JPH054823A - Suction finger - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a suction finger that can be commonly used for carrying in a glass material and carrying out a glass molded product by one suction means. [Structure] A glass material (G) is sucked and held by a negative pressure applied to a suction pad (403) in a press molding apparatus such as an optical element, carried into a required place, and molded by the above-mentioned press molding apparatus. In the adsorption finger for adsorbing and holding the glass molded product (G ′) on the adsorption pad (403) and carrying it out, the adsorption pad (403) has a cone shape for adsorbing the glass material (G). Adsorption surface (403
A) and a ring-shaped suction surface (403B) located on the outer circumference of the suction surface (403A) and sucking the peripheral edge of the glass molded product (G ′).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a suction finger used for carrying in a glass material and carrying out a glass molded product when a high precision optical element such as an aspherical lens is formed by a press molding apparatus. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a method of directly press-molding a heat-softened molded glass material for optics in a molding die has been attracting attention, instead of an optical element processing method by grinding and polishing.

Usually, in this type of molding, a glass material in a softened state is pressed by using a molding die member that slides in the body die in the body die to correspond to the molding surface of the die member. An optical element press-molding device is used in which the optical functional surface is formed on the glass material. In this case, a suction finger is used to carry in the glass material into the molding die and carry out the molded product therefrom. The suction fingers are separately prepared for carrying in the glass material and carrying out the glass molded product. One of the suction fingers has a function of sucking the glass material with a vacuum negative pressure introduced to the tip of the suction hand and sucking and holding it on a suction pad provided at the tip of the suction hand. Similarly, the other suction finger has a function of sucking the glass molded product by its vacuum negative pressure and sucking and holding it on a suction pad.

[0004]

However, the use of different suction fingers for carrying in the glass material and carrying out the glass molded product not only brings about an increase in the cost of the apparatus, but also When press molding is carried out in an atmosphere of an inert gas, since the adsorption finger is installed in the atmosphere, the molding chamber has to be made quite large, and the gas displacement capacity also becomes large. Cause a disadvantage.

[0005]

The object of the present invention is to provide a molded article such as an optical element,
The shape of the glass material carried into the molding die is a simple shape such as a sphere, and the shape of the press-molded product is simple, such as a convex lens, and the shape of the outer peripheral part is The present invention was made in view of the fact that it is larger than the diameter of the glass material, and it aims to provide an adsorption finger that can be commonly used for carrying in a glass material and carrying out a glass molded product by one adsorption means. ..

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention,
With a press molding device such as an optical element, the glass material is sucked and held by the negative pressure applied to the suction pad, and it is carried to the required place.The glass molded product molded by the press molding device is sucked by the suction pad. In a suction finger for holding and carrying out, the suction pad is a cone-shaped suction surface for sucking a glass material, and is located on the outer periphery of the suction surface to suck the peripheral edge of the glass molded product. It has a ring-shaped suction surface.

[0007]

The following is a specific description of the case where the suction finger of the present invention is applied to a press molding apparatus for optical elements shown in the drawings. The illustrated press molding apparatus is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a glass material (glass blank) is loaded into the molding die 1, and the molding die 1 is operated by operating the press operating mechanism 2.
Press-molding is carried out by activating the movable part (described later) of this method. This press-molding is preferably carried out in an inert gas atmosphere such as a nitrogen gas atmosphere. For this purpose, the molding die 1, the press operation mechanism 2 and the like are installed in a molding chamber-3 having an airtight structure.

The molding chamber 3 is arranged on the pedestal 10 and is equipped with a gate valve 11 at an entrance / exit 301 for carrying in a glass material and carrying out a molded product, and communicated with the outside through the gate valve 11. ing. Further, a molding die exchange chamber-12 is disposed adjacent to the molding chamber-3 on the gantry 10, and the exchange chamber-12 is connected to the molding chamber-3 via a gate valve 13. It is in communication.

Further, in the molding chamber-3, a suction finger-4 is provided as a replacement means for introducing (carrying in) the glass material into the molding die 1 and for discharging (carrying out) the molded product. ing. The suction finger-4
Attaches the suction hand 402 to the upper end of the rotary shaft 401 which has penetrated the floor of the molding chamber-3 and is vertically introduced into the molding chamber-3 from the outside.
02 is provided with a suction pad 403 at the tip thereof, and the rotary shaft 401 is rotatably connected to a piston rod 14A of a cylinder mechanism 14 provided on the gantry 10, and is vertically moved in the axial direction by the operation of the piston rod 14A. In addition to being operated, it is rotated by an electric motor 15 provided on the piston rod 14A through a gear train 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, the suction pad 403 has a cone-shaped suction surface 403A for sucking a spherical glass material (glass blank) G, and the suction surface 40.
It is provided with a ring-shaped suction surface 403B which is located on the outer periphery of 3A and sucks the peripheral edge of the glass molded product G '. Then, the negative pressure passage 404 provided in the suction hand 402 is communicated with the center portion of the suction pad 403, and a negative pressure is applied to the center portion so that a vacuum / suction force is applied to the suction pad 403. You can Therefore, when sucking the glass material, the suction surface 403A acts (see FIG. 3A), and when sucking the glass molded product, the suction surface 403B.
Acts (see FIG. 3 (B)).

The rotary shaft 4 based on the control of the cylinder mechanism 14 and the rotation control of the electric motor 15 while the glass material is sucked onto the suction pad 403.
01 by the axial movement and the rotation movement of the suction pad 4
03 was introduced into the molding die 1, a glass material was placed on the molding surface of the lower mold member 101, and after molding, it was introduced into the molding die 1 with the same suction pad 403 to adsorb the molded product. In this state, the rotary shaft 401 functions to be taken out from the inside of the molding die 1 by the axial movement and the rotation movement in the opposite direction.

A loading / unloading means 17 for the glass material and the molded product with respect to the molding chamber 3 is arranged on the gantry 10 below the entrance 301. The carrying-in / carrying-out means 17 is replaced with a piston rod 18A extending upward from the cylinder mechanism 18 to replace the chamber.
171 is mounted and the exchange chamber-17
1 is equipped with a stand 172 that can be moved up and down through an opening 171A located at the upper end of the stand 1, and the stand 172 can be raised and lowered by an elevating means (for example, a piston / cylinder mechanism) 173 provided in the exchange chamber-171. I am doing it.

Therefore, when loading or unloading the glass material or the molded product into or from the molding chamber-3,
With the glass material placed on the stand 172, the piston rod 18A is raised by the control of the cylinder mechanism 18 to raise the exchange chamber-171 to open the opening 1
71A is brought into airtight contact with the gate valve 11. In this state, the inside of the exchange chamber-171 is replaced with a predetermined atmosphere, the gate valve 11 is opened, and the molding chamber-3 and the exchange chamber-171 are communicated with each other.
Further, the elevating means 173 introduces the stand 172 into the molding chamber-3, and transfers the glass material and the molded product to the suction finger-4. Then, after that, the elevating means 173 is operated in reverse, the stand 172 is returned to the exchange chamber-171, the gate valve 11 is closed, and the cylinder mechanism works.
The exchange chamber-171 is lowered and the table 17
It is possible to take out the molded product from No. 2 and bring in a new glass material into it.

In this embodiment, a required robot 19 is used to bring the glass material into the stand 172 and take out the molded product from the stand. The robot 19 is
Using a suction means or the like, the glass material is replaced from the stocker 20 to the table 172 and the table 1
The molded product is taken out from 72 to the required place. That is, the robot 19 has an X-axis arm 191 and a Y-axis arm 192, and the suction hands 193 provided on the Y-axis arm 192 are moved in the X and Y directions by the functions of the both arms. It can be moved in the axial direction. The stocker 20 has an electric motor 20B provided on a frame 20A and a pallet 20C fixed to the rotation shaft of the frame 20A. The electric motor 20B is driven to rotate the pallet 20C. The molded product is received and the glass material is delivered at a location corresponding to the robot 19. In this embodiment, a cooling table 21 is separately prepared, and the molded product taken out from the table 172 by the suction hand 193 is temporarily placed on the cooling table 21 to naturally or forcibly cool it to a desired temperature. ..

The above-mentioned molding die 1 is a molding die 100.
In addition, four sets of the lower mold member 101 and the upper mold member 102, which are distributed in four directions with respect to the center thereof, are vertically slidably incorporated into the four-cavity structure. In order to receive the glass material and take out the molded product, an opening / closing opening 100A is formed in the side portion of the body mold 100. Then, the body mold 100
Is placed and fixed on the pallet 5 in the molding chamber-3. The pallet 5 is guided from the exchange chamber 12 through the guide rail 6A in the exchange chamber 12 through the gate valve 13 to a guide rail 6B laid in the molding chamber-3. It is designed to be installed at the press position in the molding chamber-3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the press operation mechanism 2 described above has the guide rail 6B at the press position.
An operating member 201 for pushing up is arranged on the lower side of the upper part of the molding die 1, and the upper part of the molding die 1 is provided with 4
The operation members 202 for pressing are arranged, and these are held by the common holder block 203. The operation member 201 has an upper end through an annular member 204 provided at the bottom of the molding chamber-3, and the molding chamber-
3 has a structure that can be inserted from the outside to the inside, and its lower end is connected to a piston rod 206 extending upward from the cylinder mechanism 205 for pushing up. Further, the lower mold member 10 is provided on the upper end of the operation member 201.
1 has a push-up piece 207 common to the lower die member 101 while sliding on the body die 100.
Can be pushed up in common.

The operating member 202 is guided by a sliding portion provided at the lower end of the holder block 203 so that the operating member 202 can move up and down.
An elastic holding mechanism 208 provided inside 3 is elastically held downward so that it can move relative to the holder-block 203 to a predetermined position. In this embodiment, the elastic holding mechanism 208 has a structure in which disc springs are stacked, but any other suitable mechanism or structure may be used.

A common rod 209 is connected to the upper end of the holder block 203, and the common rod 209 is connected.
Is connected to a piston rod 211 that extends through the ceiling of the molding chamber-3, extends from the inside to the outside, and extends downward from a pressing cylinder mechanism 210 arranged at the top of the molding chamber-3. Has been done.

When the glass material is press-molded by using the press operation mechanism 2, the holder-block 20 is first operated by the cylinder mechanism 210.
3 is raised and the upper mold member 102 is pulled up, so-called,
Form a mold. Then, when the glass material is introduced into the molding die 1 by the above-mentioned suction hand 402 and the holder block 203 is lowered again, the upper die member 102 is moved.
Falls on the glass material. After that, the cylinder mechanism 210 is further operated, and the holder-block 20
3 is lowered, the operation member 202 is moved to the upper mold member 1
Press pressure is applied to 02. After the upper mold member 102 is completely pressed, the cylinder mechanism 205 operates the operation member 2 in the cooling process.
01 is pushed up, and the lower die member 101 is pushed through the push-up piece 207.
Is pressed upward to secure the R surface. After the molding, when the cylinder mechanism 210 is operated and the holder block 203 is lifted, the upper mold member 102 is lifted and the mold is opened.

The mold changing chamber 12 is equipped with a mold changing means 7. Forming die exchanging means 7
Is equipped with a replacement means 701, whereby the pallet 5 on which the molding die 1 is placed and fixed along the guide rail 6A is transferred to the inside of the molding chamber-3 via the gate valve 13. It is designed to be transferred to the guide rail 6B.

The exchanging means 701 has a connecting hand 703 attached to the tip of a rod 702 extending into the mold exchanging chamber 12, and an actuator 705 attached to the base end thereof via a thrust bearing 704. Further, the motor 706 mounted on the actuator 705 is configured to rotate the rod 702 via the L-shaped crank 707.
Further, when the actuator 705 is driven, the actuator 705 is moved along a guide rail 708 arranged in parallel with the rod 702 so that the rod 702 can be moved in its longitudinal direction. It is configured.

Therefore, the rod 702 is rotated by the operation of the motor 706, and the engaging / disengaging operation of the coupling hand 703 with respect to the pallet 5 is performed by this operation, and the operation of the actuator 705 is performed. Then, the pallet 5 above,
It can move along the guide rail 6A.
Thereby, by the control of the exchanging means 701, the pallet 5 is brought to the guide rail 6B of the molding chamber-3 through the gate valve 13 and set to the press position of the press operation mechanism 2, or Conversely, it can be pulled back from there to the mold change chamber-12.

Further, the mold exchanging means 7 is provided with a pallet replacing means 711 for moving the pallet 5. The pallet replacing means 711 is a piston rod 71 that advances and retracts in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 6A.
A cylinder mechanism 712 equipped with 2A is installed on one side of the mold changing chamber-12, and two stages 713A and 713 are provided at the tip of the piston rod 712A.
The feed base 713 having B is attached. Each of the stages 713A and 713B is equipped with the above-mentioned guide rail 6A. In addition, on the other side of the mold changing chamber-12, there is an opening for taking in and out the mold 1, and a door 12A is provided there.

Then, the door 12A is opened in advance, the cylinder mechanism 712 is operated, and the feed table 713 is pushed out from the opening of the mold changing chamber-12, for example, in the stage 713A. On the guide rail 6A,
Place the pallet 5 with the new mold 1, and
The cylinder mechanism 712 is operated in reverse, and the feed table 71 is
2 is returned to the cylinder mechanism 712 side, the door 12A is closed, and the gas in the mold changing chamber-12 is replaced. In this state, The guide rail 6A of the stage 713B is located at the center (pallet changing position) of the mold changing chamber-12.

Therefore, by the function of the replacing means 701,
From the molding chamber-3, the used molding die 1 can be taken out together with the pallet 5 on which it has been placed onto an empty stage 713B. Further, thereafter, the cylinder mechanism 712 is operated to position the stage 713A in the center of the mold changing chamber 12, and the exchanging means 701 is operated again to perform molding from above the guide rail 6A. The new mold 1 can be transferred to the guide rail 6B of the chamber 3 together with the pallet 5, and can be set at the press position of the press operation mechanism 2. The used mold 1 can be taken out from the pallet 5 by opening the door 12A after replacing the new mold 1 with the molding chamber-3.

[0026]

As described above, the present invention is a press molding apparatus for optical elements or the like, which sucks and holds a glass material by negative pressure applied to a suction pad and carries it into a required place.
Further, in an adsorption finger for adsorbing and holding a glass molded article formed by the press forming apparatus on the adsorption pad and carrying it out, the adsorption pad is a cone-shaped adsorption surface for adsorbing a glass material, And, since it has a ring-shaped suction surface which is located on the outer periphery of the suction surface and sucks the peripheral edge of the glass molded product, it can be used for carrying in the glass material and carrying out the glass molded product with one suction means, The press molding device can be made into a simple structure as a whole, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a press molding apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the press molding apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing a main part of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Molding die 100 Body die 101 Lower die member 102 Upper die member 2 Press operation mechanism 201, 202 Operation member 203 Holder block 208 Elastic holding mechanism 4 Adsorption finger 401 Rotating shaft 402 Adsorption hand 403 Adsorption pad 403A, 403B Adsorption surface G Glass material G'Glass molded product

Claims (1)

What is claimed is: 1. A press molding apparatus for optical elements or the like, which sucks and holds a glass material by negative pressure applied to a suction pad, carries it into a required place, and molds it with the press molding apparatus. In an adsorption finger for adsorbing and holding the formed glass molded article on the adsorption pad and carrying it out, the adsorption pad is formed on a cone-shaped adsorption surface for adsorbing a glass material, and on the outer periphery of the adsorption surface. An adsorption finger, which is provided with a ring-shaped adsorption surface for adsorbing the peripheral edge of the glass molded article.