Glass optical component molding technology is a comprehensive technology that requires the design of special molding machine tools, the use of high-quality molds and the selection of reasonable process parameters. Molding methods, types of glass and blanks, mold materials and mold production, are key technologies in glass molding.

1. Molding method

Glass can be precision molding, mainly because of the development of the softened glass does not occur with the adhesion of the mold material.
The original optical lens molding method, is the molten state of optical glass blanks poured into the higher than the glass conversion point of 50 ℃ above the low-temperature mold pressure molding. This method is not only prone to glass adhesion in the mold surface, and the product is also prone to air holes and cold mold marks (wrinkles), not easy to obtain the ideal shape and surface precision.

Subsequently, the use of special materials precision machined into the pressure mold, in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, the glass and mold together with the heating temperature to the softening point of the glass near the glass, in the glass and the mold is roughly at the same temperature conditions, the use of molds on the glass to apply pressure. Next, the mold is cooled while maintaining the applied pressure so that its temperature is reduced to below the transition point of the glass (the viscosity of the glass at the softening point of the glass is about 107.6 poise, and the viscosity of the glass at the transition point of the glass is about 1013).

This method of implementing isothermal pressurization together with the glass and the mold is called isothermal pressurization, and it is a method that makes it easier to obtain high precision, i.e., it is easy to precisely replicate the surface of the mold shape. The disadvantage of this method of manufacturing glass optical parts is that it takes a long time to heat up and cool down, so the production speed is slow. In order to solve this problem, a fruitful improvement of this method was made, i.e., several molds were used in a single molding unit to increase production efficiency. However, aspherical molds are very expensive, and the use of multiple molds would inevitably result in high costs.

In response to this situation, further research and development and the original lens blank molding conditions are more similar to the non-isothermal pressing method, in order to improve the production speed of each mold and the service life of the mold. In addition, there is also research and development of the glass from the melting furnace flow out of the direct precision molding method.