JPH0364453B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is directed to a preheating furnace, a main heating furnace, and a molding furnace, in order to mold the optical glass material into a desired shape using upper and lower molds. The present invention relates to a method for transporting a glass material in a glass molding device to a molding point indoors.

[Prior Art] As a method of conveying glass materials of this type, a method as shown in FIG. 5 has conventionally been adopted. That is, what is shown by 1 in the figure is a magazine in which a plurality of holes 3 for placing gob plates 2 are formed at appropriate intervals, and each hole 3 is filled with an optical glass material (gob or A gob plate 5 on which a workpiece 4 is placed and supported is placed thereon. A fitting part 5a that fits into the hole 3 is formed in the lower part of the gob plate 5, and the upper part of this fitting part 5a is shaped into a loading arm fitting part 5b having a larger diameter than the fitting part 5a. It has been set up. The gob plate 5 is configured such that the fitting part 5a fits into the hole 3 and the stepped part 5c between the fitting part 5a and the loading arm fitting part 5b comes into contact with the top surface of the magazine 1. It is designed to be mounted and supported. Reference numeral 6 designates a loading arm (transport arm) for scooping up and holding the gob plate 5 placed on the magazine 1 and transporting the held gob plate 5 into the heating furnace and to the forming point. A gob plate support hole 7 and a guide groove 8 wider than the diameter of the loading arm fitting portion 5b of the gob plate 5 are formed at the tip. This loading arm 6 is operated to move in the direction of arrow 9 from the side of the magazine 1, and the guide groove 8 enters the loading arm fitting portion 5b of the gob plate 5 to move the gob plate 5 into the gob plate support hole 7. After introducing the upward direction 10
This allows the gob plate 5 to be scooped up and transferred onto the loading arm 6. The loading arm 6 is used to transport the optical glass material 4 together with the gob plate 5 to a point in the heating furnace and molding chamber.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the above conventional glass material conveying method has the following problems.

That is, in the above-mentioned transport method, the gob plate 5 placed on the magazine 1 is directly scooped up by the loading arm 6 and transported. When transferring, it was not possible to accurately position the transfer point. To be more specific, there is some looseness in the mutually fitting parts of the gob plate 5 and the magazine 1, and in the mutually fitting part of the gob plate 5 and the loading arm 6. When the gob plate 5 is scooped up by the gob plate 5, the position of the transfer point is shifted within the range of the total amount of play.
In addition to positional deviations due to such mechanical play, thermal deformation during heat treatment necessary for molding also caused positional deviations between mechanical components. Due to such misalignment, the gob plate 5 is frequently conveyed incorrectly, and the gob plate 5 cannot be accurately positioned and conveyed to the molding point between the upper and lower molding dies, which can lead to defective molded products. I was getting used to it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.The present invention enables the gob plate to be transferred onto the loading arm at an accurate position at all times, and prevents the gob plate from being conveyed incorrectly or at the forming point. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for transporting a glass material in a glass forming apparatus that eliminates positional displacement.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention includes the steps of: placing an inverted truncated cone-shaped gob plate on which an optical glass material is placed on a member having a placement portion having a shape corresponding to the gob plate, and transporting the gob plate into a preheating furnace; A step of pushing up the preheated optical glass material together with the gob plate using a push-up member having a push-up part that fits into the taper part of the gob plate, and a taper that fits the pushed up gob plate with the gob plate. a process of transferring and holding the gob plate to the gob plate support part of the loading arm having a section; a process of transporting the gob plate held by the loading arm into the main heating furnace via the loading arm; This transportation method consists of the process of transporting the optical glass material that has been heated and softened in the molding chamber to the molding point in the molding chamber via a loading arm.This method eliminates transportation errors and allows the material to be accurately placed at the molding point in the molding chamber. It can be transported.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glass forming apparatus 11 for carrying out the glass material conveying method for a glass forming apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the glass forming apparatus 1 in cross section.

As shown in the figure, the glass molding device 11 includes a molding main body 14 equipped with upper and lower molds 12 and 13.
Then, the molded glass lens is placed in the upper and lower molds 12,
Release ring drive unit 15 for releasing the mold from 13
Then, the optical glass material 17 placed on the magazine 16 is heated in a preheating furnace 18 and a main heating furnace (electric furnace) 19.
It also includes a transport arm drive section 23 for transporting the molding device to the molding point 22 in the molding chamber 20, a device base 24, and the like.

The upper and lower molds 12 and 13 are formed by four pillars 27 erected on a lower plate 26 fixed to a table 25 on a device base 24 and a cover 2 that closes the surroundings thereof.
8 and an upper plate 29 in a molding chamber 20. The upper mold 12 is fixed to a holder 30 fixed to the inner surface of the upper plate 29 via a mounting ring 31, and the lower mold 13 is supported so as to be vertically movable via a bearing 32 mounted on a table 25. It is fixed to a movable shaft 33 via a mounting ring 34. Reference numerals 35 and 36 indicate heaters.

Release rings 37 and 38 are loosely fitted into the upper and lower molds 12 and 13 for releasing the molded glass lens from each mold 12 and 13, and each mold release ring 37 and 38 is driven The mold release function is configured to be performed through upper and lower arms 39 and 40 that are moved up and down via the section 15. The movable shaft 33 on which the lower mold 13 is fixedly mounted is set to be vertically driven by an eccentric cam 42 which is rotationally driven via an encoder 41.

The transfer arm drive unit 23 is for driving the transfer arm 43 and is set so that the transfer arm 43 can be controlled to stop at the preheating furnace 18 , the main heating furnace 19 , and the forming point 22 . The optical glass material 17 is placed and supported on the magazine 16 via the gob plate 44, and the gob plate 4 on the magazine 16
4 is a transport arm 4 as shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b.
It is adapted to be transferred and supported on a gob plate support part 45 formed at the tip of the gob plate 3. The configuration for transferring the gob plate 44 on the magazine 16 onto the gob plate support portion 45 of the transport arm 43 is shown in FIGS.
Shown in b, c, d. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4a, a cylinder 46 for pushing up the gob plate 44 is provided below the magazine 16, and as shown in FIG.
The gob plate 44 is temporarily moved to the magazine 16 by the raised part 48 at the tip of the piston rod (movable rod) 47.
It is set so that it can be operated by pushing up from above.
The transport arm 43 is disposed at the upper side of the magazine 16, and is moved in the direction of arrow 49 in FIG. The piston rod 47 is set to be operated to enter a position where its axial center is coaxial with the axial center of the gob plate support portion 45. Then, by operating the piston rod 47 downward in the state shown in FIG. 4c, the gob plate 44 can be transferred onto the gob plate support portion 45 of the transfer arm 43, as shown in FIG. 4d. The settings are configured so that it can be done.

The magazine 16 on which a plurality of gob plates 44 are mounted is
Gob plates 4 are conveyed sequentially from inside the supply chamber 51, and are loaded with glass lenses after molding is completed.
The magazine 16 that supports 4 is configured to be stored in the storage chamber 52. Each gob plate 4 on the magazine 16 is sequentially transported from inside the supply chamber 51
4 is first controlled to stop within the preheating furnace 18. The preheating furnace 18 is for preheating the glass optical material 17 on the magazine 16 together with the gob plate 44 to a temperature of about 400°C, and can be preheated by an infrared heater 53 disposed within the furnace 18. The settings are configured as follows.

The glass optical element 17 preheated in the preheating furnace 18 is transferred onto the transfer arm 43 by the gob plate transfer mechanism shown in FIGS. 4a, b, c, and d. It is set so that it is conveyed into the main heating furnace (electric furnace) 19 via the main heating furnace (electric furnace) and controlled to stop. The main heating furnace 19 heats the preheated optical glass material 17 to a temperature above the transition point, for example.
Optical glass material 1 is heated at a temperature of 600℃ or higher.
This is for softening 7 to a moldable state.
It consists of an electric furnace. The reason why the heating furnace 19 is an electric furnace is that a high temperature atmosphere sufficient to heat and soften the optical glass material 17 can be obtained.

The gob plate 44 is formed in an inverted truncated conical shape as shown in FIG. 3a, and as shown in FIG.
As shown in , the magazine 16 is placed on a magazine 16 having a gob placement portion 54 in the shape of a tapered opening corresponding to the gob plate 44 . Also, gob plate 44
A tapered hole 55 is formed on the lower surface of the axis of the piston rod 47 of the thrusting cylinder 46, and the taper hole 55 fits into the tapered surface formed in the thrusting part 48 at the tip of the piston rod 47 of the thrusting cylinder 46. 55 are fitted together to prevent backlash from occurring.

A method for conveying the optical glass material 17 using the above configuration will be explained.

First step First, the gob plate 4 on which the optical glass material 17 is placed
4 is placed on the magazine 16 and carried into the preheating furnace 18, and the optical glass material 17 is heated to a temperature of about 400°C.

2nd process Optical glass material 1 preheated in the 1st process
7 together with the gob plate 44 from the magazine 16 onto the transport arm (loading arm) 43. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b, the piston rod 47 of the pushing-up cylinder 46 is first moved upward, and the pushing-up portion 48 pushes up the gob plate 44 from above the magazine 16. On this occasion,
The outer circumferential tapered surface of the push-up portion 48 fits into the tapered hole 55 of the gob plate 44, and the occurrence of backlash is restricted.

Third step Next, as shown in FIG. 4c, the transfer arm 43
is advanced through the groove 50 to a position where the axis of the gob plate support 45 coincides with the axis of the piston rod 47, and then stopped.

Finally, the piston rod 47 is moved down as shown in FIG. 4d. As a result, the gob plate 44 is automatically placed on the gob plate 44 support portion 45 of the transport arm 43. At this time, the tapered surface of the outer periphery of the gob plate and the tapered portion of the gob plate support portion 45 fit together, and the occurrence of backlash is restricted.

Fourth step: The gob plate 44 held on the transfer arm 43 is
The optical glass material 17 on the gob plate 44 is transported into the main heating furnace 19 via the transport arm 43 and heated to a temperature higher than the transition temperature of the glass to soften it to a moldable viscosity.

Fifth step: The heated optical glass material 17 is transferred to the molding point 2 in the molding chamber 20 via the transport arm 43.
Transport to 2.

6th step: Place the molded product formed by the upper and lower molds 12 and 13 on the gob plate 44 on the transfer arm 43 again, and transfer the molded product to the transfer arm in the reverse procedure of the 2nd and 3rd steps. 43 onto the magazine 16.

In the above first to fifth steps, optical glass material 1
7 from above the magazine 16 to the forming point 22, and the molded product after forming in the sixth step is transferred to the magazine 16.
It can be placed on top again.

In particular, in the above method, the gob plate 44 placed on the magazine 16 without play through the tapered surface is pushed up vertically by the push-up portion 48 of the piston rod 47, and the gob plate 44 is fitted into the tapered portion of the push-up portion 48. The gob plate 44 in the current state is transferred to the transfer arm 4.
Since the gob plate 44 is automatically placed on the gob plate supporting portion 45 of No. 3, there is only one point (fixed point) for transferring the gob plate 44 onto the transfer arm 43, which reliably prevents transfer mistakes. Even when the gob plate 44 is transported to the molding point 22, it can be transported to the molding point 22 accurately. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective molded products and improve the quality of the molded products.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, when transferring the gob plate from the top of the magazine to the transfer arm, the gob plate is temporarily pushed up from above the magazine and the pushed up gob plate is transferred onto the transfer arm. , there is only one transfer point, which eliminates mistakes in conveying the gob plate and allows it to be conveyed accurately to the forming point at all times. As a result, the occurrence of defective molded products can be drastically reduced and the quality of the molded products can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glass forming apparatus for carrying out the method according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view of the glass forming apparatus shown in cross section to facilitate understanding of each configuration in FIG. 1. Figures 3a and b are explanatory views of the main parts of Figure 2, Figures 4a, b, c, and d are action explanatory views of the main parts of Figure 2, and Figure 5 is an explanatory view of the prior art. . 14...Molded main body part, 16...Magazine, 18
... Preheating furnace, 19 ... Main heating furnace, 43 ... Transfer arm (loading arm), 44 ... Gob plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gob plate having an inverted truncated conical shape on which an optical glass material is placed is placed on a member having a mounting portion having a shape corresponding to the gob plate, and is transported into a preheating furnace. a step of pushing up the optical glass material preheated in the step, together with the gob plate, from the member using a push-up member having a push-up portion that fits into a tapered portion of the gob plate; a step of transferring and holding the gob plate that has been pushed up to a gob plate supporting portion of a transfer arm having a tapered portion that fits with the gob plate; and a step of transferring the gob plate held on the transfer arm via the transfer arm. A method for transporting a glass material in a glass forming apparatus, comprising: transporting the optical glass material heated and softened in the step into a main heating furnace via the transport arm to a molding point in a molding chamber. .