Microstructured Lens Encapsulation via Post-Injection Press Coating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Coatings of microstructured lenses often deviate from the original design, requiring longer development times and higher costs, and some lenses, such as Pi-Fresnel, cannot be coated using common methods like dip or spin coating due to loss of optical design.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a post-injection press coating (PIPC) process that encapsulates microstructures on a lens surface during injection molding by changing mold inserts between injection and coating steps, allowing for in-mold coating and encapsulation of microstructures without affecting the design, using a curable coating applied and cured within the mold device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If common coating methods (dip or spin coating) are used on microstructured lenses, then coating can be applied, but the optical design is lost and deviation from original microlens design occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The mold insert with inverted microstructures is placed in the mold cavity before injection molding to create the microstructured surface on the lens. This preliminary structuring allows the coating to be applied subsequently without altering the optical design, as the microstructures are already formed on the lens surface before coating application.
Solution Approach 2:
A curable coating is applied as an intermediary layer between the microstructured lens surface and the external environment. This coating is then cured to encapsulate the microstructures, providing protection while maintaining the optical design integrity. The curable coating acts as a mediator that preserves the microstructured surface while enabling additional functional layers.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple concept loops are used to compensate for coating deviations, then design accuracy can be achieved, but development time increases and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The microstructured surface is created during the injection molding process itself, before any coating application. By preparing the microstructured surface in advance as part of the molding process, subsequent coating applications do not require iterative design compensations, thereby reducing development time and costs while maintaining precision.
3Ease of manufacture
If Pi-Fresnel microstructured lenses are coated using common methods, then coating can be applied, but the optical design is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The Pi-Fresnel microstructures are formed on the lens surface during injection molding before coating application. This preliminary formation ensures that the complex optical design is established first, and subsequent coating application does not alter the microstructure geometry, thereby preserving the optical design while enabling coating application.
Solution Approach 2:
The curable coating serves as an intermediary layer that encapsulates the Pi-Fresnel microstructures without altering their geometry. By applying the coating after the microstructures are formed and then curing it to encapsulate the microstructures, the optical design is preserved while adding functional capabilities.
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
Enables the coating of microstructured lenses like Pi-Fresnel and other designs without altering the optical properties, reducing development time and costs, and allowing for the inclusion of light filters, while avoiding the need for additional coatings for scratch resistance.
Implementation Method 1
curing the curable coating into a curable layer
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming an optical lens includes providing a first mold insert of a molding device having a contacting surface, the contacting surface including a plurality of inverted microstructures disposed on the contacting surface, each microstructure of the plurality of inverted microstructures having a shape inversely related to a shape of microstructures on a surface of a molded base lens; replacing the first mold insert with a second mold insert having a contacting surface thereof; applying a curable coating to a surface of the base lens having the microstructures formed thereon; pressing the contacting surface of the second mold insert into at least a portion of the curable coating applied to the surface of the base lens; and curing the curable coating into a curable layer, the microstructures being substantially entirely encapsulated in the curable layer.