Micro-molded integral non-line-of sight articles and method
View Patent ↗A method of forming integral articles having non-line-of-site contours includes the steps of providing a plurality of molds, the molds having at least one mold channel therethrough. The plurality of molds are stacked on one another to form a mold stack, wherein at least one portion of the mold stack provides a non-line of sight multi-level channel through at least partial overlap of the mold channels between adjacent ones of the plurality of molds. A flowable material is applied to the mold stack. The flowable material is pressed to fill the mold channels in each of the plurality of molds to form an integral article comprising a plurality of stacked integrally connected levels of the material, wherein through interconnection of the integrally connected levels the integral article provides at least one non-line of sight contour traversing in its thickness direction. The mold stack is then separated or removed to free the integral article.
1. An integral article, comprising:
a plurality of stacked integrally connected levels, each of the plurality of levels comprising a material that forms a one piece molded article without internal interfaces, where the material is solid at ambient temperature and is flowable when at a temperature above ambient, wherein through interconnection via the integrally connected levels of the integral article, the integral article includes at least one non-line of sight contour of the material traversing between the levels in a thickness direction.
2. The article of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of levels has substantially planar top and bottom surface portions.
3. The article of claim 1 , wherein the non-line of sight contour has a first portion in a first level that is completely offset from a second portion in a second level.
4. The article of claim 1 , wherein the flowable material comprises an amorphous glass.
5. The article of claim 4 , wherein the amorphous glass is a metallic glass.
6. The article of claim 5 , further comprising an outer layer material that is a semiconductor.
7. An integral article formed by a process of:
providing a plurality of molds, wherein at least a portion of the molds have one or more mold channels therethrough;
stacking the plurality of molds on one another to form a mold stack, wherein the mold stack provides a non-line of sight channel through the at least a portion of the molds in a thickness direction, the non-line of sight channel being formed by partial overlap of the one or more mold channels between adjacent ones of the at least a portion of the molds;
applying a flowable material to the mold stack at a temperature above ambient and below the melting temperature of the material;
pressing the flowable material to fill the one or more mold channels to form the integral article;
solidifying the flowable material by cooling the flowable material to ambient temperature, the flowable material cooled at a rate to limit crystal growth in the solidifying material; and
separating or removing the mold stack to free the integral article.
8. The integral article of claim 7 , wherein the flowable material is an amorphous glass.
9. The integral article of claim 7 , wherein the flowable material is applied to the mold stack at a temperature above the glass transition temperature of the material.
10. The integral article of claim 7 , wherein the material does not experience a phase change upon cooling from the temperature above ambient to ambient temperature.
11. The article of claim 1 , wherein the non-line of sight contour includes an internal feature in at least one of the plurality of levels, the material at a periphery of the at least one level preventing direct access to the internal feature.