JPH06166549A - Device for automatically joining optical part - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stably join optical elements to each other by installing temperature controllers in an adhesive-storing member and in an adhesive-discharge member and further installing a temperature-controlling member for optical elements to be joined. CONSTITUTION:The automatically lens-joining device 1 comprises a stocking member 3, a pallet takeoff member 4, a lens-carrying member 5, a centering member 6, an energy-irradiating member 7, an adhesive coating member 8 and a work temperature-controlling member 9. First, an upper lens and a lower lens are received in a pallet 13, and the pallet is received in the stocking member 3. A desired pallet is upward or downward moved, stopped at a takeoff position, and taken off from a takeoff port 4. The lower lens and upper lens are placed on a leaving plate (the temperature is controlled at 26-28 deg.C) in the work temperature-controlling member 9. The lens-carrying member 5 adsorbs the lower lens and carries the lens to the centering member 6. The temperature of the carried lens is controlled to 22-24 deg.C. An adhesive controlled to a temperature in the adhesive-coating member 8 is discharged on the lower lens in a constant amount. Subsequently, the upper lens is carried and joined to the lower lens.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic joining apparatus for optical parts, and more particularly to application of an adhesive thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an invention described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-83742 as an adhesive application section of an automatic joining apparatus for optical parts. The above invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that FIG. 10 is a front view of the adhesive applying section of the automatic lens joining machine, and FIG. 11 is a side view of the same.

A pair of rails 6 are vertically mounted on the mounting surface 61.
2, 63 are provided, and between these two rails 62, 63,
A moving plate 65 to which a rail receiver 64 that slides on the surfaces of the rails 62 and 63 is attached is arranged. A syringe 67 is attached to the moving plate 65 via a temperature control element 66 having a heating / cooling function. Syringe 67
An energy-curable adhesive 68 is filled in the inside, and is connected to a nozzle 69 provided on the lower end surface of the syringe 67 by a pressure-feeding pipe (not shown). The moving plate 65 is connected to a cylinder 70 fixed to the mounting surface 61 via a connecting plate 71.

In the automatic lens joining machine having the above structure, the lens is conveyed to the adhesive application position under the nozzle 69 by the conveying means (not shown), and then the connecting plate 71, the rails 62, 63 and the rail receiver 64 are driven by the cylinder 70. The moving plate 65 is lowered via the. The energy-curable adhesive 68 in the syringe 67 is pressure-fed to the nozzle 69 via a pressure-feeding pipe (not shown) to apply the adhesive. The energy curable adhesive 68 is controlled to a predetermined temperature by the temperature control element 66 inside the syringe 67.

[0005]

In bonding optical elements, it is necessary that bubbles are not mixed in the bonding surface. Further, it is necessary that the adhesive spreads over the entire joint surface and that the protrusion from the joint surface is minimized. In order to realize the above matters, it is necessary to control the wetting property of the joint surface as well as the fixed amount of adhesive to be discharged.

According to the above-mentioned optical component joining apparatus of the prior art, since the temperature of the adhesive is controlled, the viscosity of the adhesive can be made constant, and it is considered that there is some effect on the fixed amount ejection. However, if there is a difference in the temperature of the bonding surface even if the adhesive is applied in a fixed amount, the volume of the adhesive is much smaller than the volume of the optical element, so the temperature of the adhesive has an effect on the temperature of the object to be applied. The viscosity of the adhesive after application changes accordingly.

If the viscosity of the adhesive changes, the time taken for the adhesive to spread over the entire joint surface will vary, and the adhesive will not spread over the entire joint surface even under the same joining conditions, or the adhesive will often stick out. Will be passed,
The above-mentioned conditions necessary for joining the optical elements cannot be satisfied. In particular, there has been a problem that when environmental conditions such as room temperature change, the influence is greatly affected.

Therefore, the present invention was developed in view of the above problems in the prior art. By controlling the viscosity of the adhesive during ejection and the viscosity of the adhesive after application, a stable optical element is obtained. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical component joining device capable of joining the above.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an optical component automatic joining apparatus for performing centering and joining of optical components by automatic setup, which has a temperature control device for an adhesive storage section and an adhesive ejection port section. It is configured by including a coating section and a work temperature control section for controlling the temperature of the optical components to be joined. The work temperature control section also serves as an energy irradiation section for curing the applied adhesive.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the viscosity of the adhesive is controlled by the temperature control of the storage unit and the discharge unit to perform the constant amount discharge, and the temperature of the optical element bonding surface is controlled by the work temperature control unit to discharge the adhesive. Control the viscosity of.

[0011]

Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1 to 6 show this embodiment, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic lens joining machine, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pallet, and FIG.
4 is a front view of the adhesive application part, FIG. 4 is a right side view of the adhesive application part with a part thereof broken, FIG. 5 is a front view of the work temperature control part with a part thereof cut away, and FIG. It is a graph which shows a viscosity characteristic. In the present embodiment, only the adhesive application section and the work temperature control section will be described, and other configurations are known in the prior art of the present invention and the description thereof is omitted.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an automatic lens joining device. The automatic lens joining device 1 includes a stocker section 3, a pallet take-out section 4, a lens transport section 5, a centering section 6, and an energy irradiation section 7.
And an adhesive application section 8 and a work temperature control section 9. The stocker unit 3 passes through the upper right end of the pedestal 2 and is movably held in the vertical direction, and houses the pallet 13 that houses the lower lens 11 and the upper lens 12. The pallet take-out section 4 is adjacent to the stocker section 3 and is provided on the upper surface of the gantry 2 so that the pallet 13 can be fixed and slid in the left-right direction.

The lens transport unit 5 is provided on the upper surface of the gantry 2 behind the take-out unit 4, and is configured to adsorb the lower lens 11 and the upper lens 12 and to be vertically and horizontally movable. The centering unit 6 is provided on the upper surface of the gantry 2 adjacent to the take-out unit 4, and is provided with a lower end 28 that is vertically and horizontally movable and that holds the lower lens 11 and the upper lens 12 by suction. A heater is built in the lower unit 28, and the temperature is controlled by a temperature control device (not shown). The energy irradiation unit 7 is provided near the centering unit 6 and at the upper left end of the gantry 2.

The adhesive application section 8 is provided with a pair of rails 14 in the vertical direction on the side surface upper portion 7a of the energy irradiation section 7 on the stocker section 3 side, and the rail surfaces 14a are slid between the two rails 14. Moving plates 16 to which moving rail receivers 15 are attached are arranged. A storage unit 19 to which the syringe 18 can be detachably attached is attached to the moving plate 16 via a Peltier element 71 which is a temperature control element having a heating / cooling function. The storage section 19 is made of a material having a good thermal conductivity. In addition, the storage unit 1 of the moving plate 16
Heat sinks 23 are attached to both sides of 9.

A temperature measuring element 24 is embedded in the storage section 19, and its output is connected to a temperature controller 25. The output of the temperature controller 25 is connected to the Peltier element 17 to form a feedback loop. An adhesive 20 is filled in the syringe 18, and the lower end surface of the syringe 18 is connected to the needle 21. Needle 21
The periphery of is covered with a discharge port 22 connected to the storage unit 19. The discharge port 22 is made of a material having a good thermal conductivity (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

The work temperature control section 9 is arranged on the side of the centering section 6, an opening 9a is provided on the upper surface of a wall surface 9b of the box-shaped work temperature control section 9, and a stand 26 is provided inside. And the lower lens 11 (upper lens 12) can be placed. Peltier element 17 is provided outside the side surface of wall surface 9b.
The heat sink 23 is provided on the surface of the Peltier device 17 opposite to the wall surface 9b. A temperature measuring element 24 is provided inside the side surface of the wall surface 9b, and its output is connected to a temperature controller 25. The output of the temperature controller 25 is connected to the Peltier element 17 to form a feedback loop (see FIG. 5).

The automatic lens joining device 1 having the above construction
First, the upper lens 12 and the lower lens 11 are stored in the pallet 13, and the pallet 13 is stored in the stocker unit 3. The stocker unit 3 moves up and down to stop the desired pallet 13 at the pull-out position, and the pallet take-out unit 4 takes out the pallet 13. Next, the lower lens 11 and the upper lens 12 are moved to the work temperature control unit 9 by the lens transport unit 5.
It is placed on the internal stand 26.

The inside of the work temperature control section 9 has a Peltier element 1
7, a temperature suitable for suppressing the viscosity change of the adhesive 20 via the wall surface 9b by the feedback loop constituted by the temperature sensing element 24 and the temperature controller 25, for example, the temperature-viscosity of the adhesive 20 as shown in FIG. As long as it has the characteristics, since the change in viscosity due to the temperature of the adhesive 20 is small at 22 ° C to 24 ° C, it is controlled to 26 ° C to 28 ° C which is slightly higher than that in consideration of the temperature decrease after the work temperature control. There is. Then, the cemented surface 1 of the lower lens 11 and the upper lens 12
The upper and lower lenses 12 and 11 are left in the work temperature adjusting unit 9 until the temperatures 1a and 12a reach 26 ° C to 28 ° C. The heat sink 23 radiates heat generated in the Peltier element 17 during temperature adjustment.

The joint surfaces 12a of the upper and lower lenses 12 and 11,
After the temperature of 11 a reaches 26 ° C. to 28 ° C., the lens transport unit 5 moves to a position above the lower lens 11 on the standing table 26 to adsorb the lower lens 11, and the lens supply position side (arrow A The lower lens 11 is transferred to the lower lens toy 28 of the centering unit 6 on the side). At this time, the lower touch panel 28 uses the temperature controller (not shown) to heat the adhesive 2 through the internal heater.
22 ° C. to 2 which is a temperature at which the change in viscosity with a temperature of 0 is small
The temperature is controlled at 4 ° C.

After transporting the lower lens 11, the lens transport unit 5 again moves above the standing table 26 and moves to the upper lens 12.
Is adsorbed, the upper lens 12 is conveyed to above the centering portion 6 and stands by. During this time, the lower lens 11 is centered by the centering unit 6. Next, the centering part 6 holding the centered lower lens 11 is moved to the adhesive application part 8 on the energy irradiation part 7 side (arrow B side).

The adhesive 20 filled in the syringe 18 is the Peltier element 17, the temperature measuring body 24 and the temperature controller 2.
The temperature is controlled to 22 ° C. to 24 ° C. in the range in which the viscosity change of the adhesive 20 is small via the storage unit 19 and the discharge port unit 22 by the feedback loop configured by 5. The heat sink 23 radiates heat generated in the Peltier element 17 during temperature adjustment.

The needle 21 is moved by the movement of the rail receiver 15.
Descends in the direction of arrow C and stops at a predetermined height. After that, the adhesive 20 is discharged. At this time, the adhesive 20 is controlled to a temperature in the range in which the above-mentioned viscosity change is small until just before application through the storage section 19 and the discharge port section 22, and therefore the discharge amount due to the viscosity change. It is possible to perform stable fixed amount discharge without any change in At this time, since the lower lens 11 is controlled in the work temperature adjusting unit 9 to a temperature in the range where the above-mentioned viscosity change is small, the viscosity of the applied adhesive does not change.

After coating, the syringe 18 stops at the original position even if it rises, and the centering portion 6 also moves to the lens supply position (arrow A side).
Return to. Then, the upper lens 12 adsorbed by the lens transport unit 5 and standing by is lowered, and the applied adhesive 20
The contact is stopped immediately before the contact with, and the upper lens 12 is centered by the centering unit 6 and then joined. At this time, since the joint surfaces 11a and 12a are controlled to a temperature within a range in which the viscosity of the adhesive changes little when left in the work temperature adjusting section 9, the viscosity of the applied adhesive is constant and the lens is stably stabilized. Can be joined.

After the joining, the lens transport section 5 has the upper lens 12
Releases adsorption and rises. The centering part holds the joined upper and lower lenses 12 and 11. Cemented lens 1
The centering unit 6 that holds 1 and 12 moves into the energy irradiation unit 7 and stops at the energy irradiation position, and the cemented lens 1
Irradiating 1 · 12 with curing energy. The centering unit 6 that holds the cemented lenses 11 and 12 in which the adhesive 20 has been hardened by the energy irradiating unit 7 moves to the lens supply position side (arrow A side), is adsorbed by the lens conveying unit 5, and is absorbed by the pallet 13.
And the joining of a pair of lenses is completed. Thereafter, the lenses in the pallet 13 are joined by the same operation.

According to this embodiment, since the work temperature control section is an independent station, the apparatus can be constructed freely. Further, since the temperature control of the work, the temperature control of the adhesive and the application can be performed in parallel, the tact time can be shortened.

[0026]

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 7 is a left side view of a work temperature control unit showing the present embodiment. The present embodiment is different in that the work temperature control unit 9 in the first embodiment is eliminated and a different work temperature control unit 31 is used, and the other components are the same component parts. Are assigned the same numbers and their explanations are omitted.

In the work temperature adjusting section 31 of the present embodiment, a temperature control unit 33 is provided on the gantry 2 via a rotary table 32 so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction on the top surface of the gantry 2. The temperature control unit 33 is provided with an intake port 33a for introducing air into the temperature control unit 33 and a heater 33b.

A blow section 34 is provided from the temperature control unit 33 so as to be parallel to the upper surface of the gantry 2 and above the lower unit 35. A blow port 34 is provided at the tip of the blow section 34.
a is provided downward, that is, toward the upper surface of the lower shell 35. Further, a blow port 34b is provided on the opposite side, that is, on the lens transport unit 5 side. A pipe line 34c is provided inside the blow section 34, and the intake port 33a and the blow ports 34a and 34b are connected via a heater 33b.

The apparatus having the above-mentioned structure is provided with the blow section 34.
The lens carrier 5 mounts the lower lens 11 on the upper surface of the lower table 35 in a state in which is retracted from above the lower table 35 by the operation of the rotary table 32. After the lens transport unit 5 is retracted from above the lower yarn toy 35, the blow table 34 is rotated and stopped at the position above the lower yarn toy 35 by the operation of the rotary table 32. During this time, the lens transport unit 5 transports the upper lens 12 and stands by above the lower lens toy 35.

After that, air is taken into the temperature control unit 33 through the intake port 33a. The air taken in is controlled by the heater 33b inside the temperature control unit 33 to a temperature slightly higher than the temperature in the range where the viscosity change of the adhesive 20 is small as described in the first embodiment. The gas whose temperature is controlled to the above temperature is blown to the joint surfaces 11a and 12a from the blow ports 34a and 34b through the duct 34c of the blow section 34.

By blowing the temperature-controlled gas, the joining surfaces 11a and 12a become a temperature slightly higher than the temperature in the range where the viscosity change of the adhesive 20 is small as described in the first embodiment. After the blow section 34 is retracted from between the upper and lower lenses 12 and 11 by the operation of the rotary table 32, the adhesive is applied and the upper and lower lenses 12 and 11 are joined by the same operation as in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, since the joining surface is blown immediately before joining, the temperature of the joining surface can be controlled and the dust can be removed, and the entry of dust into the joining surface can be prevented.

[0033]

[Embodiment 3] FIGS. 8 and 9 show the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a partially sectional plan view of an energy irradiating portion, and FIG. 9 is a partially sectional front view thereof. This embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.
The energy irradiating section 7 and the work temperature adjusting section 9 are abolished and replaced by an energy irradiating section 41 capable of adjusting the temperature of the work instead, and other configurations are composed of the same components, The same components are assigned the same numbers and their explanations are omitted.

In the energy irradiation unit 41 of this embodiment, a rail 43 is attached to the upper surface of the gantry 2 in parallel with the moving rail 42 of the centering unit 6 up to the inside of the energy irradiation unit 41. A cylindrical support member 45 on which the upper lens 12 is placed is attached to the rail 43 via a moving block 44, and is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction with the upper surface of the gantry 2 by the moving block 44.

An entrance / exit 41b is provided on a side surface of the energy irradiating section 41 on the stocker side (right side in FIG. 7) so that the centering section 6 and the supporting member 45 can be simultaneously moved into the energy irradiating section 41. ing. As in the first embodiment, the adhesive application section 8 is provided above the entrance 41b above the rail 42. An energy irradiation device 46 is attached to the upper surface of the energy irradiation unit 41.

As the energy irradiating section 41, one that can cure the adhesive after joining and that can control the upper and lower lenses 12 and 11 to a temperature slightly higher than the temperature in the range where the viscosity change of the adhesive is small is used. Has been. For example, if an ultraviolet curable adhesive is used as the adhesive, an ultraviolet irradiation device is provided as the energy irradiation device 46.

In the present embodiment, a case where an ultraviolet curable adhesive is used by using the apparatus having the above structure will be described. With the centering unit 6 and the moving block 44 outside the energy irradiation unit 41 (on the lens supply position side), the upper lens 12 is placed on the support member 45 and the lower lens 11 is placed on the support member 45 by a transport device (not shown). It is placed on Yatoi 28.

After the centering unit 6 and the moving block 44 have moved on the rails 42 and 43 into the energy irradiating unit 41, when the ultraviolet irradiating device 46 irradiates the ultraviolet rays, the upper and lower lenses 12 and 11 are irradiated with the ultraviolet irradiation energy. The temperature rises. Ultraviolet rays are irradiated until the upper and lower lenses 12 and 11 reach a temperature slightly higher than the temperature in the range in which the viscosity change of the adhesive is small as in the first embodiment.

After that, the centering portion 6 and the moving block 4
4 moves to the outside of the energy irradiating section 41, and the centering section 6 stands still at a position where the lower lens 11 is below the adhesive applying section 8 and then the same operation as in Example 1 is performed to remove the adhesive. Apply. After the adhesive is applied, the upper lens 12 is conveyed above the lower lens 11 by a conveying device (not shown) to perform joining, and the centering portion 6 on which the joined cemented lenses 11 and 12 are placed is the above-mentioned. By the same operation as that in the first embodiment, the inside of the energy irradiation unit 41 is moved to cure the adhesive between the bonding surfaces 11a and 12a.

According to this embodiment, since the energy irradiating section also serves as the temperature adjusting section of the work, the number of units can be reduced and the structure of the apparatus can be simplified.

[0041]

As described above, according to the optical component automatic joining apparatus of the present invention, the temperature control device is provided in the adhesive storage portion and the ejection port portion, and the temperature control of the optical element to be joined is performed. By providing the portion, the viscosity of the adhesive during ejection and the viscosity of the adhesive after application can be controlled regardless of changes in environmental conditions, and stable joining of optical elements can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a right side view showing the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing Example 1.

FIG. 7 is a left side view showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Automatic lens joining device 2 Stand 3 Stocker section 4 Pallet take-out section 5 Lens transport section 6 Centering section 7 Energy irradiation section 8 Adhesive application section 9 Work temperature control section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic optical component joining apparatus for performing centering joining of optical components by automatic setup, wherein an adhesive storage section and an application section having a temperature control device for an adhesive ejection port are joined together. An optical component automatic bonding apparatus comprising a work temperature control unit for controlling the temperature of an optical component. 2. The automatic optical component joining apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work temperature control section also serves as an energy irradiation section for curing the applied adhesive.