Patent ID: 7740683

Claim:
Powder for manufacturing a precious metal product that has an appearance which is designed in advance and a precious metal content which is sufficiently high to allow the product to be hallmarked in accordance with existing laws, and which is manufactured by means of free form fabrication (FFF) in a CAD/CAM-controlled process during which the powder is supplied in layers and is caused to bind metallurgically within the regions of each layer, and between these regions, where information stored in the CAD/CAM programming specifies that the product should consist of solid material, said solid material having a total precious metal content of at least 50% by weight and containing at least one component which, during manufacture of the product, is melted down and which, in the melted phase, wets other components included in the powder, and has a powder size, powder form, and other properties which are adjusted to the CAD/CAM-CONTROLLED FFF process, and wherein alloyed within the powder is at least one metallic element having a greater affinity for oxygen than copper and which provides an inbuilt fluxing effect on a melt formed thereof.