TW202043000A - Molding device for lens array - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a molding device for lens array. The molding device comprises an upper molding unit, a lower molding unit, and a plate unit. The upper molding unit has a plurality of upper pressing areas, and the lower molding unit has a plurality of lower pressing areas. The plate unit has a plurality of through holes capable of engaging with glass element by each through hole, and corresponding to the upper and lower pressing areas.

Description

Mold equipment for lens array

This creation is related to a lens array or Micro Lens Array (Micro Lens Array) mold equipment, especially a mold equipment for manufacturing flat plates and lens arrays with curved plate structures.

Due to the vigorous development of the optoelectronic industry, many precision optical components are becoming lighter, thinner, shorter and smaller, and the shape of the components ranges from flat, spherical, even aspherical, non-axisymmetric, and other complex free-form surfaces, bringing shape accuracy, contour accuracy and surface roughness The requirements are becoming increasingly strict. In the manufacturing and processing of these precision optical components, the processing accuracy of centimeter level or even micrometer level is generally involved; in this way, the surface shape accuracy of these optical components may reach sub-micron level, and the surface roughness may even reach Nano level. These precision optical components are small in size, light in weight, and large in demand. They can achieve special functions such as micro, array, and wavefront conversion that are difficult to achieve with traditional optical components. For example, the key components in imaging optical systems, illumination optical systems, optical communications, and optical signal processing systems-Micro-Lens Array (MLA); used to detect the intensity, color and direction of light, and A Light-field Camera that can capture the information of the light field formed by the scene; or Wafer Level Optics, Wave-front Detector, Optical Fiber Coupler , LCD (Brightness Enhancement Module of Liquid Crystal Display), Picoprojector (Picoprojector) and CIS (Contact Image Sensor) module scanner lenses, etc., will use these high-precision Optical components are used to output or couple optical parameters to enable opto-electromechanical instruments or equipment to produce preset optoelectronic functions. Take the light field camera as an example. It uses a micro lens array to record the intensity and color of the light at different positions and the direction of the light at different positions in the entire range of the light field, and then restore the image through image software calculations. Adjust the focus arbitrarily to produce new images. Or, the micro lens array is designed as a combination of micro lenses with multiple focal points. In this way, 3D images and 3D depth information maps can be obtained with only one image acquisition. Compared with a general camera that can only record the intensity of light under different positions, the microlens array of the light field camera obviously has better and more extensive value for photoelectric applications. The above-mentioned innovative optical technologies all need to form a "compound-eye" imaging vision and light collection system based on a curved microlens array to achieve the above-mentioned special effects. The curved micro lens array has the advantages of wide field of view, high detection sensitivity, small size, light weight, etc., so it has extremely wide application potential in civil and military applications. The products that have been developed and applied include robot vision systems, missile detection systems, unmanned aerial vehicle detection systems and other military and civilian products. Traditionally, the processing of flat microlens arrays requires consideration of the difficulty of processing the lens, the use of molds, and the process conditions. Generally, the processing standards for curved microlens arrays will be more stringent and more complex, which is why Germany, Japan, The United States, Canada, Britain and other countries have invested a lot of research and development resources to develop and seek breakthroughs. Therefore, how to overcome the current technical bottleneck and use more convenient and economical means to produce lens arrays/microlens arrays in the shape of flat plates and curved plates with lenses of different sizes or different materials? This is the goal of those with ordinary knowledge in this field.

The main purpose of this creation is the processing and manufacturing of lens arrays or micro lens arrays in the shape of flat plates and curved plates. Another purpose of this creation is to make the production of flat plate and curved plate-shaped lens arrays or micro-lens arrays that can take into account manufacturing accuracy, structural feasibility, and cost economy. In order to solve the above and other problems, the present invention provides a lens array mold device for pressing a plurality of lenses on a plate structure. The plate structure includes a plate body with a thickness T and a plurality of penetrating through the plate body. Through hole, the lens includes a lens body part and an annular part surrounding the lens body part, the annular part has a thickness H, and is characterized in that the mold equipment of the lens array includes an upper mold and a lower mold, The upper mold includes a plurality of upper mold extrusion areas and a plurality of upper mold cavities, the lower mold includes a plurality of lower mold extrusion areas and a plurality of lower mold cavities, and the plate structure is movably arranged on the Between the upper mold and the lower mold, a plurality of lenses are respectively disposed in the plurality of through holes of the plate structure, the thickness T1 of the plate body is greater than the thickness H of the annular part, and the plate structure The glass transition temperature (Glass transition temperature, Tg) is less than the glass transition temperature of the lens; wherein, the upper die and the lower die can move in a first direction to close the die, so that the upper die extrusion zone and the lower die can be extruded The pressing zone abuts against and squeezes the board body along the first direction. When the upper die pressing zone moves down to contact the board body, the lens body part is a distance S1 from the upper die cavity in the first direction, The distance S1 is larger than the plastic deformation d of the upper die squeezing zone squeezing the plate body. In the mold device for the lens array as described above, the annular portion of the lens is separated from the side wall of the through hole by a distance S2. In the mold device of the lens array as described above, the lower mold cavity supports and contacts the lens body part or the ring part. In the mold device of the lens array as described above, at least an air suction channel is connected below the lower mold cavity. In the mold device of the lens array as described above, the cross section of the upper mold cavity or the lower mold cavity is quadrilateral. In the mold device for the lens array as described above, the lens body portion of the lens is a convex structure, a concave structure or a Fresnel lens (Fresnel lens) structure. In the mold apparatus of the lens array as described above, the shapes of the lens body portions of the plurality of lenses are different from each other, or the glass transition temperatures of the lens body portions of the plurality of lenses are different from each other. In the mold device of the lens array as described above, the plurality of through holes of the plate structure are arranged in order, alternately or regularly. The above-mentioned lens array mold equipment, wherein the glass transition temperature of the plate structure is lower than the glass transition temperature of the lens, or the softening point temperature of the plate structure is lower than the softening point temperature of the lens. The lens array mold device as described above, wherein when the upper mold pressing area moves down to contact the board body, at least one outer side of the upper mold cavity is spaced from the lens by a distance S3 in the lateral direction, and the distance S3 is greater than zero. As a result, the mold equipment for the lens array described in this invention uses a large number of lenses with high precision manufactured in advance to be combined and pressed on a flat plate or a curved plate structure; due to the low glass transition temperature (low Tg value) The use of the plate structure, so the mold equipment in the mold clamping and pressing process, the pressure in the mold will not be too large, so it can overcome the technical bottleneck of high molding pressure and high difficulty, with more convenient and economical means, To make a lens array or micro lens array. In order to further understand the features and technical content of this creation, please refer to the following detailed description and drawings about this creation. However, the attached drawings are only for reference and explanation, and are not used to limit this creation. In order to further understand the features and technical content of this creation, please refer to the following detailed description and drawings of this creation. However, the attached drawings are only for reference and explanation, and are not used to limit this creation.

Please refer to FIG. 1A, which is a schematic diagram of the lens. As shown in the figure, a lens 8 includes a lens body part 81 and an annular part 82, and the annular part 82 surrounds the periphery of the lens body part 81. The lens body part 81 of this embodiment is a convex structure. In other embodiments, the lens body part 81 of the lens 8 may also be a double-concave structure, a convex-flat structure, a concave-flat structure, or a convex structure. A concave structure, or Fresnel lens (Fresnel Lens) structure. The lens 8 can be mass-produced and formed in advance, and because the contour of the lens body portion 81 is a simple geometric curved surface or a flat surface, the pre-manufacturing can take into account both batch manufacturing and precision. Please refer to Figure 1B~Figure 1E. Figure 1B~Figure 1E are schematic diagrams of the clamping process of the mold equipment for creating the lens array. As shown in Fig. 1B, the purpose of the mold device 1 for creating a lens array is to press a plurality of lenses 8 on a curved plate structure 13. The material of the plate structure 13 includes but is not limited to metal and alloy. , Ceramics, glass, polymer composite materials, etc. The board structure 13 includes a board main body 131 with a thickness T1 and a plurality of through holes 132 penetrating the board main body 131. The mold equipment 1 includes an upper mold 11 and a lower mold 12. The upper die 11 includes a plurality of upper die extrusion regions 116 and a plurality of upper die cavities 115, the lower die 12 includes a plurality of lower die extrusion regions 126 and a plurality of lower die cavities 125, the plate structure 13 is movably arranged between the upper die 11 and the lower die 12. Here, a plurality of lenses 8 are respectively placed on the plurality of lower mold cavities 125 of the lower mold 12 so that each lens 8 corresponds to a lower mold cavity 125. Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, the plate structure 13 is moved down so that the through holes 132 of the plate structure 13 correspond to the multiple lenses 8; in this way, the multiple lenses 8 can be separately It is arranged in a plurality of through holes 132 of the plate structure 13 so that each lens 8 is contained in a through hole 132. Next, as shown in FIG. 1D, the upper die 11 moves downward, the upper die 11 and the lower die 12 are closed along a first direction A1, when the upper die 11 touches the plate structure 13 , The upper die extrusion area 116 will abut the board main body 131. At this time, each upper mold cavity 115 corresponds to a lens 8 and a lower mold cavity 125 along the first direction A1; the lens body portion 81 is a distance S1 from the upper mold cavity 115 along the first direction A1, such as As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 1D, the length of the distance S1 at different positions is different. As shown in FIG. 1E and its enlarged view, the upper die 11 continues to move downward along the first direction A1, when the upper die extrusion zone 116 and the lower die extrusion zone 126 abut along the first direction A1 Top and squeeze the plate body 131 of the plate structure 13 to cause the plate body 131 to be plastically deformed, thereby forming a deformation area B; the deformation area B of the plate body 131 flows due to the pressing force, thereby covering the The periphery of the annular portion 82 of the lens 8 allows the plate structure 13 to bond and fix a plurality of lenses 8. That is, the ring-shaped part 82 of the lens 8 is covered by the deformed area B, so that the plurality of lenses 8 are fixed and fixed on the plate structure 13 without loosening or falling off. As shown in Figures 1F and 1G, a plurality of lenses 8 are fixed on the plate structure 13 to form a lens array 9. The lens array 9 of Figure 1F is curved only on the y axis (one-dimensional curved plate), The 1G lens array 9 is curved in the x-axis and y-axis (two-dimensional curved plate). In this embodiment, the contour of the lower mold cavity 125 is similar to the contour below the lens 8. Therefore, the lens 8 can be smoothly fitted or laid on the lower mold cavity 125. In addition, the sizes or configurations of the multiple lenses 8 shown in the embodiments of FIG. 1F and FIG. 1G are not the same. In other embodiments, the shapes of the lens body parts 81 of the multiple lenses 8 of the lens array 9 may be different from each other. The same, or the glass transition temperatures of the lens body parts 81 of the plurality of lenses 8 are different from each other. In other different embodiments, the plurality of through holes 132 of the plate structure 13 can be arranged sequentially, alternately or regularly. Of course, the plate main body 131 of the plate structure 13 can also be non-transparent (for example, Apply surface coating, surface coating, surface sandblasting, surface atomization, surface attachment or internal doping of the plate structure 13). In addition, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the plate structure 13 is lower than the glass transition temperature of the lens 8; moreover, the softening point temperature of the plate structure 13 is also lower than the softening point temperature of the lens 8; As a result, when the plate structure 13 and the lens 8 are simultaneously pressed and pressed by the mold clamping, the plate main body 131 of the plate structure 13 will first be plastically deformed, resulting in the deformation zone B. Furthermore, the thickness of the board main body 131 before being pressed is T1 (as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 1D); when the upper die pressing zone 116 moves downward along the first direction A1, it is pressed against After the board body 131, the thickness of the board body 131 after plastic deformation is T2 (as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 1E). The difference between the thickness T1 and the thickness T2 is the plastic deformation d of the plate structure 13 in the first direction A1, that is, T1-T2=d. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 1D and the enlarged view of FIG. 1E, the ring-shaped portion 82 has a thickness H, and the original thickness T1 of the plate body 131 is greater than the thickness H of the ring-shaped portion 82, so the upper die 11 squeezes When the plate main body 131 of the plate structure 13, the plate main body 131 will reduce the value of the thickness T1 due to plastic deformation, and the reduced amount (ie, the amount of plastic deformation d) will be smaller than the spacing S1, that is, the spacing S1 is greater than the plastic deformation d of the plate body 131 (that is, S1 is greater than d). In this way, it can be ensured that the contour of the upper mold cavity 115 will not be scratched, damaged or squeezed onto the lens. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1B to 1D, a plurality of lenses 8 are first placed in a plurality of lower mold cavities 125 of the lower mold 12, and then a plurality of through holes 132 of the plate structure 13 are aligned A plurality of lenses 8 are aligned, and then the plate structure 13 is moved down, and then the mold is closed (the upper die 11 moves down). In other embodiments, the plurality of through holes 132 of the plate structure 13 may be aligned with the plurality of lower mold cavities 125, and then the plate structure 13 is attached to the lower mold 12, and finally The plurality of lenses 8 are placed in the plurality of through holes 132 so that the lower end of the lens 8 fits the contour of the lower mold cavity 125. In addition, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 1D, the annular portion 82 of the lens 8 is separated from the side wall of the through hole 132 by an appropriate distance S2, so that the lens 8 is placed in the through hole of the plate structure 13 When in 132, it can avoid the occurrence of alignment deviation or structure jam. In addition, the contour of the lower mold cavity 125 coincides with the contour of the lower end of the mirror body portion 81 or the ring portion 82, so that the lower mold cavity 125 can more accurately support the mirror body portion 81 or the ring portion.状位82。 82 Please refer to Figure 2. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of lenses with different configurations used in the mold equipment for creating the lens array. In this embodiment, the sectional view of the annular part 82 of the lens 8 is slightly curved; in this way, the lower end contours of the lens body 81 and the annular part 82 can be compared with the lower The pressing mold 12 and the lower mold cavity 125 are completely matched. When the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 are closed, the lens 8 will not be scratched or destroyed by the huge pressure in the mold. Figures 3-7 are schematic diagrams of mold equipment for other embodiments of creating lens arrays. As shown in FIG. 3, the cross-sectional shape of the upper cavity 115 of the upper die 11 is rectangular or quadrilateral. After the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 are closed, the distance S1 between the upper end of the lens 8 and the upper mold cavity 115 will be larger, so that the upper mold cavity 115 will not be scratched or squeezed. The outline of the lens 8. In particular, the mold device 1 of this embodiment is suitable for use in the solar lens manufacturing process to focus the incident sunlight; in addition to the application of solar lenses, this creation can of course also be used in other imaging optical systems and illumination optical systems , Optical communications or optical signal processing systems and many other different technical fields. As shown in Fig. 4, an air extraction channel 123 is connected below each lower mold cavity 125, so that when the air extraction channel 123 is pumped, the lens 8 can be absorbed by the pressure of the vacuum, so that the lens 8 It is stably attached to the lower mold cavity 125 or used to guide the lens 8 into the through holes 132 of the plate structure 13. Wherein, the lower die 12 is provided with the air suction channel 123, which can be set in zones (some are set, others are not set), or set according to different lens 8 sizes, or according to different lens 8 contours and sizes Set up on demand. Here, the purpose of setting the air extraction channel 123 is to improve the degree of automation, so that a plurality of lenses 8 can automatically and quickly enter the through hole 132 or the periphery of the lower mold cavity 125; The purpose is to prevent the lens 8 from loosening and falling off due to the huge pressure in the mold during the process of clamping the mold and being separated from the lower mold cavity 125. As shown in FIG. 5, the lower mold 12 of this embodiment adopts the form of an air suction channel 123, and the upper mold cavity 115 of the upper mold 11 is arranged in an arc shape. As shown in FIG. 6, the cross-section of the lower mold cavity 125 of this embodiment is rectangular or quadrilateral, so that the lens 8 penetrates the ring-shaped portion 82 so that the lens body portion 81 is erected on the lower mold cavity 125; The mirror body part 81 of the embodiment is slightly in contact with the side wall of the lower mold cavity 125. As shown in FIG. 7, the rectangular or quadrilateral lower mold cavity of this embodiment is relatively large, so the lens body part 81 is suspended on the lower mold cavity 125 through the annular part 82. Please refer to Figure 8A ~ Figure 8B, Figure 8A ~ Figure 8B is a schematic diagram of the mold creation equipment in the mold. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, if the curvature of the lens array 9 is large, at the edge of the lens array 9, the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 of the mold apparatus 1 are along the first direction A1. When the mold is clamped, the upper mold 11 may be scraped or pressed onto the lens body portion 81 or the ring portion 82 of the lens 8. Therefore, when the upper die extrusion zone 116 moves down to contact the board main body 131, the rightmost part F of the upper die cavity 115 and the lens 8 are spaced apart from the lens 8 by a distance S3 in the lateral direction (ie, the horizontal direction), and the The distance S3 is greater than zero to prevent the lens 8 from being scratched or crushed when the upper die 11 is moved along the first direction A1 when the die is closed. That is, when the upper die pressing zone 116 moves down to contact the plate main body 131, the lens body portion 81 is spaced apart from the upper die cavity 115 along the first direction A1 by a distance S1, and the upper die cavity 115 There is also a distance S3 between the rightmost part F and the lens 8 in the horizontal direction; the purpose of the distance S1 and the distance S3 is to ensure that the upper die 11 will not scratch or damage the lens 8 when the mold is moved. In this way, the mold device 1 of the lens array 9 described in the present invention uses the lenses 8 manufactured in large quantities and with higher precision in advance to be combined and pressed on the flat plate or the curved plate structure 13; because lower glass can be used Conversion temperature (low Tg value) of the material, so the mold equipment 1 in the mold clamping and pressing process, the pressure in the mold will not be too large, so it can overcome the high mold pressure, difficult technical bottleneck, and make it more convenient and more convenient. An economical method is to use lenses (Lens) of different sizes or different materials to manufacture a flat plate, a curved plate shape lens array 9 or a micro lens array. Therefore, it has great potential for commercial applications. This creation is described above with examples, but it is not used to limit the scope of patent rights claimed by this creation. The scope of its patent protection shall be determined by the attached scope of patent application and its equivalent fields. Any person with ordinary knowledge in the field, without departing from the spirit or scope of this patent, makes changes or modifications that are equivalent changes or designs completed under the spirit of this creation, and should be included in the scope of the following patent application Inside.

1: Mold equipment 11: Upper die 115: upper mold cavity 116: Upper die extrusion area 12: Lower die 123: Airway 125: lower mold cavity 126: Lower die extrusion area 13: Plate structure 131: Board body 132: Through hole 8: lens 81: Mirror body part 82: ring part 9: lens array A1: First direction B: Deformation area F: The rightmost part T1, T2, H: thickness S1, S2, S3: Spacing

Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the lens. Figure 1B~Figure 1E are schematic diagrams of the clamping process of the mold equipment for creating the lens array. Figure 1F~Figure 1G are schematic diagrams of the structure of the creative lens array after forming. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of lenses with different configurations used in the mold equipment for creating the lens array. Figures 3-7 are schematic diagrams of mold equipment for other embodiments of creating lens arrays. Figure 8A ~ Figure 8B are schematic diagrams of the mold creation equipment.

1: Mold equipment

8: lens

11: Upper die

115: upper mold cavity

116: Upper die extrusion area

12: Lower die

125: lower mold cavity

126: Lower die extrusion area

13: Plate structure

131: Board body

132: Through hole

81: Mirror body part

82: ring part

A1: First direction

B: Deformation area

T2: thickness

Claims (10)

A lens array mold equipment for pressing a plurality of lenses (8) on a plate structure (13). The plate structure (13) includes a plate body (131) with a thickness T and a plurality of through the plate The through hole (132) of the main body (131), the lens (8) includes a lens body part (81) and an annular part (82) surrounding the lens body part (81), and the annular part (82) has The thickness H is characterized by: The mold equipment (1) of the lens array (9) includes an upper die (11) and a lower die (12). The upper die (11) includes a plurality of upper die extrusion areas (116) and a plurality of The upper die cavity (115), the lower die (12) includes a plurality of lower die extrusion areas (126) and a plurality of lower die cavities (125), the plate structure (13) can be movably arranged on the upper die Between the pressing mold (11) and the lower pressing mold (12), a plurality of lenses (8) are respectively arranged in a plurality of through holes (132) of the plate structure (13), and the plate main body (131) The thickness T1 of the ring part (82) is greater than the thickness H of the ring portion (82), and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the plate structure (13) is less than the glass transition temperature of the lens (8); Wherein, the upper die (11) and the lower die (12) can be moved along a first direction (A1) to close the die, so that the upper die extrusion zone (116) and the lower die extrusion zone (126) are aligned The first direction (A1) abuts and squeezes the board body (131). When the upper die pressing area (116) moves down to contact the board body (131), the lens body part (81) moves along the There is a distance S1 from the upper die cavity (115) in the first direction (A1), and the distance S1 is larger than the plastic deformation amount d of the upper die extrusion zone (116) squeezing the plate body (131). The lens array mold device according to claim 1, wherein the annular portion (82) of the lens (8) is separated from the side wall of the through hole (132) by a distance S2. The lens array mold device according to claim 1, wherein the lower mold cavity (125) supports the part (81) or the ring part (82) in contact with the lens body. The lens array mold device according to claim 1, wherein at least an air suction channel (123) is connected below the lower mold cavity (125). The lens array mold device according to claim 1, wherein the cross section of the upper mold cavity (115) or the lower mold cavity (125) is quadrilateral. The mold device of the lens array according to claim 1, wherein the lens body part (81) of the lens (8) is a convex structure, a concave structure or a Fresnel lens (Fresnel lens) structure. The mold device of the lens array according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the lens body portion (81) of the plurality of lenses (8) is different from each other, or the glass transition of the lens body portion (81) of the plurality of lenses (8) The temperatures are different from each other. The lens array mold device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of through holes (132) of the plate structure (13) are arranged sequentially, alternately or regularly. The lens array mold device according to claim 1, wherein the glass transition temperature of the plate structure (13) is lower than the glass transition temperature of the lens (8), or the softening point temperature of the plate structure (13) It is lower than the softening point temperature of the lens (8). The lens array mold device according to claim 1, wherein when the upper mold pressing area (116) moves down to contact the plate body (131), at least one outer side of the upper mold cavity (115) and the lens (8) A distance S3 in the lateral direction, and the distance S3 is greater than zero.

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