KR100975298B1 - Molding method and molding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] The carrying-in time of the molding material to a plurality of acquisition shaping | molding dies is shortened.

[Solution] The single robot 32 is replaced with the second hand 26 and the molding materials 9 are transferred from the tray 23 in the tray stage 16 to the supply stage 17 one by one. After the first step of transferring and arranging and arranging them in an arrangement of the forming sections 19a, the positioning process of exchanging them with the third hand 27 to transfer them to the forming die 19 at once, positioning them, and press molding. The third process of exchanging the lens molded article from the mold die 19 to the recovery stage 18 at once by replacing it with the fourth hand 28, and then replacing it with the second hand 26 to recover the stage 18. ) Is carried out in the order of the fourth step of transferring the lens molded article 34 one by one to the empty space of the tray 23 in the tray stage 16. The first process and the fourth process are performed in parallel during press molding.

Forming method, forming device

Description

Forming method and apparatus {MOLDING METHOD AND MOLDING APPARATUS}

This invention relates to the shaping | molding method and apparatus which transfer a shaping | molding raw material to a some shaping | molding part provided in the shaping | molding die for several acquisitions, and performs a some shaping | molding simultaneously.

Background Art In recent years, it is possible to manufacture optical lenses and the like by molding due to the high precision of molding technology, and plastic lenses have been produced by injection molding in which a molten plastic material is injected into a mold and molded. Moreover, in a glass lens, it is often produced by the glass mold which arrange | positions the glass lump called a preform in a mold, pressurizes with a mold, and shape | molds in the state which heat-softened. In the manufacture of the lens by such molding, the process is simplified compared with the conventional grinding and polishing method, and also in the case of aspherical lens or the like, when the mold is produced in a desired shape, it is also possible to manufacture a lens having a desired shape. have.

In recent years, the preform which produced the glass material which has various optical characteristics in various shapes and sizes as the raw material for glass molds is supplied. A precision glass mold technique has been developed in which the preform is transferred to a mold, heated to soften, pressed to produce a glass lens that requires no polishing. This technique first requires preform molding. As the preform, a precision gob or an abrasive lens preform (hereinafter referred to as "molding material") is used.

The precision high part is made into the form whose surface is close to the mirror surface state, and the size is also close to the target lens, and especially the thing of a substantially spherical shape is used a lot. As a substantially spherical preform molding, a method of dropping molten glass in a liquid and producing it, or a method of blowing out nitrogen gas from the bottom of a lot, dropping it in the air and cooling and solidifying it while floating in the air, is known. The abrasive lens preform is produced in a nearly spherical shape by conventional heat forming, grinding and polishing. The lens molded article is obtained by heating and pressurizing with a molding apparatus by using the precision solid parts obtained by such preform molding and the abrasive lens preform.

In the molding apparatus, the entire system is automated to cope with mass production. For example, a molding apparatus is known in which a molding material is carried in a molding die, press molding is carried out, and then a continuous operation is automatically performed repeatedly until the finished lens molded article is taken out of the molding die (Patent Document 1). ). This apparatus is equipped with the robot which conveys a molding material one by one in order to perform automation.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-99344

By the way, shaping | molding in a shaping | molding apparatus becomes time-consuming work because four working hours of a heating time, a press time, a slow cooling time, and a cooling time are needed. On the other hand, the one-time transfer of the molding material to the molding die takes further time since the molding is in the standby state. Therefore, the shortening of the time which transfers a molding material to a shaping | molding die was expected.

This invention is made | formed in view of the above point, and an object of this invention is to provide the shaping | molding method and apparatus which can shorten the time which transfers a molding material to a shaping | molding die.

In the present invention, a plurality of acquisition molding dies are used in which a plurality of molding materials are each set to perform a plurality of moldings simultaneously. And since it takes time to transfer one molding material to each shaping part one by one, a supply stage is provided and it arranges and changes a molding material by arranging it in the arrangement of a shaping part. That is, the molding material is transferred from the tray in which the molding material is stored in the first array to the plurality of recesses formed in the supply stage in a second arrangement that is different from the first arrangement and is the same as the molding portion, thereby transferring the molding material to the molding portion. List and change to an array. After doing this, the molding material is transferred from the plurality of recesses to the plurality of molding sections at once with the arrangement maintained.

In addition, the molded article molded in the molding die is taken out from the plurality of molded sections and transferred to the plurality of recesses formed in the recovery stage in a second array at one time. Thereafter, all of the trays set in the tray stage are transferred from the recovery stage to the empty storage portions. In this case, the molded article is stored in the empty storage section of the tray that has stored the molding material, so that each tray for storing the molding material and the molded article can be used as one, and the space for placing each tray There is no need, and the device can be made compact.

In addition, if the work for transferring the molding material from the tray to the supply stage and the work for transferring the molded product from the recovery stage to the tray are performed in parallel during molding in the molding die, the preparation time, that is, the time other than the time related to molding, can be shortened. It is preferable because it can plan.

Moreover, after transferring a molding material to each molding part at once, you may make it work to position a molding material at once in the center position on the molding surface of the lower mold which comprises a molding die. In this case, the transfer operation for transferring the molding material to each molding part at once and the positioning operation may be performed with one robot. In the case of one robot, it is necessary to exchange the holding hand and the positioning hand for replacement. However, it takes longer to wait for the molding to change hands. Therefore, it is preferable to use one hand which integrally mounted the 1st head which hold | maintains a molding material, and the 2nd head for positioning molding material, in order to abbreviate | omit a hand replacement operation.

In addition, by changing the molding materials from the tray to the supply stage by arranging the molded materials and the molded parts in a hand holding only one molded article in the same arrangement as the molded part, changing the work and transferring the molded products from the recovery stage to the tray The robot hand may be used alternately once or multiple times. And these operations may also be performed in parallel during shaping | molding in a shaping | molding die.

According to the present invention, the molding materials are arranged in the same arrangement as the molding part, and changed, and after that, the molding materials are transferred to the molding die because the molding materials are transferred to a plurality of molding dies for acquisition at a time. It can shorten the working time. Further, in the invention in which the molding materials are arranged in the same arrangement as the molding part and changed, and the work for transferring the molded product from the recovery stage to the tray in parallel with the molding on the molding side can shorten the time other than molding. .

The lens molding apparatus 10 employing the present invention carries in a tray containing a large number of molding materials, transfers the molding materials from the tray to a mold for acquisition, and withdraws the lens molded product from the mold. A series of work until it is done by one robot.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lens shaping | molding apparatus 10 is provided with the optical material loading / lens molded product carrying area 11, the replacement hand arrangement area 12, and the lens shaping area 13. As shown in FIG. The optical material carrying-in and lens molded product carrying-out area 11 includes a material tray stacking stage 14, a molded product tray stacking stage 15, a tray stage 16, a supply stage 17, and a recovery stage 18. Equipped with. In the lens shaping area 13, a shaping die 19, a pressing mechanism 20, a heating mechanism 21, a cooling mechanism 22, and the like are provided. The shaping | molding die 19 is a metal mold | die for a plurality acquisition which provided the some shaping | molding part 19a in a predetermined arrangement | positioning, for example, another position on concentric circles. Each shaping | molding part 19a is comprised from the upper and lower molds, and the same type.

In the material tray stacking stage 14, a tray 23 containing a plurality of molding materials 9 is stacked. The tray 23 is provided with a plurality of housing portions for storing the molding material 9. In addition, the molding material 9 is, for example, a precision raised part or an abrasive lens preform, and the lens is stored in the tray 23 in order to remove a defective product or to perform a process such as cleaning to deal with dust or dirt in advance. It is carried in to the shaping | molding apparatus 10. The storage part 23a of this tray 23 is an arrangement different from the shaping | molding part 19a, for example, matrix-like arrangement.

The tray stage 16 is conveyed from the material tray stacking stage 14 in a state where two trays 23 are respectively positioned. In the supply stage 17, a plurality of recesses 17a are formed in accordance with the arrangement of the molding portions 19a. The molding material 9 is conveyed one by one from the tray 23 set on the tray stage 16 to each recessed part 17a. In the recovery stage 18, a plurality of recesses 18a are formed in accordance with the arrangement of the molding portions 19a. The plurality of lens molded products 34 drawn out from the molding die 19 are transferred to each recess 18a at one time.

The storage portion 23a of the tray 23 is shaped to accommodate the lens molded product 34 as well. Therefore, the lens molded product 34 is conveyed one by one from the collection stage 18 to an empty place among the storage portions of any tray 23 set on the tray stage 16. As a result, the molded material 9 is first accommodated and the molded material 9 is supplied to the supply stage 17 to accommodate the lens molded product 34 in the empty housing 23a. The tray 23 which has transferred the lens molded product 34 to all the storage portions 23a is transferred from the tray stage 16 to the molded product tray stacking stage 15 and stacked, and instead is molded from the material tray stacking stage 14. The tray 23 containing the material 9 is transferred to the tray stage 16.

The replacement hand arrangement area 12 is a place where a replacement hand is placed, and the first to fourth hands 25 to 28 are arranged in positions positioned at predetermined positions, respectively. The first hand 25 is provided with a head for holding the tray 23, and the tray 23 is placed between the material tray stacking stage 14 and the molded product tray stacking stage 15 and the tray stage 16. Used when transferring.

The second hand 26 is equipped with a holding means 26a, for example, a head having a suction pad, for holding the molded material 9 or the lens molded product 34 one by one. The second hand 26 is used to transfer the molding material 9 and the lens molded product 34 between the tray stage 16 and the supply stage 17 or the recovery stage 18.

The fourth hand 28 is provided with a head for holding the plurality of lens molded products 34 at one time. A plurality of holding means 28a, for example, suction pads, are attached to the head in the same arrangement as the molding portion 19a, and the entire lens molded product 34 is formed from the molding die 19 to the recovery stage 18. Used to withdraw at once.

Two heads of the first head 29 and the second head 30 are integrally provided in the third hand 27. The 1st head 29 is provided with the some holding means 29a which hold | maintains the molding material 9 in the same arrangement as the shaping | molding part 19a. As the holding means 29a, for example, a suction pad for vacuum suction or the like can be used. This first head 29 is used to transfer a plurality of molding materials 9 at a time from the supply stage 17 to the molding die 19. The plurality of positioning means 30a is provided in the 2nd head 30 in the same array as the shaping | molding part 19a. The second head 30 is used to position the plurality of molding materials 9 at once in the center position on the molding surface of the lower portion of the molding portion 19a. The positioning means 30a is, for example, a member having a positioning surface such as a conical taper surface or a spherical surface, and by lowering the robot arm, the positioning surface is lowered straight from above the lower mold forming surface and disposed on each forming surface. The raw material 9 is moved to the center position of the molding surface. In this way, the one hand is mounted on one hand other than the third hand 27, and the third hand 27 is integrally equipped with two heads to be used in another work and in a continuous work. have. Accordingly, the hand exchange operation can be omitted.

Engaging portions 33 for engaging the robot arms 36 are provided in the first to fourth hands 25 to 28, respectively. The robot 32 is a rectangular coordinate robot, for example, and the robot arm 36 is provided with a dropping part 37. The engaging portion 33 is detachably attached to the engaging portion 37. The robot arm 36 can access all areas of the optical material loading / lens molded product carrying area 11, the replacement hand arranging area 12, and the lens molding area 13. The robot 32 is collectively controlled by the control unit 24. The control unit 24 controls the molding operation of the molding die 19 to be synchronized with the robot 23.

The work performed in the lens shaping apparatus 10 is roughly divided into the thirteenth work from the first work, as shown in FIG. 2. The first operation transfers the tray 23 containing the molding material 9 from the material tray stacking stage 14 to the tray stage 16 by the robot 32 on which the first hand 25 is mounted. The second operation exchanges the robot 32 for the second hand 26. The third operation is an operation of transferring the molding materials 9 one by one from the tray stage 16 to the recessed portion 17a of the supply stage 17 and arranging and changing them in an arrangement of the molding portions 19a. It corresponds to a 1st process. The fourth job is exchanged with the third hand 27.

In the fifth operation, the plurality of molding materials 9 arranged similarly to the mold using the first head 29 are transferred at once from the supply stage 17 to the molding die 19 while maintaining the arrangement. This corresponds to the second step of the present invention. The 6th operation is an operation which positions each shaping | molding material 9 conveyed on the lower mold shaping surface using the 2nd head 30 to the center of a shaping | molding surface, and is corresponded to the positioning process of this invention. The seventh operation is press molding. This press molding has four working times of heating time, press time, slow cooling time, and cooling time, and cooling time includes mold opening time after reaching a predetermined mold opening temperature. The eighth operation is an operation for replacing with the fourth hand 28. 9th operation | movement is an operation | movement which transfers the lens molded object 34 from the shaping | molding die 19 to the collection | recovery stage 18 at once after press molding is completed, and is corresponded to the 3rd process of this invention.

The tenth job is exchanged with the second hand 26. The eleventh operation is the operation of transferring the lens molded article 34 one by one from the recovery stage 18 to the tray stage 16, and corresponds to the fourth step of the present invention. The twelfth operation is replaced with the first hand 25, and the last thirteenth operation transfers the tray 23 containing the lens molded product 34 from the tray stage 16 to the molded product tray stack stage 15 and integrates it. do.

By the way, when the operation demonstrated in FIG. 2 is performed in order, since there are many preparatory operations other than 7th operation (press molding), molding waiting time is taken. Therefore, in order to efficiently continuously form the lens molded product 34, as shown in FIG. 3, the two first and second heads 29. 30 used in the other work and in the continuous work may be replaced by the third hand ( 27) are integrally installed. The engaging part 33 of the 3rd head 27 is provided in the one end of the linear support part 31, and the 1st and 2nd heads 29.30 are provided in the other position of the other end, respectively.

As shown in Fig. 4, for example, while the fifth and sixth operations are performed in sequence between the times t1 and t2, these operations can be combined with one third hand 27, so hand exchange therebetween. The time can be shortened by omitting the work. In addition, since the 3rd and 11th operations can be similarly performed by the 2nd hand 26, these operations are simultaneously performed like the time t3, t4 shown in FIG. 4, and the 7th operation (press molding) and Performing in parallel is preferable because it can shorten the waiting time for molding. In this case, since the second hand 26 has only one holding means 26a, for example, one molding material 9 is supplied from the arbitrary storage portion 23a of the tray 23 to the supply stage 17. One lens molded product 34 may be transferred from the recovery stage 18 to the empty storage portion 23a of the tray 23 after transferring to the plurality of molding materials 9, and the plurality of molding materials 9 may be transferred from any storage portion 23a. After conveying in order, the lens molded article 34 of the same number may be sequentially transferred to the empty storage part 23a. In this way, the third work and the eleventh work are alternately and time-series shifted.

In addition, the tray 23 of this embodiment is equipped with the several or more accommodating parts 23a shape | molded by the shaping | molding die 19 at once. Therefore, the operations to carry out and carry out the tray 23, that is, the twelfth task, the thirteenth task, and the first task perform the third and seventh tasks a plurality of times, for example, at times t5 and t6 shown in FIG. It is done between. In addition, since the 12th operation, 13th operation, and 1st operation are also performed by the same 1st hand 25, it is preferable to carry out in parallel with a 7th operation (press molding).

In the above embodiment, the first and second heads 29 and 30 are mounted on the engagement portion 33 in a straight line and at different positions, respectively, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and as shown in FIG. Similarly, you may use the hand 40 which provided the 1st and 2nd heads 29 and 30 in the concentric different position. In this case, each of the first and second heads 29 and 30 may be supported at the distal ends of the two support portions 41 and 42 projecting in a V-shape with respect to the engaging portion 33.

In addition, in each said embodiment, although demonstrated as the rectangular coordinate robot 32, any well-known robot, such as a cylindrical coordinate robot, a polar coordinate robot, and a joint robot, can be used.

In addition, in each said embodiment, although demonstrated as a shaping | molding apparatus which obtains a glass molded article from a glass raw material, it is not limited to this in this invention, For example, the shaping | molding apparatus which obtains a resin molded article using a resin material may be sufficient, and also a molded article It may be other than the lens.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline of the lens shaping | molding apparatus which employ | adopted this invention.

2 is a flowchart showing a work procedure of the lens forming apparatus.

3 is a perspective view showing a third hand having integrally first and second heads having different working purposes.

4 is a timing chart showing the operation of each operation performed in the lens forming apparatus.

5 is a timing chart showing an operation when carrying out and carrying out a tray.

6 is a plan view showing another example of a hand in which two heads are concentrically arranged.

[Description of the code]

9: molding material 10: lens molding apparatus

16: tray stage 17: supply stage

18: recovery stage 19a: molding part

23: tray 23a: housing

32: robot 34: lens molded product

Claims (8)

delete In a molding method in which a plurality of moldings are formed at the same time by setting molding materials in a plurality of molding portions provided in a plurality of molding dies for acquisition: It is formed in the supply stage from the tray set to the tray stage in the state which accommodated the said molding material in the 1st arrangement | sequence which is an arrangement of a accommodating part, in the 2nd arrangement different from the said 1st arrangement, and the same as the arrangement of the said molding part. A first step of transferring the molding material to a plurality of recesses and arranging and changing the molding materials in the second array; A second step of transferring the molding material from the plurality of concave portions to the plurality of molding portions at once while maintaining the arrangement thereof; After the molding material is transferred to the plurality of molding portions, molding is simultaneously performed in the plurality of molding portions, A third step of taking out the molded products from the plurality of molding parts after molding in the molding step, and transferring them to the plurality of recesses formed in the recovery stage in the second array at once; A fourth step of transferring said molded article from said collection stage to an empty storage portion of said tray set in said tray stage; A molding method, wherein the work of the first and fourth steps is performed in parallel with the work of the molding step. The method of claim 2, And a positioning step of positioning the molding material at a time at a center position on the molding surface of the lower mold which is formed after the second step to constitute the molding die; A series of operations from the second process to the positioning process are automatically performed with one robot in which the hand is detachably mounted; The second process and the positioning process, A first step of mounting the hand by accessing the robot arm to a hand arrangement position; A second head which accesses the molding die at one time by accessing the first head installed on the hand to the tray stage to hold the molding material at one time by a holding part installed on the first head, and transferring the molding material onto the molding surface of the lower mold at a time; Steps, At the same time as the first head is evacuated and the second head provided at a position different from the first head of the hand is accessed to the forming surface, the positioning portion provided at the second head is lowered toward the forming surface. And a third step of positioning a molding material at a center position on the molding surface at once. delete In a molding apparatus for molding a plurality of molded products at the same time by setting a molding material to each of a plurality of molding parts provided in a plurality of moldings for acquisition: From the tray set in the tray stage in the state which accommodated the molding material in the 1st arrangement which is an arrangement of a accommodating part, it is formed in the supply stage in the 2nd arrangement different from the said 1st arrangement, and same as the arrangement of the said molding part. First conveying means for conveying said molding material to a recess and arranging and changing said molding material in said second arrangement; Second conveying means for conveying the molding material from the plurality of recesses to the plurality of molding sections at once while maintaining the arrangement thereof; After the molding material is transferred to the plurality of molding portions, molding is simultaneously performed in the plurality of molding portions, Third conveying means for drawing out a molded article from the plurality of molded portions after the operation of the forming means is completed, and transferring the molded article to the plurality of concave portions formed in the recovery stage in the second array at once; Fourth conveying means for conveying said molded article from said collection stage to an empty storage portion of said tray set in said tray stage; And a control means for causing the operation of the first and fourth conveying means to be performed in parallel during the operation of the forming means. The method of claim 5, Positioning means for positioning the molding material at one time at a center position on the molding surface of the lower mold constituting the molding die after the operation of the second transfer means is completed; The second transfer means and the positioning means, A robot and a hand detachably mounted to said robot arm; The hand, An engaging portion detachably engaged with the robot arm, A plurality of holding portions for holding the molding material are provided in the same arrangement as the molding portion, the first head for holding the molding material in the supply stage at a time in the plurality of holding portions and transported on the molding surface of the lower mold Wow, It is provided in a position different from the first head, positioning the molding material at the center position on the molding surface by completing the transfer in the first head to evacuate the first head and to access the molding surface. A second head having a plurality of positioning portions arranged in the same arrangement as that of the molding portion, And a support portion for integrally supporting the engaging portion and the first and second heads. The method of claim 5, The said 1st and 4th conveying means is a said 2nd hand provided with the holding part which hold | maintains only one of the said molding material and the said molded article, the said robot equipped with the said 2nd hand, and the said 2nd hand using the said 2nd hand. And a control means for controlling the robot so as to alternately perform the operation of transferring a molding material to the supply stage and the operation of drawing the molded article out of the recovery stage one by one and a plurality of times. The method of claim 6, The said 1st and 4th conveying means is a said 2nd hand provided with the holding part which hold | maintains only one of the said molding material and the said molded article, the said robot equipped with the said 2nd hand, and the said 2nd hand using the said 2nd hand. And a control means for controlling the robot so as to alternately perform the operation of transferring a molding material to the supply stage and the operation of drawing the molded article out of the recovery stage one by one and a plurality of times.

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