Patent ID: 7215490

Claim:
A method for making a lens barrel having at least one inner cam groove, comprising the steps of: (a) forming a fusible alloy into a fusible mold core having an outer peripheral surface and at least one flange protruding from the outer peripheral surface; (b) applying an insulating layer on the outer peripheral surface and the flange of the fusible mold core; (c) disposing the fusible mold core in a mold cavity of a lens-barrel-forming mold; (d) feeding a molding material into the mold cavity of the lens-barrel-forming mold so as to form the lens barrel between the lens-barrel-forming mold and the fusible mold core and adhered to the fusible mold core, the lens barrel having an inner surface corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the fusible mold core and defining an inner hole and the inner cam groove recessed from the inner surface and corresponding to the flange of the fusible mold core; (e) removing the lens barrel together with the fusible mold core from the mold cavity of the lens-barrel-forming mold; and (f) fusing the fusible mold core for separating the fusible mold core from the lens barrel.