JPS63260830A - Device for producing glass lens - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the titled device, having oppositely arranged metallic mold mounts with respectively detachably mounted plural press forming molds approachably and separably in the direction of pressing and holding rotatably the respective metallic mold mounts and capable of improving operation efficiency and press forming glass lenses of high accuracy. CONSTITUTION:A cylindrical glass 25 softened by heating in a heating furnace 30 is conveyed into a gap between a top force 12 and bottom force 21. The bottom force 21, together with a bottom force mount 16, is raised simultaneously with the conveying to push up the softened glass 25 by the forming surface of the bottom force 21 and press form the softened glass 25 on the forming surfaces of the top force 12 and bottom force 21. After completing the pressing, the bottom force 21 is lowered to convey the formed glass 28 into the furnace 30. The formed glass is then annealed to take out a glass lens which is a formed product. In the case of press forming a biconvex lens, the top force mount 10 and bottom force mount 16 are rotated to respectively move a top force (12d) and bottom force (21d) capable of forming a desired biconvex lens to press positions. Mold exchange is then carried out to press form the glass 25 according to the above-mentioned process procedure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus for glass lenses used in optical equipment, and particularly to a manufacturing apparatus suitable for producing a wide variety of lenses in small quantities.

[Prior Art] Generally, there are many types of optical glass lenses, and there is a strong desire to efficiently produce a wide variety of lenses. Therefore, a molding machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 104216/1983 has been disclosed as a manufacturing apparatus based on such a request. This molding machine has a lower mold, a means for supplying a molten glass gob to the lower mold, a press molding means, a molded product cooling means, and a molded product ejecting means at equal intervals on the same circumference on an indexing plate that is driven once. The mold arranging means necessary for one cycle of glass lens molding, such as
All the cycle means are arranged in sequence, and the indexing plate is indexed and rotated to press-form the glass lens.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above molding machine had the following problems.

That is, since the molds necessary for one molding cycle are sequentially arranged on the indexing plate, a large number of molds are required for molding one type of lens, and therefore it takes time to change the molds, and Each time a different lens is molded, it is necessary to replace all the means necessary for one molding cycle, resulting in the problem that one set-up takes a lot of time. Furthermore, since it is a direct press method, sink marks are likely to occur during press molding of lenses, which is problematic when molding high-precision glass lenses such as those used in optical equipment.

Therefore, the present invention has been made by focusing on the above-mentioned problems, and aims to improve work efficiency by significantly reducing mold change time and setup time when molding a wide variety of small quantities of glass lenses. The object of the present invention is to provide a glass lens manufacturing apparatus capable of press-molding a high-precision glass lens that can be used in optical equipment.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The present invention provides a plurality of mold fitting portions, and each of these mold fitting portions is provided with a press mold having various desired lens molding surfaces at the tip. The mold mounts, which are removably attached, are installed facing each other so that they can be approached and separated in the direction of pressing, and each of the mold mounts is rotatably held, and the press molding molds are exchanged by rotating the mold mounts. It is something.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the glass lens manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First example) 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a front sectional view of the main part of the present invention, and Figure 2 is Figure 1A.
-A sectional view.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a press-molding part for a glass lens, and this press-molding part 1 is equipped with a molding chamber 5 formed by a side plate 4 fixed to an upper base 2 and a lower base 3. A rotational drive source 7 such as a motor or an air cylinder is provided on the upper surface 2a of the upper base 2, and an upper die rotation shaft 8, which is rotationally driven by this rotational drive s7, is connected to the molding chamber through a hole 9 provided in the upper base 2. It is inserted in 5. An upper mold mount 10 is fixed to the lower mold rotating shaft 8 and is arranged in the molding chamber 5 so as to be rotatable by the rotation of the upper mold rotating shaft 8. The upper mold mount 10 is formed into a cylindrical shape made of ceramic, porcelain, heat-resistant alloy, etc., and upper mold fitting portions 11 are provided on the same circle at regular intervals on the lower end surface 10a, as shown in FIG. There is. Upper molds 12 (12a to 12f) each having a molding surface with a tip formed therein are removably fitted into each of the fitting portions 11 so that a desired lens surface can be press-molded. Reference numeral 13 denotes a heater provided on the upper mold mount 10 for heating and maintaining the upper mold 12 at a predetermined temperature.

Further, below the upper mold mount IO, a lower mold mount 16 is fixed to the lower mold rotation shaft 15 having the same rotation axis 15a as the rotation axis 8a of the upper mold rotation wheel 8, and is connected to the upper mold mount 10. are placed facing each other. The lower die rotating shaft 15 is
The lower die mount 16 is rotationally driven by a rotary drive source 17 such as a motor or an air cylinder, and the lower die mount 16 is rotatably held. Vertical movement (rotary axis 1) inserted into
The lower mold mount 16 can move toward and away from the upper mold mount 10. Like the upper mold mount 10, the lower mold mount 16 is formed in a cylindrical shape from ceramic or a heat-resistant alloy, and has an upper end surface 16a (
The same number of lower mold fitting parts 20 are provided at positions facing the upper mold fitting parts 11 on the surface opposite to the lower surface 10a of the upper mold mount 10.
is provided. A lower mold 21 (21a to 21f, only 21a and 21d are shown) is removably attached to the lower mold fitting part 20, and has molding surfaces each having a tip formed therein so that a desired lens surface can be press-molded. fitted,
The upper mold 11 and the lower mold 21 are disposed facing each other, and the upper mold mount 10 and the lower mold mount 21 are connected to the rotation shaft 8, respectively.
15 in a plane perpendicular to the vertical movement direction of the press shaft 19. It is configured such that a lens of a desired shape can be press-molded by moving the lower die 21 and selecting the desired shape. Note that 22 is a heater provided on the lower mold mount 16 in order to heat the lower mold 21 to a predetermined temperature.

On the other hand, a molding chamber entrance 26 is provided on one side of the side plate 4 of the molding chamber 5 for transporting glass 25, which is a molding material, into the molding chamber 5. A conveying member 27 attached to the driving means conveys the softened glass between the upper mold 12 and the lower mold 21, so that the glass lens 28 after molding can be taken out. Further, a heating furnace 30 equipped with a coil heater 29 is installed adjacent to the molding chamber entrance 26, and in this heating furnace 30, the glass 25 is heated and softened to a predetermined temperature, and the glass 25 is heated and softened after press molding. The lens 28 can be slowly cooled.

Next, a process of molding a glass lens using the glass lens manufacturing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

First, the cylindrical glass 25 is placed on the mounting section 27 of the conveying member 27.
a, transported into the heating furnace 30, and heated and softened to a predetermined temperature. After being heated and softened, the softened glass 25 is transferred to the upper mold 12 by the conveying member 27. It is transported to the press position B (see FIG. 2) between the lower molds 21. Along with this conveyance, the press shaft 1
9 is driven upward, the lower die mount 16 rises, and the lower die 21
While rising, the lower die 21 presses the softened glass 25 on the press molding surface.
is pushed up, and the softened glass 25 is press-molded for a predetermined time by the molding surfaces of the upper mold 12 and the lower mold 21.

After pressing is completed, the press shaft 19 is driven downward to release the lower die 21.
is lowered, and the press-molded glass 28 is again placed on the placing portion 27a of the conveying member 27. And the conveying member 27
The glass 28 is conveyed into the heating furnace 30 for slow cooling, and then the glass lens as a molded product is taken out from the heating furnace 30. In this process, the upper mold mount 10 and the lower mold mount 16 are heated. Heater 13°22
The temperature is maintained constant at the temperature required for press molding. In the above press forming, Figures 1 and 2 show the upper mold 1.
2a and a lower die 21d for press-molding a plano-convex lens.

Next, when press molding a biconvex lens, one rotation drive source 7
. The lower die 21, that is, the upper die 12d and the lower die 21d in the figure, are respectively placed in the above press position! The upper mold 12 is moved to the position tB and the mold is exchanged.
d. Using the lower die 21d, the glass 25 can be press-molded according to the process steps described above to form a desired biconcave lens. In addition, due to the mold exchange, the upper mold mount 10
．． The heating temperature of the 16° heating furnace 30 (lower mold mount) and the press load during press molding are set to predetermined temperatures and loads each time depending on the material and size of the molding material.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, when press-molding a wide variety of glass lenses, the upper and lower molds can be exchanged only by rotating the upper and lower mold mounts by operating the rotational drive source. This allows the mold replacement time to be significantly shortened and work efficiency to be improved. Furthermore, set the upper and lower molds that match the desired lens shape into the fitting parts of the upper and lower mold mounts, respectively, and mount the upper mold.

A wide variety of glass lenses can be obtained by selecting and combining the upper and lower molds while rotating the lower mold mount and press-molding them.

(Second Embodiment) Figs. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 3 is a front sectional view of the main part of the device of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a right sectional view of the same. . In the following description, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are given the same numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the molding chamber 5 of the molding section 1, an upper mold mount 40 is rotatably held at the upper part as in the first embodiment, and
A lower mold mount 41 is rotatably held below the upper mold mount 40 and is held by a press shaft 19 so as to be able to approach and move away from the upper mold mount 40 . The upper mold mount 40 is formed in a columnar shape as in the first embodiment, and has a plurality of upper mold fitting parts 43 provided at regular intervals on its circumferential side 40a, and is provided on the outside of the side plate 4. It is fixed to a lower die rotation shaft 44 which is rotationally driven by a rotational drive source 7 and has a rotation axis 44a perpendicular to the pressing direction. This fitting part 43 has an upper mold 4 having a molding surface with each tip formed so that a desired lens surface can be press-molded.
5 (45a to 45f) are removably fitted.

The lower mold mount 41 is formed in a cylindrical shape like the upper mold mount 40, and lower mold fitting parts 46 are provided at regular intervals on the peripheral side 41a, and a lower mold fitting part 46 is provided at the tip of each of the lower mold fitting parts 46. A lower mold 47 (47a to 47f) having a molding surface is removably fitted. Further, the lower mold mount) 41 has a lower mold rotation shaft 48 having a rotation axis 48a perpendicular to the press direction.
is fixed to. This rotating shaft 4B is rotatably supported by a U-shaped bearing arm 49 with an open top, and is rotationally driven by a rotational drive source 17 provided on the bearing arm 49. The bearing arm 49 is attached to the tip of a press shaft 19 that can be moved up and down by a drive means (not shown) inserted into the molding chamber 5 from the outside through a hole 18 provided in the lower base 3.

The upper die 45 and the lower die 47 are rotated in the same plane as the pressing direction by the rotation of the upper die mount 40 and the lower die mount 41, and at the press position, the upper die 45 and the lower die 47, in other words, in the figure, The upper mold 45a and the lower mold 47a are arranged facing each other.

In such a configuration, when press-molding a glass lens, first, an upper mold 45 is used to mold the desired lens.
The lower mold 47 is rotated around the rotation shaft 44 by the operation of the rotation drive sources 7 and 17.
．． Both mold mounts 40, 41 are rotated via 48 and moved to the press position. Then, the same pressing process procedure as in the first embodiment is performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the same functions and effects as those of the first embodiment can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a main part of the glass lens manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a line taken along line A-A in FIG. 1. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of a main part of the glass lens manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a right side sectional view of the same. It is. 7...Rotation drive source 8.44...Upper die rotation shaft 10.40...Upper die mount 11.43...Upper die fitting part 12.45...Upper die 15.48...・Lower die rotation shaft 16.41...Lower die mount 17...Rotary drive source 19...Press shaft 20.46...Lower die fitting part 21.47...Lower die patent applicant Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd., 4? Third
Figure 4

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) The direction in which a mold mount is pressed, which is formed by providing a plurality of mold fitting parts and removably attaching press molds each having a desired lens molding surface at the tip to these mold fitting parts. A glass lens manufacturing apparatus characterized in that each of the mold mounts is rotatably held while facing each other so as to be able to approach and separate from each other. (2) The glass lens manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mold mounts are each held rotatably in a plane perpendicular to the pressing direction. (3) The glass lens manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mold mounts are each held rotatably in the same plane as the pressing direction.