Method of manufacturing glass melt, method of manufacturing molded glass materials, and method of manufacturing optical elements

Abstract

In the method for manufacturing the molten glass, the melting of glass or the discharge of the molten glass is carried out while monitoring the height of the liquid level of the molten glass in the vessel having a cover on the upper part. The liquid level is monitored by making monitoring light almost vertically incident on the molten glass liquid surface from the outside through an opening part provided on the cover, exiting the light reflected from the liquid surface through the opening part and detecting the light outside the vessel. The method for manufacturing the glass molding includes a process for allowing the molten glass manufactured by the above method to flow out and molding the flow-out glass. The subject method for manufacturing an optical element includes a process for manufacturing the optical element by machining the glass molding manufactured by the above method. The optical element is obtained by heating a preform for precise press molding which is manufactured by the above method and precisely press-molding it.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a method for melting glass, a method for producing a glass molded body from molten glass, and a method for producing an optical element. Background technique [0002] When adding glass raw materials to a container of molten glass or flowing molten glass from the container, it is necessary to monitor the liquid level of the molten glass accumulated in the container. As a method of monitoring the liquid level, for example, there is a method described in FIG. 3 of Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-57413 (Patent Document 1). In this method, the light emitted from a laser emitter installed on the side wall of a clarification tank is reflected by the liquid surface of molten glass, and the light receiver installed on the side wall of the opposite clarification tank detects the reflected light, thereby measuring the liquid level. This method has the feature of measuring the glass level without contacting the molten glass. ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The deformation of the clarification tank will affect the position accuracy of the laser emitter and light receiver installed on the side wall of the clarification tank, as a result, it will affect the measurement results of the liquid level and cause measurement errors

[0006] In addition, in the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the height of the molten glass surface changes greatly, the reflected position of the light from the laser emitter deviates from the light receiver, causing the problem that liquid level measurement cannot be performed.

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