JPH092824A - Workpiece loading / unloading device for optical device molding machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Purpose] To provide an apparatus for loading and unloading a work before molding into an optical element molding apparatus. A supply-side standby table 16 for holding a plurality of optical elements before being molded, and a plurality of workpiece supporting portions 16
a and 17a, a take-out side standby table 17 for holding the work after forming; a work chuck 23 device having a plurality of work chucks;
Is moved between the supply side standby table 16 and the optical element molding apparatus 11 and between the optical element molding apparatus 11 and the ejection side standby table 17, and a work chuck drive apparatus 23 for gripping and releasing the work by the work chuck. And; can move relative to and away from the supply side standby table 16,
A work loading / unloading device to / from the optical element molding apparatus 11 including an air blower 20 for blowing a pre-molded work held on the supply side standby table 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for loading and unloading a work with respect to a molding apparatus for simultaneously molding a large number of optical elements such as glass mold lenses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a glass lens molding apparatus, particularly in the case of a small lens, a plurality of molding dies are provided in a pair of upper mold and lower mold, and molding is performed between each upper mold and lower mold. A plurality of previous works (optical element material, preform) are respectively positioned and heated, and these works softened by heating are press-molded. Further, after cooling the work, the upper mold or the lower mold is moved, and the molded work (lens) is adsorbed or sandwiched and taken out.

However, in such a large number of molding dies, the steps of loading the respective workpieces before molding into the plurality of molding dies and the step of unloading the workpieces after molding from the respective molding dies are complicated, It is desirable to carry out these steps as easily and efficiently as possible because it leads to cost reduction.

Further, if dust adheres to the work before molding, this will cause deformation of the lens surface. However, since the work of individually removing dust from a large number of works is extremely complicated, dust removal is difficult. There is a long-felt need for a structure that can efficiently perform.

[0005]

It is an object of the present invention to efficiently carry a work before molding into an optical element molding apparatus using a large number of molding dies and efficiently carry out a work (lens) after molding from the molding apparatus. An object is to provide a work loading / unloading device. A further object of the present invention is to provide a work loading / unloading device capable of efficiently removing dust from a work before molding.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention to achieve the above object is to provide an optical element molding apparatus provided with a plurality of optical element molding dies in a specific arrangement; and a plurality of work support portions having the same arrangement as the specific arrangement. A supply-side standby table for holding a work before molding; and a take-out-side standby table for holding a work after molding, which has a plurality of work supporting portions in the same arrangement as the above-mentioned specific arrangement; And a work chuck device having a plurality of work chucks arranged in the same arrangement; the work chuck device is moved between the supply side standby table and the optical element molding device, and between the optical element molding device and the ejection side standby table. And a work chuck driving device for gripping and releasing the work by the work chuck; capable of moving toward and away from the supply side standby table and held on the supply side standby table It is characterized by comprising; and air blow device performs blown against the molding previous work.

Further, the air blower includes a cover member for covering all of the plurality of pre-molded works held on the work supporting portion of the supply side standby table when the air blower relatively approaches the supply side standby table, and this cover member. Is preferably provided with an air ejection port for blowing air inward of the cover member in a state in which the work is completely covered. in this case,
The supply side standby table is provided with a sliding rod that moves up while holding the work before forming on the work support, and when the slide rod moves up, the space covered by the cover member is placed outside the supply side standby table. A gap is formed to allow communication in one direction.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 1 shows an optical element molding apparatus, a work loading / unloading apparatus, and a work sorting apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, the optical element molding device 11, the work loading / unloading device 12, and the work sorting device 13 are arranged in an L-shape so that they function efficiently with each other.

The optical element molding apparatus 11 includes a pair of upper and lower molds 10a and 1 for molding a glass lens (optical element).
It is equipped with a plurality of molding dies 10 (FIGS. 9 and 14) of 0b in a specific arrangement (FIG. 10). This particular arrangement is
As shown in FIG. 10, four upper dies 10a (or lower dies 10b) are arranged near the center, and four upper dies 10a (or lower dies 10b) near the center are surrounded. Another upper mold 10a (or lower mold 10b) is arranged. The optical element molding apparatus 11 molds a glass mold lens by heating and pressurizing a work before molding, and an opening 14 for carrying in and carrying out the work on the side of the work carry-in / carry-out device 12 (see FIG. 15).

The work carrying-in / carrying-out device 12 carries in a work (preform) before molding into a plurality of molding dies 10 of an optical element molding device 11 and molds a plurality of works (lenses) after molding. Unload from the mold 10. The work loading / unloading device 12 has a plurality of work support portions 16a (FIGS. 3 and 15) arranged in the same arrangement as the specific arrangement of the plurality of molding dies 10 of the optical element molding device 11, and the work L before molding
a side workpiece holding table 16 for holding a (FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 12) and a plurality of workpiece support portions 17a (FIG. 3, FIG. 15) arranged in the same arrangement as the above-mentioned specific arrangement, And a take-out side standby table 17 for holding Lb (FIG. 13).

The supply side stand-by table 16 and the take-out side stand-by table 17 are supported by a pair of slide rails 19a and 19b so as to be integrally movable in the left-right direction in FIG.
An air cylinder 9 that gives a moving force to both standby tables 16 and 17 is provided at an intermediate portion of the slide rails 19a and 19b. Both of the standby tables 16 and 17 are provided on the work sorting device 1 by the extension operation of the air cylinder 9.
3 side standby position (see FIG. 1) and work chuck device 1
It is moved to the carry-in / carry-out position (see FIG. 15) on the 8 side.

As shown in FIG. 4, the supply side standby table 16 and the takeout side standby table 17 are provided with slide rails 19.
It is mounted on a support plate 52 supported by a and 19b and moved by the air cylinder 9. In the left half of the support plate 52 in the figure, the work support parts 16a are arranged on the table plate 16b of the supply side standby table 16 in the same arrangement as the specific arrangement shown in FIG. A sliding hole 16c (Fig. 7) is formed. The upper side of the rod sliding hole 16c is
The tapered portion 16d is cut away at a predetermined angle. Further, in each of the 14 rod sliding holes 16c,
A sliding rod 55 having a head portion 55a that supports the workpiece La before forming is slidably fitted. The head portion 55a of each sliding rod 55 is formed so as to be inclined at an angle corresponding to the taper portion 16d. When the head portion 55a descends and comes into contact with the taper portion 16d, the taper portion 16d is completely closed to prevent air flow. Further, when it rises as shown in FIG. 7, a gap is formed between it and the tapered portion 16d. The small-diameter portion 55b below the head portion 55a is formed to have a smaller diameter than the inner diameter of the rod sliding hole 16c, and a gap following the above-mentioned gap formed between the tapered portion 16d and the head portion 55a is formed downward. are doing. The air blow device 20 to be described later allows these gaps to remove dust attached to the work La before molding from the table plate 1.
It works effectively when it is blown toward the bottom of 6b.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fourteen sliding rods 55 are provided on the supporting plate 52 and a plurality of supporting rods 57.
They are connected to each other by a connecting plate 56 supported through the same so that they can move up and down by the same amount at the same time. At the center of the plurality of support rods 57 on the support plate 52, the air cylinder 5 for vertically moving the connecting plate 56 by a predetermined distance.
3 are provided. Therefore, when the air cylinder 53 expands by a predetermined amount based on a command from a control unit (not shown),
All the sliding rods 55 ascend simultaneously to form a gap between the head portion 55a supporting the pre-forming work La and the taper portion 16d as shown in FIG.
When 3 is operated in the contracting direction, all the sliding rods 55 descend simultaneously, and each head 55a closes the corresponding taper portion 16d and closes the gap that vertically connects the table plate 16b.

In this embodiment, the take-out stand-by table 17 side is also shown as having the same structure as the supply-side stand-by table 16 side, but the work requiring dust removal is actually the one before molding. The above structure on the side of the take-out side standby table 17 does not have to function.

The work loading / unloading device 12 further includes a work chuck device 18 and the air blow device 21. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the work chuck device 18 includes a plurality of work chucks 25 arranged in the same manner as the above-described specific arrangement in the molding die 10 of the optical element molding device 11.
have. The work chuck device 18 has an upper wall 24.
a and a lower wall 24b, and a communication groove portion 27 formed between the both walls 24a and 24b. This communication groove 27
Communicate with the work chuck drive device 23 via an air pipe 26 provided on the upper part of the upper wall 24a. A plurality of (14 in this embodiment) fitting holes 28 are formed in the upper wall 24a so as to have the same arrangement as the specific arrangement. The tubular member 29 of each work chuck 25 is fitted into each of the plurality of fitting holes 28.

Since all of the plurality of work chucks 25 have the same structure, one of them is shown in FIG.
1 will be described. In the same figure, in the tubular member 29, the outer peripheral flange 29a of the upper end portion is brought into contact with the peripheral edge portion of the fitting hole 28 inside the communication groove portion 27, and the ring member is fitted to the portion of the lower wall 24b protruding outward from the lower portion. By being worn,
It is supported by retaining. The tubular member 29 has a sliding hole 29b into which a tubular chuck member 31 is slidably fitted in the vertical direction. The step portion 29c formed on the inner peripheral portion of the sliding hole 29b is brought into contact with the ring member 30 fitted near the upper end portion of the chuck member 31 fitted in the sliding hole 29b. The tubular member 29 is prevented from falling downward.

The chuck member 31 includes the communication groove portion 2
7 has a communication hole 31c, a chuck hole 31a continuing from the communication hole 31c, and a step portion 31b located between the communication hole 31c and the chuck hole 31a.
The other end of the compression coil spring 32, one end of which is elastically contacted with the inner wall of the upper wall 24a, is elastically contacted with the step 31b. Further, an annular groove 29d is formed in a portion of the sliding hole 29b that is in contact with the chuck member 31. A seal ring 35 that seals the gap between the fitted chuck member 31 and the sliding hole 29b is fitted in the groove 29d. With these configurations, the work chuck 25
Moves and urges the chuck member 31 to project downward from the tubular member 29, and causes the chuck member 31 to communicate with the communication groove portion 2
The airtightness with respect to 7 can be maintained and it can slide up and down. The diameter of the tip of the chuck member 31 is set to be larger than the effective diameter of the work (lens) before and after molding.

The work chuck 25 having such a structure is
The work chuck device 18 having four pieces is moved on the slide rail 36 and moved up and down within a predetermined range by the drive of the work chuck drive device 23.
The 14 workpieces La placed in the same arrangement as the workpiece chuck 25 on the supply side standby table 16 at the carry-in / out position shown in FIG. Can be carried toward the mold 10 (see FIG. 9). Further, the work chuck device 18 drives the work chuck drive device 23 to carry out the 14 molded works Lb held at one time from the optical element molding device 11, and the take-out side standby table at the carry-in / carry-out position shown in FIG. It can be carried at a time to 14 work support parts 17a arranged in the same manner as the work chucks 25 arranged on the 17 (see FIG. 13).

As shown in FIGS. 1, 14 and 15, the work chuck driving device 23 is movable on a guide rail 36 extending from the work loading / unloading device 12 side toward the optical element molding device 11. When both standby tables 16 and 17 are located at the carry-in / carry-out position, the work chuck device 18 is moved to match the timing.
Between the supply side standby table 16 and the optical element molding apparatus 11, and between the optical element molding apparatus 11 and the ejection side standby table 1.
Move between 7 and. The work chuck drive device 23 also connects the air pipe 2 communicating with the work chuck device 18.
A negative pressure is applied to each work chuck 25 via 6 to create a state in which the work is adsorbed (gripped), and a negative pressure is stopped to create a state in which the adsorbed (grip) work is released.

The air blower 20 is movable relative to and away from the supply side standby table 16 so as to perform air blow on the pre-molded work La held on the supply side standby table 16. The operation is controlled. That is, the air blow device 20 is, as shown in FIGS.
When the apparatus main body 44 is movable on the guide rail 42 extending from the work loading / unloading apparatus 12 toward the optical element molding apparatus 11 and the supply side standby table 16 (see FIG. 6), the air ejection port 40 An air blow unit 45 for ejecting clean air from the blower to blow off the dust adhering to the work La before molding by blowing it below the table plate 16b.
And The air ejection port 40 communicates with an air pump (not shown) provided on the apparatus main body 44 side via a communication pipe 46 provided at the upper part of the air blow portion 45.

The air blow section 45 is supported by a slide unit 41 provided on the front wall of the apparatus main body 44, and is moved up and down within a predetermined range when the slide unit 41 is driven. The air blow unit 45 also includes the supply side standby table 16
It has a cylindrical airtight cover 47 that moves upward to completely cover the table 16 and keeps the work La on the table 16 in a substantially airtight state and shields it from the outside. Reference numeral 39 in FIG. 6 is a controller for controlling the drive speed of the slide unit 41.

The work sorting device 13 includes a pallet portion 15 on which a pre-forming work La and a post-forming work Lb are separately placed, and a supply-side standby table 16 which is located on the pallet portion 15 side. The extraction side standby table 17 has a lens chuck 51 that carries the work La before molding and the work Lb after molding separately. This lens chuck 51 is an XY robot 50.
And is moved appropriately in the XY directions by the operation of the XY robot 50.

The apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration molds the work Lb (glass mold lens) as follows. First,
When a drive command is output from the control unit illustrated in the work sorting device 13 in a state in which the supply side standby table 16 and the unloading side standby table 17 are positioned on the side of the work sorting device 13, the XY robot 50 causes the lens chuck to move. The lens chuck 5 is moved in a timely manner in the XY direction together with 51.
1, the work support portion 16 of the supply side standby table 16
The work La before forming is carried and placed one by one on a.

When the work La before molding is placed on all of the fourteen work support portions 16a, an operation command is output to the air blow device 20 this time, and the device body 44 is accompanied by the air blow portion 45 and waits on the supply side. It moves toward the table 16 and covers the work support 16a with the cylindrical cover 47. At this time, almost simultaneously, the air cylinder 53 extends and raises the connecting plate 56 by a predetermined distance. Therefore, the workpieces La before being molded placed on the workpiece supporting portions 16a are at the corresponding sliding rods. It is lifted by the head 55a of 55, and becomes as shown in FIG. As a result, the taper portion 16d closed by the head portion 55a is opened and a gap is formed between the head portion 55a and the head portion 55a, so that the upper side and the lower side of the table plate 16b, that is, the cylindrical cover 47.
The space covered by and the outside of the supply side standby table 16 communicate with each other. In this state, an air pump (not shown) is driven and clean air is blown into the cylindrical cover 47 from the air ejection port 40 via the communication pipe 46. Then, the blown clean air advances as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 7, and the dust adhering to the work La is blown off below the table plate 16b, that is, outside the supply side standby table 16 to be removed.

After that, when the slide unit 41 is driven and the air blow portion 45 rises, the air cylinder 53 operates in a contracting direction and all the 14 sliding rods 55 descend, so that dust is removed. All the workpieces La before forming are placed on the workpiece support portion 16a again. At this time,
The air blow device 20 is retracted from the supply side standby table 16 and is located at the position shown by the solid line in FIG.

After that, the air blower 20 is operated and the supply side standby table 16 is moved in the direction away from the work sorting apparatus 13 together with the unloading side standby table 17, and the state shown in FIG. 15 is obtained. Then, the work chuck drive device 23 is driven to move the work chuck device 18 on the slide rail 36 toward the supply-side standby table 16 and when the work chuck device 18 is positioned on the supply-side standby table 16 (see FIG. 12), the work support is performed. It is lowered toward the portion 16a. At this time, the work chuck device 18 moves the air pipe 26.
Since the respective work chucks 25 are negatively pressed through the work chucks 25, the work La before being formed on the respective work supporting portions 16a
Respectively adsorb (grasping) on the corresponding work chuck 25.
Is done.

In this state, the air cylinder 9 operates to supply the standby table 16 on the supply side and the standby table 17 on the ejection side.
And are moved to the work sorting device 13 side, and the state shown in FIG. 1 is restored again. In this state, the work chuck device 18 holding the work La before molding moves toward the optical element molding device 11 by further driving of the work chuck driving device 23, and enters from the opening 14 which is open at this time, It is positioned between the upper die 10a and the lower die 10b, which are vertically separated by a predetermined distance, and stopped. In this state, the work chuck drive device 23 is driven to lower the work chuck device 18, and the 14 pre-forming works La are respectively positioned on the corresponding lower dies 10b. At this point, the negative pressure is released, and the work La before forming is released from each work chuck 25 of the work chuck device 18 and placed on the corresponding lower die 10b. After this,
The work chuck drive device 23 drives the work chuck device 18 to retract, retract from the opening 14, and return to the initial position shown by the solid line in FIG. After that, in the optical element molding apparatus 11, the work La before molding is heated and pressed while the opening 14 is closed and sealed.

During the lens forming process, in the work sorting device 13, the lens chuck 51 moved by the XY robot 50 moves the work La before molding from the pallet portion 15 to the work supporting portion 1 of the supply side standby table 16.
They are transported one by one toward 6a.

When the lens molding is completed, the upper mold 10a is raised and the upper mold 10a and the lower mold 10b are opened when the temperature becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. Then, when the opening 14 opens and the work chuck device 18 enters the opening 14 and grips and retreats all the formed work Lb, the ejection side standby table 17 is driven by the air cylinder 9 and the supply side standby table 16 is driven. At the same time, it is moved to the front of the opening 14. The work chuck device 18 is driven by the work chuck drive device 23 on the ejection side standby table 17 in this state.
Is lowered, and all the work Lb after molding is placed. Then, the work chuck device 18 moves to the supply side standby table 16 side and grips all 14 works La placed on the work support portion 16a, and then is lifted by the work chuck drive device 23. The air cylinder 9 operates at the same timing as this, and the supply side standby table 1
6 and the take-out side standby table 17 are connected to the work sorting device 13
Move to the side.

After that, the work chuck device 18 advances and enters from the opening 14, and after all the work La before molding is carried into the molding die 10, it retreats and stands by. After that, the opening 14 is closed in the optical element molding apparatus 11, and the heating and pressing of the work La before molding is performed again as described above.

During this lens molding, the work sorting device 13
Then, by the lens chuck 51 moved by the XY robot 50, the workpieces Lb after molding are conveyed one by one from the workpiece support portion 17a of the take-out side standby table 17 to the corresponding positions of the pallet portion 15, and also on the supply side. The work La before being molded is attached to the work support portion 16a of the standby table 16.
Are transported and placed one by one. Thereafter, the same steps as described above are repeated.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, a work before molding is efficiently carried into an optical element molding apparatus using a large number of molding dies, and the work (lens) after molding is efficiently carried out from the molding apparatus. It can be carried out well, and dust can be efficiently removed from the work before molding.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an optical element molding device, a work loading / unloading device, and a work sorting device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a supply side standby table and a takeout side standby table of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a partial cross section of the air blowing device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partially cross-sectional side view showing the air blow device in a state where the supply side standby table is covered with the tubular cover.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an air discharging structure of the supply side standby table at the time of air blowing.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a work chuck device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a work chuck device which is inserted between an upper die and a lower die of a forming die.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a specific arrangement of a molding die.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a work chuck.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a work chuck device located on a supply side standby table.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a work chuck device located on the take-out side standby table.

14 is a diagram showing the optical element molding device and the work loading / unloading device as viewed from the right side of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a perspective external view showing an optical element molding device and a work loading / unloading device of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Molds 10a Upper mold 10b Lower mold 11 Optical element molding device 16 Supply side standby table 16a 17a Work support part 16b Table plate 16c Rod sliding hole 16d Tapered part 17 Extraction side standby table 18 Work chuck device 20 Air blow device 23 Work chuck Drive device 25 Work chuck 40 Air jet 47 47 Cylindrical cover 55 Sliding rod 55a Head La Work before molding Lb Work after molding (optical element)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An optical element molding apparatus provided with a plurality of optical element molding dies in a specific arrangement; and a plurality of work supporting portions arranged in the same arrangement as the specific arrangement, and holding a work before molding. A supply side standby table; a take-out side standby table having a plurality of work supporting portions in the same arrangement as the above specific arrangement and holding a work after molding; a work having a plurality of work chucks in the same arrangement as the above specific arrangement A chuck device; the work chuck device is moved between the supply side standby table and the optical element molding device, and between the optical element molding device and the ejection side standby table, and the work chuck grips and releases the work. Work chuck drive device;
An air blow device capable of moving toward and away from the supply side standby table, and performing an air blow on a pre-molded work held on the supply side standby table; A device for loading and unloading workpieces to the element forming device. 2. The air blow device according to claim 1,
A cover member that covers all of the plurality of pre-forming workpieces held on the work supporting portion of the supply side standby table when relatively approaching the supply side standby table, and this cover member covers all of the plurality of works. The device for loading and unloading the work into and from the optical element molding device, which is provided with an air ejection port that blows air inward in the cover member. 3. The supply side stand-by table according to claim 2, wherein a slide rod that rises while the work supporting portion holds the work before forming is provided, and when the slide rod rises, a cover member is provided. A device for loading / unloading a work into / from an optical element molding device that forms a gap for communicating the space covered by the outside of the supply side standby table.