Spherical surface machining apparatus and transporting apparatus therefore

Abstract: A spherical surface machining apparatus for machining optical lenses, mirrors and so on comprises a reference cam (29), mounted on a body frame (28) located on one side of a grinding plate (10). A swing body (20) is movably mounted on the reference cam (29) for supporting a lower shaft (12) of the grinding plate (10). A driving cam follower (23) is mounted on the swing body (20) and meshes with a rack (30a) formed on part of the periphery of the reference cam (29). The lower shaft (12) of the grinding plate (10) is rotated, and the driving cam follower (23) is driven to swing the swing body (20), to thereby make free the spherical center swinging trajectory of the lower shaft (12) of the grinding plate (10). A container (40) for accommodating an optical lens, mirror or the like is transported to a predetermined position by a reciprocally movable supply conveyer (41), and fixed or released by fixing means (43, 44). Material (1) for a lens, mirror or the like, accommodated in the container, is delivered to a grinding plate (10), ground thereby, and accommodated again in the container which in turn is transported by a transporting conveyer.

Description: The present invention relates to a spherical surface machining apparatus for performing grinding and polishing so as to form a spherical surface of an optical lens, a mirror or the like. Conventionally, machining of optical lenses, mirrors and so on are processed by first forming the surface of a lens, mirror and so on (hereinafter simply called "the lens material") in a spherical shape with a rough grinding machine or a so-called grinding machine and lapping the spherically formed lens material with a polishing machine. Such a grinding machine, as shown in Fig. 1, holds lens material b on a rotatable grinding holder a and grinds the lens material b with a diamond tool d mounted at the tip of a cup-shaped wheel c . This grinding machine, is capable of forming convex, concave and flat surfaces, and may be employed in a variety of uses. Even though the accuracy is not high, it is generally used for preprocessing which does not require a high accuracy. However, the above-mentioned grinding machine uses a complicated procedure to obtain a generally spherical form, and performs a line cutting action, due to the shape of a strip type blade portion of the diamond tool d of the cup-shaped wheel c . This method cannot provide as good a finished surface as surface cutting, thereby giving rise to a problem with the lens lapping processing in which the accuracy of the preprocessing exerts a great influence on the accuracy of the postprocessing. To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present assignee has provided a spherical surface machining apparatus for optical lenses, mirrors and so on, as shown in Fig. 2 and as disclosed in JP-A-1045557. This apparatus allows selection of a reference cam 29, chosen from those having cam profiles with different spherical surfaces, in accordance with desired spherical surface machining. In addition, a spindle 12 of a grinding plate 10 can be moved in an axial direction and fixed so as to meet the requirement of the spherical surface machining, which permits free changing of the spherical center swinging trajectory of the spindle 12 of the grinding plate 10, whereby any lens materials 1 can be arbitrarily processed to form a desired spherical surface. The above-mentioned apparatus can be used for any use, more specifically, for forming convex, concave and flat surfaces and does not require a complicated procedure to set the spherical surface. Further, since this apparatus performs surface cutting, machining time can be reduced substantially and a highly accurate finished surface can be obtained compared with conventional apparatus. Further, this apparatus can be used for polishing lens material, in addition to grinding by changing the lens chucking method to a method providing freedom of movement for a lens attachment. The above-mentioned spherical surface machining apparatus, though providing easy surface grinding while maintaining versatility and high accuracy, is constructed such that two reference cams 29, with cam profiles having highly accurate curved surfaces, are disposed on opposed sides of the grinding plate 10, and the two reference cams 29 must be positioned symmetrically with respect to the grinding plate 10. However, such positioning is a quite time-consuming operation. Moreover, swinging movement of the spindle 12 of the grinding plate 10 is performed by a swing apparatus e provided separately from a swing body 20. Therefore, this apparatus has a complicated construction and not only requires a long time for changing or adjusting the reference cams 29 but also is quite expensive and large. An object of the present invention is to improve the above described spherical surface machining apparatus provided by the present assignee in order to overcome or at least mitigate the problems mentioned above by providing a simply constructed spherical surface machining apparatus for optical lenses, mirrors and so on which is capable of easily performing surface cutting while maintaining high accuracy and versatility and providing a reduced sized apparatus with easy adjustability. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a spherical surface machining apparatus for machining materials to be machined such as optical lenses and mirrors by rotating and swinging a lower shaft of a grinding plate and pressing the material to be machined on the spherical axis with respect to the grinding plate, said machining apparatus comprising: a reference cam, exchangeably mounted to a body frame so as to be located on one side of said grinding plate, said reference cam having a curved or planar cam profile; and a swing body movably mounted on said cam surface of said reference cam, wherein a portion of a cam surface of the reference cam is formed with a rack and said swing body is mounted on said cam surface of said reference cam through a driving cam follower meshing with said rack for axially movably supporting the lower shaft of said grinding plate, and wherein the lower shaft of said grinding plate is axially moved and said driving cam follower is driven to make free the spherical center swinging trajectory of the lower shaft of the grinding plate. In one embodiment a transporting apparatus is provided for transporting machined materials such as optical lenses and mirrors. This apparatus may comprise: supply means having containers for accommodating the materials to be machined and fixtures for fixing and releasing each of the containers at a predetermined position, the supply means arranged reciprocally movable between a grinding plate and a chuck; and transporting means, associated with the supply means, for receiving the containers from the supply means and transporting the containers. Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example in which: Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a main portion of a conventional spherical surface machining apparatus for optical lenses, mirrors and so on; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the conventional spherical surface machining apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a partially cut-away perspective view showing an embodiment of a spherical surface machining apparatus for optical lenses, mirrors and so on according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a partially cut-away cross-sectional view of the spherical surface machining apparatus of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a partially cut-away front view of the spherical surface machining apparatus of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of selecting a reference cam for a convex surface; Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of selecting a reference cam for a concave surface; Figs. 8 to 14 show a transporting machine, for optical lenses, mirrors and so on equipped with the spherical surface machining apparatus of Fig. 3, at various steps during the production of a lens etc. wherein: Fig. 8(1) is a plan view showing a first step; Fig. 8(2) is a lateral view showing the first step; Fig. 9(1) is a plan view showing the second step; Fig. 9(2) is a lateral view showing the second step; Fig. 10(1) is a plan view showing the third step; Fig. 10(2) is a lateral view showing the third step; Fig. 11(1) is a plan view showing the fourth step; Fig. 11(2) is a lateral view showing the fourth step; Fig. 12(1) is a plan view showing the fifth step; Fig. 12(2) is a lateral view showing the fifth step; Fig. 13(1) is a plan view showing the sixth step; Fig. 13(2) is a lateral view showing the sixth step; Fig. 14(1) is a plan view showing the seventh step; and Fig. 14(2) is a lateral view showing the seventh step. An embodiment of a spherical surface machining apparatus for optical lenses, mirrors and so on of the invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to Figs. 3 to 7. In the drawings, lens material 1 or an object to be processed is firmly supported by a chuck 2 which is secured on the lower end of an upper shaft 3 pivotably arranged on an arm base 4 through an upper support 5. Since the upper shaft 3 is axially elevated by means of the arm base 4, the lens material 1 firmly supported by the chuck 2 is also axially elevatable. On a grinding plate 10, diamond pellets 11 of, for example #300 are mounted at predetermined intervals. This grinding plate 10 is removably fixed on the upper end of a spindle (lower shaft) 12 which is pivoted on a lower support 13 through bearings 14. On the lower end of the spindle 12, a pulley 15 is fixed, and a motor 17 is fixed on a bracket 16 protruding from a mounting 21 of a swing body 20. On the driving shaft of the motor 17 a pulley 18 is fitted. Such a construction allows the spindle 12 to rotate at a high speed, for example, 3000 r.p.m., driven by the motor 17 through a belt wound around the pulleys 15, 18. The lower support 13, supported by the mounting 21 of the swing body 20, may be fixed at an arbitrary position on the mounting 21 in the axial direction by means of a setting bolt 22. On a lateral surface 20a of the swing body 20, a driving cam follower 23 having teeth 23a for serving as a pinion is rotatably mounted. This driving cam follower 23 is forwardly and reversely rotatable by means of a motor or a drive unit 25 secured on a bracket 24 protruding from a lateral surface of the mounting 21 of the swing body 20. Further, a swing cam follower 26 and a swing stop cam follower 27 are respectively mounted in a rotatable manner on a lateral surface 20a of the swing body 20. The swing body 20 is movably mounted on a rack 30a and non-racked surface 30b of a cam surface 30 of a reference cam 29 removably mounted on a body frame 28 through the driving cam follower and the swing cam follower 26. Further, the swing body 20 is equipped with the swing stop cam follower 27 movably mounted on a support plate 31 having a surface perpendicular to the cam surface of the reference cam 29 mounted on the body frame 28. Therefore, the driving, swing and swing stop cam followers 23, 26 and 27 allow the swing body 20 to swing on the cam surface 30 of the reference cam 29 without disengagement or vibration. The above-mentioned reference cam 29, which has the cam surface 30 composed of the rack 30a and the non-racked surface 30b, can provide a freely determinable profile, for example, convex, concave, flat and so on. If reference cams 29 having radii of curvature of integer multiples of, for example, 100 mm are provided and the movable range of the spindle 12 in the axial direction is limited to, for example, 50 mm from a reference position of the reference cam 29 in the upward and downward directions, the apparatus of the present embodiment can provide any spherical surface from the lens material 1 to be ground or polished. The abrasion of the diamond pellet 11 due to grinding of the lens material 1 is measured by a counter, and the position of the diamond pellet 11 is corrected by slightly elevating the spindle 12 by means of a ratchet actuated by an air cylinder or the like (these elements are not shown). Next, reference will be made as to how to operate the spherical surface machining apparatus for optical lenses, mirrors and so on constructed as described above. First, the lens material 1 to be ground is mounted on the chuck 2, and a diamond pellet 11 which is assumed to provide the requisite and sufficient ground finished surface, for example, #300 is selected and mounted on the grinding plate 10. Since the radius (R) of the lens material 1 to be ground or polished has been determined, one of the reference cams 29 appropriate to this radius is selected. There are provided reference cams 29 having radii of integer multiples of 100 mm, and the grinding plate 10 is swingable on the reference cam 29 through the driving, swing and swing stop cam followers 23, 26 and 27. Therefore, the radius R of the reference cam 29, for example, for a convex surface cam, as shown in Fig. 6, is determined such that the center of the distance between the center x of the driving cam follower 23 and the center y of the swing cam follower 26 is designated the origin O, with the distances xo , yo being represented by A. The center of the radius R of the reference cam 29 is designated P, the distance of PO B, and the diameter of the driving and swing cam followers 23, 26 C. The radius R of the reference cam 29 can be calculated by the following formula (1): R = √(B² + A²) + C/2 (1) Since A, B, C are known, R is determined by the above formula. For a concave surface cam, as shown in Fig. 7, the center of the distance between the center x of the driving cam follower 23 and the center y of the swing cam follower 26 is designated the origin O, with the distances xo , yo being represented by A. Then, the center of the radius R of the reference cam 29 is designated P, the distance of PO B, and the diameter of the driving and swing cam followers 23, 36 C. The radius R of the reference cam 29 can be calculated by the following formula (2): R = √(B² + A²) - C/2 (2) Since there are provided convex surface and concave surface reference cams 29 having radii R of 100 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm, ..., that is, integer multiples of 100 mm, if the radius R of the convex surface reference cam 29 is calculated to be 140 mm, by way of example, the reference cam 29 having the radius of 100 mm is selected. In another case, if the radius of the convex surface reference cam 29 is calculated to be 70 mm by the formula (1), the reference cam 29 having the radius of 100 mm is selected. The concave surface reference cam 29 is selected in a similar manner to the convex surface reference cam 29 by the formula (2). Next, the spindle 12 is moved within a range of 50 mm in the upward and downward direction based on the origin O in accordance with R of the lens material 1 to be ground or polished and fixed at an appropriate position on the swing body 20 by means of the lower support 13. After adjustment, the spindle 12 is rotated at a high speed by the motor 17, and the driving cam follower 23 is forwardly and reversely rotated by the motor 25, whereby the swing body 20 swings on the rack 30a of the reference cam 29, which results in that the spindle 12 exhibiting a freely changing spherical center swinging trajectory through the swing body 20. Further, by simultaneously pressing the arm base 4 in the downward direction, the lens material 1 can be ground or polished to form a spherical surface. As described above in detail, according to the spherical surface machining apparatus of the present embodiment, one of the reference cams, appropriate to a desired form of spherical surface, is selected and mounted on one side of the grinding plate. The lower shaft of the grinding plate is positioned according to the objective of the spherical surface machining, and the driving cam follower is driven, whereby the spherical center swinging trajectory of the lower shaft of the grinding plate becomes free through the swing body, therefore making it possible to freely machine optical lenses, mirrors and so on to form desired spherical surfaces. It will be appreciated that a single apparatus can be used for forming any desired spherical surface such as a convex surface, a concave surface, a flat surface and so on. Also, since only one reference cam is required for the machining, the handling necessary for setting a spherical surface is quite easy. Further, the surface cut performed by the apparatus of the present embodiment can provide a largely reduced machining time and highly accurate finished surfaces. Furthermore, the apparatus can be used also as a polishing machine by changing the lens chucking method to provide a method providing freedom to the lens attachment. In addition to the above-mentioned effects, since the swing body is inseparably supported on the reference cam by means of the driving, swing and support cam followers, the spherical center swinging trajectory of the lower shaft of the grinding plate is free of vibration even with a single reference cam. Further in addition to the above-mentioned effects, the spherical center swinging trajectory of the lower shaft of the grinding plate can be obtained through the swing body by driving the driving unit equipped with the swing body to rotate the driving cam follower so that the construction of the driving unit for providing swinging movement is simple and the size of the overall apparatus can be reduced. Next, a transporting machine equipped with the above-mentioned spherical surface machining apparatus for optical lenses, mirror and so on will be explained with reference to Figs. 8 to 14. A container 40, provided for accommodating the lens material 1, is transported by a supply belt conveyer (supplier) 41. The supply belt conveyer 41 is operable by rotating a roller 42 by means of a motor (not shown). The supply belt conveyer 41 has fixing means 43, 44, (see Fig. 8(1)) with which the container 40 can be fixed on the supply belt conveyer 41. The supply belt conveyer 41 itself is reciprocally movable in a transporting direction towards and away from the grinding plate 10. This reciprocal movement is performed such that the axis of the chuck 2 is positioned on the axial center of the lens material 1 in the containers 40 fixed on the supply belt conveyer 41 by the fixing means 43, 44. The containers 40 accommodating machined lens material 1 are transported to a predetermined position by a transporting belt conveyer (carrier) 45. Next, a transportation method for optical lenses, mirrors and so on based on the thus constructed transporting machine will be explained. Fig. 8 shows the first step of a method of transporting optical lenses, mirrors and so on, wherein a predetermined number of containers 40, for example, three containers 40₁, 40₂, 40₃ are provided for accommodating lens material 1₁, 1₂, 1₃ to be ground, and the containers 40₁, 40₂ are carried on the supply belt conveyer 41. Fig. 9 shows the second step of the transportation method, wherein a roller 42 is rotated to run the supply belt conveyer 41 for transporting the containers 40₁, 40₂ to the positions of fixing means 43, 44 where the containers 40₁, 40₂ are fixed by the fixing means 43, 44, respectively. Fig. 10 shows the third step, wherein the supply belt conveyer 41 itself is moved toward a first position in the lefthand direction of the drawing. This first position is a position where the axis of the chuck 2 substantially passes through the axial center of the lens material 1₁ accommodated in the container 40₁. Fig. 11 shows the fourth step wherein the chuck 2 is lowered by lowering the upper shaft 3 to firmly hold the lens material 1₁ on the chuck 2 and then elevated by elevating the upper shaft 3. The supply belt conveyer 41 is then moved in the righthand direction of Fig. 11, the arm base 4 is lowered and the grinding of the lens material 1₁ is started. Fig. 12 shows the fifth step. When the lens material 11 has been ground, the arm base 4 is elevated, and the belt conveyer 41 is moved in the lefthand direction to the first position. Next, the upper shaft 3 is lowered to lower the chuck 2 to reaccommodate the lens material 1₁ in the container 40₁. Fig. 13 shows the sixth step. The supply belt conveyer 41 is moved in the lefthand direction of the drawing to a second position. This second position is a position where the axis of the chuck 2 passes the axial center of the lens material 1₂ accommodated in the container 40₂. Then, the container 40₁ is released from its fixed condition and the container 40₃ which contains lens material 1₃ to be ground is fed onto the supply belt conveyer 41. Fig. 14 shows the seventh step, where the supply belt conveyer 41 and the transporting belt conveyer 45 are adjacent. The container 40₁ is transferred onto the transporting belt conveyer 45 to be carried to a predetermined place. At the same time, the lens material 1₂ in the container 40₂ fixed by the fixture 44 is firmly held by the chuck 2 which is then elevated with the lens material 1₂. Thereafter, when the container 40₂ is released from the fixed condition, since the supply belt conveyer 41 is running, the containers 40₂, 40₃ are transported to the positions of the fixing means 43, 44, with which the containers 40₂, 40₃ are fixed. The belt conveyer 41 is next moved in the righthand direction of Fig. 14, and the arm base 4 is lowered to return to the fourth step, where the grinding of the lens material 1₂ is started (see Fig. 11). The above steps are repeated to repetitively supply, grind and transport the lens material 1 to manufacture finished lenses. With the transporting apparatus for optical lenses, mirrors and so on, a lens to be ground and accommodated in a container is transported by a supply means to the position of the axis of a grinding holder, received by the grinding holder, and a vacant container is transported to the position of the axis of the grinding holder by the supply means to receive the ground lens. The container with the ground lens is transferred from the supply means to a transport means which transports the container to a predetermined place. Thus, since there are a reduced number of transfer steps for the container or the lens to be ground, it is possible to correspondingly reduce the number of falling lens accidents. It is also possible to make the apparatus simpler and smaller with respect to mechanical as well as software viewpoints. Also, lenses to be ground can be directly transported to the grinding holder by the supply means and then ground lenses transported directly to the outside by the transport means, thereby rendering it possible to reduce the loading time.

Claims: A spherical surface machining apparatus for machining materials (1) to be machined such as optical lenses and mirrors by rotating and swinging a lower shaft (12) of a grinding plate (10) and pressing the material to be machined on a spherical axis with respect to the grinding plate (10), said machining apparatus comprising: a reference cam (29), exchangeably mounted to a body frame (28) so as to be located on one side of said grinding plate (10), said reference cam having a curved or planar cam profile; and a swing body (20) movably mounted on a cam surface (30) of said reference cam (29), wherein a portion of said cam surface (30) of the reference cam (29) is formed with a rack (30a) and said swing body (20) is mounted on said cam surface (30) of said reference cam (29) through a driving cam follower (23) meshing with said rack (30a) for axially movably supporting the lower shaft (12) of said grinding plate (10), and wherein the lower shaft (12) of said grinding plate (10) is axially moved and said driving cam follower is driven to make free the spherical center swinging trajectory of the lower shaft (12) of the grinding plate (10). A spherical surface machining apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said swing body (20) is supported by the driving cam follower (23) meshing with the rack (30a) of said reference cam, a swinging cam follower (26) moving on a non-racked cam surface (30b) of the reference cam (29) and a swing stop cam follower (27) moving on a plane perpendicular to the cam surface (30) of said reference cam (29) so as not to break away from said reference cam (29). A spherical surface machining apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said swing body (20) is provided with a driving means (25) for driving said cam follower (23). A spherical surface machining apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a transporting apparatus is provided for transporting machined materials such as optical lenses and mirrors, said transporting apparatus comprising: supply means (41) having containers (40) for accommodating said materials (1) to be machined and fixtures (43, 44) for fixing and releasing each of said containers (40) at a predetermined position, said supply means (41) arranged reciprocally movable between said grinding plate and a chuck (2) which holds said materials to be machined; and transporting means (45), associated with said supply means (41), for receiving said containers (40) from said supply means (41) and transporting said containers (40).

Inventors: KOJIMA HIDEO C O HARUCHIKA PRE, KOJIMA, HIDEO, C/O HARUCHIKA PRECISION CO. LTD.
Applicants: HARUCHIKA PRECISION CO LTD, HARUCHIKA PRECISION COMPANY LIMITED
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B24B13
IPC codes: B23Q35, B23Q1, B24B13, B24B11