Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
  • B41J3/407—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
  • B41M3/00—Printing processes to produce particular kinds of printed work, e.g. patterns
  • B41M3/003—Printing processes to produce particular kinds of printed work, e.g. patterns on optical devices, e.g. lens elements; for the production of optical devices
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29D—PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE
  • B29D11/00—Producing optical elements, e.g. lenses or prisms
  • B29D11/0073—Optical laminates
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
  • B41J3/407—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material
  • B41J3/4071—Printing on disk-shaped media, e.g. CDs
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
  • B41M1/00—Inking and printing with a printer's forme
  • B41M1/26—Printing on other surfaces than ordinary paper
  • B41M1/30—Printing on other surfaces than ordinary paper on organic plastics, horn or similar materials

Definitions

• the object of the invention is to provide a manufacturing method for manufacturing an optical product, such as a protective lens, according to the preamble of the claim 1.
• a further object of the invention is also an optical product, such as a protective lens, according to the preamble of the claim 4.
• Optical products such as protective lenses
• characters such as letters and/or text, a logo, and other images are printed onto the surface of the protective lenses and cover of such devices.
• Such devices are usually in hard use.
• stresses, such as mechanical stress, for example abrasion are applied to the cover and the protective lens of the device, wearing them.
• characters, such as printed texts, logos and other.images on the cover of the device and on the protective lens are easily worn away either completely or partly so that the instructions and/or messages offered by them cannot be identified any more.
• the purpose of the invention is to eliminate the above mentioned problem relating to wearing. It is also a purpose of the invention to achieve a new improved method for manufacturing an optical product and an optical product, which has been manufactured most preferably with this method.
• the method for manufacturing an optical product is characterised in what is set out in the claim 1.
• the dependent claims 2 - 3 disclose advantageous embodiments of the method.
• a workpiece will be manufactured of highly light-permeable plastic, such as polycarbonate, for example, in a die casting process, and formed into a flat piece on the working plane between the mould blocks of the mould, the work- piece comprising a middle section, an outer periphery and at least one product be- tween the middle section and the outer periphery; after the casting process, the workpiece will be removed from the mould and transferred first to a printing and coating step, and further to a separating step for separating the finished products from the workpiece.
• highly light-permeable plastic such as polycarbonate
• a first colour layer is provided to the workpiece onto the back surface of the product, and a second colour layer is provided onto the said first layer, the first colour layer containing characters and/or one image or several images, arranged to be visible in a desired way through the product, seen from the side its front surface.
• An optical product according to invention such as a protective lens, is characterised in what is set out in the claim 4.
• the dependent claims 5 - 6 present advantageous embodiments of the optical product.
• the invention will provide the following advantages.
• the characters and/or images formed to the optical product in the printing and coating step will be protected against factors and forces wearing the outer surface of the product.
• the characters and/or images formed to the optical product will be bright and rich in colour. No separate surface lacquering emphasising the colours will be needed, as in known methods, in which characters and/or images are formed onto the surface of the optical products facing outwards, i.e. onto the outer surface.
• the method and the optical product of the invention have the advantage that the outer surface of the optical product can be processed as a fully separate free surface. In this case it is even possible to form identical characters and/or images matched together on both surfaces, the outer surface and the back / back surface of the product so that a three-dimensional impression can be created.
• the method according to it can be applied to the manufacture of optical products, especially protective lenses.
• a first and second colour layer has been formed to an optical product, its back surface and front surface can be processed further with suitable surface-coating and layering methods so that the UV protection of the product, its chemical and/or me- chanical strength, and solvent-resistance will clearly improve, compared with an unprocessed product.
• Figure 1 is a general outline of the method for manufacturing an optical product
• Figure 2 is a top view of a workpiece, which contains a set of optical products
• Figure 3 is a cross-section of a workpiece that comprises at least two optical products, the thickness of the workpiece being emphasised in the figure.
• An optical product 1 according to the invention such as a protective lens, has been made of a highly light-permeable plastic material.
• An example of such a transparent and clear plastic is polycarbonate.
• the optical product 1 has, for example, the geometrical shape of a rectangle, but is can also be a circle or a poly- gon.
• the shape of the optical product 1 depends on the embodiment.
• the optical product is, for example, intended to be used as a protection for a display unit, i.e. as a protective lens, in which case it can be either a square or a rectangle, depending on the shape of the display itself.
• the purpose of the protective lens is to cover the area of the whole display and to protect it.
• the protective lens may be in- tended to be used as a protection for camera lens, in which case it can be circular.
• the optical product is generally a relatively thin sheet. Its thickness is, for example, 1 - 2 mm.
• the optical product can be a straight sheet or a curved sheet.
• the optical product can also contain the actual lens, which operates as a magnifying optical element.
• a workpiece 2 with one or several optical products 1 is manufactured in a casting process, most preferably in a die casting process 10.
• the workpiece 2 is flat, most preferably with the geometrical shape of a disc, provided with a middle section 21 , an outer periphery 22, and at least one product 1 , in the example of figure 2 four products, in the area between the middle section 21 and the outer periphery 22.
• the manufacture of optical products 1 has been illustrated as a flow diagram in figure 1.
• the workpiece 2 is manufactured in a die casting process, step 10, in which molten plastic mass, such as polycarbonate, is fed to the working plane between the mould blocks of the mould.
• the workpiece 2 is then formed as a flat, disc-shaped piece, with the middle section 21 , the outer periphery 22, and at least one optical product 1 in the area between the middle section 21 and the outer periphery 22.
• the workpiece 2 is most preferably manufactured by using the same method as in the manufacture of known blanks for CDs and DVDs.
• the workpiece 2 is removed from the mould, step 11 , by a suitable manipulator and transferred to the printing and coating step, step 12, and then further to the separating step, step 13, in which the finished optical products 1 are separated from the workpiece 2, for example, by laser cutting.
• a first colour layer 3 (cf. figure 3) is provided, such as printed out or printed to the workpiece 2 on the back of each optical product 1 , i.e. the back surface 1b, and a second colour layer 4, i.e. a base colour layer is formed onto the first layer.
• Each colour layer 3, 4 is formed by using, for example, a known printing or output method, such as an offset, silk-screen or pad print- ing method, or suitable digital output. Both the first colour layer 3 and the second colour layer 4 cover only a part of the area of the back surface 1b of the product 1 , preferably its edge zones or part of its edge zone.
• optical product 1 such as a protective lens
• both of the back sur- face 1b and the front surface 1a will be left as a clear, very transparent surface, through which, for example, the actual display of the device or a similar part covered and protected by the optical product 1 , such as a protective lens, is clearly visible.
• the first colour layer 3 contains characters and/or one or several images 3a. These characters, such as letters, numbers or similar, and/or image(s) are arranged to be visible in a desired way through the optical product 1 seen from the side of its front surface (arrow A). In practice, this means that letters, numbers or similar characters will be seen the right side out and in a readable form, when examined through the optical product 1 from the direction A.
• the characters and/or image(s) of the first colour layer 3 are produced by means of a colour layer or, alternatively, they are gaps in a uniform colour layer, in the form of desired characters and/or images.
• a third layer 5, which is a metal coating layer will be formed as a frame on the edge zone of the product 1 onto its back surface 1 b in the printing and coating step 12.
• the front and/or back surface 1a, 1b of the optical product 1 is provided with a protective additional coating layer 6, 7, such as a protective lacquer or hard lacquer layer.
• the optical product 1 according to the invention such as a protective lens, has been made of a highly light-permeable plastic, such as polycarbonate, in a casting process, for example, a die casting process, as also the workpiece 2, an essential part of which it is in the manufacture.
• the workpiece 2 the first colour layer 3 is provided onto the back surface 1b of the product 1
• the second colour layer 4 is provided onto the said first layer.
• the first colour layer 3 contains characters and/or one or several image(s) 3a, which are arranged to be visible in a desired way through the product 1 when seen from its front A.
• the third layer 5, which is a metal coating layer, is formed as a frame onto the back surface 1b of the product 1 on the edge zone of the product 1.
• the third layer 5, i.e. the metal coating layer, forms then a decorative specular frame around the optical product 1.
• the third layer is not necessary, but it can optionally be excluded from the optical product 1.
• the front and/or back surface 1a, 1 b of the optical product 1 is provided with a protective additional coating layer 6, 7, such as a protective or hard lacquer layer.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Ophthalmology & Optometry (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Eyeglasses (AREA)
• Thermal Transfer Or Thermal Recording In General (AREA)
• Injection Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=36651375

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Citations (4)

• 2006
  • 2006-06-05 FI FI20060546A patent/FI120189B/fi active IP Right Grant
• 2007
  • 2007-06-05 EP EP07765898A patent/EP2024189A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-06-05 WO PCT/FI2007/000156 patent/WO2007141372A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2007-06-05 CN CNA2007800209405A patent/CN101460312A/zh active Pending

Patent Citations (4)

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