Production method for molding optical components
AssigneeFuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd.
InventorHiroaki Fujita
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical component is manufactured by precisely measuring the final volume of the optical component, precisely measuring an amount of optical material that will yield that final volume, and discharging it through a nozzle to form a spherically-shaped optical agglomerate, pressing the spherically-shaped optical agglomerate into a disc-shaped optical preform, and then using the disc-shaped optical preform to mold an optical component of a precise final volume. The disc-shaped preform fits stably on a convex upper surface of a lower mold, and the molding operation progresses uniformly and smoothly, thereby yielding a final form optical component.
Claims10
A process of forming an optical element from optical material, said process comprising the following steps:
- (a) calculating the volume of said optical element;
- (b) heating said optical material so as to be a viscous fluid;
- (c) dropping a predetermined volume of the heated optical material from a nozzle to form a nearly spherical mass, said predetermined volume being the precise volume of optical material that is required to form said optical element, said precise volume being identical to the volume calculated in said step (a) above;
- (d) pressing said nearly spherical mass between first and second press surfaces to form an optical disc preform, the volume of said spherical mass, the volume of said optical disc preform, and said calculated volume of said optical element being identical;
- and
- (e) pressing said optical disc preform using a molding unit having a pair of molds to form said optical element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.