Patent ID: 7914273

Claim:
An optical component molding apparatus for simultaneously producing a plurality of optical components, each having an outer diameter of 2 mm to 12 mm, the apparatus comprising: a fixed mold and a movable mold; a shape transfer section having a diameter of about between 2 mm and 12 mm, and configured to mold the plurality of optical components; the shape transfer section defined by a first cavity portion and a first core portion in the fixed mold, and by a second cavity portion and a second core portion in the movable mold; the movable mold configured to contact the fixed mold under a clamping force of less than or equal to 150 kN, wherein a resin material is injected into the shape transfer section between the molds clamped by the clamping force, and wherein said mold clamping force is applied during a injection of the resin material into the shape transfer section; a sprue configured to receive a source of molten resin material; a runner in communication with the sprue configured to direct a flow of the molten resin material; a gate formed as gate channel between the shape transfer section and the runner, and configured to direct the resin material from the runner into the shape transfer section to form the optical component; each optical component having an optical surface with surface roughness of 20 nm or less; and wherein relative dimensions of the gate and runner are such that a ratio of minimum gate thickness to maximum runner thickness is between 0.2 and 1.0.