Abstract:
The mold assembly ( 100 ) is provided including a mold plate ( 20 ), a mold core ( 30 ), an elastic member ( 40 ) and an adjusting member ( 50 ). The mold plate has a receiving cavity ( 25 ) and a receiving aperture ( 27 ) defined therein. The mold core is received in the receiving cavity. The elastic member, configured to restore the mold core to its previous position, is disposed between the mold plate and the mold core. The adjusting member is received in the receiving aperture, engaging with the mold core to drive the mold core to move relative to the mold plate.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates generally to mold assemblies and, more particularly, to a mold assembly with an adjustable mold core.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     With the development of technology, portable electronic devices for imaging, such as digital cameras and mobile phones with camera lens modules have all entered widespread use.  
         [0005]     A typical camera lens module for a portable electronic device includes a variety of lenses, which can generally be classified either as aspherical plastic lenses or as aspherical glass lenses. Usually, a lens mold assembly is used to manufacture the two kinds of lens. The lens mold assembly includes an upper mold and a lower mold, which cooperatively form a mold core therebetween. The mold core is used to mold the lens. The mold core includes an upper mold core and a lower mold core. The upper mold includes an upper mold plate, and the upper mold core is fixed to the upper mold plate. The lower mold includes a lower mold plate, and the lower mold core is fixed to the lower mold plate. A shape of the lens, as well as interior or exterior surface of the lens, depends on a shape and an interior surface of the mold core. In assembly of the mold assembly, the lower mold core cannot fix precisely to the lower mold plate, and the upper mold core cannot fix precisely to the upper mold plate. Thus the high lens surface precision cannot be achieved.  
         [0006]     Typically, the mold assembly needs to be modified to achieve as high a precision of assembly as possible. The distance between the upper mold core and the lower mold core needs to be adjusted. However, this costs too much time and too much money.  
         [0007]     What is needed, therefore, is a mold assembly that can overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     In one embodiment thereof, a mold assembly is provided including a mold plate, a mold core, an elastic member and an adjusting member. The mold plate has a receiving cavity and a receiving aperture defined therein. The mold core is received in the receiving cavity. The elastic member, configured to restore the mold core to its previous position after having been displaced, is disposed between the mold plate and the mold core. The adjusting member is received in the receiving aperture, engaging with the mold core to drive the mold core to move relative to the mold plate.  
         [0009]     Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     Many aspects of the mold assembly can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. These drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present mold assembly. Moreover, in the drawings like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an exploded isometric view of a mold assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is an assembled view of the mold assembly shown in  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the mold assembly taken along the III-III line in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]     Referring to the drawings in detail,  FIG. 1  shows a mold assembly  100  including a mold plate  20 , a mold core  30 , an elastic member  40  and an adjusting member  50 , in which the mold core  30 , the elastic member  40  and the adjusting member  50  are assembled together.  
         [0015]     Referring also to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the mold plate  20  is generally cube-like, and includes an upper wall  21 , a lower wall  22  and four sidewalls  23 . The upper wall  21  is opposite to the lower wall  22 , and each sidewall  23  abuts on the upper wall  21  and the lower wall  22  respectively. A receiving cavity  25  is defined through the upper wall  21  and the lower wall  22  centered about a line A 1 , and is located in the middle of the mold plate  20 . The receiving cavity  25  is cooperatively formed by a plurality of interior walls  26  of the mold plate  20 . The receiving cavity  25  can be separated into an opening  252 , a first receiving cavity  254  and a second receiving cavity  256 . The opening  252 , the first receiving cavity  254  and the second receiving cavity  256  may have various kinds of shape. The opening  252  is preferably of circular shape. The first receiving cavity  254  is preferably of circular shape. The second receiving cavity  256  is preferably of rectangular shape. The second receiving cavity  256  is bigger than the first receiving cavity  254 , and the second receiving cavity  256  and the first receiving cavity  254  are coaxially defined. A receiving aperture  27  is defined through the two opposite sidewalls  23  centered by a line A 2 . The A 2  line is roughly perpendicular to the A 1  line, and the receiving aperture  27  communicates with the second receiving cavity  256 . The receiving aperture  27  may have various kinds of shape, and is preferably of a circular shape.  
         [0016]     The mold core  30  includes a core portion  32 , a first engaging portion  34  and a second engaging portion  36 . The core portion  32  has roughly the same size and shape as the opening  252  of the mold plate  20 . One end of the core portion  32  abuts the first engaging portion  34 , and is located at the middle of the first engaging portion  34 , thus forming a step portion  37  therebetween. The opposite end of the core portion  32  has a mold cavity  38  defined therein. The first engaging portion  34  has roughly the same size and shape as the first receiving cavity  254  of the mold plate  20 . The second engaging portion  36  has roughly the same size and shape as the second receiving cavity  256 , and abuts the first engaging portion  34  in opposition to the core portion  32 . The second engaging portion  36  has an adjusting block  39  extending downwards from a bottom thereof. The adjusting block  39  is located opposite to the first engaging portion  34  and the core portion  32 .  
         [0017]     The elastic member  40  functions to restore the mold core  30 . The elastic member  40  is preferably a coil spring. An external diameter of the elastic member  40  is less than a diameter of the first receiving cavity  254 , and an internal diameter of the elastic member  40  is more than a diameter of the opening  252 .  
         [0018]     The adjusting member  50  has roughly the same size and shape as the receiving aperture  27  of the mold plate  20 . In the preferred embodiment, the adjusting member  50  is generally cylindrical-like, and includes a peripheral wall  51  and an end wall  52  abutting on the peripheral wall  51 . The peripheral wall  51  has a spiral groove  54  extending from one end of the adjusting member  50  to the other end of the adjusting member  50 . The spiral groove  54  has a depth gradually increasing from one end of the adjusting member  50  to the other end of the adjusting member  50 . The end wall  52  has a rectangular slot  56  defined thereof, for facilitating the operation of the adjusting member  50 .  
         [0019]     In assembly of the mold assembly  100 , the elastic member  40  is disposed around the core portion  32  of the mold core  30  with one end of the elastic member  40  contacting the step portion  37  of the mold core  30 . The mold core  30  with the elastic member  40  is aligned with the receiving cavity  25  of the mold plate  20 , and then is inserted from the second receiving cavity  256  until the core portion  32  is exposed through the opening  252 . In this case, the core portion  32 , the first engaging portion  34  and the second engaging portion  36  are respectively received in the opening  252 , the first receiving cavity  254  and the second receiving cavity  256  of the mold plate  20 . The adjusting member  50  is aligned with the receiving aperture  27  of the mold plate  20 , and is then inserted thereinto. In this case, the adjusting member  50  is received in the receiving aperture  27 , and can rotate or slide relative to the receiving aperture  27 . The adjusting block  39  of the mold core  30  engages with the spiral groove  54  of the adjusting member  50 , which enables the elastic member  40  to be compressed within the first receiving cavity  254 . The two ends of the elastic member  40  resist the step portion  37  of the mold core  30  and the interior wall  26  of the mold plate  20 , respectively.  
         [0020]     In use of the mold assembly  100 , the position of the mold core  30  within the receiving cavity  25  may be slightly adjusted. The adjusting member  50  can be rotated in the receiving aperture  27  by operating the rectangular slot  56 . When the adjusting member  50  is rotated to move into the receiving aperture  27 , the adjusting block  39  of the mold core  30  slidably engages in the spiral groove  54  of the adjusting member  50 . In the case, the mold core  30  is gradually lifted up because of the gradually increasing depth of the spiral groove  54 . When the mold core  30  is lifted up, the elastic member  40  is compressed. When the adjusting member  50  is rotated to move out from the receiving aperture  27 , the adjusting block  39  of the mold core  30  slidably engages in the spiral groove  54  of the adjusting member  50 . In this case, the mold core  30  is gradually lowered because of the gradually decreasing depth of the spiral groove  54 , while the elastic member  40  is released.  
         [0021]     A main advantage of the mold assembly  100  is that the mold core  30  being received in the mold plate  20  can be easily adjusted to move relative to the mold plate  20  by means of adjusting the adjusting member  50 . The mold core  30  can move up and down relative to the mold plate  30  along a first longitudinal direction, while the adjusting member  50  can move along a second longitudinal direction perpendicular to the first direction. There is no need to modify the mold assembly  100 , thus reducing the production cost greatly.  
         [0022]     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.