초록 ▼

An extrusion-compression molding process is provided for making optical articles wherein a melt shot of optical polymer extrudate is fed to sequentially moving lower dies of a die set including a lower die and an upper die and then the upper die positioned on top of the melt shot containing lower di

An extrusion-compression molding process is provided for making optical articles wherein a melt shot of optical polymer extrudate is fed to sequentially moving lower dies of a die set including a lower die and an upper die and then the upper die positioned on top of the melt shot containing lower die and the die set compressed forming the optical article. After the optical article is formed, the lower die and upper die are separated and recycled for forming additional optical articles. The optical polymeric material may be in the form of pellets and melted in an extruder. A reaction extruder may also be employed where the optical polymeric material is produced in the reaction extruder from optical polymer monomers. A shuttle carriage is preferably used to transport the lower die, melt shot containing lower die and melt shot containing die set through the steps of the molding process. A control system is used to obtain input data and generate output signals to monitor and control the process steps.

대표청구항 ▼

[ Thus, having described the invention, what is claimed is:] [1.] A method of forming an optical article comprising:forming a melt of an optical polymeric material in a melting apparatus and feeding the melt from the apparatus in the form of an unpressurized melt strand;providing a lower die from a

[ Thus, having described the invention, what is claimed is:] [1.] A method of forming an optical article comprising:forming a melt of an optical polymeric material in a melting apparatus and feeding the melt from the apparatus in the form of an unpressurized melt strand;providing a lower die from a lower die supply device, the lower die being part of a die set comprising a lower die and an upper die;forming and adding a predetermined melt shot portion of the unpressurized melt strand to the upper surface of the lower die;providing the upper die from an upper die supply device and positioning the upper die on top of the unpressurized melt shot containing lower die forming a melt containing die set;compressing the melt containing die set forming an optical article;removing the optical article from the die set; andrepeating the above steps until the desired number of optical articles are made.