Method of making molds for molding or casting optical parts and the like

Claim 2

A mold-making method according to which: a. In at least one plate a hole is made, said hole having a shape that closely follows a chosen contour of the pattErn of the desired mold-cavity, b. said pattern is nested along said contour into said hole, c. the combination of (b) above is plated with a plating, and thereafter said pattern is withdrawn, the combination of said plating and said plate forming an enantiomorphic to said pattern mold-cavity.

Claim 3

A mold-making method according to which: a. Two plates are firmly held together and a hole is made through both of them, said hole having a shape that closely follows a chosen contour of the pattern of the desired mold-cavity, b. said pattern is nested into said hole, c. said two plates with said pattern nested into said hole are plated, and thereafter said two plates are separated and said pattern withdrawn, thus leaving between said two plates an enantiomorphic to said pattern mold-cavity.

Claim 4

A mold-making method according to which: a. Two plates are firmly held together and a hole is made through both of them, said hole having a shape that closely follows a chosen contour of the pattern of the desired mold-cavity, b. said pattern is nested into said hole, c. said two plates with said pattern nested into said hole are plated, and thereafter said two plates are separated and said pattern withdrawn, thus leaving between said two plates an enantiomorphic to said pattern mold-cavity.

Claim 5

The method of claim 2, in which said firmly held together two plates of step (a) are provided with registration apertures.

Claim 6

The method of claim 3, in which said two plates, after their separation according to step (c), are realigned by means of precision-ground guiding posts inserted through said registration apertures.

Claim 7

The method of claim 2, in which more than two plates are employed.

Claim 8

The method of claim 5, in which said plates are provided with registration apertures through which precision-ground posts are inserted in order to ensure their correct realignment after they have been separated.

Claim 9

A mold-making method according to which: a. Two plates are firmly held together and a hole is made through both of them, said hole having a shape that closely follows a chosen contour of a pattern employed in making a desired mold-cavity, b. said two plates are separated, c. said pattern is nested along said contour into said hole of one of said plates, the nested pattern having thus two exposed surfaces, and one of said two surfaces is covered with a protective non-plating layer, leaving a non-covered surface, d. the combination of (c) above is plated and thereafter said layer is removed and said pattern is withdrawn thus leaving an enantiomorphic to said non-covered surface mold-cavity, e. said pattern is nested along said contour into said hole of the other of said two plates, the nested pattern having thus two exposed surfaces, and one of said two surfaces is covered with said protective non-plating layer, leaving a second non-covered surface, f. the combination of (e) above is plated and thereafter said layer is removed and said pattern is withdrawn thus leaving an enantiomorphic to said second non-covered surface mold-cavity, g. said two plates with their mold-cavities as produced by steps (d) and (f) above are brought together again and aligned to form between them a final single mold-cavity.

Claim 10

A mold-making method according to which: a. Two plates are firmly held together and a hole is made through both of them, said hole having a shape that closely follows a chosen contour of a pattern employed in making a desired mold-cavity, b. said two plates are separated, c. said pattern is nested along said contour into said hole of one of said plates, the nested pattern having thus two exposed surfaces, and one of said two surfaces is covered with a protective non-plating layer, leaving a non-covered surface, d. the combination of (c) above is plated and thereafter said layer is removed and said pattern is withdrawn thus leaving an enantiomorphic to said non-covered surface mold-cavity, e. said pattern is nested along said contour into said hole of the other of said two plates, the nested pattern having thus two exposed surfaces, and one of said two surfaces is covered with said protective non-plating layer, leaving a second non-covered surface, f. the combination of (e) above is plated and thereafter said layer is removed and said pattern is withdrawn thus leaving an enantiomorphic to said second non-covered surface mold-cavity, g. said two plates with their mold-cavities as produced by steps (d) and (f) above are brought together again and aligned to form between them a final single mold-cavity.

Claim 11

The method of claim 7, in which more than two plates are employed.

Claim 12

The method of claim 8, in which said plates are provided with registration apertures through which precision-ground posts are inserted in order to ensure their correct realignment after they have been separated.

Claim 13

The method of claim 7, in which said firmly held together two plates of step (a) are provided with registration apertures to ensure their correct alignment as per step (g).

Claim 14

The method of claim 7 in which at least one of said protective layer of step (c) and said protective layer of step (e) is extended over the side of said plate which is next to said covered surface.

Claim 15

A mold-making method according to which: a. A hole is made through a plate, said hole having a shape that closely follows a chosen contour of the pattern of the desired mold-cavity, b. said pattern is nested along said contour into said hole of said plate, the nested pattern having thus two exposed surfaces, and one of said two surfaces is covered with a protective non-plating layer, leaving a non-covered surface, c. the combination of (b) above is plated and thereafter said layer is removed and said pattern is withdrawn thUs leaving an enantiomorphic to said non-covered surface mold-cavity.

Claim 16

A mold-making method according to which: a. A hole is made through a plate, said hole having a shape that closely follows a chosen contour of the pattern of the desired mold-cavity, b. said pattern is nested along said contour into said hole of said plate, the nested pattern having thus two exposed surfaces, and one of said two surfaces is covered with a protective non-plating layer, leaving a non-covered surface, c. the combination of (b) above is plated and thereafter said layer is removed and said pattern is withdrawn thUs leaving an enantiomorphic to said non-covered surface mold-cavity.