CN108668492B

CN108668492B - Casing structure of electronic device and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN108668492B
Application number: CN201710205710.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张宜穆; 官清标; 戴文杰; 凌正南
Original assignee: Acer Inc
Current assignee: Acer Inc
Priority date: 2017-03-31
Filing date: 2017-03-31
Publication date: 2020-12-22
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-31
Also published as: CN108668492A

Abstract

The invention provides a shell structure of an electronic device, which comprises a shell, a silica gel layer and a combining piece. The shell is made of metal and has an outer surface and an inner surface. The silica gel layer is arranged on the outer surface, and the edge of the silica gel layer extends to the inner surface. The combining piece is arranged on the inner surface, so that the edge of the silica gel layer is clamped between the shell and the combining piece. A method for manufacturing the housing structure is also provided.

Description

Casing structure of electronic device and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to electronic devices, and particularly to a housing structure and a method for manufacturing the housing structure.

Background

The appearance of electronic devices has become one of the product choices of consumers, and therefore design manufacturers are continuously pushing many electronic devices with different appearance designs and designs to gain the consumers' favor, and some of them even use glass as the casing material of electronic devices to achieve transparent and beautiful visual effects.

However, in the case of a notebook computer, as the existing electronic devices are designed to be light, thin, short and small, the appearance effect of the glass material can be improved, but the glass material is limited by the material characteristics, so that the glass material cannot have a competitive power with the original metal or plastic casing in terms of weight and manufacturing cost, and therefore, the glass material has only no effect but is disadvantageous in terms of design.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a shell structure of an electronic device and a manufacturing method thereof, which achieve the visual effect of mimicry glass by configuring a silica gel layer on a shell made of metal materials.

The invention relates to a shell structure of an electronic device, which comprises a shell, a silica gel layer and a combining piece. The shell is provided with an outer surface and an inner surface, and is made of metal. The silica gel layer is arranged on the outer surface, and the edge of the silica gel layer extends to the inner surface. The combining piece is arranged on the inner surface, so that the edge of the silica gel layer is clamped between the shell and the combining piece.

The manufacturing method of the shell structure comprises the steps of punching and forming a metal shell, wherein the metal shell is provided with an outer surface and an inner surface; vacuum adsorbing the silica gel layer on the outer surface, and folding the edge of the silica gel layer into the inner surface. The plastic binder is arranged on the inner surface, so that the edge of the silica gel layer is clamped between the inner surface and the plastic binder.

Based on the above, the silica gel layer is disposed on the outer surface of the metal shell, the edge of the silica gel layer is extended and folded into the inner surface of the metal shell, the plastic binder is disposed on the inner surface of the metal shell to clamp the silica gel layer, and the portion of the silica gel layer on the outer surface is pulled and supported. Therefore, the combination of the silica gel layer and the metal casing can enable the casing structure of the electronic device to generate the effect of the mimic glass, and the metal casing can improve the aesthetic property of the metal casing through the transparent visual effect of the silica gel layer.

In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a manufacturing process of a housing structure according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 to 5 are schematic structural diagrams corresponding to the manufacturing flow of fig. 1.

Fig. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of chassis structures according to different embodiments of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

10. 30, 40: casing structure

20: vacuum chamber

21: jig tool

100: metal shell

110: base layer

120: treatment layer

122: patterned layer

130: segment difference structure

200: adhesive layer

300: color layer

400: silica gel layer

500: plastic cement connecting piece

C: corner cut

F1: outer surface

F2: inner surface

F1a, F2 a: local part

L1, L2: light ray

R: round corner

R1a, R1 b: tension force

S1-S7: step (ii) of

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a manufacturing process of a housing structure according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 to 5 are schematic structural diagrams corresponding to the manufacturing flow of fig. 1. Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2 to 5 respectively, in the present embodiment, the electronic device is, for example, a notebook computer, and the housing structure is a back cover portion of the display screen, which occupies a majority of the overall appearance of the electronic device visually. However, the housing structure of the present invention is not limited to the type thereof, in other words, the housing structure can be applied to electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and the like.

In the case structure described in this embodiment, the visual effect of the mimetic glass can be generated by the metal shell and the silica gel layer. First, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, in step S1, a metal shell 100 is formed by stamping, and the metal shell 100 has an outer surface F1 and an inner surface F2; next, in step S2, the outer surface F1 of the metal case 100 is subjected to surface treatment to form the treated layer 120. The surface treatment includes an etching process, i.e., the outer surface F1 is eroded to form a microstructure, which is only an example of etching, so that the metal case 100 generates the un-etched base layer 110 and the pattern layer 122 located on the outer surface F1, wherein the pattern layer 122 is at least a portion of the microstructure of the treatment layer 120. In contrast, the metal chassis 100 of the present embodiment has the portion where the processing layer 120 exists as the outer surface F1, and the portion where the processing layer 120 does not exist as the inner surface F2.

Next, referring to fig. 1 and referring to fig. 3, in step S3, a color layer 300 is coated on the outer surface F1 of the metal shell 100, and in step S4, an adhesive layer 200 is coated on the outer surface F1 of the metal shell 100, wherein the color layer 300 is finished by painting the outer surface F1, and then the adhesive layer 200 is coated thereon to cover the color layer 300. However, the present embodiment is not limited thereto, and the user may omit step S3, or exchange steps S3 and S4, or mix the paint and the glue to complete the desired effect by a single application. Furthermore, the pattern layer 122 formed by the microstructures can also generate color effect visually due to the change of the paths of the light beams L1 and L2. In addition, the microstructure formed on the metal casing 100 can also make the outer surface F1 have a higher roughness, which is beneficial for the bonding strength between the adhesive layer 200 or the color layer 300 and the metal casing, where the adhesive layer 200 is, for example, a transparent primer, so as to facilitate the bonding of metal and silicon.

Next, referring to fig. 1 and referring to fig. 4A and 4B, in step S5, a silicone layer 400 is provided in advance, which can be formed into a three-dimensional object by injection or pressing, and because of its flexibility, the silicone layer 400 is sleeved on the metal shell 100 in advance as shown in fig. 4A; next, in step S6, the silicone layer 400 is attached to the outer surface F1 of the metal shell 100 through the adhesive layer 200 by vacuum suction, and the adhesive layer 200, the color layer 300, the pattern layer 122, and the like generated in the above steps are covered therein.

As shown in fig. 4A, the formed silica gel layer 400 is a three-dimensional object, that is, the three-dimensional object (silica gel layer 400) having a contour identical to that of the outer surface F1 of the metal shell 100 is formed first, and then the metal case 100 is sleeved with the silica gel layer 400 through the outer surface F1, wherein the silica gel layer 400 is adopted to effectively improve the manufacturing efficiency and reduce the material loss rate in the manufacturing process of the case structure because the existing glass or related materials are limited by the hard and brittle (hard and short) characteristics of the material, which is obviously different from the flexibility of the silica gel layer 400.

It should be noted that, in step S5, after the silicone rubber layer 400 is inserted into the metal chassis 100, the edge of the silicone rubber layer 400 needs to be further extended from the outer surface F1 and folded inward into the inner surface F2. In step S6, the metal case 100 and the silicone rubber layer 400 thereon are placed in the vacuum chamber 20 and placed on the jig 21 for vacuum processing, and in this process, air possibly remaining between the metal case 100 and the silicone rubber layer 400 in the above-mentioned threading operation is exhausted by vacuum suction, so as to improve the bonding strength between the silicone rubber layer 400 and the metal case through the adhesive layer 200.

Finally, referring to fig. 1 and referring to fig. 5, in step S7, the plastic bonding member 500 is disposed on the inner surface F2 of the metal housing 100, such that the edge of the silicone rubber layer 400 is clamped between the plastic bonding member 500 and the inner surface F2 of the metal housing 100, and as shown in fig. 5, the plastic bonding member 500 substantially has a plurality of bonding portions with the metal housing 100, such that the silicone rubber layer 400 is tensioned at the portion of the outer surface F1 by a plurality of pulling forces R1a and R1 b.

In the present embodiment, the plastic fastener 500 is coupled to the inner surface F2 of the metal shell 100 by (in-mold) injection molding. In another embodiment, the manufacturer can also glue the plastic binder 500 to the inner surface F2. Here, the plastic connector 500 is a structural member for arranging and assembling related components of the display screen in the notebook computer, for example.

Then, the manufacturing process of the housing structure 10 is completed.

Based on the above, since the silicone layer 400 is disposed on the outer surface F1 of the metal shell 100, and the silicone layer 400 is in a transparent state, and the thickness of the silicone layer 400 is 0.3mm to 1mm, in addition to avoiding damage caused by too thin thickness during injection molding, after the silicone layer 400 is combined with the metal shell 100, the silicone layer 400 can not only smoothly pass light, but also refract light, so that the patterns (the pattern layer 122 or/and the color layer 300) on the outer surface F1 of the metal shell 100 can pass through the optical characteristics of the silicone layer 400 to generate different visual effects, and the case structure 10 of the embodiment can achieve the purpose of simulating glass with the same visual effect as other case structures disposed with glass, and does not need to face the problems of characteristic limitation and manufacturing cost caused by the glass material.

In other embodiments not shown, other materials may be added to the silica gel layer to have different transmittances (light transmittance and refractive index) or to cause light scattering, so as to further diversify the visual effect, and the silica gel layer with different transmittances may be matched with the surface treatment effect (such as sand blasting, wire drawing, etc.) of the metal shell 100 to generate different visual effects.

Referring to fig. 5, in the embodiment, the plastic binder 500 substantially abuts against the bent portion of the metal shell 100 located at the inner side, that is, the portion F2a crossing the inner surface F2 and the portion F1a crossing the outer surface F1, so as to improve the bonding force between the metal shell 100 and the plastic binder 500, and thus the effect of stabilizing the edge of the silicone layer 400 can be achieved. However, the invention is not limited to the combination type of the plastic connector and the metal housing, and fig. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of the housing structure according to different embodiments of the invention. Referring to fig. 6, in the present embodiment, the metal shell 100 of the housing structure 30 has a rounded corner R at the joint between the inner surface F2 and the outer surface F1 (the outer surface F1 is adjacent to the inner surface F2), so that the plastic connector 500 and the inner surface F2 of the present embodiment need to be correspondingly embedded with a step (or a turn) structure 130. Referring to fig. 7, similarly, the metal shell 100 of the housing structure 40 of the present embodiment has a cut angle C at the joint between the inner surface F2 and the outer surface F1 (the outer surface F1 is adjacent to the inner surface F2), so that the plastic connector 500 and the inner surface F2 of the present embodiment are also correspondingly embedded with each other by a step structure (or a turning structure) 130.

In other words, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, there is no step structure on the inner surface F2 of the plastic fastener 500, and the plastic fastener 500 needs to be coupled to the metal housing 100 in a manner of crossing the inner surface F2 and the outer surface F1, whereas in the embodiment shown in fig. 6 and 7, the plastic fastener 500 only needs to abut against the inner surface F2 to complete the coupling operation by the step structure disposed on the inner surface F2. Regardless of any of the embodiments shown in fig. 5 to 7, the user may adopt an appropriate corresponding scheme according to the size of the metal shell 100 or the space configuration requirement therein.

In summary, in the above embodiments of the invention, the silicone rubber layer is disposed on the outer surface of the metal shell, the edge of the silicone rubber layer is extended and folded into the inner surface of the metal shell, and the plastic fastener is disposed on the inner surface of the metal shell to clamp the silicone rubber layer therebetween, and the portion of the silicone rubber layer on the outer surface is pulled and supported. Therefore, the combination of the silica gel layer and the metal casing can enable the casing structure of the electronic device to generate the effect of the mimic glass, and the metal casing can improve the aesthetic property of the metal casing through the transparent visual effect of the silica gel layer.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A housing structure of an electronic device, comprising:

the shell is provided with an outer surface and an inner surface and is made of metal;

the silica gel layer is arranged on the outer surface, and the edge of the silica gel layer extends to the inner surface; and

and a coupling member disposed on the inner surface so that an edge of the silicone layer is clamped between the housing and the coupling member, wherein the inner surface and the coupling member are engaged with each other via a step (stage) structure.

2. The housing structure of the electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connector is made of plastic.

3. A housing structure for an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the silicone layer is transparent.

4. A case structure of an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the silicone gel layer is 0.3mm to 1 mm.

5. A chassis structure of an electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising an adhesive layer disposed between the silicone layer and the outer surface.

6. A chassis structure of an electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a pattern layer or a color layer disposed between the silicone gel layer and the outer surface.

7. A housing structure for an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein said housing forms a microstructure on said outer surface to create a patterned or colored layer.

8. A housing structure for an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the housing has a rounded corner or a cut-off corner at the junction of the inner surface and the outer surface.

9. A case structure of an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the silicone layer is a three-dimensional object conforming to the outer surface contour of the housing.

10. A method for manufacturing a case structure of an electronic device includes:

punching a metal shell, wherein the metal shell is provided with an outer surface and an inner surface;

the vacuum adsorption silica gel layer is arranged on the outer surface, and the edge of the silica gel layer is folded into the inner surface; and

and arranging a plastic binder on the inner surface so that the edge of the silica gel layer is clamped between the inner surface and the plastic binder, wherein a step structure or a turning structure exists between the plastic binder and the inner surface of the shell.

11. The method of making a cabinet structure according to claim 10, further comprising:

and before the silica gel layer is vacuum-adsorbed on the outer surface, carrying out surface treatment on the outer surface.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the surface treatment comprises etching the outer surface to form a microstructure.

13. The method of making a cabinet structure according to claim 11, further comprising:

and after the surface treatment, coating an adhesive layer on the outer surface, and attaching the silica gel layer to the outer surface through the adhesive layer.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the surface treatment is a micro structure formed on the outer surface to generate a pattern layer or a color layer.

15. The method of making a cabinet structure according to claim 11, further comprising:

after the surface treatment, a color layer is coated on the outer surface.

16. The method for manufacturing a housing structure of claim 10, wherein disposing the plastic binder on the inner surface comprises:

injection molding the plastic binder onto the inner surface.

17. The method for manufacturing a housing structure of claim 10, wherein disposing the plastic binder on the inner surface comprises:

and gluing the plastic cement binder to the inner surface.