LAUSR

The glass molding has recently emerged as a promising way to mass-produce aspheric lens but has low molding accuracy. This study proposed a novel two-stage glass molding technology on the basis of the best-fitting sphere theory to improve the molding accuracy of aspheric lenses. A method of profile deviation prediction for the two-stage glass molding of aspheric lens was established on the basis of the finite element theory. Moreover, the influence of the two-stage molding temperature on profile deviation was discussed. Finally, the proposed two-stage glass molding technology was compared with the traditional glass molding process. Results demonstrate that the radius of the best-fitting sphere is 3.313 mm by fitting through the least squares method. When the molding temperature in the first stage is higher than that of the second stage, the molding accuracy of the aspheric lens is improved. Compared with the method of one-stage glass molding, the method of two-stage glass molding decreases the maximum profile deviation of the aspheric surface from 1.32 μm to 0.83 μm. The service life of the aspheric mold is prolonged because most of the deformations required for glass molding are completed by the spherical mold. This study can provide references to improve the molding accuracy and reduce the production costs of the glass molding of aspheric lens.