Method for making optical preforms and optical elements by press

A method for making optical elements via optical preforms by pressing an optical material, the method comprising steps of:

• supplying said optical material made of a plastic material between upper and lower molds, said upper mold having a plurality of recesses arranged in a predetermined pitch, each recess corresponding to a surface shape of said optical element, said lower mold having a plurality of recesses facing said recesses of the upper mold, each recess of the lower mold corresponding to an opposite surface shape of said optical element;
• pressing said optical material to form a set of optical preforms;
• separating individual optical preforms from said set of optical preforms;
• and
• pressing the individual optical preforms to form optical elements having a final upper and lower surface shape.

A method for making optical elements directly from an optical material, the method comprising steps of:

• supplying said optical material made of a plastic material between upper and lower molds, said upper mold having a plurality of recesses arranged in a predetermined pitch, each recess corresponding to a first surface shape of said optical element, said lower mold having a plurality of recesses facing said recesses of the upper mold, each recess of the lower mold corresponding to a second surface shape of said optical element;
• pressing said optical material between said upper and lower molds to form a set of optical elements having a final upper and lower surface shape;
• and
• separating individual optical elements from said set of optical elements.