JPH0524872A - Aligning and jointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly move a retaining lens and carry out sure alignment by releasing strong absorbing force in carrying when aligned. CONSTITUTION:In upper retaining member 3 movably moved to vertical and horizontal directions, upper and lower lens 1 and 2 are aligned on a lower retaining member 4 by outside diameter supporting pawls 22, 23 and 24. In this time, absorbing force of upper lens 1 absorbed in the upper retaining member 3 by an absorbing force changing-over device 7 is released.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a centering and joining device in a joining and assembling process of optical lenses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-146447 filed by the present applicant as a centering and joining device for lenses. The above invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Upper lens 81 when forming a cemented lens
The upper and lower holding members 83 and 84 for holding the lower lens 82 and the lower lens 82 are configured to be capable of adsorbing the lenses 81 and 82 to their respective end portions and arranged coaxially. Also,
The lower holding member 84 is fixed, and the upper holding member 83 is movable in the axial direction and in the direction orthogonal thereto, so that the upper lens 81 and the lower lens 82 can be conveyed from the lens supply device 85. Has been done. Upper and lower lenses 81 and 82 (only the upper lens 81 is shown in the figure) are housed in the lens supply device 85 without being centered.

Around the upper and lower holding members 83 and 84, three pieces which are movable in the radial direction with respect to the axes of the upper and lower holding members 83 and 84 and are equally arranged for centering the upper and lower lenses 81 and 82. Supporting claws 86, 87, 88 are provided (the supporting claw 87 of the three is not shown). These three support claws 86, 87, 88 have outer diameter support claws 86, 87 capable of mechanically and accurately positioning to a predetermined position between their advancing and retreating directions, and the upper and lower lenses 81 by a predetermined pressing force. , 82
And an outer diameter pressing support claw 88 connected to a hydraulic cylinder 89 for pressing.

A description will be given of the process of centering the two lenses having the same outer diameter by the lens cementing centering device having the above structure.

The support claws 86, 87, 88 are set in advance and retract positions in accordance with the outer diameters of the upper and lower lenses 81, 82. When the centering is not performed, the upper and lower lenses 8 are provided.
It is set to the respective retracted positions apart from 1, 82.

First, the upper holding member 83 is the lens supply device 8.
After moving horizontally to the position of 5, the lower lens 82 is sucked and held from the lens supply device 85. Next, after ascending, it horizontally moves to reach the lower holding member 84, descends and places the lower lens 82 on the lower holding member 84, and then the suction of the lower lens is released to ascend. At this time, when the lens is conveyed, a strong suction force acts so as not to drop the lens due to the impact caused by the change of the conveying direction.

Next, the lower lens 8 on the lower holding member 84
The outer diameter support claws 86, 87 move forward to 2 and stop at a position matching the outer diameter of the lower lens 82. After that, the outer diameter pressing support claw 88 is moved forward by the hydraulic cylinder 89 to advance to the lower lens 8
The outer periphery of 2 is pressed and the lower lens 82 is aligned with the axial center of the lower holding member 84 by the three support claws 86, 87, 88, and the centering is completed. The lower holding member 84 adsorbs the lower lens 82, and the three support claws 86, 87,
88 is retracted, and the adhesive 90 is supplied in drops from a syringe (not shown) to the central portion of the joint surface of the lower lens 82.

During the above-described centering and supplying of the adhesive 90, the upper holding member 83 sucks and holds the upper lens 81 from the lens supply device 85, and stands by on the axis of the lower holding member 84.

Next, the upper holding member 83 descends and stops immediately before the upper lens 81 comes into contact with the adhesive 90 on the lower lens 82. Then, the upper lens 81 is attached to the upper holding member 83.
Is held by suction and the lower lens 82 is sucked and held by the lower holding member 84 again.
87 moves forward and stops at a position matching the outer diameters of the upper and lower lenses 81, 82.

After that, the outer diameter pressing support claw 88 is moved forward by the hydraulic cylinder 89 to center the upper and lower lenses 81, 82. Next, the three support claws 86, 87, 88 are retracted and the upper holding member 83 is lowered to move the upper and lower lenses 81, 8
The second bonding is performed, the adhesive 90 is cured, and then the bonded lens is carried out from the portion.

[0012]

However, according to the centering / joining device of the prior art, the centering is performed in a state where the upper holding member 83 sucks and holds the upper lens 81 sucked and held by the lens supply device 85. ..

That is, the upper holding member 8 during conveyance.
The upper lens 81 is centered with a strong suction force so that the upper lens 81 does not drop due to the impact force generated in 3. Therefore,
The outer diameter support claws 86, 87 come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the upper lens 81, and even if the upper lens 81 is moved, it is difficult to move. Will occur.

When the upper lens 81 is adsorbed near the outer diameter pressing claw 88 side, the pressing force of the hydraulic cylinder 89 is increased to increase the pressing force of the outer diameter pressing support claw 88, so that the upper lens 81 is fixed. Although it can be moved, there is a problem that, in addition to the above-mentioned scratches, a "can" or a "chip" or the like is produced on the outer circumference of the upper lens 81 by hitting the outer diameter support claws 86, 87 by the impact force of the movement.

Therefore, the present invention was developed in view of the above problems in the prior art. Even if the upper lens is centered while being sucked and held by the upper holding member, abrasion or "can". It is an object of the present invention to provide a centering and joining device for lenses that does not cause "chips".

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a pair of upper and lower holding members are coaxially arranged at each end so that a lens can be sucked and held, and at least one of them is movable in an axial direction and a direction orthogonal to the axial direction. Members and cores equally arranged around the holding member so as to press the outer peripheral surface of each lens held by each holding member in the radial direction with respect to the axial center of each holding member at least at three positions. A centering member, a drive source for moving the centering member forward and backward, an attraction force switching device for attracting the lens, and a contact with the centering member attached to the drive source to the outer peripheral surface of the lens. A detection mechanism and a suction control unit that controls the suction force of the holding member via the suction force switching device according to a detection signal of the detection mechanism are provided.

[0017]

According to the present invention, when the upper lens sucked and held by the upper holding member is centered by the plurality of centering members, the contacting is performed by the centering member detection mechanism that first contacts the outer peripheral surface of the lens. The pressure is detected and the suction of the upper lens is released by the pressure switching device via the suction control section based on this detection signal.

At this time, the upper lens is held by the upper holding member with a negative pressure for a short time even if there is no suction force, and the centering member in contact causes the upper lens to smooth the end portion of the upper holding member. Movement and scratches on the suction surface of the upper lens can be prevented.
Further, since it moves smoothly, the impact force is small even when it comes into contact with another outer diameter support claw, so that the occurrence of "can" or "chip" can be prevented.

[0019]

1 to 7 show the present embodiment, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram, and FIGS. 2 to 7 are explanatory views of a centering and joining process.

1 and 2 are an upper lens and a lower lens,
A hollow upper holding member 3 and a lower holding member 4 for centering and joining the upper and lower lenses 1 and 2 are opposed to each other with their axial centers aligned in the vertical direction. The upper holding member 3 and the lower holding member 4 are connected to the suction force switching device 7 via the suction holes 5 and 6 formed on the side surfaces, and the suction force switching device 7 is controlled by the suction control unit 8. And is connected to the vacuum source 9.

The hollow upper holding member 3 is attached to the screwing block 11 via the slide block 10, and is rotated by a motor 13 fixed on the upper part of the moving support 12 to a guide rail 15 via a ball screw 14. It is configured to be slidable in the vertical direction.

The moving support 12 is provided with a screwing block (not shown) on the back side thereof, and by the rotation and control of a motor 17 fixed to one end side surface (right side in the drawing) of the support 16, The pair of slide rails 19 can be moved in a horizontal direction (horizontal direction) via a ball screw 18 and can be stopped at a desired position (lens centering position and lens supply position).

When the movable support 12 is moved horizontally (to the right in the drawing) to reach the lens supply position (the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in the drawing) 20, the upper and lower lenses 1 are located below the upper holding member 3. , 2 are separately stored and placed on standby. The upper holding member 3 is lowered by the driving of the motor 13, and the upper and lower lenses 1 and 2 are individually sucked and held, and then raised, and moved in the horizontal direction (leftward in the figure) to move to the lens centering position (see FIG. 1). State).

Outer-diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 arranged in three equal parts around the pair of upper and lower holding members 3, 4 for centering the upper and lower lenses 1, 2 (see FIG. 7), In the figure, the thickness of the claw is formed larger than the sum of the thicknesses of the outer peripheral portions of the lower lens 2 held by the lower holding member 4 and the upper lens 1 joined to the lower lens 2. Then, escape grooves 25 are formed on the surfaces of the outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 located at the upper peripheral edge of the lower lens 2 so that the adhesive protruding during the lens bonding does not adhere.

The outer-diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 are slidably mounted on guide rails 27 arranged in three equal parts on a disk-shaped support base 26, and on the support base 26. Through the air cylinders 28, 29, 30 fixedly installed, the support base 26 is configured to be movable horizontally in the direction of the axis of the upper and lower holding members 3, 4 arranged with their axes aligned. There is.

Each air cylinder 28, 29, 30 is connected to a pressure supply source 31 so that a constant pressure load is applied, and each air cylinder 28, 29, 30 has an outer diameter pressing support claw 22, 23, 30. Reed switch type position sensors 32, 33 and 34 for detecting the movement position of 24 are attached. The position sensors 32, 33, 34 are set so that their outputs are turned ON when the tips of the outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 come into contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the upper and lower lenses 1, 2, respectively. It is connected to the adsorption control unit 8.

The centering and joining process of two lenses (each having the same outer diameter) by the centering and joining device having the above structure will be described.

The outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 are set in advance and retract positions in advance according to the outer diameters of the upper and lower lenses 1, 2, and when they are not centered, the upper and lower lenses 1, 2,
Are set to their respective retracted positions away from.

First, the upper holding member 3 is moved to the lens supply position 20.
To the lower holding member 4 by adsorbing and holding the lower lens (the lens that becomes the lower side when centering) 2 from the lens supply device 21 by suction, and then moving horizontally to reach the lower holding member 4 (FIG. 2). reference).

Next, the upper holding member 3 descends and the lower lens 2
After being placed on the lower holding member 4, the lower lens 2 is lifted by releasing the suction of the lower lens 2. At this time, a strong suction force acts so as not to drop the lower lens 2 due to an impact caused by a change in the conveying direction during the conveyance of the lower lens 2. Next, with respect to the lower lens 2 on the lower holding member 4, each air cylinder 28, 29,
The outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 are advanced by 30 and stopped at a position matching the outer diameter of the lower lens 2. At this time, the lower lens 2 is not adsorbed by the lower holding member 4,
Since the end surface of the lower holding member 4 can be easily slid, the centering is completed by aligning the lower lens 2 with the axis of the lower holding member 4 by the three outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 (Fig. 3).

Next, the lower holding member 4 attracts the lower lens 2 and the three outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24.
And the adhesive 35 is supplied to the central portion of the joint surface of the lower lens 2 in a droplet form from a syringe (not shown). During the above-mentioned centering and supplying of the adhesive 35, the upper holding member 3 sucks and holds the upper lens 1 from the lens supply device 21, and stands by on the axis of the lower holding member 4 (see FIG. 4). ..

Next, the upper holding member 3 descends and the upper lens 1
Stops just before the contact with the adhesive 35 on the lower lens 2. Then, in a state in which the upper lens 1 is suction-held by the upper holding member 3 and a state in which the lower lens 2 is suction-held by the lower holding member 4, the outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 advance again.

At this time, if the optical axis of the upper lens 1 sucked and held by the upper holding member 3 deviates from the axis of the upper holding member 3 (see FIGS. 5 and 6), three outer diameter pressing supports are provided. Nail 22,
Either 23 or 24 (the outer diameter pressing support claw 22 in the figure)
First, it contacts the outer peripheral surface of the upper lens 1 and stops the movement (it does not reach the lens outer diameter position at the time of centering). If the position sensor 32, 33,
34 (position sensor 32 in the figure) detects this, and the suction control unit 8 detects this detection signal to be OFF, and releases the suction force of the upper holding member 3 via the suction force switching device 7.

Even if the suction force is released, the internal pressure of the upper holding member 3 is maintained at a negative pressure, so that the upper lens 1 continues to be held without dropping. In this state, the outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 (the outer diameter pressing support claws 22 in the figure) with which the upper lens 1 abuts can easily slide the end portion of the upper holding member 3, so that the outer diameter pressing The upper lens 1 is centered by the support claws 22, 23, 24 (see FIG. 7). In this case, the lower lens 2
Since centering has been completed in advance, it is not necessary to release the suction force of the lower holding member 4.

After the centering of the upper lens 1 and the lower lens 2 is completed, the outer diameter pressing support claws 22, 23, 24 are retracted by the air cylinders 28, 29, 30 and then the upper holding member. 3 is lowered to bond the upper and lower lenses 1 and 2, the adhesive 35 is cured, and then the upper holding member 3 is separated to carry out the bonded lens.

According to the present embodiment, by releasing the strong suction force required at the time of conveyance at the time of centering, the held upper lens 1 can smoothly move and surely perform centering. In addition, the air cylinders 28, 29, 30 and the position sensor 3
Since 2,33,34 can use commercially available items as a set, they can be easily obtained and positioned and assembled,
A reliable joining centering can be performed without largely changing the mechanical structure of the conventional centering device.

In this embodiment, the outer diameter pressing support claws 22,
Although the suction force of the upper holding member 3 is released when either 23 or 24 first comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the upper lens 1, the present invention is not limited to this and can be appropriately changed.

For example, in this embodiment, the upper holding member 3
Although the lower holding member 4 and the lower holding member 4 are set coaxially, the upper holding member 3
The upper lens 1 is moved by a large amount to the left of the axial center position of the lower holding member 4 (on the outer diameter pressing support claw 22 side in FIG. 1), and when the upper lens 1 is centered after being lowered (upper lens The outer diameter pressing support claw 22 may first come into contact with the outer circumference of the upper lens 1 when the centering is carried out in the state where the lens 1 and the lower lens 2 are separated from each other.

At this time, even if the upper lens 1 attracted to the upper holding member 3 is displaced, if it always comes into contact with the outer diameter pressing / supporting claw 22 first, the air cylinder 29 of the other outer diameter pressing / supporting claws 23 and 24 is always present. The position sensors 33, 34 arranged on the terminals 30, 30 can be omitted. Next, after centering, the upper holding member 3 and the lower holding member 4
Align the axes with and join.

In this case, instead of the air cylinders 29, 30, for example, the support member 12 is driven by the motor 17 via the ball screw 18, so that the outer diameter pressing support claws 23, 24 are formed.
Can be driven by a motor (not shown) via a ball screw to position the outer diameter pressing support claws 23 and 24 at the centering outer peripheral position of the lens and then drive the outer diameter pressing claw 22.

Further, in the present embodiment, the cementing of two lenses having the same outer diameter has been described. However, when the two lenses to be cemented have different outer diameters, as shown in FIG. A radial step corresponding to the outer diameter difference between the upper and lower lenses 1 and 2, that is, a large diameter portion 41 and a small diameter portion 42 may be provided at the lens abutting portions of 22, 23 and 24.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, each outer diameter pressing support claw is composed of an upper claw 51 and a lower claw 52, and the lower claw 52 is guided to the guide rail 27 on the support base 26. In addition, the upper claw 51 may be slidably supported on the lower claw 52. A screw base 54 equipped with a motor 53 is attached to the lower claw 52, and the upper claw 51 is attached to the lower claw 52 via a ball screw 55 in the optical axis direction of the upper and lower lenses 1 and 2 (upper and lower holding members 3, 3.
4 axial direction).

If the motor 53 adjusts the protrusion amount of the upper claw 51 with respect to the lower claw 52 according to the outer diameters of the upper and lower lenses 1 and 2, the outer diameters of the upper and lower lenses 1 and 2 change. It can be easily dealt with and is suitable for a wide variety of products. In this case, the escape groove of the adhesive 35 formed in the lens contact portion can be appropriately formed in the step portion of the upper claw 51 and the lower claw 52.

[0044]

As described above, according to the centering / joining device of the present invention, the held lens moves smoothly and is surely centered by releasing the strong suction force during conveyance during centering. Can be done. In addition, since it is possible to perform centering before the upper and lower lenses are joined, it is possible to prevent air bubbles in the adhesive generated during joining. Further, the alignment of the joint can be automated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a centering and joining process.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a centering and joining process.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a process of centering and joining.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a process of centering and joining.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a process of centering and joining.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a process of centering and joining.

FIG. 8 is a main-portion cross-sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a modified example of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Upper Lens 2 Lower Lens 3 Upper Holding Member 4 Lower Holding Member 7 Adsorption Force Switching Device 8 Adsorption Control Unit 21 Lens Supply Device 22, 23, 24 Outer Diameter Pressing Support Claw 26 Support Base 28, 29, 30 Air Cylinder 32, 33 , 34 Position sensor

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 27, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Name of item to be corrected] Fig. 10

[Correction method] Added

[Correction content]

[Figure 10]

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A pair of upper and lower holding members which are coaxially arranged at each end so as to adsorb and hold a lens and at least one of which is movable in an axial direction and a direction orthogonal to the axial direction. A centering member equally arranged around the holding member so as to move in the radial direction with respect to the axial center of each holding member and press the outer peripheral surface of each lens held by each holding member at at least three places. A drive source for moving the centering member forward and backward, an attraction force switching device for attracting the lens, and a detection mechanism attached to the drive source for detecting that the centering member is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the lens. And a suction control unit for controlling the suction force of the holding member via the suction force switching device according to the detection signal of the detection mechanism.