Patent US3623488A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0130838A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0130838A2
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EP
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Method and apparatus for producing light transmitting article of synthetic resin
Assignee: Nippon Sheet Glass Co Ltd
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Filing: 1984-07-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2004-07-02
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for producing a light transmitting article of synthetic resin by polymerizing incompletely a monomer Ma which forms a network polymer Pa having a refractive index Na, including forming a self-supporting body material, and subsequently diffusing a monomer Mb, which forms a polymer Pb having a refractive index Nb different from the refractive index Na, into the body material and simultaneously polymerizing said monomer Mb. The method involves drawing out continuously a body material (3b) from a molding means (4a) in which said body material has been formed and is ready for the diffusion of the monomer Mb, and passing said body material (3b) through a diffusion means (7) and a heating means (20) one after the other, thereby diffusing the monomer Mb into the body material (3b) with the aid of the diffusion means (7) and then heating the body material with the aid of the heating means (20) so that the distribution of the monomer Mb is fixed in the body material. This method produces a light transmitting article of synthetic resin continuously and of good quality.
Inventors
- 👤 Kouichi Maeda
- 👤 Masaaki Funaki
- 👤 Motoaki Yoshida
- 👤 Yasuji Ohtsuka
- 👤 Yuuichi Aoki
- 👤 Akira Hirayoshi
- 👤 Yukinori Watanabe
- 👤 Yasuo Masuya
- 👤 Yasuyoshi Tago
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 23:37
CPC Classifications
B; B29; B29D; B29D11/00; B29D11/00009; B29D11/00355; B29D11/00663; B29D11/00682; B29C; B29C48/00; B29C48/03; B29K; B29K2105/00; B29K2105/0002; B29K2995/00; B29K2995/0018; B29K2995/0031
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
163 words
A method of producing a light transmitting article of synthetic resin by polymerising incompletely a monomer Ma which forms a network polymer Pa having a refractive index Na thereby forming a self-supporting body material, and subsequently diffusing a monomer Mb which forms a polymer Pb having a refractive index Nb different from the refractive index Na, into said body material and simultaneously polymerizing said monomer Mb, characterised in that said method comprises the steps of drawing out continuously the body material from a molding means in which said body material has been formed and is ready for the diffusion of the monomer Mb, and passing said body material through a diffusion means and a heating means one after the other, thereby diffusing the monomer Mb into said body material with the aid of said diffusion means, and then heating said body material with the aid of said heating means so that the distribution of said monomer Mb is fixed in said body material.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
163 words
A method of producing a light transmitting article of synthetic resin by polymerising incompletely a monomer Ma which forms a network polymer Pa having a refractive index Na thereby forming a self-supporting body material, and subsequently diffusing a monomer Mb which forms a polymer Pb having a refractive index Nb different from the refractive index Na, into said body material and simultaneously polymerizing said monomer Mb, characterised in that said method comprises the steps of drawing out continuously the body material from a molding means in which said body material has been formed and is ready for the diffusion of the monomer Mb, and passing said body material through a diffusion means and a heating means one after the other, thereby diffusing the monomer Mb into said body material with the aid of said diffusion means, and then heating said body material with the aid of said heating means so that the distribution of said monomer Mb is fixed in said body material.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein the diffusion in said diffusion means is accomplished by passing said monomer Mb in the form of gas or mist along the direction in which said body material moves through said diffusion means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
90 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein the monomer Mb is in liquid form and is brought into contact with the body material for diffusion, the body material is subjected to heat polymerization, and at least the initial stage of the heat polymerization is performed in an atmosphere containing a monomer Mc in the form of gas or mist, said monomer Mc being the same as or different from the Monomer Mb and forming a polymer Pc having a refractive index Nc which satisfies any one of the following conditions:
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method according to claim 3, wherein the monomer Mc is contained in an amount equivalent to at least 20% of the saturated concentration thereof.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the monomer Mc is identical to the monomer Mb.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
79 words
A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said body material is produced by passing a prepolymer through a thin passageway and polymerizing it during its travel, said prepolymer being prepared by preliminarily polymerizing the monomer Ma so that it exhibits the plastic flow represented by the equation wherein D is the shear rate,σ is the shear stress, K is the reciprocal of the plastic viscosity, and n is a constant greater than 1.10 at 20°C.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
A method according to claim 5, wherein the value of n is 1.10 to 1.50.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the prepolymer passing through the thin passageway is heated at a rate of 0.1 to 1.0°C per minute.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method according to claim 6, claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the thin passageway has a round cross section.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein the diffusion is performed by moving the body material along a body impregnated with said monomer Mb.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
40 words
A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the diffusion rate of the monomer Mb and the polymerization rate of the body material are controlled by providing a stepwise or continuous temperature gradient in the diffusion process.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
52 words
A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the diameter of the body material emerging continuously from the molding means is measured in the vicinity of the outlet of the molding means, and the feed of the prepolymer to the molding means is controlled according to the measured value.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
112 words
Apparatus for producing a light transmitting article of synthetic resin, the apparatus comprising: (a) a means for forming the body material continuously, (b) a diffusion means comprising a diffusion chamber in which the monomer Mb is diffused into the body material, an inlet and outlet through which the monomer Mb is introduced into and discharged from the diffusion chamber, and a first heating means for heating the diffusion chamber, (c) a second heating means for heating the body material which has passed through the diffusion means, and (d) a transfer means for passing the body material emerging continuously from the molding means through the diffusion means and the second heating means continuously.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
112 words
Apparatus for producing a light transmitting article of synthetic resin, the apparatus comprising: (a) a means for forming the body material continuously, (b) a diffusion means comprising a diffusion chamber in which the monomer Mb is diffused into the body material, an inlet and outlet through which the monomer Mb is introduced into and discharged from the diffusion chamber, and a first heating means for heating the diffusion chamber, (c) a second heating means for heating the body material which has passed through the diffusion means, and (d) a transfer means for passing the body material emerging continuously from the molding means through the diffusion means and the second heating means continuously.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
23 words
Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the diffusion chamber comprises a liquid phase diffusion chamber and a gas phase diffusion chamber adjacent thereto.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
139 words
Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein monomer Mb vapor is generated by a monomer vaporizer and is brought into contact with the body material in the diffusion chamber of the diffusion means, said monomer vaporizer and said diffusion means being separated from each other, said monomer vaporizer being provided with a first vessel to hold the liquid monomer Mb at a low temperature, a second vessel to hold the liquid monomer Mb at a high temperature, a means to circulate the liquid monomer between the first vessel and the second vessel, a means to introduce an inert gas into the liquid monomer Mb in the second vessel so as to vaporize the monomer Mb, and a means to introduce the monomer vapor generated in the second vessel of the monomer vaporizer to the diffusion chamber of the diffusion means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
18 words
Apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the first vessel is not smaller than the second vessel in volume.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the diffusion means has an impregnated body through which the body material passes and a means to impregnate the impregnated body with the monomer Mb.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
63 words
Apparatus according to claim 13, which further comprises an extrusion means to force out prepolymer fluid to the molding means and also to force out the molded body material, a means to measure the diameter of the body material formed by the molding means, and a means to control the throughput of the prepolymer fluid from the extrusion means according to measured diameter.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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