System, method and apparatus for ultraviolet curing of adhesives with light beam shaping in disk drive manufacturing

Abstract

UV curing of adhesives with light beam shaping utilizes a spot curing process that focuses a limited amount of UV light onto a target area, such as glue dots. A focusing lens may be used to direct the UV light beam to the target area. The target areas have different geometrical shapes, and the UV light is advantageously concentrated in a more efficient manner. Beam-shaping optics or lenses are used to facilitate re-shaping and re-defining the UV-light beam. The UV beam may be defined and limited to a rectangular spot to improve the spot process quality and efficiency.

1 . A system for shaping a light beam, comprising:
 a light source for emitting light;   a light guide having an inlet end for receiving light from the light source, and an outlet end for emitting light conveyed through the light guide; and   a lens assembly located adjacent to the outlet end for collimating the emitted light and forming a desired geometric-shaped light beam.   
     
     
         2 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the lens assembly comprises a plurality of lenses. 
     
     
         3 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the lens assembly comprises a collimating lens and at least one other lens element. 
     
     
         4 . A system according to  claim 3 , wherein the collimating lens is located adjacent to the outlet end and light guide emits a diverging beam that passes through the collimating lens prior to passing through said at least one other lens element. 
     
     
         5 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the lens assembly comprises a collimating lens and a pair of cylindrical lenses. 
     
     
         6 . A system according to  claim 5 , wherein each of the cylindrical lenses has a convex leading surface and a planar trailing surface that are normal to an axis of the emitted light. 
     
     
         7 . A system according to  claim 5 , wherein the cylindrical lenses are rotated and positioned 90 degrees out of phase relative to each other. 
     
     
         8 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the light source emits UV light, and the desired geometric-shaped light beam is a rectangular light beam.