Spring Hinge MIM
Company: OBE Ohnmacht & Baumgärtner GmbH
Density: 7.9 g/cm3
Hardness: 120 HV1
Tensile Strength: 510MPa
Process Steps: Tapping, Sand Blasting, Polishing, Plating
The concept by Tag Heuer was to produce spectacles without edges and corners that look like they have been formed from a mould. The edgeless hinge movement was designed as two disk-shaped forms that slid over each other.
MIM technology was the only possibility here as the complexity of the component made production via conventional metal-removing processing too expensive. Tolerances meant that the form required could not be produced via waste-wax casting but only via MIM.