Abstract: A method for the rapid fabrication of mold inserts for molds and molds c is disclosed; wherein high machinability rates and time and cost savings along with increased tool life and material savings are obtained through the use of blank die inserts formulated from material commonly used in the metal injection molding process of complex shaped parts. The method involves first the creation of cutting path programs developed from CAD files of the part; direct machining of the cavity and core inserts as described to predetermined sizes; processing the cavity and core inserts to convert the soft material—initially consisting of fine metal powders in a matrix of binder compounds—into a dense, fully hardenable material comparable to the material used in conventional toolmaking; and performing any necessary finishing and fitting operations to fit the resulting dies into a base that can be used as part of an injection molding tool.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for rapid fabrication of molds and mold components. This method involves first the step of producing a digital CAD representation of the mold; using this digital representation to make a set of oversized core and cavity three dimensional models, patterns or replicas, by using solid modeling technologies; placing these models, patterns or replicas respectively into a mold base with die pockets to accept the patterns; powder injection molding fine metal powders around each version of the core and cavity of the part to produce a "green" molded article having the negative or female impression or the original core and cavity patterns; debinding these "green" articles to remove the binder; sintering the debound articles to produce the final tool steel or related alloy molds; and performing secondary operations to fit then into a master mold base as part of a complete molding tool.