Patent ID: 6859336

Claim:
An apparatus for processing a lens, which processes a peripheral portion of a spectacle lens in accordance with data describing a shape of a lens frame, the apparatus comprising: a lens-holding unit that is freely displaceable in a vertical direction and comprises a holding shaft that holds the lens so that the lens is freely rotateable around a second shaft disposed in a horizontal direction, and a means for detecting a rotation angle of the holding shaft; a processor, disposed at a position below the holding shaft, disposed to process a peripheral portion of the lens; an elevating and lowering unit disposed to hold the lens-holding unit when the lens-holding unit is elevated, wherein the elevating and lowering unit optionally separates from the lens-holding unit when the lens-holding unit is lowered, wherein the elevating and lowering unit displaces to a first position in a vertical direction that is determined in accordance with a processing amount, wherein the processing amount is determined in accordance with a rotation angle of the holding shaft and the data describing the shape of the lens frame; wherein when the lens-holding unit is lowered and the lens contacts the means for processing, the elevating and lowering unit separates from the lens-holding unit, wherein the lens-holding unit is further lowered to the first position in the vertical direction in accordance with the processing amount, wherein the processing amount is based on the specific value of the rotation angle of the holding shaft and the data describing the shape of the lens frame, and the lens-holding unit presses the lens to the means for processing in the vertical direction under a load determined in accordance with a weight of the lens-holding unit until the lens-holding unit is brought into contact with the elevating and lowering unit.