Tapered Edge Optical Substrate for Resin Curing Stress
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Solution Overview
Problem
The curing shrinkage of resin in composite optical elements can cause stress and distortion, leading to an inclined outer circumferential face, which reduces the stability of the optical element within a lens barrel, affecting its engagement and holding mechanism.
Innovation Solution
An optical substrate with a tapered edge face on its outer circumferential surface, formed by combining a resin optical member with a glass substrate, where the edge face is parallel to the optical axis, allowing stable engagement with a lens barrel and minimizing the impact of curing shrinkage-induced stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a resin layer is formed on a glass substrate to create a composite optical element, then the manufacturing flexibility and optical design freedom are improved, but curing shrinkage of the resin causes stress and distortion that worsen the stability and alignment of the optical element
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a tapered edge face at a specific location (the outer circumferential face) of the optical substrate. This localized geometric modification allows the bulk of the substrate to maintain its structural integrity while the edge portion provides stress relief through its tapered configuration, thereby maintaining overall stability without compromising the composite optical design freedom.
Solution Approach 2:
The tapered edge face is formed in advance during substrate processing, before the resin layer is applied and cured. This preliminary action pre-compensates for the distortion that will occur during resin curing, ensuring that when stress develops, the optical element maintains proper alignment and stability without requiring post-processing adjustments.
2Reliability
If the outer circumferential face of the optical element is used for engagement with the lens barrel, then the mounting stability is improved, but stress-induced inclination of this face reduces the reliability of the engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by modifying only the edge region of the optical substrate through tapering, while keeping the main optical surfaces and the engagement face area intact. This localized modification relieves stress concentration at the edges without affecting the flatness and precision of the outer circumferential face that engages with the lens barrel, thereby maintaining both manufacturing precision and engagement reliability.
3Ease of manufacture
If resin curing is performed to form the optical member, then the optical element can be manufactured with complex shapes, but the curing shrinkage generates stress that distorts the optical substrate
Solution Approach 1:
The tapered edge face structure applies stress relief locally at the boundaries of the optical substrate, where stress concentration from resin curing shrinkage is most severe. This allows the bulk of the substrate to maintain its flatness and optical precision while still enabling the manufacturing of complex-shaped composite optical elements through resin curing.
Solution Approach 2:
The tapered edge face is prepared in advance during substrate fabrication, before resin application and curing. This preliminary geometric configuration pre-compensates for the dimensional changes and stress distribution that will occur during resin curing, allowing complex shapes to be manufactured while maintaining optical substrate flatness.
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
The tapered edge face design enhances the stability of the optical element within the lens barrel, ensuring precise alignment and reducing the influence of stress-induced inclination, thereby maintaining optical performance and image quality in devices like image capturing and projection apparatuses.
Implementation Method 1
a defective transfer of the optical face shape to the resin layer may occur due to the curing shrinkage of the resin
Implementation Method 2
stress may act on the optical element due to the curing shrinkage of the resin
Data Source
AI summary
It is proposed an optical substrate of which at least one surface is combined with an optical member made of a material that is different from that of the optical substrate, so as to form an optical element, in which an edge face is formed on at least a portion of an outer circumferential face of the optical substrate, and the edge face is formed in a tapered shape that is centripetally reduced from a side of the surface combined with the optical member towards an opposite side thereof.