Perspex Acrylic and Rohm Plexiglas are both Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) and are ideally suited to the manufacture of Acrylic Light Guides and Acrylic Lenses. Acrylic is half the weight of glass and offers very good resistance to component breakage through shock or impact. Fully heat treated cast Acrylic also offers excellent light transmission properties and offers good optical clarity similar to glass.
Acrylic and Fibre Optic Light Guides
Light from a single light source can be captured and guided by means of acrylic and fibre optic light guides. Carville produce CNC machined (turned and milled) acrylic light guides and fibre optic light guides for use in medical, scientific and specialist industrial applications.
Light guides can be simple components such as a round acrylic light pipe or may be more complex components which have been fabricated and formed. Light guides can be wrapped in reflective materials to ensure optimum light transfer from the receiver to the output.
Carville also have extensive experience with fibre optic light guide detectors, manufacturing large, complex fibre optic detector assemblies for use on synchrotron target stations such as (CERN).
Acrylic Lenses
After the material manufacturing process, cast acrylic will be stressed and can contain hard spots in the material. When producing machined and polished lenses in acrylic, Carville heat treat the acrylic material to remove the material stress and ensure a reliable lens performance.
Carville have manufactured lens components for use in medical, scientific, aerospace, automotive and specialist industrial applications including Fresnel lenses.
Lenses produced by Carville are CNC machined and may have concave, convex or aspheric profiles. Producing acrylic lenses using CNC machining techniques ensures that components can be produced reliably in volume.
Lenses are diamond machined to ensure a high-quality surface finish and are then hand dressed and polished to achieve the best results. We also use calibration guides for some lens applications to ensure a consistent level of quality for demanding applications.
Lense Finishes
Carville also offer finishing options such as sand blasting for light diffusion purposes and various protection coatings.