Mobile phone flip slider and hinge barrel

Produced by Advanced Materials Technologies Pte Ltd of Singapore for Motorola’s PEBL mobile phone in the USA, are two metal injection moulded parts which make up the dual-hinge opening mechanism allowing the clamshell phone cover to slide up and down and flip open in a single movement.

The parts are made from high strength 17-4 PH stainless steel and the MIM process allowed very complex thin wall, overhanging structures, and a 3D design with no level sitting side. The two parts won a MPIF Grand Prize in the electronic/electrical category of the Powder Metallurgy Design Excellence Awards in 2006 (see our Award Winning Parts page for more award winning MIM and CIM parts)

MIM parts in professional jigsaw

Parmaco Metal Injection Moulding AG, Switzerland, is producing two metal injection moulded parts for the jigsaw holder assembly used in the Festool PS300 professional jigsaw. The parts are the receptor shown in different stages of production in Fig.1.

The metal injection moulded receptor part is press fitted and laser welded to the jigsaw’s rotary swaged pusher rod.

Key to the success of metal injection moulding in this application were the good sliding characteristics of the slide part and the fit of the metal injection moulded slide in the receptor.

MIM Double bulge diamond bead

A new diamond cutting tool based on metal injection moulding has been developed and patented by MIMITALIA srl. By taking advantage of the freedom of shape available with injection moulding, a diamond bead with a double bulge profile is moulded on modified commercial injection moulding machines in a mould with four cavities.

Debinding is carried out via a solvent/thermal route in a special oven at the maximum temperature of 300°C and under a nitrogen flow. Sintering is performed in hydrogen at 940 °C for 120 min.

A density 8.5 g/cm3 (96% of theoretical) is reached. After sintering the beads are brazed onto the steel supports and assembled on a 19.6 metre long wire with a linear density of 30 beads per metre.

The component has been tried on full scale tests and commercialised. The new geometry allows the cut-ting pressure to be applied only at the top of the bulges improving the cutting speed and thus reducing cutting costs. It has been demonstrated that a remarkable cost savings can be achieved with the new metal injection moulded cutting tool.

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