JPS61266322A - Production of optical element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the titled optical element having a convex lens with a simplified device inexpensively and easily by putting one surface of a planar optical element material on a specified planar forming die, compressing the opposite surface of the element material and extruding a part of the material into the shaping hole of the forming die. CONSTITUTION:A planar optical element material 6 made of glass or a polymeric material is placed on a forming die 2 made of a material having higher m.p. than the material 6 and having >=1 shaping hole 1, one surface of the material 6 is put on one surface of the forming die 2, a heater 5 is energized to heat and soften the material 6, then a pressing piston 3 is moved toward the forming die 2 to compress the material 6 which is pressed on the forming die 2, a part of the material is extruded into the shaping hole 1 and a spherical convex lens 7 is formed by surface tension. The material is then cooled and a planar optical element 8 having the convex lens 7 is obtained.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Good friends and good friends! The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optical element, and particularly to a method of manufacturing a flat optical element having at least one convex lens.

′ Support and its problems Traditionally, in the manufacturing method of this type of optical element, the end face of a fiber-like optical material is processed into a convex shape, and it is hardened with resin on a flat plate, or the surface of the flat optical material is processed into a convex shape. A convex lens was formed by etching. However, this method has the disadvantage that the process is complicated and the cost is therefore high.

Furthermore, in the molding method for optical elements that has been put into practical use in recent years, although the molding process is simple, extremely difficult techniques are required to create a mold for this type of optical element.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing the above-mentioned flat optical element extremely simply and at low cost.

According to the present invention, one side of the flat optical element material is made of a material having a higher melting point than the optical element material,
The optical element material is placed in a flat mold having at least one molding hole, the optical element material is heated and softened, and pressure is applied to the opposite side of the optical element material to transfer some of the material into the flat mold. The above object is achieved by an optical element manufacturing method characterized by forming a convex lens on an optical element material by extruding it into a molding hole.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

With reference to Figure $1, a molding device implementing the method according to the invention, shown here by way of example, has at least one molding hole l and has a melting point higher than the melting point of the optical material to be molded. It includes a plate-shaped mold 2 made of a material, and a pressure piston 3 is arranged opposite to one side of the mold 2. The rod portion 4 of this piston 3 is connected to a pressurizing device (not shown), and the piston 3 is moved into the mold 2.
It is now possible to suppress the situation. A heater 5 is arranged around the mold 2.

During the molding operation, a flat optical material 6 made of glass or polymer material is placed on a mold z, and one side of the material is brought into contact with one side of the mold.

Next, the heater 5 is energized to heat and soften the optical material 6. Once it has softened, mold the pressurizing piston 3! ! ! 2
, pressure is applied to the optical material 6, and it is pressed against the mold 2. the result.

A part of the optical material 6 is extruded into the molding hole 1 of the mold 2, and the extruded optical element material becomes a spherical convex lens due to its surface tension. When this molded optical material is cooled, a flat optical element 8 having at least one convex lens 7 on one side can be obtained as shown in FIG.

In order to better understand the present invention, examples will be described in more detail.

As an optical material, 5F14, which is a type of high refractive index glass, was formed into a 16×1 6×2 flat plate. This was molded using a mold having four molding holes of φ2. The distance between holes was 4 mm. The same molded lenses were obtained for all molding holes. Moreover, the shape of the lens was spherical except for the peripheral edge of the lens, and it was sufficiently usable as an optical element.The data of the molded lens are shown in the following table.

From this table, 1. The optical element obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention can be used satisfactorily.

The radius of curvature of the molded convex lens is determined by the molding temperature and molding pressure by 3.
It can be seen that it can be controlled by iItM.

The above example is just a basic method of forming a convex lens using the surface tension of a softened optical material using a molding hole.
As an application example, the following is also possible. Make the cross-sectional shape of the molding hole other than circular. For example, by setting the diameter to an ellipse, the lens formed thereby becomes a so-called toric lens. Alternatively, an approximate cylindrical lens can be obtained by using a rectangular molding hole. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of other lens shapes can be obtained.

As described above, in the method of the present invention, a lens is formed by extruding an optical material into a molding hole, so it is possible to manufacture an optical element extremely easily. This method is particularly suitable for optical elements having a large number of convex lenses on a flat plate, e.g.
It is effective in manufacturing lens arrays used in copying machines, etc.
It can be expected to simplify the process, simplify the manufacturing equipment, and significantly reduce costs.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an optical element manufacturing apparatus that implements the method of the present invention. Figure t52 is a perspective view of the optical element molded by the apparatus of Figure 1. In the drawing, 1. Molding hole, 2. Molding mold, 3.
・Fist piston, 5... Heater, 6... Optical material, 7
...Convex lens, 8...Optical element agent Patent attorney Seki Yamashita, student 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] One side of a flat optical element material is placed in a flat mold that is made of a material having a higher melting point than the optical element material and has at least one molding hole, and the optical element material is heated and softened. . A method for manufacturing an optical element, comprising: applying pressure to the opposite surface of the optical element material to push out a part of the material into a molding hole of the flat mold to form a convex lens on the optical element material.