Patent ID: 7386998

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a holder-mounted optical element, comprising: disposing cylindrical holder material in a press forming die, the cylindrical holder material having a thin deformable portion; providing an optical element material comprising an initial volume of the optical element material and a surplus volume of the optical element material inside the cylindrical holder material; heating the cylindrical holder material, the initial volume of the optical element material, and the surplus volume of the optical element material, to their respective softening temperatures; press forming the cylindrical holder material, the initial volume of the optical element material and the surplus volume of the optical element material; the press forming configured to form a cylindrical holder from the cylindrical holder material, and configured to form an optical element from the optical element material; the press forming configured to integrate the optical element inside the cylindrical holder by applying a pressing force to the optical element material to cause the optical element material to expand outwardly in a convex shape and deform the deformable portion; and wherein the deformable portion is configured to receive a second volume of optical element material that is equivalent in volume to the surplus volume of the optical element material so that the optical element contains a first volume of optical element material that is equivalent in volume to the initial volume of the optical element material.