Custom Lens Prototyping with Adjustable Membrane Optical Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in manufacturing optical components, particularly lenses, lies in achieving efficient and fast production while maintaining high optical quality, as traditional methods like molds are slow, and rapid prototyping via 3D printing often results in low quality.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of a cavity to shape a liquid material, adjusting its surface, and curing it to form a rigid optical component, utilizing adjustable solid state structures and controlled viscosity to ensure precise optical surface formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional molds are used for manufacturing optical components, then manufacturing precision and optical quality are improved, but production time and lead time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state parameter of the optical material from solid (traditional molding) to liquid (curable liquid material), enabling the material to flow and conform to the mold cavity quickly, then transforms it back to solid through curing. This parameter change allows rapid prototyping while maintaining precision, resolving the contradiction between fast production and high optical quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes phase transition of the optical material from liquid to solid state through curing process. The liquid material is injected into the mold cavity and then cured to form the final optical component. This phase transition enables both rapid filling of complex mold geometries and precise reproduction of optical surfaces, eliminating the long lead times of traditional solid-state molding while maintaining manufacturing precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional grinding and 3D milling processes are used, then manufacturing precision is improved, but production time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical removal processes (grinding, 3D milling) with a formative process using curable liquid material. Instead of mechanically removing material to achieve the desired optical surface, the liquid material is shaped by the mold cavity and then cured, directly forming the final optical component. This substitution eliminates time-consuming mechanical operations while maintaining precision.
3Productivity
If rapid prototyping via 3D printing is used, then production time is reduced, but optical quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mold cavity as an intermediary that defines the precise optical geometry. The curable liquid material flows into this pre-designed cavity, allowing the mold (rather than the 3D printing process itself) to determine the final optical surface quality. This intermediary approach enables rapid production while achieving high precision through the mold's accurate geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material state from solid (3D printing) to liquid, enabling the material to perfectly conform to the mold cavity's optical surfaces. The liquid state allows complete filling of complex geometries without the layer-by-layer limitations of 3D printing, and the subsequent curing locks in the high-precision shape, achieving both speed and optical quality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables fast and cost-effective manufacturing of optical components with high optical quality by using a cavity to shape and cure liquid material, allowing for customizable and precise optical surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
d1) curing the liquid material (4) filled into the at least one cavity (2) so that the liquid material (4) becomes a rigid material (40)
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein is a method for producing at least one optical component (1), comprising the steps of: a) Providing at least one cavity (2), wherein the at least one cavity (2) is delimited on a first side by a surface (3a) of a first membrane portion (3), wherein a shape of the first membrane portion (3) is adjustable; b) Filling a material (4) into the at least one cavity (2) for forming at least one optical component (1), such that the material (4) contacts a surface (3a) of the first membrane portion (3); c) Adjusting the shape of the first membrane portion (3); d) Curing the material (4) filled into the at least one cavity (2) so that the material (4) forms a first interface (e.g. a first optical surface) (1a) of the at least one optical component (1), which first interface (1a) comprises a shape defined by a shape of the surface (3a) of the first membrane portion (3).