JPH06300992A - Production of dioptric electrochromic spectacle lens and the lens - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a process for production of the dioptric electrochromic spectacle lens capable of forming a sealing lens constituting the dioptric electrochromic spectacle lens to a thickness smaller than heretofore and this lens. CONSTITUTION:The dioptric electrochromic spectacle lens B consists of a non- dioptric electrochromic lens which is formed by adhering the sealing lens J having 0.1 to 0.6mm thickness to the element face of an element lens 1 provided with an electrochromic element K consisting of at least an electrochromic layer and a pair of transparent electrode layers holding this layer therebetween and a dioptric lens L which is adhered to the surface of the sealing lens J. This process for production of the dioptric electrochromic spectacle lens B consists in adhering a lens for temporarily sealing on the element surface of the element lens 1 provided with the electrochromic element K, then polishing the lens for temporarily sealing to form the sealing lens J having the specified thickness, then adhering the dioptric lens L to the surface of the sealing lens J.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a degree-controlled electrochromic device (hereinafter sometimes referred to as EC) in which an electrochromic device (hereinafter sometimes referred to as ECD) is provided on a lens surface to provide a light control function. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a spectacle lens and the lens.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some conventional lenses for sunglasses have a constant transmittance (in other words, a coloring density) and a variable transmittance. The former includes, for example, an all-color lens that has color tones such as brown, gray, and green with uniform density over the entire lens surface, or a half lens in which the upper half of the lens is darker and the lower the lens is, the lighter the color is. and so on. Since all of these have low transmittance, they are difficult to see in dark places.

In order to solve this problem, therefore, a variable transmittance lens for sunglasses (the latter) has been developed which has a small transmittance in a bright place and a large transmittance in a dark place. For the latter, by adding silver halide to the lens substrate, the transmittance of the lens automatically changes according to the intensity of ambient light (photochromic lens), or two transparent sheets. A liquid crystal element and a polarizing plate sandwiched between the substrates so that the transmittance of the lens can be automatically changed according to the intensity of ambient light (liquid crystal lens),
There is an ECD provided on the lens surface so that the transmittance of the lens can be varied (EC lens).

The photochromic lens has a sufficiently large change width (light adjustment width) in transmittance, but has a problem that the change speed (light adjustment speed) in transmittance is slow. Therefore, when moving from a dark place to a bright place, it is not possible to prevent glare for a while, and conversely, when moving from a light place to a dark place, it is dark and difficult to see for a while. There is a point.

The liquid crystal lens has a transmittance of 50% even when the color is erased.
Since it is below, the brightness is not sufficient. In addition, since the dimming speed is too fast, there is a problem in that in a surrounding environment in which a dark state and a bright state are alternately repeated, the adjustment of the pupil cannot keep up and the eyes are tired. The EC lens has a sufficiently large dimming width and an appropriate dimming speed, and does not have the problems of the photochromic lens and the liquid crystal lens.

When the EC lens is simply used as sunglasses, the power of the EC lens may be 0. However, when it is used (weared) by a person who needs to correct his or her visual acuity, the power of the person (wearer) is changed. It is necessary to perform processing for changing the power of the lens according to the visual acuity (hereinafter, referred to as processing with power). Therefore,
Depending on the order, the element lens or the sealing lens that constitutes the EC lens is processed with a degree.

When the element lens is subjected to prescription processing,
After processing the element lens, an ECD is formed on the element lens. The ECD is formed by a vacuum thin film forming method such as vapor deposition. In this case, in order to improve the economic efficiency, one thin film formation process (one batch) is required to be performed in units of several tens to one hundred and several tens. However, the EC with a degree from the customer
The number of orders for spectacle lenses is small compared to the ECD forming ability, and orders are non-stationary. Therefore, even after the ordering of the element lens can be performed immediately after receiving the order from the customer, it takes time to reach the number of orders from the customer who applies one batch of the ECD formation, and the customer is made to wait for a long time ( The delivery time of the product will be longer).

When the sealing lens is subjected to the prescription, the ECD is formed on the element lens of the standard specification, and then the prescription-processed sealing lens is bonded. Since the performance of ECD deteriorates rapidly if it is exposed, it is necessary to bond the sealing lens within a short time after the ECD is formed. However, as described above, the ECD is not formed until the number of orders from the customer who allocates one batch is reached, which makes the customer wait a long time (the delivery time of the product becomes long).

Further, the performance of the ECD can be inspected only after the sealing lens is bonded to the element lens. for that reason,
After applying prescription to the element lens or sealing lens and adhering both lenses, if the ECD is found to be defective by inspection, the element lens or encapsulation preprocessed according to the prescription is again used. You have to prepare a stop lens. Therefore, there are problems that the delivery time becomes longer and the cost for reworking becomes extra.

Therefore, in order to solve these problems, an EC lens with a dioptric power of 0 (an element lens having an ECD formed thereon and a sealing lens adhered) is manufactured in advance, and this EC lens is used by a customer. According to an order, a prescription EC spectacle lens in which a prescription lens is adhered has been developed (see Japanese Patent Application No. 3-328905). However, the EC spectacle lens with this degree has a larger number of constituent lenses than that of the two-element structure consisting of the element lens and the sealing lens, so that the weight and the lens thickness increase. In this case, if the weight of the spectacle lens is too large, the wearer cannot continue wearing for a long period of time due to discomfort. Also, if the lens thickness is too large, the appearance becomes unsightly. Therefore, in order to prevent this, the thickness of each lens (element lens, sealing lens, prescription lens) that constitutes the prescription EC spectacle lens must be minimized.

In the element lens, the end surface of the lens is processed into a bevel shape (angle of about 110 degrees) so as to fit with the rim of the spectacle frame. If the element lens is too thin (for example, 1
The height of the bevel becomes smaller. Therefore, even if the element lens is placed in the eyeglass frame, the lens is easily displaced from the eyeglass frame when an external force is applied to the lens or the eyeglass frame. Therefore, the thickness of the element lens cannot be made thinner than 1 mm.

Since the thickness of the prescription lens depends on the power of the lens, it is difficult to reduce the thickness. Therefore, the thickness of the sealing lens is reduced.

[0013]

As a method for processing a sealed lens into a thin and spherical surface, there are a grinding / polishing method and a heat molding method. In processing eyeglass lenses,
The method of grinding / polishing is generally used. This is a method in which a thick glass blank material is roughly processed into a predetermined thickness by grinding, and then the surface is processed smoothly by polishing.

However, this method has a problem that a mechanical force is applied to the lens during polishing, so that the lens is often cracked when the thickness of the lens is made thinner than 0.8 mm. In the method of heat forming, a thin glass plate having a predetermined size manufactured by rolling is placed on a bowl-shaped tool made of a metal spherically processed to have a predetermined size, and then heated and held at a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point of the glass. The thin glass is softened by heating, bends by its own weight, and is deformed into a shape along the bowl-shaped tool surface. When the glass is taken out after cooling, the glass has a predetermined surface shape.

In the method using heat molding, the lens thickness can be made thinner than 0.8 mm because no mechanical force is applied to the lens, but it is difficult to process the bowl-shaped tool surface as smoothly as glass. Therefore, fine irregularities are formed on the surface of the molded sealed lens. This fine unevenness is a problem in a spectacle lens. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens capable of reducing the thickness of a sealing lens that constitutes the prescription electrochromic spectacle lens as compared with the related art, and a lens thereof.

[0016]

Therefore, in the first aspect of the present invention, "the thickness of the element surface of an element lens provided with an electrochromic element including at least an electrochromic layer and a pair of transparent electrode layers sandwiching the electrochromic layer, Is 0.1 to 0.6 mm
In the manufacturing method of the electrochromic spectacle lens with a degree, which comprises a degree-free electrochromic lens having a sealing lens adhered thereto and a degree lens having a surface adhered to the sealing lens, an element lens provided with the electrochromic element After adhering a temporary sealing lens to the element surface of the above, the temporary sealing lens is polished to form a sealing lens having the above-mentioned thickness, and the prescription lens is provided on the surface of the sealing lens. To provide a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens having a degree (claim 1) ".

The second aspect of the present invention is that "the element surface of an element lens provided with an electrochromic element including at least an electrochromic layer and a pair of transparent electrode layers sandwiching the electrochromic layer has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.6 mm. In a method of manufacturing a degree-equipped electrochromic spectacle lens comprising a degree-free electrochromic lens having a sealing lens adhered thereto and a degree-equipped lens bonded to the surface of the sealing lens, an element lens provided with the electrochromic element After bonding the sealing lens produced by heat molding to the element surface,
A method for manufacturing a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens, characterized in that the prescription lens is adhered to the surface of the sealing lens.

The third aspect of the present invention is that "the element surface of an element lens provided with an electrochromic element including at least an electrochromic layer and a pair of transparent electrode layers sandwiching the electrochromic layer has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.6 mm. There is provided a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens (Claim 3) comprising a degree electrochromic lens having a sealing lens adhered thereto and a degree lens having a surface adhering to the sealing lens.

[0019]

In the case of the three-element EC spectacle lens with the element lens, the sealing lens, and the prescription lens according to the present invention, the sealing lens is sandwiched between the element lens and the prescription lens. No impact is applied directly to the sealed lens. Therefore, the thickness of the sealed lens can be made thinner (less than 0.8 mm) as compared with the case of the two-lens structure.

As a method of processing the sealing lens into a thin and spherical surface, there are a grinding and polishing method and a heat molding method as described above. In the grinding / polishing method, a mechanical force is applied to the lens during the polishing process. Therefore, when the lens thickness is made thinner than 0.8 mm, the lens is often broken. Therefore, in the sealed lens according to the first aspect of the present invention, after a temporary sealing lens is bonded to the element lens, the lens is polished to form a sealed lens having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.6 mm. Since the strength of the sealing lens adhered to the element lens is higher than that of the sealing lens alone, the lens is less likely to be broken during the polishing process.

In the method using heat molding, the lens thickness can be made thinner than 0.8 mm because no mechanical force is applied to the lens, but it is difficult to process the bowl-shaped tool surface as smoothly as glass. Therefore, fine irregularities are formed on the surface of the molded sealed lens. This fine unevenness is a problem in a spectacle lens. However, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since each surface of the sealing lens is bonded to the element lens and the prescription lens by an adhesive, fine unevenness on the surface of the sealing lens produced by heat molding is bonded. Filled with agent. Therefore, there is no problem even if it is used as a spectacle lens.

The sealed lens according to the present invention can be used not only for adhering a prescription lens to a sealed lens, but also for adhering a colored lens to a sealed lens for the purpose of changing the lens color. A transparent material such as an epoxy resin, a urethane resin, an acrylic resin, a vinyl acetate resin, or a modified polymer is preferable as the adhesive for the sealing lens and the element lens or the prescription lens, but the adhesive is not limited to these. Not something.

The laminated structure of the ECD according to the present invention is not particularly limited, but as a solid type ECD structure, for example, a four-layer structure such as an electrode layer / EC layer / ion conductive layer / electrode layer. , Electrode layer / reduction coloring type EC layer / ion conductive layer / reversible electrolytic oxidation layer / electrode layer. W is generally used for the reduction coloring type EC layer.
O ₃ , MoO ₃ or the like is used. For the ion conductive layer, for example, silicon oxide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, niobium oxide, zirconium oxide, hafnium oxide, lanthanum oxide, magnesium fluoride or the like is used.

The ionic conductive layer, which is an insulator for electrons, contains protons (H ⁺ ) and hydroxy ions (O ² ).
H ^-) becomes a good conductor for. A cation is required for the coloration / decoloration reaction of the EC layer, and H ⁺ and Li ⁺ must be contained in the EC layer and the like. H ⁺ does not have to be an ion from the beginning, and H ⁺ may be generated when a voltage is applied, and thus water may be contained instead of H ⁺ . This water is very small and sufficient, and even water that naturally infiltrates from the atmosphere often fades.

Either the EC layer or the ionic conductive layer may be on either side. Further, a reversible electrolytic oxidation layer or a catalyst layer may be arranged with an ion conductive layer sandwiched between the EC layer (which also serves as an oxidation coloring EC layer in some cases).
Examples of such a layer include iridium oxide or hydroxide, nickel, chromium, vanadium, ruthenium, rhodium and the like. These substances may be dispersed in the ion conductive layer or the transparent electrode layer, or conversely may be dispersed therein.

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0027]

EXAMPLE 1 FIG. 1 is an example of a prescription EC spectacle lens manufactured according to the first aspect of the present invention. That is, a glass element lens (thickness: 1 mm, coefficient of thermal expansion: 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ ) with ECD formed I
Then, a temporary glass sealing lens (thickness 0.8 mm, coefficient of thermal expansion 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ ) is bonded with an epoxy resin adhesive (not shown), and then the temporary sealing lens is polished. , A 0.4 mm thick sealed lens J, and then a prescription lens made of an acrylic resin (center thickness 0.8 mm, diopter −2.0
^{Is a prescription} EC spectacle lens B in which a thermal expansion coefficient of 5 × 10 ⁻⁵ ) L is adhered with the same adhesive.

In the EC spectacle lens B with this degree, the thickness of the sealing lens has been reduced from 0.8 mm of the conventional type to 0.4 mm.
The weight of g could be reduced. The lens B was subjected to a thermal cycle test (3 cycles of "left at -20 ° C for 1 hour ⇔ left at 80 ° C for 1 hour"), and no abnormality was found. The EC spectacle lens B with a degree of this embodiment is E
When EC sunglasses (see FIG. 2) framed in a spectacle frame A having a CD drive function were worn, a good appearance, a light control function, and a vision correction function were exhibited. Moreover, there was no discomfort even after wearing for a long time. Furthermore, no peeling of the adhesive or cracking of the lens occurred even after long-term use.

[0029]

Example 2 An ECD-formed glass element lens (thickness 1 mm, thermal expansion coefficient 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ ) was heat-molded to make a glass sealing lens (thickness 0.2 mm, thermal expansion coefficient). 1
^{X10 -5} ) is bonded with an epoxy resin adhesive, and then a prescription lens made of acrylic resin (center thickness 0.8 mm, frequency -2.0, coefficient of thermal expansion 5 x 10 ^-5 ) is used as the sealing lens. An EC spectacle lens with a degree of adhesion was produced by bonding with an adhesive.

This prescription EC spectacle lens was able to reduce the weight by about 4 g as compared with the case where the thickness of the sealing lens was 0.8 mm. A thermal cycle test (“−20 °
Left for 1 hour ⇔ left at 80 ° C for 1 hour 3 cycles)
As a result, no abnormality was found. When EC sunglasses in which the prescription EC spectacle lens of this example was framed in a spectacle frame A having an ECD drive function was worn, a good appearance, a light control function and a vision correction function were exhibited. Also,
There was no discomfort even after wearing for a long time. Furthermore, no peeling of the adhesive or cracking of the lens occurred even after long-term use.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first invention or the second invention, the thickness of the sealing lens forming the prescription EC eyeglass lens can be reduced as compared with the conventional one. As a result, the prescription EC spectacle lens (third invention of the present invention) in which the thickness of the sealing lens is thinner than the conventional one is lightweight, and does not cause any discomfort even when worn for a long time,
The appearance is good, and the problem of peeling of the adhesive and cracking of the lens does not occur even after long-term use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a prescription EC spectacle lens according to a first example.

FIG. 2 is EC sunglasses in which the prescription EC spectacle lens of Example 1 is framed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A ... Eyeglass frame B ... Prescription EC eyeglass lens C ... ECD coloring switch D ... ECD erasing switch I ... Element lens J ... Sealing lens K ... ECD L: Lens with a degree above

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An element lens provided with an electrochromic element comprising at least an electrochromic layer and a pair of transparent electrode layers sandwiching the electrochromic layer has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.1 mm on the element surface.
A method for producing a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens comprising a degree electrochromic lens having a 0.6 mm sealing lens adhered thereto and a degree lens having adhered to the surface of the sealing lens, wherein the electrochromic element is provided. After the temporary sealing lens is adhered to the element surface of the element lens, the temporary sealing lens is polished to form a sealing lens having the above-mentioned thickness, and then the surface of the sealing lens is subjected to the above-mentioned steps. A method for manufacturing a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens, which is characterized in that an attached lens is bonded. 2. The element surface of an element lens provided with an electrochromic element comprising at least an electrochromic layer and a pair of transparent electrode layers sandwiching the electrochromic layer has a thickness of 0.1 to
A method for producing a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens comprising a degree electrochromic lens having a 0.6 mm sealing lens adhered thereto and a degree lens having adhered to the surface of the sealing lens, wherein the electrochromic element is provided. A method for manufacturing a prescription electrochromic spectacle lens, comprising bonding the sealing lens produced by heat molding to the element surface of the element lens, and then bonding the prescription lens to the surface of the sealing lens. 3. The element surface of an element lens provided with an electrochromic element including at least an electrochromic layer and a pair of transparent electrode layers sandwiching the electrochromic layer has a thickness of 0.1 to
An electrochromic spectacle lens with a degree, which comprises a degree electrochromic lens to which a 0.6 mm sealing lens is adhered, and a degree lens to the surface of the sealing lens.