Importance

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Abstract

A method for use in mass-producing, from a plane sheet of metal, a three-dimensional structure consisting of plane mirrors and plane structural members, said three-dimensional structure of a type in which each mirror or structural member has at least one edge that is collinear with an edge of another mirror or structural member, whereby said three-dimensional structure can be formed by bending the sheet of metal along various edges, the method including the steps of: producing masks bearing images defining the location of bending grooves, shallow grooves, separation grooves and holes for indexing pins, selecting a mask, applying a coating of photoresist to both sides of the sheet of metal, transferring the images on the selected mask to the coating of photoresist, removing those portions of the coating of photoresist to which the images were transferred, etching the sheet of metal where the portions of the coating of photoresist were removed, removing the remaining photoresist from the sheet of metal, and repeating the process using the next mask until all of the masks have been used. The two-dimensional part thus formed is then bent to form the desired three-dimensional structure, and a layer of a highly reflective material may finally be applied to those portions intended to serve as mirrors.

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First Claim