Vacuum Lens Chuck Alignment for Parallel Ophthalmic Gluing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ophthalmic lens positioning devices fail to accurately adjust the Z-axis positioning and achieve parallelism between lens surfaces, leading to deviations in adhesive layer thickness and interference fringes during gluing processes.
Innovation Solution
A device with a translational and rotational motion unit and a chuck equipped with vacuum-gripping holders and control elements allows precise manipulation of ophthalmic lenses, enabling accurate translation and rotation along orthogonal axes to achieve parallel alignment and controlled adhesive layer thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional grippers with movable jaws are used for positioning lenses, then positioning in X, Y translation and Z rotation is achieved, but accurate positioning in Z translation and X, Y rotation is not possible
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning device is segmented into two independent functional units: a first gripper for initial positioning (X, Y translation and Z rotation) and a second positioning device for fine adjustment (Z translation and X, Y rotation). This segmentation allows each unit to specialize in specific degrees of freedom, achieving comprehensive 6-DOF positioning without requiring a single complex mechanism to handle all adjustments simultaneously.
2Manufacturing precision
If lenses rest on their lower faces for positioning, then stable positioning is achieved, but accurate control of the upper face position for gluing is not possible due to thickness variations
Solution Approach 1:
The second positioning device acts as an intermediary mechanism that decouples the stable resting position (lower face) from the critical bonding surface (upper face). By providing independent fine adjustment capabilities for Z translation and X, Y rotation, this intermediary device compensates for thickness variations and ensures the upper face is precisely positioned for gluing, regardless of the lower face's resting position.
3Manufacturing precision
If only two conventional grippers are used, then the device structure remains simple, but it is not possible to achieve both initial positioning and fine adjustment for parallelism and thickness control
Solution Approach 1:
The device merges two complementary positioning systems into a unified workflow: the first gripper handles coarse positioning (X, Y translation and Z rotation), while the second positioning device handles fine adjustments (Z translation and X, Y rotation). This combination of two specialized systems achieves complete 6-DOF positioning capability with better division of labor, avoiding the need for a single overly complex mechanism.
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 device ensures precise positioning with +/- 0.5 µm accuracy, ensuring parallelism between lens surfaces and consistent adhesive layer thickness, thereby improving the gluing process.
Implementation Method 1
at least one holder of the plurality of holders being provided with a vacuum propagating element enabling the at least one holder to grip that face of the at least one ophthalmic lens
Data Source
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AI summary
This device (12) for manipulating at least one ophthalmic lens (10) comprises a translational and rotational motion unit, movable in translation and in rotation according to three mutually orthogonal directions and a chuck (14) fixed on the translational and rotational motion unit. The chuck (14) comprises: a plurality of holders (16) movable in translation according to a direction orthogonal to a face of the at least one ophthalmic lens (10), at least one holder of the plurality of holders (16) being provided with a vacuum propagating element enabling that holder to grip the face of the at least one ophthalmic lens (10); and a plurality of holder control elements (18), each holder control element (18) being adapted to either impede, or allow translation movement of a holder of the plurality of holders (16).