Process for manufacturing GRIN lenses by melting a series of layers of frits
US5630857A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 15, 1995 |
| Grant date | May 20, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 15, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B3/0087
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A method of manufacturing an optical device having a profile of refractive indices along its optical axis. A desired volume of each of a plurality of types of optical material are dispensed into a mold of known plan area in the form of a frit or a melt and the mold is heated to cause the materials to melt and fuse together to define a contiguous body of optical material having a desired profile. As the optical materials melt, the different types of material separate out so that they are arranged with the most dense material closest to the bottom of the mold and the least dense material closest to the top of the mold. To enhance this effect, the optical materials are layered in the mold in decreasing order of density of the materials from the bottom to the top so that the layers of optical material with the greater densities are closer to the bottom of the mold than the layers of materials with lesser densities.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.