Hoya Corporation

Shinji Hada

Tadayuki Fujimoto

Hiroyuki Sakai

Shinichiro Hirota

Kishio Sugawara

Shinichiro Hara

A molding apparatus for molding a press-molded product by heating and softening a material and press-molding the material into a predetermined shape by the use of a mold, includes a pair of dies which form the mold, each of which comprises a molding surface facing with the other, and one of which is fixed to a structure member of the molding apparatus, driving means for moving the other die towards and away from the one die, heating means for heating the dies, detecting means for detecting the displacement of a part displaced by thermal deformation of the structure member, and a control section for calculating a correction value for a moving distance of the other die with reference to the result of detection by the detecting means and delivering an instruction to the driving means so as to move the other die in accordance with the moving distance corrected by the correction value.

Method for press molding a glass optical element

A transfer arm holds a plurality of preforms arranged in a single line and simultaneously drops and supplies the preforms downward. A positioning arm has a pair of arm split members split in its widthwise direction. The arm split members have positioning surfaces formed on their contact surfaces to be brought into contact with outer peripheries of the preforms. After the preforms are dropped and supplied from the transfer arm, the arm split members of the positioning arm are opened and closed so that the positioning surfaces are brought into contact with the outer peripheries of the preforms. Thus, the performs are properly positioned.

Press molding apparatus for an optical element and method of manufacturing the optical element

Disclosed are a molding apparatus for glass optical elements a plurality of molds each constituted of an upper mold and a lower mold, a matrix supporting the molds, and heating means wound around the matrix for heating the molds, wherein the matrix extends in a longitudinal form and has a constant width, wherein the plurality of the molds are arranged in the matrix in a line so that the center of each mold is located on a center line of the matrix, and wherein a distance between the heating means and the matrix is constant at least at an edge of the matrix in a transverse direction, and a molding method for optical elements comprising the steps of: softening a plurality of glass material pieces by heat; and making a simultaneous press molding of the glass material pieces with a plurality of molds, constituted of upper and lower molds, arranged in a longitudinal form matrix, in a line extending in a longitudinal direction, wherein each mold is heated by thermal conductance from the matrix heated by heating means wound around the matrix, to heat at least substantially equally two opposite positions in a horizontal cross section of each mold. By the press molding apparatus and the press molding method according the invention, the press molding is performed upon heating uniformly a plurality of molds, thereby manufacturing glass optical elements having a good surface precision and a good surface quality.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Shinji Hada