Using RP techniques to manufacture finished, 'limited edition' products
The German laser sintering machine manufacturer, Electro Optical Systems
believes there is huge scope for manufacturing finished products in small
production runs using rapid prototyping techniques such as laser
sintering. During a recent conference at the company's Munich
headquarters, various project were described, including the production of
tailor-made plastic shells for digital hearing aids, fashionable,
'limited edition' sunglasses and even the manufacture of centrifuges.
Other subjects discussed include the manufacture of tooling directly from
laser sintered metal - so-called DirectTool. A good example of this is
the 'minute mould' concept developed by the Finnish company, Rapid
Product Innovations, in which a small series of injection moulded parts
was produced from 2D drawings in just 15 hours. In another application of
DirectTool by another company, some 20,000 covers in glass fibre
reinforced PBT were manufactured in just two weeks using laser sintered
inserts.