EPMA Awards 2010
Winners of the EPMA’s 2010 Excellence in Powder Metallurgy Awards were announced at the 2010 PM World Congress in Florence, Italy.
The competition, which was open to all EPMA member companies, covered components, materials and process equipment. Awards were presented by the EPMA’s president, Mr Ingo Cremer, during the opening ceremony.
Component Category
A total of 14 entries were received in the Component Category of the 2010 EPMA awards. From a wide range of components ranging from automotive applications to photographic accessories, the following MIM part was chosen to receive an award.
OBE Ohnmacht & Baumgaertner GmbH – MIM locking device for spectacles
This extremely small locking device for spring hinges in spectacles resulted in an award for OBE, Germany.
Due to the high quantity needed per year, metal injection moulding (MIM) proved the most cost effective technology in order to keep the whole spring hinge component at a competitive price level.
The locking device is the most sensitive component of the spring hinge and the high abrasion during its function makes it necessary to use a hard and also non corrosive material. The component utilises the high precision available using the MIM process and weighs just 0.028g. Around 4 million parts per year are produced using 32 cavity moulds.
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