the cured product.

  As described above, by using the method for producing a cured product according to the present invention, the mixing of bubbles can be suppressed by a simple method.

  Moreover, in the said manufacturing method, it is preferable that the said hardened | cured material is a board | substrate with which the several element is arranged on the surface, and the said element is an optical lens. The manufacturing method of the hardened | cured material of this invention can be used suitably in order to manufacture such hardened | cured material. That is, even in the case of using a mold in which irregularities for manufacturing a substrate having a plurality of elements arranged on the surface are used, according to the present invention, in the second proximity step, Since the curable material adhering to the upper mold and the curable material applied to the lower mold start to contact from almost one point, the bubbles inside the mold can be pushed out to the outside successfully. Thus, it is possible to suppress the mixing of bubbles into the cured product.

  The application amount V of the first curable material in the first application step is

Here, it is preferable that θ _c represents a contact angle of the first curable material with respect to the lower mold, and h _s represents a thickness of the substrate.

  Thereby, in the first application process, since the first curable material can be applied higher than the thickness of the cured product, the upper mold and the lower mold do not collide in the first proximity process, The upper mold and the first curable material can be brought into contact with each other more reliably.

  The application amount V of the first curable material in the first application step is

Here, it is preferable that θ _c represents a contact angle of the first curable material with respect to the lower mold, and p represents an arrangement pitch of the elements.

  Thereby, in the first application process, the first curable material can be applied in a range narrower than the arrangement pitch of the elements. Therefore, in the first proximity process, the upper mold and the first curable material are used. Can be more suitably prevented from contacting at multiple points simultaneously.

  In the second proximity step, a speed at which the upper die and the lower die are brought close to each other may be 0.02 mm / s or less.

  According to the above configuration, in the second proximity step, the first and second curable materials are sufficiently placed between the upper mold and the lower mold until the distance between the upper mold and the lower mold becomes the thickness of the cured product to be manufactured. Since it is possible to wet and spread between the molds, it is possible to successfully extrude the air bubbles toward the outside, and to appropriately prevent the air bubbles from being mixed into the cured product.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a cured product manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a cured product using a mold composed of an upper mold and a lower mold, and applies a curable material to the lower mold. A first application step of applying the first curable material to the lower mold by controlling the means, the moving means for moving the upper mold and the lower mold in the separating direction, and the application means. The upper mold and the lower mold are controlled such that the first coating control means and the moving means are controlled so that the first curable material comes into contact with the upper mold after the first coating step. A first proximity control means for performing a first proximity process for bringing the upper mold and the lower mold up and down after the first proximity process by controlling the moving means. A separation control means for performing the second curing after the separation step by controlling the coating means A second application control unit that executes a second application process for applying a material to the lower mold, and the moving unit are controlled so that the upper mold and the lower mold are brought close to each other after the second application process. Controlling the second proximity control means for executing the second proximity process and the moving means so that the first and second curable materials are cured after the second proximity process until the first and second curable materials are cured. And a curing control means for performing a curing process for producing the cured product by maintaining a distance between the mold and the lower mold.

  According to the said structure, there exists an effect similar to the manufacturing method of the said hardened | cured material.

  Also provided are a program for operating a computer included in the apparatus for manufacturing a cured product, the program for causing the computer to execute as each of the control means, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded. It is included in the technical scope of the invention.

  The present invention is a method for producing a cured product for producing a cured product using a mold composed of an upper mold and a lower mold, the first application step of applying a first curable material to the lower mold, After the first application step, a first proximity step in which the upper die and the lower die are brought close to each other so that the first curable material contacts the upper die, and the first proximity step. Thereafter, a separation step of separating the upper die and the lower die vertically, a second application step of applying a second curable material to the lower die after the separation step, and the second application step Thereafter, after the second proximity step in which the upper die and the lower die are brought close to each other, and after the second proximity step, the first and second curable materials are cured to produce the cured product. And a curing step.

  By using such a manufacturing method of hardened | cured material, mixing of a bubble can be suppressed by a simple method.

It is explanatory drawing which shows each process of the manufacturing method of a wafer lens. It is a section schematic diagram of a metallic mold. It is a figure which shows an example of application | coating of a 1st curable material. It is a figure which shows the example of sectional drawing of the 1st curable material when the 1st curable material is apply | coated to the lower mold | type. It is a figure which shows an example of the shape (liquid level shape) of the surface of a curable material. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of the manufacturing method of the conventional hardened | cured material. It is a block diagram which shows the manufacturing apparatus of a wafer lens. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of manufacture of a wafer lens.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to this, and the dimensions, shapes, types of curable materials, and the like of the cured product described in this embodiment are within the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified. Is not intended to be limited to that, but merely an illustrative example.

  In the present embodiment, a description will be given taking a wafer lens 60 as shown in FIG. The wafer lens 60 is a substrate on which a plurality of optical lenses (elements) 60a are arranged. In the present embodiment, a disk-shaped wafer lens 60 having a diameter of 100 mm and a substrate thickness of 0.5 mm and having a plurality of optical lenses arranged in a grid pattern with an arrangement pitch (a distance between the centers of the optical lenses 60a) of 3 mm is manufactured. The method will be described. In addition, hardened | cured material is not limited to this.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the manufacturing method of a wafer lens employ | adopts the method of making it harden | cure by pressing using a shaping | molding die (for example, metal mold | die) with respect to curable material like a thermal transfer nanoimprint, and cooling. Yes. In addition, this invention is not limited to this, For example, you may use the method of hardening resin by irradiating an ultraviolet-ray like optical nanoimprint.

  Further, when the curable material is molded, the curable material may not be sealed in the mold, but may be in a state where only the upper and lower sides are sandwiched by the mold. That is, when sandwiched between the molds, the side direction of the curable material may be a free space.

(Configuration of mold 1)
First, the metal mold | die (molding die) 1 in this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the mold 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the mold 1 includes an upper mold 10 and a lower mold 20. Further, the upper mold 10 has a base material part 11 and an element part 12 on a lower surface (surface on the lower mold 20 side). The lower mold 20 includes an upper surface (surface on the upper mold 10 side) base material portion 21 and an element portion 22.

  The base material part 11 and the base material part 21 are flat parts for forming a substrate in the wafer lens 60. The element part 12 is a substantially semicircular concave part formed by being arranged in a plurality on the base part 11. The element portion 22 is a substantially semicircular concave portion formed by being arranged in the base material portion 21. The element portion 12 and the element portion 22 are portions that form the optical lens 60 a in the wafer lens 60. In addition, the element part 12 and the element part 22 are not limited to this, You may be formed in convex shape with respect to the base material part 11 or the base material part 21. FIG.

(Wafer lens manufacturing method)
Next, a wafer lens manufacturing method for manufacturing the wafer lens 60 using the mold 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing each step of the wafer lens manufacturing method.

  In the wafer lens manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 1A, a smaller amount of curable material (first curable material) 30 than the amount necessary to manufacture the wafer lens 60 is obtained. Is applied to the lower mold 20 (first application step). In the present embodiment, as the curable material 30, a thermosetting material having a contact angle with the mold 1 of 45 ° and an uncured viscosity of 0.1 Pa · s is used, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the amount of the curable material 30 applied to the lower mold 20 in the first application step is an amount that makes the liquid surface shape substantially spherical. Details of the amount of the curable material 30 will be described later.

  Thereafter, the upper mold 10 is brought close to the lower mold 20 as shown in FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1C, the upper mold 10 is brought close to the lower mold 20 until the upper mold 10 contacts the curable material 30 (first proximity process). Since the liquid surface shape of the curable material 30 is substantially spherical, the upper mold 10 first contacts the curable material 30 at approximately one point. As a result, the curable material 30 adheres to the upper mold 10.

  Next, as shown in FIG.1 (d), the upper mold | type 10 and the lower mold | type 20 are isolate | separated up and down (separation process). As a result, the curable material 30 is separated into the curable material 30 a attached to the upper mold 10 and the curable material 30 b remaining on the lower mold 20.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1E, an additional curable material (second curable material) in an amount necessary to manufacture the wafer lens 60 is applied to the lower mold 20 (second application step). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the additional curable material applied to the lower mold 20 in the second application step is the same material as the curable material 30. However, different curable materials may be applied in the first and second application steps. Further, after FIG. 1E, the additional curable material applied to the lower mold 20 in the second application step and the curable material 30b are combined and represented as a curable material 40.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 1F to 1I, the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other until the distance between the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 becomes the thickness of the wafer lens 60 to be manufactured ( Second proximity process). First, when the upper mold 10 is brought closer to the lower mold 20 from the state of FIG. 1 (f), the curable material 30a and the curable material 40 come into contact at almost one point as shown in FIG. Due to the tension, it spreads wet in the direction indicated by the arrow in the enlarged view. If the upper die 10 is further brought closer to the lower die 20, the state shown in FIG. In FIG. 1H and subsequent figures, the curable material 40 and the curable material 30a are collectively represented as a curable material 50. Here, as shown in FIG. 1 (h), the curable material 50 wets and spreads between the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 from almost one point, so that the bubbles are pushed outward, and bubbles are not mixed. It is suppressed. Finally, as shown in FIG. 1I, the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other until the distance between the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 reaches the thickness of the wafer lens 60 to be manufactured.

  Thereafter, by curing the curable material 50 in the state of FIG. 1 (i), a plurality of optical lenses 60a as shown in FIG. 1 (j) are arranged, and mixing of bubbles is suppressed. The wafer lens 60 can be successfully manufactured (curing step).

(About proximity process)
In the first proximity process, the upper mold 10 is brought closer to the lower mold 20, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lower mold 20 may be brought closer to the upper mold 10. That is, in the first proximity process, the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 may be brought close to each other until the upper mold 10 contacts the curable material 30. Similarly, in the second proximity process, the upper mold 10 is not limited to being brought close to the lower mold 20, and the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 may be brought close to each other.

(About proximity speed)
The speed at which the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other in the second proximity process (proximity speed) may be set as appropriate, but more preferably 0.02 mm / s or less.

  In addition, when the inventor brings the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 closer to the curable material having a viscosity of 0.1 Pa · s in a second approaching process faster than 0.02 mm / s, bubbles are generated. There is a possibility that the distance between the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 will approach the thickness of the wafer lens 60 to be manufactured faster than being pushed out toward the outside, and bubbles may be mixed inside the wafer lens 60. I found out.

  Table 1 shows the amount of remaining bubbles for the curable material A having a viscosity of 0.1 Pa · s, the curable material B having a viscosity of 0.2 Pa · s, and the curable material C having a viscosity of 0.6 Pa · s. It is a table. In addition, the viscosity shown in Table 1 is a value in a state where each curable material is applied to the lower mold 20 at 50 degrees. The material of the used mold 1 is Ni, and a fluorine-based mold release treatment is performed thereon.

  As shown in Table 1, the upper mold 10 on which the curable material A is not attached to the curable material A and the lower mold 20 are moved to a proximity speed (mold proximity speed) of 20 μm / s (0.02 mm / second). When they are brought close to each other in step s), more bubbles remain in the curable material A than a predetermined value.

  When the upper mold 10 to which the curable material A is attached in the first proximity process and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other at the same speed, the residual bubbles of the curable material A become smaller than a predetermined value.

  Further, when the upper mold 10 to which the curable material A is attached in the first proximity process and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other at a proximity speed of 10 μm / s (0.01 mm / s), the curable material A has Almost no bubbles remain.

  When the upper mold 10 to which the curable material B is attached and the lower mold 20 are brought close to the curable material B at the same speed, almost no bubbles remain in the curable material B. Similarly, when the upper mold 10 to which the curable material C is attached and the lower mold 20 are brought close to the curable material C, almost no bubbles remain in the curable material C.

  In this way, by adhering a curable material to the upper mold 10 and bringing the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 close to each other at a proximity speed of 20 μm / s (0.02 mm / s), air bubbles are mixed into the curable material. It can be seen that is suppressed. Further, when the proximity speed is set to 10 μm / s (0.01 mm / s) in a state where the curable material is attached to the upper mold 10, it is possible to prevent air bubbles from being mixed more stably.

  Therefore, by setting the speed at which the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other to 0.02 mm / s or less, it is possible to suitably manufacture the wafer lens 60 in which mixing of bubbles is suppressed. In other words, in the second proximity step, the curable material 50 is sufficiently wetted between the upper mold and the lower mold until the distance between the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 becomes the thickness of the cured product to be manufactured. Since it can be spread, it is possible to successfully push out the bubbles toward the outside, and to appropriately prevent the bubbles from entering the wafer lens 60.

  In Table 1, a curable material having a viscosity of 0.1 Pa · s, 0.2 Pa · s, and 0.6 Pa · s is used as the curable material, but the curable material is not limited to this. . For those having a viscosity greater than 0.6 Pa · s, the curable material preferably has a viscosity of 0.6 Pa · s or less because it takes time to apply to the lower mold 20.

(About application of curable material in the first application step)
As described above, in the first proximity process, the upper mold 10 first comes into contact with the curable material 30 at almost one point, thereby avoiding air bubbles from being mixed into the curable material 30a attached to the upper mold 10. Can do. That is, the amount (application amount) of the curable material 30 applied to the lower mold 20 in the first application process is an amount that the upper mold 10 contacts the curable material 30 at almost one point in the first proximity process. .

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of application of the curable material 30. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the element portion 12 of the upper mold 10 is concave, it is the base material portion 11 of the upper mold 10 that first contacts the curable material 30. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3A, it is preferable to apply the curable material 30 around the base portion 21 of the lower mold 20. At this time, the vertex of the curable material 30 is the base of the upper mold 10. Contact the material part 11. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the element portion 12 of the upper mold 10 is convex, the element portion 12 of the upper mold 10 first comes into contact with the curable material 30. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3B, it is preferable to apply the curable material 30 around the element portion 22 of the lower mold 20. At this time, the vertex of the curable material 30 is the element portion of the upper mold 10. 12 is contacted.

  The application amount of the curable material 30 at this time will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cross section of the curable material 30 when the curable material 30 is applied to the lower mold 20.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the contact angle of the spherical curable material 30 (droplet) with respect to the lower mold 20 is θ _c, and the height of the droplet (from the base portion 21 at the top of the droplet). H). Also, let R be the radius of the droplet. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the radius of the surface (application surface) on the lower mold 20 on which the curable material 30 is applied is r. Further, when the length of a line segment connecting one end of the left and right end points of the droplet and the vertex of the droplet is c, the following equation is established.

  Therefore, the length c of the line segment is as follows.

  The height h of the droplet can be expressed by the following formula.

  The volume (application amount) V of the droplet can be obtained by the following equation.

  Therefore, the volume V of the droplet is expressed by the following formula (1).

Here, the upper mold 10 can be reliably brought into contact with the curable material 30 in the first proximity step by applying the curable material 30 higher than the thickness of the substrate of the wafer lens for manufacturing. That is, if the thickness of the wafer lens substrate is h _s , h ≧ h _s may be satisfied. Therefore, it is preferable that the coating amount V of the curable material 30 in the first coating process satisfies the following formula.

For example, when a wafer lens with a substrate thickness h _s = 0.5 mm is manufactured using a curable material 30 with a contact angle θ _c = 45 °, the coating amount V satisfies V ≧ 1.2 mm ^3. Is preferred.

  Thereby, the upper mold 10 can be reliably brought into contact with the curable material 30 without the upper mold 10 colliding with the lower mold 20 in the first proximity process.

  The radius r of the coated surface can be expressed by the following formula (2).

  By substituting equation (2) into equation (1), the volume V of the droplet becomes the following equation.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the distance between the centers of the element portions 22, that is, the arrangement pitch of the optical lenses of the wafer lens to be manufactured is defined as p. When the curable material 30 is applied such that the radius r of the application surface of the curable material 30 is larger than the arrangement pitch p of the optical lenses, there is a possibility that the upper mold 10 and the curable material 30 are simultaneously contacted at multiple points. There is. That is, by setting the radius r of the coated surface to be equal to or less than the arrangement pitch p of the optical lenses, the upper mold 10 and the curable material 30 can be brought into contact at almost one point. Therefore, it is sufficient if p ≧ r. Therefore, it is preferable that the coating amount V of the curable material 30 in the first coating process satisfies the following formula.

For example, when a wafer lens having an optical lens arrangement pitch p = 3 mm is manufactured using the curable material 30 having a contact angle θ _c = 45 °, the coating amount V preferably satisfies V ≦ 18.6 mm ^3. .

  Thereby, it can prevent suitably that the upper mold | type 10 and the curable material 30 contact simultaneously at many points in a 1st proximity | contact process.

(About the curable material 30a adhering to the upper mold 10)
Next, the curable material 30a attached to the upper mold 10 after the separation step will be described. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the element part 12 of the upper mold 10 is concave, it is preferable that an amount of height protruding from the base material part 11 is attached to the upper mold 10. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the element portion 12 of the upper mold 10 is convex, it is preferable that an amount that is a height protruding from the element portion 12 is attached to the upper mold 10.

  That is, the height of the upper mold 10 protruding from the base material portion 11 toward the lower mold 20 (0 when the element section 12 is concave, 0 when the element section 12 is convex) or higher. By attaching an amount of the curable material 30a to the height of the upper mold 10, the curable material 30a is closest to the lower mold 20.

Here, the contact angle of the curable material 30a with respect to the upper die 10 and theta _u, the height of the projection from the substrate section 11 in the upper die 10 to the lower die 20 direction When h _u, the amount of curable material 30a (Volume) V _u preferably satisfies the following formula.

For example, when the curable material 30a having a contact angle θ _u = 45 ° is attached to the upper mold 10 having a protrusion height of h _u = 0.2 mm, the amount V _u of the curable material 30a is V _u ≧ 0. .078 mm ³ may be satisfied.

  Thereby, in the 2nd proximity process, curable material 30a can contact curable material 40 first, and the wafer lens concerning this embodiment is manufactured successfully.

  In the above description, the curable material 30 and the additional curable material are described as examples in the present embodiment, but the curable material 30 and the additional curable material are different materials. Also good.

(About the manufacturing apparatus 100 of the wafer lens 60)
The wafer lens 60 manufacturing method described above may be performed by the wafer lens 60 manufacturing apparatus 100. Hereinafter, the manufacturing apparatus 100 of the wafer lens 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the manufacturing apparatus 100 for the wafer lens 60.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the wafer lens 60 manufacturing apparatus 100 includes a coating unit (coating unit) 101, a moving unit (moving unit) 102, and a control unit 110. The control unit 110 includes a first application control unit (first application control unit) 111, a second application control unit (second application control unit) 112, a curing control unit (curing control unit) 113, 1 proximity control unit (first proximity control unit) 114, separation control unit (separation control unit) 115, and second proximity control unit (second proximity control unit) 116.

  The application unit 101 applies a curable material to the lower mold 20. Moreover, the moving part 102 moves the upper mold | type 10 and the lower mold | type 20 to the separation / contact direction (typically vertical direction). Note that the moving unit 102 may move only the upper mold 10, move only the lower mold 20, or move both the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20. It may be. The control unit 110 controls the coating unit 101 and the moving unit 102 to execute the method for manufacturing the wafer lens 60 described above.

  Next, processing of each unit of the control unit 110 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of manufacturing the wafer lens 60.

  The first application control unit 111 controls the application unit 101 to execute a first application process of applying the first curable material 30 to the lower mold 20. The application unit 101 applies the first curable material 30 to the lower mold 20 in accordance with the control from the first application control unit 111 (S1: first application process). The first application control unit 111 preferably adjusts the application amount of the first curable material 30 so as to satisfy the above-described conditions.

  Next, the first proximity control unit 114 moves so as to execute a first proximity process in which the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other so that the first curable material 30 contacts the upper mold. The unit 102 is controlled. The moving unit 102 brings the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 into proximity in accordance with the control from the first proximity control unit 114 (S2: first proximity process).

  Thereafter, the separation control unit 115 controls the moving unit 102 so as to execute a separation step of separating the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 in the vertical direction. The moving unit 102 separates the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 vertically according to the control from the separation control unit 115 (S3: separation process).

  Next, the second application control unit 112 controls the application unit 101 to execute a second application process of applying the second curable material (additional curable material) to the lower mold 20. The application unit 101 applies the second curable material to the lower mold 20 in accordance with the control from the second application control unit 112 (S4: second application process). The second application control unit 112 preferably adjusts the application amount of the second curable material so as to satisfy the above-described conditions.

  Thereafter, the second proximity control unit 116 controls the moving unit 102 so as to execute a second proximity process in which the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 are brought close to each other. The moving unit 102 brings the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 into proximity in accordance with control from the second proximity control unit 116 (S5: second proximity process). The second proximity control unit 116 preferably adjusts the proximity speed in the second proximity process so as to satisfy the above-described conditions.

  Thereafter, the curing control unit 113 controls the moving unit 102 to execute a curing process for producing a cured product by maintaining the distance between the upper mold 10 and the lower mold 20 until the curable material 50 is cured. The movement part 102 maintains the space | interval of the upper mold | type 10 and the lower mold | type 20 according to control from the hardening control part 113 (S6: hardening process).

  As described above, the manufacturing apparatus 100 for the wafer lens 60 can successfully manufacture the wafer lens 60 in which the mixing of bubbles is suppressed.

(About programs and recording media)
Moreover, each block of the manufacturing apparatus 100 mentioned above may be comprised by hardware logic, and may be implement | achieved by software using CPU as follows.

  That is, the manufacturing apparatus 100 includes a CPU (central processing unit) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program, a RAM (random access memory) that expands the program, A storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data is provided. The object of the present invention is to record the program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control program (authentication program) of the manufacturing apparatus 100, which is software that realizes the functions described above, in a computer-readable manner. This can also be achieved by supplying the recording medium to the manufacturing apparatus 100 and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  Examples of the recording medium include a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, and an optical disk such as a CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R. Card system such as IC card, IC card (including memory card) / optical card, or semiconductor memory system such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM.

  Further, the manufacturing apparatus 100 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Further, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR (high data rate), mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be suitably used in the field of manufacturing a cured product such as a wafer lens and the field of manufacturing a manufacturing apparatus for the cured product.

1 Mold (molding die)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Upper mold | type 11 Base material part 12 Element part 20 Lower mold | type 21 Base material part 22 Element part 30 Curable material (1st curable material)
40 curable material (mixture of first and second curable materials)
50 curable material (mixture of first and second curable materials)
60 Wafer lens (substrate)
60a Optical lens (element)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Manufacturing apparatus 101 Application part (application | coating means)
102 Moving part (moving means)
110 controller 111 first application controller (first application controller)
112 2nd application | coating control part (2nd application | coating control means)
113 Curing control unit (curing control means)
114 1st proximity control part (1st proximity control means)
115 Separation control unit (separation control means)
116 2nd proximity control part (2nd proximity control means)

Claims (8)

A method for producing a cured product, wherein a cured product is produced using a mold composed of an upper mold and a lower mold,
A first application step of applying a first curable material to the lower mold;
After the first application step, a first proximity step in which the upper die and the lower die are brought close to each other so that the first curable material contacts the upper die;
A separation step of separating the upper die and the lower die vertically after the first proximity step;
After the separation step, a second application step of applying a second curable material to the lower mold,
After the second coating step, a second proximity step for bringing the upper die and the lower die close to each other;
And a curing step for producing the cured product by curing the first and second curable materials after the second proximity step.   The method for producing a cured product according to claim 1, wherein the cured product is a substrate on which a plurality of elements are arranged. The application amount V of the first curable material in the first application step is

(Here, θ _c represents the contact angle of the first curable material with respect to the lower mold, and h _s represents the thickness of the substrate.)
The method for producing a cured product according to claim 2, wherein: The application amount V of the first curable material in the first application step is

(Here, θ _c represents the contact angle of the first curable material with respect to the lower mold, and p represents the arrangement pitch of the elements.)
The manufacturing method of the hardened | cured material of Claim 2 or 3 characterized by satisfy | filling.   The method for manufacturing a cured product according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the element is an optical lens.   The cured product according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a speed at which the upper die and the lower die are brought close to each other in the second approaching step is 0.02 mm / s or less. Manufacturing method. A cured product production apparatus for producing a cured product using a mold composed of an upper mold and a lower mold,
Application means for applying a curable material to the lower mold;
Moving means for moving the upper mold and the lower mold in the direction of separation and contact;
A first application control means for controlling the application means to execute a first application step of applying a first curable material to the lower mold;
A first proximity step of controlling the moving means to bring the upper die and the lower die closer so that the first curable material contacts the upper die after the first application step; First proximity control means to execute;
Separation control means for controlling the moving means to perform a separation step of separating the upper mold and the lower mold vertically after the first proximity process;
A second application control means for controlling the application means to execute a second application process for applying a second curable material to the lower mold after the separation step;
A second proximity control means for controlling the moving means to execute a second proximity step for bringing the upper die and the lower die closer after the second application step;
The cured product is manufactured by controlling the moving means and maintaining the distance between the upper mold and the lower mold until the first and second curable materials are cured after the second proximity step. And a curing control unit that executes a curing process.   A program for causing a computer to operate as the cured product manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the computer functions as each control means provided in the cured product manufacturing apparatus.

Images