Claims
- 1. A method of enhancing a mold, die, or tool, comprising the steps of:
providing a mold, die or tool having a body with a working surface; and modifying the body, the working surface, or both, directly from CAD data using a closed-loop, direct metal deposition process.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the working surface is modified to improve wear resistance.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the working surface is modified to improve resistance to dissolution during a die casting operation.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the working surface is modified to improve oxidation resistance.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the body is modified to incorporate cooling channels to improve thermal management.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the body is modified to incorporate conductive heat sinks or thermal barriers to improve thermal management.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the body or working surface is modified to produce a lightweight tool or component.
- 8. The method of claim 7, wherein at least a portion of the body contains aluminum.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the body is cast aluminum-silicon.
- 10. The method of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the working surface is modified to produce a wear-resistant or high-temperature material.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the working surface is a metallurgically bonded molydenum alloy.
- 12. The method of claim 10, further including a nickel alloy bond coat for improved service life for die casting of low melting point materials such as Zn alloys.
- 13. The method of claim 1, further including a steel working surface.
- 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the closed-loop DMD process is based upon a robotic implementation to process three-dimensional objects having a large mass and/or complexity.
- 15. An enhancing a mold, die, or tool fabricated in accordance with the method of claim 1.
- 16. An enhancing a mold, die, or tool fabricated in accordance with the method of claim 2.
- 17. An enhancing a mold, die, or tool fabricated in accordance with the method of claim 3.
- 18. An enhancing a mold, die, or tool fabricated in accordance with the method of claim 4.
- 19. An enhancing a mold, die, or tool fabricated in accordance with the method of claim 5.
- 20. An enhancing a mold, die, or tool fabricated in accordance with the method of claim 6.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/399,264, filed Jul. 29, 2002, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60399264 |
Jul 2002 |
US |