A multiple mold (42) for production of at least two glass-ceramic blanks. The glass-ceramic blanks are for dental purposes and are produced from at least two powder blanks by hot pressing. The multiple mold (42) includes a frame (48) that defines at least sections of a receiving volume (50) for the at least two powder blanks. Additionally provided is a separating element (52) which is disposed within the receiving volume (50) and divides the receiving volume (50) into at least two subvolumes, each of which is designed to accommodate one of the at least two powder blanks. Also described are the use of the multiple mold (42) for production of a glass-ceramic blank for dental purposes, a compression apparatus and a continuous system for production of glass-ceramic blanks for dental purposes.

A method for further processing of a glass tube semi-finished product includes: providing the glass tube semi-finished product, along with tube-specific data for the glass tube semi-finished product; reading the tube-specific data for the glass tube semi-finished product; and further processing of the glass tube semi-finished product including a step of thermal forming carried out at least in sections. At least one process parameter during the further processing of the glass tube semi-finished product including the step of thermal forming carried out at least in sections is controlled as a function of the tube-specific data for the glass tube semi-finished product. In this way, the further processing can be matched more efficiently to the particular characteristics of a glass tube semi-finished product to be processed or a particular subsection thereof, and the relevant characteristics of the particular glass tube semi-finished product do not need to be measured again.

A method of molding a window for a display device includes: forming curved side surfaces and curved corners of the window, by pressing a heated preliminary window glass to a mold. The mold includes: a flat portion corresponding to a flat display portion of the display device; a window side surface bending portion corresponding to the side surfaces of the display device; and a window corner bending portion corresponding to the corners of the display device. The forming the curved side surfaces of the window includes pressing the heated preliminary window glass against the window side surface bending portion of the mold; and after the forming of the curved side surfaces, forming the curved corners and a flat portion of the window by further pressing the heated preliminary window glass respectively against the window corner bending portion and the flat portion of the mold.

A product conveyance apparatus includes an actuator, a movement portion, a first position detection portion, a second position detection portion, and a controller. The controller performs a process of causing the actuator not holding a product to move to a predetermined position, detecting the position of the actuator and storing the position as a first position, a process of causing the actuator to move on a basis of a movement instruction value and hold the product, causing the actuator holding the product to move to the predetermined position, detecting the position of the product held by the actuator, and storing the position as a second position, and a process of correcting and updating the movement instruction value on a basis of difference between the first position and the second position.

An optical element manufacturing apparatus includes plural pairs of stage units that are each arranged opposite to each other so as to sandwich a mold set that houses a molding material, each of the plural pairs of stage units performing at least one of heating, pressurization, and cooling on the mold set, wherein each of the stage units includes a temperature control block for which temperature is controlled, and in a third direction orthogonal to a first direction and a second direction, the temperature control block includes heating regions that are positioned on sides of both ends and in which heating sources are arranged, and a non-heating region that is positioned on a central side and in which the heating sources are not arranged throughout the first direction, the first direction being a direction in which the plural pairs of stage units are arranged, and the second direction being a direction in which a pair of stage units are opposite to each other.

An optical glass includes La.sup.3+, Zn.sup.2+, Nb.sup.5+, and Ti.sup.4+ as a cation configuring glass. La.sup.3+, Zn.sup.2+, Nb.sup.5+, and Ti.sup.4+ which satisfy 10 cat %La.sup.3+20 cat %, 10 cat %Zn.sup.2+60 cat %, 20 cat %Nb.sup.5+60 cat %, and 0 cat %Ti.sup.4+40 cat % expressed by cation %.

A shape forming system according to one embodiment includes a mold assemblies; a heating unit; a pressing unit; a cooling unit; an isolation chamber configured to accommodate therein the heating unit, the pressing unit, and the cooling unit arranged in parallel with each other; and a conveyance unit configured to move the plurality of mold assemblies each of which is arranged on a plate provided in each of the heating unit, the pressing unit, and the cooling unit to thereby convey the mold assemblies in sequence.

A method of producing an optical element includes: determining, as a reference mold set, a first mold set from among mold sets; determining a set temperature for the reference mold set; acquiring reference data by measuring, by a temperature measurement sensor, a temperature of the reference mold set; measuring, by the temperature measurement sensor, a temperature of a second mold set that is at least one of the mold sets other than the reference mold set; calculating a correction value based on a measurement result obtained by the measuring and on the reference data; determining a set temperature for the second mold set based on the set temperature for the reference mold set and on the correction value; and performing temperature control on the mold sets based on set temperatures determined for the respective mold sets to produce the optical elements.

A lens forming method is provided, including: heating a blank mold with a pre-molding cavity until a glass preform in the pre-molding cavity is in a semi-molten state; applying a pressure to the blank mold, so that the glass preform is extruded to form a lens rough blank with a predetermined shape; cooling the blank mold and the lens rough blank, and separating the blank mold by depressurization, to transfer the lens rough blank to a molding cavity of a high-precision aspherical mold; heating the high-precision aspherical mold until the lens rough blank is softened to a semi-molten state; applying a pressure to the high-precision aspherical mold, so that the lens rough blank is extruded to form a lens molded part with an aspherical structure; and cooling the high-precision aspherical mold and the lens molded part, and separating the high-precision aspherical mold by depressurization, to remove the lens molded part.

A product conveyance apparatus includes an actuator, a movement portion, a first position detection portion, a second position detection portion, and a controller. The controller performs a process of causing the actuator not holding a product to move to a predetermined position, detecting the position of the actuator and storing the position as a first position, a process of causing the actuator to move on a basis of a movement instruction value and hold the product, causing the actuator holding the product to move to the predetermined position, detecting the position of the product held by the actuator, and storing the position as a second position, and a process of correcting and updating the movement instruction value on a basis of difference between the first position and the second position.