JPH0756707B2 - Manufacturing method of lens with carrier - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a lens with a carrier in which an optical element heated to a moldable temperature is integrally joined with a carrier equipped with a function other than a carrying function. Is.

BACKGROUND ART Generally, when a lens is press-molded, an optical element, which is a glass blank, is heated to a temperature at which it can be molded, and the heated and softened optical element is transferred between a molding upper and lower molds via a carrier linked to a carrier device. Although it is pressed and molded by a molding press after being conveyed and stopped, the molded product (lens) conventionally press-molded by the above-mentioned means has the following problems. That is, the carrier has a function of transporting the heat-softened optical element between the upper and lower molds for molding and a function of transporting the optical element (lens) after molding to a predetermined take-out position. There is a problem in that it is fused together with the high temperature optical element during molding. Since this carrier has only the carrying function when supplying and discharging the optical element to and from the molding die as described above, the carrier fused to the molded product after molding is unnecessary as a molded product. After the molding, the fused carrier had to be cut out in a separate process. Therefore, a cutting process or a punching process is required after the molding process, resulting in an increase in the process and an increase in the cost of the molded product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, in which a carrier for carrying an optical element has various functions other than the carrying function, for example, an assembly holding function at the time of assembling a molded product or It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a lens with a carrier that solves the problems of the above-mentioned conventional techniques by also having an outer shape regulation function at the time of molding.

Structure of the Invention The present invention provides an optical element heated to a moldable temperature and an optical element carrying carrier having an assembly holding portion of the optical element or an outer diameter regulating portion at the time of molding, which are integrated during press molding. It is intended to achieve the above-mentioned object by constructing a joint structure. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 are explanatory views showing the first embodiment of the present invention. An optical element (glass blank) 1 that has been heated and softened in a separate process (not shown) is used for upper and lower molding by a carrier 4 supported by carriages 3 and 3 guided by guide rails 2 and 2. It is transported between the molds 5 and 6 and stopped at a predetermined molding position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carrier 4 has a carrier body 7 formed in the shape of an annular plate, and a carrier mounting provided on the outer periphery of the carrier body 7 in three equal distributions (not limited to three uniform distributions). It is composed of the ear part 8. The diameter dimension D of the ear portion 8 is appropriately larger than the diameter dimension d of the carrier body 7, and the width H of the ear portion 8 is the angle at which the outer diameter arc portion of the ear portion 8 meets the center. The ear 8 is provided with two mounting holes 9 for mounting the carrier 4 on the carrier 3. The mounting hole 9 is provided with a carrier locking pin 12 fixed to a holding frame 11 for holding the molded lens 10, as shown in FIG.
When the lens 10 which is a molded product is assembled, the hole 9 of the carrier 4 and the carrier locking pin 12 are engaged with each other when the lens 10 is assembled. Is
The optical axis of the lens 10 and the axis of the lens holding frame 11 are automatically aligned with each other. A hole for mounting and supporting the heat-softened optical element 1 is provided at the center of the carrier body 7.
13 is provided, and this hole 13 also has a function as a hole for transmitting light when the lens 10 after molding is assembled.

Optical element 1 supported and carried by the carrier 4
The upper mold 5 and the lower mold 6 for press-forming are attached to the lower end of the upper mold base 14 and the upper end of the lower mold base 15, respectively. Inside each upper mold base 14 and lower mold base 15, each upper mold 5 and lower mold 6
Heaters 16 and 17 for preheating are embedded, and the upper mold base 14 and the lower mold base 15 are configured to be slidable up and down so that they can be molded by a drive device (not shown). ing.

The operation of the present invention having the above structure will be described. The optical element 1 mounted and supported on the carrier 4 is heated to a moldable temperature by a heater (not shown),
It is transported between the upper and lower molds 5 and 6 via the carrier 3 and stopped. When the optical element 1 stops at a predetermined molding position, the upper and lower molds 5 and 6 slide in the molding direction through the mold bases 14 and 15, and the optical element 1 has a lens 10 having a predetermined shape (see FIG. 3). To press-mold. After pressing the molds 5 and 6 for a predetermined time, the molds 5 and 6 are slid in directions away from each other, and the press molding of the optical element 1 is completed. The optical element (hereinafter referred to as the lens 10), which is a molded product, is taken out after cooling, but since the lens 10 and the carrier 4 are integrally joined at the time of molding, the lens 10 and the carrier 4 are integrated. Taken out from the carrier 3 in the closed state. The lens 10 with the carrier 4 taken out is assembled in the lens holding frame 11 in the assembling process.
Is also incorporated in the lens holding frame 11 together with the lens 10. Then, at the time of this assembling, the carrier locking pin in which the hole 9 of the carrier 4 is projectingly provided on the lens supporting portion in the lens holding frame 11
Assemble so as to engage with 12. By the engagement of the hole 9 and the carrier locking pin 12, the carrier-equipped lens 10 is assembled and held at a predetermined position, and the optical axis of the lens 10 and the axis of the lens holding frame 11 coincide with each other. Therefore, no centering adjustment operation or centering mechanism after the lens 10 is incorporated is required. Further, since the carrier 4 is provided with a hole 13 for transmitting light,
The carrier 4 does not affect the lens performance. Further, since the lens 10 and the carrier 4 are integrally joined at the time of press molding and the lens 10 is fixedly held by the holding frame 11 via the carrier 4, the lens is fixed to the holding frame as in the conventional case. At this time, as compared with the case where the lens 10 is directly caulked and fixed, or fixed by an adhesive means, there is no factor that causes distortion such as ashes in the lens 10. Therefore, according to the present invention, the lens 10 can be operated by simply assembling the lens 10 into the holding frame 11 via the carrier 4.
The optical axis of the lens and the axis of the holding frame 11 can be automatically made coincident with each other, and the lens 10 can be surely held without impairing a predetermined function.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and shows another embodiment of the carrier 4 which is the essential part of the present invention. The figure shows a carrier 4 of an optical pickup lens, and the carrier 4 is made of a spring material. The carrier body 7 is formed in the shape of an annular plate as in the first embodiment, and the outer peripheral portion of the carrier body 7 is provided with an extending spring portion 18 which functions as a spring for tracking after lens molding and extends left and right. Has been done. The length of the extension spring portion 18 can be arbitrarily set according to each specification of the optical pickup.

Like the case of the first embodiment, the carrier 4 having the above structure is integrally joined to the lens at the time of molding, and is released from the carrier (not shown) after the lens is cooled and taken out. Extending spring part 18 of the removed lens with a carrier
Is subjected to anti-reflection treatment, then bent in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lens, used as a tracking spring for an optical pickup, and incorporated. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the tracking spring can be attached without fixing the lens to the frame, and the tracking and focusing members can be attached to the carrier 4, so that the lens frame can be eliminated altogether. There are advantages. In the above embodiment, the frame spring is replaced by the tracking spring, but it is needless to say that the carrier 4 can be used instead of the frame as long as the frame can be eliminated. Other configurations and operations are first
The description is omitted because it is similar to the embodiment.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment shows a configuration of a lens with a carrier when the concave lens 10 is molded. The carrier 4 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a mounting flange portion for fixedly supporting the carrier 4 on the carrier 3 is provided at an upper end portion thereof.
4a is provided. At the lower end of the carrier 4, a supporting step 4b for supporting the optical element 1 before molding, and a molding holding step for integrally joining with the optical element 1 at the time of molding to maintain a uniform molding state. Two steps of 4c are formed inward.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. As in the case of the first embodiment, the optical element 1 on the carrier 4 is heated to a moldable temperature, then conveyed to the press molding position and stopped, and then formed into a concave lens 10 by a molding upper and lower mold (not shown). Press molded. At the time of this molding, since the optical element 1 is restricted from expanding in the radial direction by the inner diameter surface of the carrier 4, the outer shape of the lens 10 is restricted to a predetermined outer diameter dimension by the inner diameter of the carrier 4. Therefore, it is not necessary to incorporate a body die for controlling the outer shape of the lens 10 on the press molding die side, and the configuration of the entire press molding die (press machine) can be simplified,
By exchanging the molds 5 and 6, it is possible to use the same press machine for convex lens molding and concave lens molding. Further, the two step portions 4b and 4c at the lower part of the carrier 4 can prevent the deviation at the time of molding the lens 10 and can maintain a uniform molding state.

In each of the above embodiments, the hole 13 for supporting the optical element 1 in the carrier 4 is formed in a circular shape, but the shape is not limited to a circular shape, and the shape of the optical element 1, the molds 5, 6, and the molding conditions. Needless to say, it can be set to an arbitrary shape according to

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the method of manufacturing a lens with a carrier according to the present invention, a lens assembling operation and a centering operation at the time of assembling the lens become extremely easy, or
This is very effective in that the lens molding device (press machine) can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
3 and 4 are enlarged explanatory views of the main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 …… Optical element 4 …… Carrier 5,6 …… Upper and lower molds for molding 9,18 …… Assembly holding part (hole, extended spring part) 10 …… Optical element (lens) after molding

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical element placed on the carrier body of a carrier, which comprises a carrier body and a holding portion extending outside the carrier body, and the carrier is supported by a carrier member. By heating and softening to a moldable temperature, carrying the heat-softened optical element between the upper and lower molds, and pressing the heat-softened optical element with the upper and lower molds integrally with the carrier A method of manufacturing a lens with a carrier, comprising: a step of obtaining a lens with a carrier; and a step of cooling the lens with a carrier and taking it out from upper and lower molds, wherein the carrier has a lens assembling function. A method for manufacturing a lens with a carrier, comprising: 2. The method for manufacturing a lens with a carrier according to claim 1, wherein the holding portion has a spring characteristic.