OBE wins EPMA award for 0.028g Metal Injection Moulded (MIM) eyewear component
Fig. 1 OBE’s MIM locking device in the sintered
andgreen state. The cavity markings make it
easy to trace any damage in the tooling
(Photo PIM International)
OBE Ohnmacht & Baumgaertner GmbH (OBE), Germany, won a 2010 EPMA Award for Innovation in the “Component” category for what is described as a revolutionary locking device for spring hinges in spectacles (Fig. 1). The award was presented at the PM2010 World Congress, Florence, October 10-14 2010.
This extremely small MIM 316L part weighs just 0.028g, however despite its small size, production volumes are high, with more than 4 million parts being produced each year. The part is manufactured in a 32 cavity mould.
The locking device is the most sensitive component of a sprung spectacle frame hinge. The high levels of abrasion during the function of the spring hinge make it necessary to use a hard, corrosion resistant material. A high level of accuracy was needed to enable a connection with a spring of 0.56 mm diameter. www.obe.de
Fig. 2 An illustration of the function of the MIM locking device
