This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 094104813, filed on Feb. 18, 2005.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical lens unit, and more particularly to method and apparatus for fusing light-shielding sheets onto transparent bodies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
The light-shielding sheets 2 are made by punching, and have a minimal thickness and a small surface area. The light-shielding sheets 2 are blown one at a time into a net bag (not shown) by a fan (not shown). After a predetermined number of the light-shielding sheets 2 have been collected within the net bag, the net bag is moved to another place for assembly with the lenses 1. During assembly, the light-shielding sheets 2 are individually removed from the net bag, and are put into a lens barrel 3 one at a time.
Some problems are encountered during assembly of aforesaid conventional optical instrument. For example, it is difficult to perform stocktaking and material management of the light-shielding sheets 2, and the light-shielding sheets 2 may be misplaced. Since the light-shielding sheets 2 are lightweight and thin, they are difficult to move using a suction-type apparatus. Conveying is also made difficult by the fact that static electricity is produced on the light-shielding sheets 2 during assembly. Furthermore, since the light-shielding sheets 2 are moved manually or by a suction device, fingerprints or traces of the suction device are formed on surfaces of the light-shielding sheets 2, thereby adversely affecting the light-shielding effect of the light-shielding sheets 2.
An object of this invention is to provide a method for fusing a light-shielding sheet onto a transparent body under automatic control.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for fusing respectively and individually a plurality of light-shielding sheets onto a plurality of transparent bodies, in which the light-shielding sheets form integral portions of a band.
According to an aspect of this invention, a method for fusing a light-shielding sheet onto a transparent body comprises the steps of:
(A) moving the transparent body on a machine bed into a holder unit by suction;
(B) moving the holder unit on the machine bed in a feeding direction;
(C) cooperating with operation of the holder unit so as to move the transparent body on the machine bed to a position under the light-shielding sheet; and
(D) pressing together and heating the light-shielding sheet and the transparent body so as to fuse the light-shielding sheet onto the transparent body, thereby forming an optical lens unit.
According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided an apparatus for fusing respectively a plurality of light-shielding sheets of a band onto a plurality of transparent bodies. The band further has a connecting unit connected integrally to the light-shielding sheets. The apparatus comprises:
a fusion unit including
a plurality of holders, each of which is adapted to receive one of the transparent bodies and is movable onto the supporting unit of the fusion unit.
As such, the light-shielding sheets may be automatically fused to the transparent bodies. This enhances the quality of the optical lens units, and increases the rate of which the light-shielding sheets are fused to the transparent bodies.
These and other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of this invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
The band 200 is made by blending polyester with carbon black, and has a connecting unit 210 that is connected integrally to the light-shielding sheets 220 such that the light-shielding sheets 220 are arranged along a longitudinal direction of the band 200. The connecting unit 210 is formed with a plurality of positioning holes 230, and a plurality of sheet-connecting strips 240 for connection with the light-shielding sheets 220. The light-shielding sheets 220 are configured as rings. The transparent bodies 300 are optical lenses, and are made of a plastic material. As best shown in
The rotating unit 10 includes a bottom seat 11 movable vertically within the machine bed 100, and a cross-shaped rotating member 12 rotatable intermittently on the bottom seat 11 about a vertical axis in a feeding direction (counterclockwise). The rotating member 12 has four angularly equidistant support arms 121, and stops for a predetermined time period after each 90° rotation. The holders 60 are disposed respectively and fixedly on radial outer ends of the support arms 121.
With additional reference to
The suction unit 30 is disposed at a first workstation (I), and includes a first fixed seat 31, a horizontal first guide rail 32, a horizontal second guide rail 321, a first supporting member 33, a first driving member 34, and a second driving member 341. The first fixed seat 31 is fixed on a top surface of the machine bed 100. The first guide rail 32 is disposed fixedly on the first fixed seat 31, and extends along a first direction (X) (see
An idle second workstation (II) is disposed behind the first workstation (I) along the feeding direction.
With additional reference to
The base 41 is fixed on the machine bed 100, and has a lower base portion 411 disposed below the rotating member 12, and an upper base portion 412 disposed above the rotating member 12.
The supporting unit 42 is disposed in the base 41, and includes two pressure cylinders 420 and a support block 422 connected fixedly to upper ends of piston rods 421 of the pressure cylinders 420 and abutting against a bottom surface of the rotating member 12 for supporting the radial outer end of one of the support arms 121 thereon.
With additional reference to
The driving unit 44 is configured as a pressure cylinder, and drives the movable unit 43 to move relative to the support unit 42.
The first and second spools 45, 46 are disposed on the machine bed 100, and are located to two opposite sides of the support unit 42. The first spool 45 is adapted to permit the band 200 to be wounded thereon. The second spool 46 is adapted to permit the connecting unit 210 to be wounded thereon.
The removing unit 50 is disposed at a fourth workstation (IV) that is located behind the third workstation (III) along the feeding direction, and has a structure similar to the suction unit 30, as shown in
Each of the holders 60 is adapted to receive one of the transparent bodies 300, and is rotatable with the rotating member 12 into the first, second, third, and fourth workstations (I, II, III, IV) to align with the suction unit 30, the fusion unit 40, and the removing unit 50.
When the holders 60 are stopped respectively at the first, second, third, and fourth workstations (I, II, III, IV), the rotating member 12 is disposed at the high position (H).
When it is desired to perform a fusing operation by means of the apparatus of this invention, a plurality of receiving trays 400 filled with the transparent bodies 300 are disposed on the machine bed 100 near the suction unit 30, and a plurality of empty receiving trays 400 are disposed on the machine bed 100 near the removing unit 50.
Referring to
(A) moving the transparent body 300 on the machine bed 100 into the holder unit by suction;
(B) moving the holder unit on the machine bed 100 in the feeding direction;
(C) cooperating with operation of the holder unit so as to move the transparent body 300 on the machine bed 100 to a position under the light-shielding sheet 220;
(D) pressing together and heating the light-shielding sheet 220 and the transparent body 300 so as to fuse the light-shielding sheet 220 onto the transparent body 300, thereby forming one optical lens unit 500; and
(E) removing the optical lens unit 500 from the holder unit.
In the step (A), the first and second driving members 34, 341 are operated so as to move and align the first supporting member 33 with the transparent body 300 to be fused. Subsequently, the first operating rod 332 can be moved downwardly by the first driving cylinder 331 so as to permit the first suction nozzle 333 to attach to the transparent body 300. The first driving cylinder 331 again drives the first operating rod 332 and the attached transparent body 300 to move upwardly. The first and second driving members 34, 341 are operated again to move the transparent body 300 to a position directly above the holder 60 at the first workstation (I). At this time, the first driving member 331 drives the first operating rod 332 to move downwardly to allow for placement of the transparent body 300 into the holder 60.
In the step (B), the rotating member 12 is rotated by 90° to move the holder 60 from the first workstation (I) into the second workstation (II). In the second workstation (II), no operation is performed on the transparent body 300.
In the step (C), the rotating member 12 is rotated by 90° once again to move the holder 60 from the second workstation (II) into the third workstation (III). As such, the holder 60 is moved to the position under the light-shielding sheet 220.
With additional reference to
(D1) moving the support block 422 upwardly by the pressure cylinders 420 to abut against the supporting arm 121 extending into the base 41 of the fusion unit 40, and simultaneously moving the positioning posts 431 of the movable unit 43 downwardly so as to press the light-shielding sheet 220 against the transparent body 300 and so as to engage respectively the positioning pins 431′ of the fusion unit 40 with a plurality of the positioning holes 230 in the band 200, thereby positioning the light-shielding sheet 220 on the machine bed 100, as shown in
(D2) moving the heating unit 432 of the movable unit 43 downwardly so as to press the light-shielding sheet 220 against the transparent body 300, thereby fusing the light-shielding sheet 220 onto the transparent body 300, as shown in
(D3) moving the cutters 433 of the movable unit 43 downwardly so as to cut the band 200 at junctures between the light-shielding sheet 220 and the remaining portion of the band 200, i.e., two sheet-connecting strips 240 flanking the light-shielding sheet 220, thereby removing the light-shielding sheet 220 from the remaining portion of the band 200, as shown in
(D4) retracting the cutters 433 into the movable unit 43, as shown in
(D5) removing the positioning posts 431 and the heating unit 432 from the light-shielding sheet 220, as shown in
When the movable unit 43 moves upwardly away from the connecting unit 210 to an upper limit position shown in
In the step (E), the rotating member 12 is rotated by 90° one more time to move the holder 60 loaded with the optical lens unit 500 from the third workstation (III) into the fourth workstation (IV). Because the second operating rod 532 can be moved vertically by means of the second driving cylinder 531, and because the second supporting member 53 can be moved along the first and second directions (X, Y), the optical lens unit 500 can be attached to and moved by the suction nozzle 533 from the holder 60 onto one receiving tray 400 near the removing unit 50. During each interval of intermittent rotation of the rotating unit 10, each of the holders 60 is moved on the machine bed 100 from the low position to the high position, and subsequently from the high position to the low position.
The method of this invention has the following advantages:
(1) Since the light-shielding sheets 220 are connected integrally to the connecting unit 210 of the band 200, and since the band 200 is wound on the first spool 45, stocktaking and material management of the light-shielding sheets 220 can be easily performed.
(2) Since the light-shielding sheets 220 are cut to separate from the connecting unit 210 of the band 200 after they are fused respectively onto the transparent bodies 300, the disadvantages associated with the assembly process of the conventional optical lens unit of
(3) The apparatus is a fully automatic machine. Thus, the quality of the optical lens units 500 can be enhanced. Furthermore, the rate of which the light-shielding sheets 220 are fused to the transparent bodies 300 is increased.
It is noted that the projections 330 are optional because the light-shielding sheets 220 can still be fused onto the transparent bodies 330 without the use of the projections 330.
With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention be limited only as indicated by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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094104813 | Feb 2005 | TW | national |