Fabrication of tooling by thermal spraying
AssigneeGeneral Magnaplate Corporation
InventorsCharles P. Covino, Edmund V. Aversenti, Gaylon Pleasant, Allen Solomon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for fabricating a mold by providing a matrix having a shape to be molded, and spraying molten metal from a spray gun. The spray gun is moved so that the spray gun makes successive passes over the surface of the matrix in a movement direction, shifts in a step direction transverse to the movement direction between passes and turns between passes so that during at least some successive passes metal is deposited from two spray directions in a crisscross pattern. Metal is deposited on the matrix, forming a shell which is removed from the matrix and used as a mold.
Claims25
A method of making a mold comprising the steps of;
- (a) providing a matrix having a shape to be molded;
- (b) depositing a metal on said matrix by spraying the metal as molten droplets from a spray gun while moving the spray gun relative to the matrix so that the spray gun passes back and forth over the surface of the matrix in a movement direction and shifts in a step direction transverse to the movement direction between passes, while the metal is ejected from the spray gun in a spray direction and turning the gun between passes as to change the spray direction between passes so that during at least some successive passes, metal is deposited in the same region of said matrix from two spray directions in a crisscross pattern, whereby the deposited metal forms a shell on the matrix;
- and
- (c) removing the shell from the matrix to form a mold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.