JPH07299826A - Manufacture of composite optical element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently manufacture a low-cost composite optical element even in the case of a multikind small quantity production. CONSTITUTION:An apparatus for manufacturing a composite optical element to form an energy cured resin layer on a base material 8 of the element comprises molding means 1, molds storage means 31 for storing a plurality of types of molds 12, molds transfer means 37 for holding the molds 12 stored by the means 31 and transferring them to the means 1, and base material containing means 63 for containing a plurality of the materials 8 of the plurality of types of the elements. Further, the apparatus also comprises base material transfer means 47 for holding the materials 8 contained in the means 63 and transferring it to the means 1, and control means for controlling the means 75, 37 and 1 in relation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing a composite optical element in which a glass or plastic substrate surface is coated with a resin to form an aspherical shape or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a manufacturing apparatus for a composite optical element, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 31736/1993. The structure of the apparatus is such that a pedestal, a plurality of die means arranged on the pedestal on the circumference at predetermined angular intervals, and a plurality of irradiation units arranged on the pedestal corresponding to each of the die means. Means, one or a plurality of robots for supplying resin to the plurality of mold means and for supplying and removing a base material (glass material), and a pallet capable of accommodating a plurality of pallets for accommodating a predetermined number of base materials. It is composed of a supply device and a control means.

According to the manufacturing apparatus having such a configuration, the base material accommodated in the pallet supplied by the pallet supply device is transferred by the robot to the plurality of mold means arranged on the pedestal for molding. . The work process is performed in parallel with respect to a plurality of mold means under the control of the control unit.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional manufacturing apparatus, a large amount of the same kind is manufactured in parallel by performing the same kind of base material in parallel by a plurality of mold means having the same kind of mold. In the case of production, it is effective in improving productivity,
In the case of various kinds of small-quantity production in which a plurality of types of base materials are mixed and molded, there is a problem that the number that can be mixed cannot be made larger than the number of mold means, and the manufacturing becomes expensive. .

Further, since the base material accommodated in the pallet is placed in a normal working environment, dust and the like are accumulated on the optical molding surface with the passage of time, resulting in deterioration of molding quality. There was a point.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and the invention according to claims 1 to 3 is a composite that can be manufactured efficiently at low cost even in the case of small-lot production of various kinds. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical element manufacturing apparatus.

In particular, in addition to the above objects, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a composite optical element capable of preventing deterioration of molding quality due to the influence of dust and the like.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is to provide a molding means in a composite optical element manufacturing apparatus for forming an energy-curable resin layer on a base material of an optical element. A mold storage means for storing a plurality of types of molds, a mold transfer means for holding the molds stored in the mold storage means and transferring the molds to the molding means, and a base for a plurality of types of optical elements. Base material storage means for storing a plurality of materials, base material transfer means for holding the base material stored in the base material storage means and transferring it to the molding means, the base material transfer means and the mold transfer The control means controls the means and the molding means in association with each other.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the die storage means is placed in a dust-free environment.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is the same as claim 1.
Alternatively, in the second invention, the base material storage means is placed in a dust-free environment.

[0011]

The invention according to claims 1 to 3 controls the position and number information of a plurality of types of base materials stored in the base material storage means and a plurality of types of molds stored in the mold storage means. Command, the mold of the manufacturing apparatus is replaced with a corresponding seed according to the base material transferred and molded by the base material transfer means, and the molding is performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the mold storage means is installed in a dust-free environment so that the stored mold can be stored without adhering foreign matter.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the base material storage means is installed in a dust-free environment so that the base material to be stored can be stored without adhering foreign matter.

[0014]

Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1 to 5 show a manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 1 is a plan view in which a part of the manufacturing apparatus is broken, and FIG. 2 is a side view in which a part of the manufacturing apparatus is broken. 3 is a side view in which a part of the mold attaching / detaching mechanism is cut away, FIG. 4 is a side view in which a part of the mold holding part is broken, and FIG. 5 is a part in which a base material holding part is broken. It is a side view.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a molding apparatus, which is a lower base 2
The column 3 is erected on the column 3, and the upper base 4 is placed on the upper end of the column 3. A sliding base drive mechanism 5 for moving the sliding base 9 up and down is installed on the upper base 4, and the connecting rod 6
Is connected to the sliding base 9 via. As the sliding base drive mechanism 5, it is preferable to use a drive table using a cylinder or a digitally controlled motor. A part of the sliding base 9 is slidably fitted to the column 3 and is vertically movable with the column 3 as a guide. A column 10 is erected on the lower surface of the sliding base 9, a mold base 11 is mounted under vertical free pressure, and is connected to the sliding base 9 by a pressure mechanism 13. The pressurizing mechanism 13 may use a cylinder or a spring whose pressure can be controlled. As the spring, for example, a coil spring or a disc spring can be used.

On the other hand, on the lower surface of the mold base 11, a mold 12 is held by a mold attaching / detaching mechanism 7. The cylindrical holding table 15 is rotatably held by the lower base 2 coaxially with the mold 12, and is mounted on the lower surface of the lower base 2 by a motor 16
It can be rotated via the belt 17. A UV irradiation device 18 is installed below the holding table 15 in a frame body 19 vertically extending from the lower surface of the lower base 2.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a centering three-point claw chuck fixed to the lower base 2. The claw 20a of the chuck 20 is provided in the vicinity of the base material receiving surface 15a at the upper end of the holding table 15.
A motor 21 installed below the lower base 2 is configured to be opened and closed via a belt 22. A resin supply device 14 is arranged in parallel on the back side of the molding device 1.

FIG. 3 is a view showing details of the detaching mechanism 7. The details of the attachment / detachment mechanism will be described below. A motor base 27 is fixed to the lower surface of the mold base 11, and a motor 28 is fixed to the lower upper surface of the motor base 27. A belt 30 is stretched around the motor 28 and the scroll surface 29 of the scroll chuck 23 so that the motor 28 can rotate the scroll surface 29. Scroll chuck 23 having a plurality of claws 24
Is fixed to the lower surface of the mold base 11. Here, the number of the claws 24 is preferably three or more. The claw 24 can be moved in the radial direction by the rotation of the scroll surface 29. Further, the scroll chuck 23 is fixedly provided with a die contact member 25 whose contact surface 26 is accurately finished to be a surface perpendicular to the axis of the scroll chuck 23.

Reference numeral 31 in FIG. 2 is a mold storage means, which is composed of a mold storage part 32 for storing a plurality of types of molds 12 and a clean booth 33 for creating a dust-free environment. The mold storage means 31 will be described below. The mold storage unit 32 is fixed to an upper portion of a leg 35 suspended from a pedestal 34, and a plurality of attachment / detachment mechanisms 36 for the die 12 are juxtaposed on the lower surface (four attachment / detachment mechanisms in FIG. 2). Are shown, but the number is not limited thereto). The structure of the attachment / detachment mechanism 36 is exactly the same as that of the attachment / detachment mechanism 7 of the molding apparatus 1, and therefore its description is omitted.

The mold storage unit 32 and the mold transfer unit 37 described later.
Is installed in a clean booth 33 including an outer wall 38 and a clean air generator 39, and is separated from the external environment. At the connection between the clean booth 33 and the molding apparatus 1, there is a window 41 through which the mold transfer arm 40 of the mold transfer unit 37 holding the mold 12 can pass, and the cylinder 4
2 by the shutter 43 driven by
Can be opened and closed.

Reference numeral 37 is a die transfer section. A plurality of linear shafts 44 and linear bushes 4 fixed to the frame 34
A base 47 is installed so as to be vertically movable by the cylinder 5 and the cylinder 46. A rail 48 is provided on the upper surface of the base 47.
Is fixed in the carrying direction, and a carrying arm 40 having a die holding part 50 at its tip is fixed above the table 49 that slides on the rail 48. A nut 51 is fixedly provided on the side surface of the transfer arm 40, and is connected to a position controllable motor 54 installed on the base 47 by a ball screw 52 and a coupling 53. The position controllable motor 54 is, for example, an AC servo motor or a DC
Servo motors and stepping motors can be used.

FIG. 4 shows a mold holding unit 50 installed at the tip of the transfer arm 40. A die mounting member 58 having an inner die portion 56 larger than the outer diameter 55 of the side surface portion of the die 12 and an abutting portion 57 for placing the die 12 is provided with a step formed on the tip of the transfer arm 40. It is held in the hole 59 so as to be vertically movable. A retaining ring 61 is fixed to the insertion opening 60 of the stepped hole 59 to prevent the die mounting member 58 from falling off. A spring 62 is inserted between the die mounting member 58 and the stepped hole 59, so that the die mounting member 58 is always pushed upward.

Reference numeral 63 in FIG. 2 is a base material storage means, which comprises a base material stocker 64 capable of storing a plurality of base materials 8 of a plurality of types and a clean booth 65 for creating a dust-free environment. The base material storage means 63 will be described below. The base material stocker 64 includes a pallet 66 for arranging the base materials 8 and a magazine 67 for moving a plurality of the pallets 66 side by side. In the pallet 66, stepped holes having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the base material 8 are formed at regular intervals, and the pallet 66 can be stored with the molding surface of the base material 8 facing upward. The linear bush 6 is provided on the lower surface of the magazine 67.
8 and a ball screw (not shown) nut 69 are fixedly mounted, and can be freely moved by a ball screw 72 along a shaft 71 fixedly mounted on the upper surface of the gantry 70. The tip of the ball screw 72 is connected to a motor 74 whose position can be controlled via a coupling 73. As the position controllable motor 74, for example, an AC servo motor, a DC servo motor, or a stepping motor can be used.

The substrate stocker 64 and a substrate transfer section 75 described later are installed in a clean booth 78 consisting of an outer wall 76 and a clean air generator 77, and are separated from the external environment. At the connecting portion between the clean booth 78 and the molding apparatus 1, there is a window 80 through which the substrate transfer arm 79 of the substrate transfer means holding the substrate 8 can pass, and the cylinder 8
The window 80 by the shutter 82 driven by 1.
Can be opened and closed.

Reference numeral 75 is a base material transfer section. The base material transfer unit 75 fixed to the upper part of the gantry 70 has a rail 84 fixed to the upper surface of the base 83 in the transfer direction, and a transfer arm above the table 85 that slides freely on the rail 84. 79
An up-and-down moving stage 86 for driving the up and down direction is installed. A nut 87 is fixedly mounted on the side surface of the vertical movement stage 86, and is connected by a ball screw 88 and a coupling 89 to a position controllable motor 90 installed on a base 83. As the position controllable motor 90,
For example, an AC servo motor, a DC servo motor, or a stepping motor can be used.

The vertical movement stage 86 holds the base material transfer arm 79 vertically movable by the guide 91 and the cylinder 92. A base material holding portion 93 as shown in FIG. 5 is installed at the tip of the base material transfer arm 79. A suction pad 94 is formed at the tip of the base material holding portion 93, comes into contact with the entire outer circumference 95 of the optically effective surface of the base material 8, and sucks and holds the base material 8 by a suction device (not shown). As described above, the operations of the molding apparatus 1, the mold storage unit 32, the mold transfer unit 37, the base material stocker 64, and the base material transfer unit 75 are all controlled by the control unit 96.

(Operation) The steps for replacing the mold 12 and molding another base material 8 will be described below. In order to remove the mold 12 that has completed the molding from the molding apparatus 1, the control unit 96 controls the motor 74 to move the transfer arm 40 forward below the mold 12 via the ball screw 72 and the nut 69. After advancing, the entire mold transfer unit 37 is lifted by the cylinder 46, so that the mold holding unit 5
The 0 contact portion 57 is brought into contact with the die 12. Next, the scroll chuck 23 is opened by rotating the motor 28 of the attachment / detachment mechanism 7, and the die 12 is opened. After that, the mold transfer unit 37 is lowered and retracted to the attachment / detachment mechanism 36a of the mold storage unit 32 where the mold 12 is stored. After retreating, the arm 40 is raised and transferred to the detaching / attaching mechanism 36a of the die accommodating portion 32 to accommodate the die 12.

Next, the transfer arm 40 receives a command from the controller 96, and the mold 12 corresponding to the next product to be molded is formed.
a below, and the mold 1
2a is received from the mold accommodating section 32 and is transferred to below the mold attaching / detaching mechanism 7 of the molding apparatus 1.

Then, the die 46 is transferred by the cylinder 46.
By raising the entire die 7, the die 12a held by the die holding part 50 is brought into contact with the contact surface 26 of the detaching mechanism 7. At this time, it is desirable that the spring 62 built in the mold holding unit 50 be compressed and the mold 12a be surely pressed against the contact surface 26. After that, the motor 28 is rotated to close the scroll chuck 23, hold the die 12a, and the transfer arm 40 descends and retreats to complete the die exchange.

After the mold replacement or in parallel with the mold replacement,
The base material 8a to be molded next time is transferred to the holding table 15 of the molding apparatus 1 according to a command from the control unit 96. Next, the procedure will be described. The control unit 96 always manages the number and storage positions of the several types of base materials 8 stored in the pallet 66. Then, by rotating the motor 74 under the control of the control unit 96, the column in which the base material 8a to be formed next is aligned, the magazine 67 is moved and aligned with the transfer direction 97.

Next, the substrate transfer arm 7 of the substrate transfer section 75.
After 9 moves to the position of the base material 8a, the arm 79 is lowered to suck the base material 8a under vacuum. The sucked substrate 8a
Is transferred to the holding table 15 by the arm 79 to stop suction, and the base material 8 a is transferred to the holding table 15. When the arm 79 moves to the molding apparatus 1, the shutter 82 installed between the clean booth 65 and the molding apparatus 1 causes the cylinder 8 to move.
Opened by 1.

A UV curable resin 98 is applied to the molding surface of the base material 8 supplied to the holding table 15 by the resin supply device 14. Next, the chuck 20 driven by the motor 21 clamps the outer diameter of the base material 8 to perform centering. After that, the base drive mechanism 5 is operated to lower the mold 12 to spread the resin 98 on the molding surface of the base material 8. Then UV
UV light is irradiated from the lower side of the base material 8 by the irradiation device 18,
The spread resin 98 is cured. Resin 98 for curing
The mold 12 is lowered by the base drive mechanism 5 so that the mold 12 follows the curing shrinkage of.

When the mold 12 is released, the slide base driving mechanism 5 raises the mold 12 and the base 8 is provided with a slight gap between the base 8 and the base 8. By abutting against 99, cantilever stress is exerted on the mold 12 and the resin 98, and the base material 8 is released. The released base material 8 is stored again in the base material stocker 64 by the arm 79 in a process reverse to the supply process.

Next, the control flow of the control unit 96 will be described with reference to FIG. Before the next molding process, the control unit 9
At 6, it is determined whether or not the same type of molded product as the previous one is to be molded (step 100). This determination is made in advance based on the production plan and is determined from the information input to the control unit 96. When molding the same type next time,
Although the process proceeds to step 103, if a different type of molding is to be performed next time, after changing the type of the base material (step 101), the process proceeds to step 103, and the mold replacement process (step 102) is executed. After that, the process proceeds to step 104. In step 102, the previous mold 12 is removed from the molding apparatus 1 and stored in the mold accommodating section 32 by the procedure described above, and the next mold 12 is attached to the molding apparatus 1. In step 103, the transfer arm 79 is moved to the base material stocker 64 to a position where the base material 8 to be molded next time is stored, and the base material 8 is supplied to the molding apparatus 1. Next, in step 104, a series of molding processes are executed, and the molded product is stored again in the base stocker 64 (step 105). After that, the control unit 96 confirms the number of moldings of various molded products, the number of various base materials stored in the base material stocker 64, and the storage position, and rewrites necessary data. If continuous molding is to be continued (step 107), the process returns to the start again.

(Effect) According to the present embodiment, it is possible to replace a plurality of types of molds 12 and continuously form a plurality of types of base materials 8 with one molding apparatus 1, and to mold a large amount of various kinds. Goods can be produced efficiently. Further, since the mold storage means 31 and the base material storage means 63 are placed in a dust-free environment, it is possible to prevent deterioration of quality due to dust or the like. In this embodiment, the UV coating resin 98 is used as the resin applied to the base material 8. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a thermosetting resin is used to cure the resin by a heating device. It may be configured. It is also possible to use an EB curable resin to cure it with alpha rays, gamma rays, X rays, electromagnetic rays or the like.

[0036]

Second Embodiment (Structure) This embodiment has the same structure as that of the first embodiment except that the clean air generators 39 and 77 have an air conditioning function for keeping the environmental temperature inside the clean booths 33 and 78 constant. Therefore, illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

(Operation) Since the clean booth 33, 78 has a motor or the like as a heat source, the temperature inside the clean booth 33, 78 gradually rises, and the temperature difference between the environment in which the molding apparatus 1 is installed and the temperature difference is set. Will occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, a clean air generator 39 having an air conditioning function,
Clean air whose temperature is controlled by 77 so that the temperature inside the clean booth 33, 78 is always constant is supplied.
The temperature inside the clean booth 33, 78 is preferably controlled to be the same as the environmental temperature in which the molding apparatus 1 is installed. As a result, the base material 8 and the mold 12 are always stored at the same temperature as when molding.

(Effect) Since the temperature of the clean booth 33, 78 is the same as the ambient temperature of the molding apparatus 1, the temperature change of the mold 12 and the base material 8 after the replacement of the mold and the supply of the base material is small, and the temperature change is small. The change in shape due to the thermal expansion of the optical surface due to is small, and it is possible to perform molding with higher precision than in the first embodiment.

In the present invention, the die transfer means is
By comprising a holding means for holding a portion other than the molding surface of the mold and a driving means, it is possible to transfer the mold from the mold storage means to the molding device without touching the molding surface of the mold. It is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the mold, and to reduce molding defects such as mixing of resin layer bubbles and irregularities on the molding surface, which are caused by foreign matter.

Further, if the base material transferring means is constituted by the holding means for holding the part other than the molding surface of the base material and the driving means,
The base material can be transferred from the base material storage means to the molding device without touching the base material's molding surface, preventing foreign matter from adhering to the base material, and mixing or molding of resin layer bubbles that cause foreign matter. Molding defects such as surface irregularities can be reduced.

Further, the molding means is one mold means,
If it comprises a resin material supplying means for supplying a resin material thereto, an energy ray irradiating means, and a detaching means for holding the die, the die and the substrate transferred by the transfer means are held, By molding after supplying the material, and then irradiating with energy rays to cure the resin, it is possible to mold a plurality of types of molded products by the molding means of one mold means, and the manufacturing apparatus is inexpensive. You can do things.

[0042]

As described above, according to the apparatus for producing a composite optical element of claims 1 to 3, it is possible to continuously form a molded article using a plurality of types of base materials, and to produce a large variety of small quantities. Even in this case, the molding can be efficiently performed. In particular, according to the manufacturing apparatus of claim 2 or 3, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the mold or the base material, and to prevent molding defects such as mixing of resin layer wrinkles caused by the foreign matter or unevenness of the molding surface. Can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view in which a part of the manufacturing apparatus is cut away.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing a mold attaching / detaching mechanism portion in the manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing a mold holding unit in the manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view showing a base material holding portion in the manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing control of the control unit according to the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Molding apparatus 7 Desorption mechanism 8 Base material 12 Mold 13 Pressure mechanism 14 Resin supply device 18 UV irradiation device 31 Mold storage means 32 Mold storage section 33 Clean boot 36 Desorption mechanism 37 Mold transfer section 39 Clean air generator 40 Mold Transfer Arm 50 Mold Holding Unit 63 Base Material Storage Unit 64 Base Material Stocker 65 Clean Boo 75 Base Material Transfer Unit 77 Clean Air Generator 78 Clean Boo 79 Base Material Transfer Arm 93 Base Material Holding Unit 96 Control Unit 98 UV Curable resin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A composite optical element manufacturing apparatus for forming an energy-curable resin layer on a substrate of an optical element, a molding means, a mold storage means for storing a plurality of types of molds, and the mold storage means. A mold transfer means for holding the mold stored in the mold and transferring it to the molding means, a base material storage means for storing a plurality of base materials of plural kinds of optical elements, and a base material storage means And a control means for controlling the base material transfer means, the mold transfer means, and the molding means in association with each other. Characteristic composite optical element manufacturing equipment. 2. The apparatus for manufacturing a composite optical element according to claim 1, wherein the mold storage means is installed in a dust-free environment. 3. The composite optical element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base material storage means is installed in a dust-free environment.