CN111960652A

CN111960652A - Thermoforming apparatus, thermoforming method, glass member, housing, and electronic apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN111960652A
Application number: CN202010800671.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李云刚; 李聪
Original assignee: Oppo Chongqing Intelligent Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Oppo Chongqing Intelligent Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-11
Filing date: 2020-08-11
Publication date: 2020-11-20

Abstract

The application discloses thermoforming equipment, thermoforming method, glass spare, casing and electronic equipment, thermoforming equipment includes: the equipment body, be used for treating the fashioned thermoforming system of machined part thermoforming and vacuum system. The equipment body comprises a main body cabin, a heating forming area is arranged in the main body cabin, a vacuum system comprises a vacuum part, a control mechanism and a vacuumizing device, the vacuum part is movably arranged in the main body cabin between a first position and a second position, the control mechanism is connected with the vacuum part to drive the vacuum part to move, when the vacuum part is located at the first position, the vacuum part is located in the heating forming area, the vacuum part and the main body cabin jointly define a closed heating forming cavity, the vacuumizing device is used for vacuumizing the heating forming cavity, and when the vacuum part is located at the second position, a workpiece to be processed can enter the heating forming area and a formed molded part after heating forming can be moved out of the heating forming area. According to the thermoforming equipment of the embodiment of the application, the bubble defect can be avoided or reduced.

Description

Thermoforming apparatus, thermoforming method, glass member, housing, and electronic apparatus

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of thermoforming technology, and in particular, to a thermoforming apparatus, a thermoforming method, a glass piece, a housing, and an electronic apparatus.

Background

In the related art, most of thermal forming equipment is continuous transmission equipment and comprises a multi-station preheating station, a forming station and a cooling station, although continuous operation can be realized, the whole cavity is filled with protective gas in the forming process and is easily wrapped by glass in the high-temperature forming process, and obvious bubble defects are formed.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a thermoforming equipment, this thermoforming equipment is in the forming process for the difficult gassing that produces of formed part can avoid or reduce the bubble defect, and the heating shaping cavity is small, reaches higher vacuum easily and required time weak point, thereby can improve production efficiency.

The application also provides a thermoforming method.

The application also provides a glass piece manufactured by the hot forming device or the hot forming method.

The application also provides a shell manufactured by the hot forming device or the hot forming method.

The application also provides an electronic device with the shell.

A thermoforming apparatus according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present application, comprising: the equipment comprises an equipment body, a heating and forming device and a control device, wherein the equipment body comprises a main cabin, and a heating and forming area is arranged in the main cabin; the heating forming system is used for heating and forming the workpiece to be processed; the vacuum system comprises a vacuum piece, a control mechanism and a vacuum-pumping device, wherein the vacuum piece is movably arranged in the main body cabin between a first position and a second position, and the control mechanism is connected with the vacuum piece to drive the vacuum piece to move; when the vacuum piece is located at the first position, the vacuum piece is located in the thermoforming area, the vacuum piece and the main body cabin jointly define a closed thermoforming cavity, and the vacuumizing device is used for vacuumizing the thermoforming cavity; when the vacuum piece is located at the second position, the workpiece to be machined can enter the heating forming area, and a formed piece formed after heating forming can be moved out of the heating forming area.

According to the thermoforming equipment provided by the embodiment of the application, the vacuum system is arranged, the vacuum piece is movably arranged in the main body cabin, the vacuum piece and the main body cabin can jointly define the thermoforming cavity, and the thermoforming cavity can be vacuumized through the vacuumizing device, so that a workpiece to be machined can be in a vacuum state in the thermoforming process, the possibility of wrapping bubbles can be reduced, bubbles are not easy to generate in the formed part, and the defect of bubbles generated in the forming process can be avoided or reduced; in addition, the heating forming cavity defined by the vacuum piece and the main body cabin is small in size, high vacuum degree can be easily achieved, required time is short, single-station working time cannot be increased, production continuity can be guaranteed, and therefore production efficiency can be improved.

According to the thermoforming method of the embodiment of the second aspect of the application, the thermoforming equipment used in the thermoforming method comprises an equipment body and a vacuum member, the main body cabin is internally provided with a thermoforming area, the vacuum member is movably arranged in the main body cabin between a first position and a second position, when the vacuum member is positioned at the first position, the vacuum member is positioned at the thermoforming area, the vacuum member and the main body cabin jointly define a closed thermoforming cavity, and when the vacuum cover is positioned at the second position, a workpiece to be processed can enter the thermoforming area and a formed molded part after thermoforming can be moved out of the thermoforming area, the thermoforming method comprises the following steps: moving the workpiece to be processed to the heating forming area; controlling the vacuum piece to move to the first position, wherein the piece to be processed is positioned in the heating forming cavity; vacuumizing the heating forming cavity until the air pressure of the heating forming cavity reaches a first preset value; heating and forming the workpiece to be processed to form a formed part; controlling the vacuum member to move to the second position; moving the shaped part out of the thermoforming zone.

According to the hot forming method, the heating forming cavity is vacuumized, so that the workpiece to be processed can be in a vacuum state in the heating forming process, the possibility of wrapping air bubbles can be reduced, the formed part is not easy to generate the air bubbles, and the defect of generating the air bubbles in the forming process can be avoided or reduced; in addition, the volume of a heating forming cavity defined by the vacuum piece and the main body cabin is smaller, higher vacuum degree is easily achieved, the required time is short, the working time of a single station cannot be increased, the production continuity can be ensured, and therefore the production efficiency can be improved.

According to embodiments of the third aspect of the present application, the glass piece is manufactured by using the hot forming device according to embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, or the glass piece is manufactured by using the hot forming method according to embodiments of the second aspect of the present application.

According to the glass piece, the thermal forming equipment or the thermal forming method is utilized to manufacture the glass piece, the production efficiency can be improved, the mass production of the glass piece is facilitated, and the defect that bubbles are generated due to glass wrapping gas can be avoided or reduced in the glass forming process of the glass piece.

According to a fourth aspect of the present application, the housing is manufactured by using the thermoforming apparatus according to the above-mentioned first aspect of the present application, or the housing is manufactured by using the thermoforming method according to the above-mentioned second aspect of the present application.

According to the shell of the embodiment of the application, the shell is manufactured by utilizing the thermal forming equipment or the thermal forming method, the production efficiency can be improved, the mass production of the shell is facilitated, the defect that bubbles are generated by the wrapped gas can be avoided or reduced in the manufacturing process of the shell, the forming reject ratio can be reduced, and the forming quality of the shell is improved.

An electronic device according to an embodiment of the fifth aspect of the present application includes: a housing according to the above fourth aspect embodiment of the present application.

According to the electronic equipment provided by the embodiment of the application, the forming reject ratio can be reduced and the forming quality of the shell is improved by arranging the shell.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present application.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a thermoforming apparatus according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a vacuum piece of a thermoforming apparatus according to some embodiments of the present application positioned in a thermoforming zone, wherein the vacuum piece is positioned in a first position;

FIG. 3 is a graph of time-temperature relationship for use in a thermoforming process utilizing a thermoforming method or thermoforming apparatus according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an electronic device according to some embodiments of the present application.

Reference numerals:

a thermoforming apparatus 10;

an apparatus body 1; a main body compartment 11; a thermoforming zone 111; a preheating zone 112; an annealing zone 113; a first sub-annealing zone 1131; a second sub-annealing zone 1132; a third sub-annealing zone 1133; a feed compartment 12; a discharge cabin 13;

a thermoforming system 20; a heating device 21; a molding device 22; a pressurizing mechanism 221;

a vacuum member 31; a control mechanism 32; an air extraction valve 33; an inflation valve 34;

a thermoforming chamber 4;

a preheating system 51; an annealing system 61;

a molding die 7;

an electronic device 100; a housing 50; a display screen assembly 60.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are exemplary only for the purpose of explaining the present application and are not to be construed as limiting the present application.

A thermoforming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 1-4.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, a thermoforming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present application includes: the equipment comprises an equipment body 1, a heating forming system and a vacuum system, wherein the heating forming system is used for heating and forming a workpiece to be processed. The apparatus body 1 includes a main body compartment 11, and a heat molding region 111 is provided in the main body compartment 11 so that a member to be processed can be heat molded in the heat molding region 111 of the main body compartment 11. The equipment body 1 can also include a feeding cabin 12 and a discharging cabin 13, the feeding cabin 12, the main body cabin 11 and the discharging cabin 13 are sequentially arranged according to a processing sequence, a workpiece can enter the feeding cabin 12 first, then the workpiece enters the main body cabin 11 through the feeding cabin 12, the workpiece is processed and formed in the main body cabin 11, the workpiece can be heated and formed in a heating and forming area 111 of the main body cabin 11, a formed part formed after the workpiece is formed can enter the discharging cabin 13, and finally the formed part is pushed out from the discharging cabin 13.

The vacuum system includes a vacuum member 31, a control mechanism 32, and a vacuum-pumping device, the vacuum member 31 is movably provided in the main body compartment 11 between a first position in which the vacuum member 31 is located when the member to be processed is thermoformed and a second position in which the vacuum member 31 is located when the member to be processed is pushed into the thermoforming zone 111 or the molded article is moved out of the thermoforming zone 111. The control mechanism 32 is connected to the vacuum member 31 to drive the vacuum member 31 to move, for example, the control mechanism 32 can drive the vacuum member 31 to make the vacuum member 31 in the first position, and the control mechanism 32 can drive the vacuum member 31 to make the vacuum member 31 in the second position, so that the vacuum member 31 can be conveniently moved in the main body chamber 11 under the driving of the control mechanism 32, so that the vacuum member 31 can be switched between the first position and the second position. Alternatively, the control mechanism 32 may include an air cylinder or a servo motor.

When the vacuum member 31 is located at the first position, the vacuum member 31 is located in the thermoforming region 111, and the vacuum member 31 and the main body compartment 11 together define the closed thermoforming chamber 4, and the vacuum-pumping device is used for pumping vacuum to the thermoforming chamber 4, for example, the vacuum-pumping device may include an air-pumping valve 33 disposed in an air-pumping channel, wherein the air-pumping channel is adapted to communicate with the thermoforming chamber 4, and the air-pumping valve 33 may open and close the air-pumping channel, so as to communicate and block the air-pumping channel with the thermoforming chamber 4, and when the air-pumping valve 33 is opened, the vacuum-pumping device may pump vacuum to the thermoforming chamber 4. Thus, when the vacuum member 31 is located at the first position, the vacuum member 31 is located in the thermoforming region 111 and the vacuum member 31 and the main body compartment 11 can define the closed thermoforming chamber 4 together, so that the workpiece to be processed can be thermoformed in the closed thermoforming chamber 4 without external air entering into the thermoforming chamber 4. And because the vacuum extractor can be used for vacuumizing the heating forming cavity 4, the workpiece to be processed can be in a state of higher vacuum degree in the heating forming process, so that the formed part is not easy to generate bubbles, and the defect of generating bubbles in the forming process can be avoided or reduced.

When the vacuum member 31 is located at the second position, the member to be processed can enter the thermoforming region 111 and the formed molded article after thermoforming can be moved out of the thermoforming region 111. Thereby, when the vacuum member 31 is located at the second position, the thermoforming chamber 4 formed by the vacuum member 31 and the body compartment 11 is opened, so that the member to be processed can be easily entered into the thermoforming zone 111 and the formed member can be easily moved out of the thermoforming zone 111.

In the process of hot forming a work piece such as glass using this hot forming apparatus 10, the following process is an example of the hot forming apparatus 10 of the present application and is not intended as a specific limitation to the hot forming apparatus 10.

The workpiece to be processed is pushed into the thermoforming region 111 of the main body compartment 11, for example, the workpiece to be processed can be pushed into the main body compartment 11 from the feeding compartment 12, and before entering the thermoforming region 111, the workpiece to be processed can be preheated, and after being preheated to the set temperature, the workpiece to be processed is moved to the thermoforming region 111. The control mechanism 32 controls the vacuum member 31 to move to a first position in which the vacuum member 31 and the body compartment 11 together define a closed thermoforming chamber 4, the member to be processed being located in the thermoforming chamber 4, and the body portion of the thermoforming system 20 being located in the thermoforming chamber 4. After the heating forming chamber 4 is vacuumized to a set vacuum degree by the vacuumizing device, the heating forming system 20 is controlled to heat-form the workpiece to be processed in the heating forming chamber 4 to form a formed part. The control mechanism 32 controls the vacuum element 31 to move to the second position, the thermoforming chamber 4 is opened and the shaped part can be pushed out of the thermoforming zone 111. After the molded part is pushed out of the thermoforming zone 111, an annealing process may be performed and finally, it may be pushed out through the discharge chamber 13.

In the forming process using the hot forming apparatus 10, the workpiece to be processed may be heated to have a certain fluidity during the hot forming process, for example, when the workpiece to be processed is a glass blank, the workpiece to be processed may be heated to be higher than the softening point of the glass so as to have a certain fluidity.

The thermoforming apparatus 10 may further comprise a transfer device, by which the workpieces to be processed can be transferred from the feeding chamber 12 into the main body chamber 11, and by which the molded articles can be transferred from the main body chamber 11 into the discharging chamber 13, and by which the workpieces to be processed can be transferred during the flow from the previous station to the next station in the main body chamber 11.

The thermoforming apparatus 10 may further include a cooling system including a water chiller and corresponding piping to cool the vacuum system and heat the thermoforming system 20 so that the entire thermoforming apparatus 10 does not fail due to overheating.

According to the thermoforming equipment 10 provided by the embodiment of the application, by arranging the vacuum system and movably arranging the vacuum piece 31 in the main body cabin 11, the vacuum piece 31 and the main body cabin 11 can jointly define the thermoforming chamber 4, and the thermoforming chamber 4 can be vacuumized by the vacuumizing device, so that a workpiece to be machined can be in a vacuum state in the thermoforming process, the possibility of wrapping bubbles can be reduced, bubbles are not easily generated in the formed part, and the bubble defect generated in the forming process can be avoided or reduced; moreover, the heating forming chamber 4 defined by the vacuum piece 31 and the main body cabin 11 is small in size, high vacuum degree can be easily achieved, required time is short, single-station working time cannot be increased, production continuity can be guaranteed, and therefore production efficiency can be improved.

Referring to fig. 2, according to some embodiments of the present application, the vacuum member 31 is a vacuum enclosure, and the vacuum enclosure 31 is disposed in the thermoforming zone 111 when the vacuum member 31 is in the first position. Therefore, when the vacuum piece 31 is located at the first position, the vacuum piece 31 can be covered on the thermoforming area 111, the vacuum piece 31 can be in sealing fit with the bottom wall of the main body cabin 11, the vacuum piece 31 and the main body cabin 11 can define the closed thermoforming chamber 4, the closed thermoforming chamber 4 is convenient to form, and therefore a workpiece to be machined can be thermoformed in the thermoforming area 111, and external air cannot enter the thermoforming chamber 4. When the vacuum member 31 is in the second position, the vacuum member is no longer shrouded in the thermoforming zone 111.

Referring to fig. 2, according to some alternative embodiments of the present application, a vacuum member 31 is provided in the main body compartment 11 to be movable up and down. When the vacuum member 31 moves from the top to the bottom, the vacuum member 31 moves from the second position to the first position, so that the vacuum member 31 covers the thermoforming region 111, and at this time, the vacuum member 31 is located at the first position, and the vacuum member 31 can be in sealing fit with the main body compartment 11 to define a closed thermoforming chamber 4, so that the workpiece to be machined can be thermoformed in the thermoforming chamber 4. When the vacuum member 31 moves from the bottom to the top, the vacuum member 31 moves from the first position to the second position, so that the vacuum member 31 is not covered on the thermoforming region 111, and at the time, the vacuum member 31 is located at the second position, the vacuum member 31 is spaced from the bottom wall of the main body compartment 11 by a space enough to avoid, so that the workpiece to be processed can enter the thermoforming region 111, and the formed part can move out of the thermoforming region 111. Thereby, the vacuum member 31 can reach the first position or the second position by moving up and down, and the movement mode is simple.

Referring to FIG. 2, in accordance with some alternative embodiments of the present application, a thermoforming system 20 includes: the heating device 21 is used for heating the workpiece to be processed, so that the workpiece to be processed can be heated to have certain fluidity, for example, when the workpiece to be processed is a glass blank, the workpiece to be processed can be heated to be above the softening point of the glass, so that the workpiece to be processed has certain fluidity. The heating device 21 is an induction heating device 21, the induction heating device 21 can heat the workpiece to be processed to a higher temperature so as to meet the forming temperature of the workpiece to be processed, and the induction heating device 21 is more energy-saving and environment-friendly in heating.

The forming device 22 is used for pressure forming of the workpiece to be processed, and the forming device 22 is located after the process of the heating device 21, that is, after the workpiece to be processed is heated by the heating device 21, the workpiece to be processed is pressure formed by the forming device 22, so that when the workpiece to be processed is pressure formed by the forming device 22, the workpiece to be processed has certain fluidity, and the thickness change can be presented, thereby facilitating the pressure forming of the workpiece to be processed by the forming device 22.

The forming device 22 includes a pressurizing mechanism 221 for pressurizing the forming mold 7, the pressurizing mechanism 221 is movably disposed through the vacuum member 31, the pressurizing mechanism 221 can perform pressure forming on the workpiece to be processed by adopting a motor or cylinder lifting manner, and the forming pressure is specifically determined according to parameters such as temperature and performance of the workpiece to be processed. When the workpiece to be processed is heated and formed, the vacuum piece 31 is covered in the heating and forming area 111, and the pressurizing mechanism 221 can be arranged in the vacuum piece 31 in a penetrating way and can move up and down, so that the forming die 7 can be pressurized, the workpiece to be processed in the forming die 7 can be pressurized and formed, and the workpiece to be processed can be formed into a formed part. The molding device 22 may further include a control device capable of controlling the magnitude of the pressure, the magnitude of the pressurization, and the rate of depression, and the control device may control the pressure, the rate of pressing, and the rate of descent of the pressing mechanism 221.

According to other embodiments of the present application, the vacuum member 31 comprises two vacuum panels, each of which is rotatably connected to the main body compartment 11, the two vacuum panels being disposed opposite and spaced apart within the main body compartment 11 when the vacuum member 31 is in the first position, e.g., the two vacuum panels being disposed opposite and spaced apart along the length of the main body compartment 11, the two vacuum panels defining a sealed thermoforming chamber 4 with the main body compartment 11. For example, when the vacuum member 31 is in the first position, the two vacuum partition plates can rotate into the main body compartment 11 and are in sealing fit with the top wall and the bottom wall of the main body compartment 11, and the two vacuum partition plates are arranged oppositely and at an interval, so that a sealed thermoforming chamber 4 can be defined between the two vacuum partition plates and the main body compartment 11, and therefore the workpiece to be processed can be thermoformed in the thermoforming chamber 4, and external air cannot enter the thermoforming chamber 4. When the vacuum member 31 is located at the second position, the two vacuum partitions of the vacuum member 31 can be rotated to a position adjacent to the inner wall of the main body compartment 11, and a moving space for the member or the formed member to be processed can be avoided.

Referring to FIG. 2, according to some embodiments of the present application, the vacuum system further includes an inflation device, which may include an inflation valve 34 disposed within the inflation channel, for inflating the thermoforming chamber 4 with a protective gas. Wherein, inflation channel is suitable for and adds thermoforming cavity 4 intercommunication, and inflation valve 34 can open and close inflation channel to realize inflation channel and add thermoforming cavity 4's intercommunication and wall, when inflation valve 34 opened, aerating device can fill protective gas to thermoforming cavity 4. Protective gas can be filled into the heating forming chamber 4 through the inflating device before the heating forming chamber 4, so that the oxygen content of the heating forming chamber 4 can be further reduced when the heating forming chamber 4 is vacuumized subsequently, and the forming die 7 can be prevented from being oxidized in the heating forming process.

Or after the thermoforming chamber 4 is vacuumized and the workpiece to be machined is thermoformed in the thermoforming chamber 4 to form a molded part, the inflation device can be used for filling the thermoforming chamber 4 with protective gas, so that when the gas pressure in the thermoforming chamber 4 is basically consistent with that of other parts in the main body cabin 11, the control mechanism 32 can be used for controlling the vacuum part 31 to move to the second position, and thus the difficulty in controlling the vacuum part 31 to move to the second position due to the fact that the difference between the internal pressure and the external pressure of the thermoforming chamber 4 is large can be avoided. And, in the process of the heating forming of the workpiece in the heating forming cavity 4 with higher vacuum degree, because the gas content in the heating forming cavity 4 is very low, the gas content in the cavity of the forming die 7 is also very low, even if bubbles are formed, the formed bubbles are low-pressure vacuum bubbles, and after the forming, the pressure in the heating forming cavity 4 can be increased by filling protective gas into the heating forming cavity 4, so that the low-pressure vacuum bubbles can be sharply compressed to micron-scale, the quantity and size of the bubbles are greatly reduced, and the forming quality is improved.

Referring to fig. 1, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a preheating region 112 and an annealing region 113 are disposed in the main body compartment 11, the preheating region 112 may preheat a workpiece to be processed, the annealing region 113 may anneal the formed part, the preheating region 112, the thermoforming region 111, and the annealing region 113 are sequentially arranged according to a processing sequence, so that the workpiece to be processed enters the main body compartment 11 and may be preheated by the preheating region 112, thermoformed by the thermoforming region 111, and annealed by the annealing region 113 to form the formed part. In addition, a plurality of stations may be disposed in the main body compartment 11 according to the requirement of the production process, wherein a plurality of stations may be disposed in the preheating zone 112, the thermoforming zone 111 and the annealing zone 113, respectively. The plurality of stations of the preheating zone 112 may preheat the workpiece to be processed from room temperature to a temperature close to the forming temperature, and the plurality of stations of the thermoforming zone 111 may continue to heat the workpiece to be processed to the forming temperature and perform press forming, for example, the workpiece to be processed exceeds the softening point temperature, and may exhibit a thickness variation, so that the workpiece to be processed may be press formed.

Optionally, the preheating zone 112, the thermoforming zone 111, and the annealing zone 113 may be respectively provided with a plurality of parallel channels, so that a plurality of workpieces to be processed may be simultaneously formed, and the production efficiency is improved.

The hot forming apparatus 10 includes a preheating system 51 for preheating a workpiece to be processed and an annealing system 61 for annealing a formed part. The preheating system 51 may include a preheating device, which may include a preheating unit to soften the workpiece to be processed, a heat transfer unit provided at the top of the preheating unit, and a heat-preserving preheating unit provided outside the heat transfer unit.

The preheating unit can adopt a heating pipe and can preheat a workpiece to be processed. The heat transfer unit can adopt a heating plate, the heating plate can adopt a material with small thermal expansion coefficient, no deformation during heating, high strength and good thermal conductivity, such as a silicon carbide material, and the heat transfer unit can transfer heat. The heat-preservation preheating unit can adopt a heat-insulation plate which is made of refractory materials and has the functions of high temperature resistance and heat preservation and insulation, and the heat-preservation preheating unit can protect surrounding parts and can reduce heat loss. The main body of the preheating system 51 can be disposed in the main body compartment 11, and the preheating system 51 can preheat the workpiece to be processed, and the preheating can be achieved by various ways, such as heat conduction, heat radiation, electromagnetic induction, and the like.

The annealing system 61 may include an annealing device, and the annealing system 61 may anneal the molded article.

When the vacuum piece 31 is located at the first position, the heating forming area 111, the preheating area 112 and the annealing area 113 are separated by the vacuum piece 31, so that the workpiece to be processed can be heated and formed in the heating forming area 111, air in the preheating area 112 and the annealing area 113 cannot enter the heating forming area 111, the vacuum degree of the heating forming area 111 is high, and the workpiece to be processed is not easy to wrap air in the heating forming process to generate bubble defects. When the vacuum member 31 is located at the second position, the thermoforming region 111 is communicated with both the preheating region 112 and the annealing region 113, so that the workpiece to be processed can enter the thermoforming region 111 from the preheating region 112 for thermoforming, and the formed member can be moved from the thermoforming region 111 to the annealing region 113 for annealing.

Referring to fig. 1 and 3, according to some alternative embodiments of the present application, the annealing zone 113 includes a first sub-annealing zone 1131 and a second sub-annealing zone 1132 disposed after the first sub-annealing zone 1131, and the cooling rate of the formed part in the first annealing zone 113 is lower than that in the second annealing zone 113 when the thermoforming apparatus 10 is in operation. For example, after the workpiece is heated and formed in the main body cabin 11, the formed part may enter the first sub-annealing area 1131 for slow cooling, so that the temperature of the formed part is gradually reduced, defects such as cracks and breakage in the cooling process of the formed part can be reduced or avoided, thermal stress can be released, and then the formed part may enter the second sub-annealing area 1132 for fast cooling, so that the temperature of the formed part is rapidly reduced, thereby shortening the cooling time and improving the production efficiency. By setting the annealing region 113 to include the first sub-annealing region 1131 having a smaller cooling rate and the second sub-annealing region 1132 having a larger cooling rate, the probability of defects such as cracks, chipping, and the like occurring in the cooling process can be reduced, and the cooling time can be made shorter.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 3, after the molded part is cooled to the annealing point via the first sub-annealing zone 1131, the molded part is brought into the second sub-annealing zone 1132. Therefore, the formed part can be ensured not to generate thermal stress, and stress residue or cold lines of the formed part can be avoided.

Optionally, referring to fig. 1 and 3, the annealing zone 113 further includes a third sub-annealing zone 1133, and the third sub-annealing zone 1133 is located between the first sub-annealing zone 1131 and the second sub-annealing zone 1132, and the temperature of the molded part is kept constant in the third sub-annealing zone 1133 during the operation of the thermal forming apparatus 10. Therefore, when the formed part is in the third sub-annealing zone 1133, the formed part can be kept at a constant temperature, so that the formed part can sufficiently eliminate thermal stress, thereby reducing defects such as cracks of the formed part caused by the thermal stress, and reducing residual stress.

Further, referring to FIG. 3, the temperature of the third sub-annealing zone 1133 is maintained at the annealing point during operation of the thermoforming apparatus 10. Therefore, the thermal stress of the formed part can be better eliminated, so that the defects of cracks and the like of the formed part caused by the thermal stress can be further reduced, and the residual stress can be further reduced.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, according to the thermoforming method of the embodiment of the second aspect of the present application, the thermoforming apparatus 10 used in the thermoforming method includes an apparatus body 1 and a vacuum member 31, the main body compartment 11 has a thermoforming area 111 therein, the vacuum member 31 is movably disposed in the main body compartment 11 between a first position and a second position, when the vacuum member 31 is located at the first position, the vacuum member 31 is located at the thermoforming area 111 and the vacuum member 31 and the main body compartment 11 together define a closed thermoforming chamber 4, and when the vacuum member 31 is located at the second position, the workpiece to be processed can enter the thermoforming area 111 and the molded article formed after thermoforming can be moved out of the thermoforming area 111.

The thermoforming method comprises the following steps: moving the workpiece to be processed to the thermoforming region 111, for example, the workpiece to be processed can be moved to the thermoforming region 111 by a conveying device, so that the workpiece to be processed can be thermoformed in the thermoforming region 111;

controlling the vacuum piece 31 to move to the first position, so that the vacuum piece 31 is located in the thermoforming region 111, the vacuum piece 31 and the main body cabin 11 can jointly define a closed thermoforming chamber 4, and the workpiece to be machined is located in the thermoforming chamber 4, so that the external air cannot enter the thermoforming chamber 4 in the thermoforming process of the workpiece to be machined;

the thermoforming cavity 4 is vacuumized until the air pressure of the thermoforming cavity 4 reaches a first preset value, for example, the first preset value can be less than 500Pa, so that the vacuum degree in the thermoforming cavity 4 reaches a set requirement, in the thermoforming process in the thermoforming cavity 4, the thermoforming process can be in a higher vacuum degree space, the possibility of wrapping bubbles can be reduced, the bubble defect formed by wrapping gas is reduced or avoided, the formed part is not easy to generate bubbles, the bubble defect generated in the forming process can be avoided or reduced, moreover, the volume of the thermoforming cavity 4 is smaller, the higher vacuum degree is easy to reach, the required time is short, the single-station working time cannot be increased, the production continuity can be ensured, and the production efficiency can be improved;

the workpiece to be machined is heated and formed to form a formed part, and because the heating and forming cavity 4 is kept at a higher vacuum degree, the possibility of wrapping bubbles can be reduced in the heating and forming process of the workpiece to be machined in the heating and forming cavity 4, and the bubble defect formed by wrapping gas is reduced or avoided, so that the formed part is not easy to generate bubbles, and the bubble defect generated in the forming process can be avoided or reduced;

controlling the vacuum member 31 to move to the second position, so that the thermoforming cavity 4 formed by the vacuum member 31 and the main body cabin 11 is opened, and the formed part can be conveniently moved out of the thermoforming area 111;

the molded part is removed from the thermoforming zone 111.

In the process of forming by the hot forming method, the workpiece to be processed may be heated to have a certain fluidity during the hot forming process, for example, when the workpiece to be processed is a glass blank, the workpiece to be processed may be heated to be higher than the softening point of the glass to have a certain fluidity.

According to the thermoforming method provided by the embodiment of the application, the thermoforming cavity 4 is vacuumized, so that the workpiece to be machined can be in a vacuum state in the thermoforming process, the possibility of wrapping bubbles can be reduced, the formed part is not easy to generate bubbles, and the defect of generating bubbles in the thermoforming process can be avoided or reduced; moreover, the heating forming chamber 4 defined by the vacuum piece 31 and the main body cabin 11 has smaller volume, is easy to reach higher vacuum degree and has short required time, and the production efficiency can be improved.

According to some embodiments of the application, the first preset value is less than 500Pa, so that the high vacuum degree of the heating forming cavity can be ensured, and the defect of bubble generation in the forming process of the workpiece to be processed can be avoided or reduced.

Referring to fig. 2, according to some embodiments of the present application, after the press-fitting of the molding die 7, the evacuation of the thermoforming cavity 4 is stopped. Therefore, the workpiece to be machined is in a high-vacuum state in the whole forming process, the possibility of wrapping bubbles can be reduced, and the bubble defect formed by wrapping gas is reduced or avoided, so that bubbles are not easy to generate in the formed part, and the bubble defect generated in the forming process can be avoided or reduced.

Referring to fig. 2, according to some embodiments of the present application, after the workpiece to be processed is heated and formed into a formed part and before the vacuum member 31 is controlled to move to the second position, the heating and forming chamber 4 is filled with the protective gas until the gas pressure of the heating and forming chamber 4 reaches the second preset value. Because probably produce low pressure vacuum bubble in waiting the machined part forming process, through annotating protective gas to thermoforming cavity 4, can make thermoforming cavity 4's atmospheric pressure increase to can compress low pressure vacuum bubble to the micron order, further avoid or reduce the formed part and produce the bubble defect, and through annotating protective gas to thermoforming cavity 4, can be convenient for vacuum 31 and move to the second position.

According to some alternative embodiments of the present application, the air pressure inside the front main body compartment 11 excluding the other portion of the thermoforming chamber 4 is an intra-compartment pressure value, and the absolute value of the difference between the second preset value and the intra-compartment pressure value is less than 20 Pa. Thus, the pressure in the thermoforming chamber 4 can be kept in relative equilibrium with the pressure in the chamber, thereby facilitating the movement of the vacuum member 31 to the second position.

Referring to fig. 1, according to some embodiments of the present application, before a workpiece to be processed enters the body compartment 11, the body compartment 11 is filled with a shielding gas, which may be nitrogen, an inert gas, or the like. By filling the main body chamber 11 with the protective gas before the work piece to be processed enters the main body chamber 11, the oxygen content in the main body chamber 11 can be reduced, and thus the molding die 7 can be prevented from being oxidized during the thermal molding process.

Referring to fig. 1, according to some embodiments of the present application, the body compartment 11 has an annealing zone 113 therein, the molded part is moved out of the thermoforming zone 111 and moved to the annealing zone 113, and the molded part is subjected to an annealing process in the annealing zone 113, wherein the annealing process includes a first annealing stage and a second annealing stage disposed after the first annealing stage, and a cooling rate of the first annealing stage is less than a cooling rate of the second annealing stage. For example, after the workpiece to be processed is heated and formed in the heating and forming region 111, the formed part may be moved out of the heating and forming region 111 and moved to the annealing region 113, the formed part may enter the first annealing stage to be slowly cooled, so that the temperature of the formed part is gradually reduced, defects such as cracks and breakage during the cooling process of the formed part may be reduced or avoided, and thermal stress may be released, and then the formed part may enter the second annealing stage to be rapidly cooled, so that the temperature of the formed part is rapidly reduced, the cooling time may be shortened, and the production efficiency may be improved. By setting the annealing process to include a first annealing stage in which the cooling rate is small and a second annealing stage in which the cooling rate is large, the probability of occurrence of defects such as cracks, chipping, and the like in the cooling process can be reduced, and the cooling time can be made short.

Referring to fig. 1, 3, according to some alternative embodiments of the present application, after the molded part is cooled to an annealing point through the first annealing stage, the molded part is subjected to a second annealing stage. Therefore, the formed part can be ensured not to generate thermal stress, and stress residue or cold lines of the formed part can be avoided.

Referring to fig. 1 and 3, according to some alternative embodiments of the present application, the annealing process further includes a third annealing stage between the first annealing stage and the second annealing stage, where the formed part is kept at a constant temperature. Therefore, when the formed part is in the third annealing stage, the formed part can be kept at a constant temperature, so that the formed part can sufficiently eliminate thermal stress, defects such as cracks of the formed part caused by the thermal stress can be reduced, and residual stress can be reduced.

Referring to fig. 1, 3, optionally, the temperature of the shaped article is maintained at the annealing point during the third annealing stage. Therefore, the thermal stress of the formed part can be better eliminated, so that the defects of cracks and the like of the formed part caused by the thermal stress can be further reduced, and the residual stress can be further reduced.

According to the glass member of the embodiment of the third aspect of the present application, the glass member is manufactured by using the thermoforming apparatus 10 of the embodiment of the first aspect, or the glass member is manufactured by using the thermoforming method of the embodiment of the second aspect, for example, the glass member may be 3D non-uniform thickness glass.

According to the glass piece, the thermal forming equipment 10 or the thermal forming method is utilized to manufacture the glass piece, so that the production efficiency can be improved, the mass production of the glass piece is facilitated, and the defect that bubbles are generated due to glass-wrapped gas can be avoided or reduced in the glass forming process of the glass piece.

Referring to fig. 4, the housing 50 according to the fourth aspect of the present application, for example, the housing 50 may be a glass member, the housing 50 may be a non-uniform thickness structure, the housing 50 is manufactured by using the thermoforming apparatus 10 of the first aspect of the present application, or the housing 50 is manufactured by using the thermoforming method of the second aspect of the present application.

According to the housing 50 of the embodiment of the application, by manufacturing the housing 50 by using the thermoforming apparatus 10 or the thermoforming method, the production efficiency can be improved, the mass production of the housing 50 is facilitated, and in the manufacturing process of the housing 50, the defect that bubbles are generated by entrapped gas can be avoided or reduced, so that the molding reject ratio can be reduced, and the molding quality of the housing 50 can be improved.

Referring to fig. 4, an electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the fifth aspect of the present application includes: the housing 50 according to the fourth aspect embodiment described above.

For example, in the example of fig. 4, the electronic device 100 is a mobile terminal (e.g., a mobile phone), the electronic device 100 includes the above-mentioned housing 50 and a main board, the electronic device 100 may further include a camera and a display screen assembly 60, the display screen assembly 60 is connected to the housing 50 and defines a mounting cavity, and the main board and the camera are both disposed in the mounting cavity.

The electronic device 100 of the present application may be, for example, any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communications (only one modality shown in fig. 4 by way of example). Specifically, electronic device 100 may be a mobile or smart phone (e.g., an iPhone (TM) based, Android (TM) based phone), a Portable gaming device (e.g., a Nintendo DS (TM), PlayStation Portable (TM), Game Advance (TM), iPhone (TM)), a laptop, a PDA, a Portable Internet device, a music player and data storage device, other handheld devices and head-worn devices such as watches, in-ear headphones, pendant, headphones, etc., electronic device 100 may also be other wearable devices (e.g., a head-worn device (HMD) such as electronic glasses, electronic clothing, electronic bracelets, electronic necklaces, electronic tattoos, electronic device 100, or smart watches).

According to the electronic device 100 of the embodiment of the present application, by providing the housing 50, the molding defect rate can be reduced, and the molding quality of the housing 50 can be improved.

In the following, referring to fig. 1 to 4, a thermoforming apparatus 10 and a thermoforming method of the thermoforming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention are described, in the following embodiments, the workpiece to be processed may be a 2D glass blank, the molded part may be a 3D glass piece, for example, the molded part may be a 3D glass piece with unequal thickness, for example, referring to fig. 4, the molded part may be a housing 50, and the housing 50 may be a housing 50 of an electronic apparatus 100.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the hot forming apparatus 10 includes an apparatus body 1, a hot forming system 20 for hot forming a workpiece to be processed, a vacuum system, a preheating system 51, and an annealing system 61, and the hot forming apparatus 10 may further include a conveyor. The equipment body 1 comprises a main body cabin 11, a preheating zone 112, a heating forming zone 111 and an annealing zone 113 which are sequentially arranged according to processing are arranged in the main body cabin 11, the equipment body 1 can further comprise a feeding cabin 12 and a discharging cabin 13, and the feeding cabin 12, the main body cabin 11 and the discharging cabin 13 are sequentially arranged according to a processing sequence.

The vacuum system comprises a vacuum piece 31, a control mechanism 32 and a vacuumizing device, the vacuumizing device is provided with an air extracting valve 33, the vacuum system further comprises an inflating device, the inflating device is provided with an inflating valve 34, the inflating device is used for filling protective gas into the heating forming chamber 4, and the inflating device can also fill the main body cabin 11 with the protective gas. The vacuum member 31 is disposed in the main body compartment 11 to be movable up and down between a first position and a second position, the control mechanism 32 is connected to the vacuum member 31 to drive the vacuum member 31 to move, and the vacuum member 31 is a vacuum cover.

When the vacuum member 31 is located at the first position, the vacuum member 31 is located in the thermoforming zone 111 and the vacuum member 31 and the main body compartment 11 together define the closed thermoforming chamber 4, and the vacuum-pumping device is used for vacuumizing the thermoforming chamber 4. When the vacuum member 31 is located at the second position, the member to be processed can enter the thermoforming region 111 and the formed molded article after thermoforming can be moved out of the thermoforming region 111.

The heating and forming system 20 includes a heating device 21 and a forming device 22, the heating device 21 is used for heating the member to be heated, and the heating device 21 is an induction heating device 21. The forming device 22 is used for press forming the workpiece, and the forming device 22 is located after the process of the heating device 21. The molding device 22 includes a pressing mechanism 221 for pressing the molding die 7, and the pressing mechanism 221 is movably disposed through the vacuum member 31.

The preheating zone 112 may include a plurality of parallel preheating passes, the thermoforming zone 111 may include a plurality of parallel thermoforming passes, and the annealing zone 113 may include a plurality of parallel annealing passes, such that the thermoforming apparatus 10 may form a plurality of 2D glass blanks simultaneously. According to the requirements of production process, 8-24 stations can be arranged in the main body cabin 11, wherein 2-12 stations can be arranged in the preheating zone 112, 2-4 stations can be arranged in the thermoforming zone 111, and 2-8 stations can be arranged in the annealing zone 113. The annealing region 113 may include a first sub-annealing region 1131, a third sub-annealing region 1133, and a second sub-annealing region 1132, which are sequentially arranged according to a process.

The following describes a thermoforming method and a thermoforming process of the thermoforming apparatus 10, and the thermoforming method and the thermoforming process described below are only an example of the thermoforming apparatus 10 and are not intended to specifically limit the thermoforming apparatus 10.

Firstly, starting the equipment, firstly filling the main cabin 11 with protective gas, and heating other systems except the heating forming system 20 to the working temperature specified by the process.

Secondly, the 2D glass blank is placed in a forming die 7, for example, the forming die 7 can be a graphite die, and the forming die 7 with the glass blank is placed at the starting position of the feeding cabin 12.

And thirdly, starting a program, controlling the transmission device by the control system to push the forming mold 7 into the feeding cabin 12, opening a feeding cabin door between the feeding cabin 12 and the main body cabin 11, pushing the forming mold 7 to the preheating area 112 of the main body cabin 11 through the transmission device, and closing the feeding cabin door.

Fourthly, preheating: the preheating zone 112 preheats the forming mold 7 in a heating pipe heat conduction manner, the preheating temperature is designed according to the softening point temperature of the glass material to be preheated, the preheating zone 112 can gradually heat the forming mold 7 from room temperature to a temperature close to the softening point temperature of the glass, for example, the forming mold 7 can be moved from a previous heating station to a next heating station for heating after a fixed period of time, and after continuous heating, the temperature at which the forming mold 7 enters the last station of the preheating zone 112 is closest to the softening point of the glass, and at this time, the forming mold 7 can enter the heating forming zone 111.

Fifthly, heating: the forming mold 7 can be pushed into the heating station of the thermoforming zone 111 by the transmission device, and the control mechanism 32 controls the vacuum member 31 to descend, for example, the control mechanism 32 pushes the vacuum member 31 to descend, so that the vacuum member 31 is located at the first position. At this time, the vacuum piece 31 is covered on the thermoforming region 111, the vacuum piece 31 and the main body cabin 11 can jointly define a closed thermoforming chamber 4, the vacuumizing device is started to vacuumize the thermoforming chamber 4, when the air pressure in the thermoforming chamber 4 is lower than 500Pa, the heating device 21 is started to heat the forming mold 7, and when the temperature of the forming mold 7 reaches 1000 ℃ -1200 ℃, the induction heating time is maintained for 10-40 s.

Sixthly, forming: the forming die 7 is pushed to the forming station of the heating forming area 111 through the transmission mechanism, the pressurizing mechanism 221 controls the downward pushing push rod to press the heated forming die 7, and the pressurizing mechanism 221 adopts a servo motor or an air cylinder to push the forming die 7 to be pressed. After the forming mold 7 is pressed, the vacuum pumping device is closed, and the gas filling valve 34 of the gas filling device is opened to fill the heating forming chamber 4 with protective gas, such as nitrogen. When the air pressure in the thermoforming chamber 4 is consistent with the air pressure in the other part of the main body compartment 11, the control mechanism 32 can lift the vacuum member 31 to make the vacuum member 31 located at the second position. At this time, the forming die 7 may be pushed into the annealing zone 113 by the transmission.

Seventhly, annealing: and after the glass is formed, the glass enters the annealing area 113, the annealing area 113 is divided into a first sub-annealing area 1131, a third sub-annealing area 1133 and a second sub-annealing area 1132 which are sequentially arranged according to the working procedures, the first sub-annealing area 1131 is a slow cooling area, the second sub-annealing area 1132 is a fast cooling area, and the third sub-annealing area 1133 is a constant temperature area. After the forming mold 7 is formed and shaped in the heating forming area 111, the forming mold firstly enters the first sub-annealing area 1131, the temperature of the forming mold 7 is gradually reduced, and the temperature of the glass in the forming mold 7 is also reduced to be lower than the annealing point. At this time, the forming mold 7 may enter the third sub-annealing area 1133, the temperature of the forming mold 7 is unchanged and is kept at an annealing point, the thermal stress of the glass in the forming mold 7 may be sufficiently eliminated, subsequently, the forming mold 7 enters the second sub-annealing area 1132, the temperature of the forming mold 7 is rapidly reduced, the temperature of the glass in the forming mold 7 is also reduced, the thermal stress in the glass is reduced, and after the annealing is completed, the forming mold 7 enters the discharging cabin 13 from the main cabin 11.

For example, FIG. 3 is a graph of time-temperature relationship of a glass piece during a thermoforming process, wherein a represents a station heating time, e.g., a may be 100s-300s, T represents temperature, T_SPTemperature, T, representing the softening point of the glass_APThe temperature representing the annealing point of the glass, as can be seen from FIG. 3, the glass piece is continuously heated in the heating zone at 0-4a, gradually raising the temperature of the glass piece to the glass softening point temperature. At 4a-6a, the glass member enters a forming zone, and the forming zone continues to heat the glass member to a temperature that softens the glass memberAbove this point, the glass is softened to have a certain fluidity, and a change in thickness can be exhibited, whereby the glass material can be press-molded. The glass piece enters the annealing area 113 at 6a-12a, the formed glass piece enters the annealing area 113 for annealing, the glass piece is located in the first sub-annealing area 1131 at 6a-8a, the temperature of the glass piece is slowly reduced to the temperature of the annealing point of the glass piece, the glass piece is located in the third sub-annealing area 1133 at 8a-10a, the temperature of the glass piece is kept unchanged at the annealing point, therefore, the thermal stress can be eliminated, the glass piece enters the second sub-annealing area 1132 at 10a-12a, and the temperature of the glass piece is rapidly reduced to the room temperature.

Eighthly, discharging: the already cooled forming mould 7 is transferred out of the discharge compartment 13 to await the next forming mould 7.

In the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like, indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, are only for convenience in describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus, are not to be construed as limiting the present application.

In the description herein, reference to the description of the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an illustrative embodiment," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples" or the like means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the application. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

While embodiments of the present application have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the application, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A thermoforming apparatus, comprising:

the equipment comprises an equipment body, a heating and forming device and a control device, wherein the equipment body comprises a main cabin, and a heating and forming area is arranged in the main cabin;

the heating forming system is used for heating and forming the workpiece to be processed;

the vacuum system comprises a vacuum piece, a control mechanism and a vacuum-pumping device, wherein the vacuum piece is movably arranged in the main body cabin between a first position and a second position, and the control mechanism is connected with the vacuum piece to drive the vacuum piece to move;

when the vacuum piece is located at the first position, the vacuum piece is located in the thermoforming area, the vacuum piece and the main body cabin jointly define a closed thermoforming cavity, and the vacuumizing device is used for vacuumizing the thermoforming cavity;

when the vacuum piece is located at the second position, the workpiece to be machined can enter the heating forming area, and a formed piece formed after heating forming can be moved out of the heating forming area.

2. A thermoforming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vacuum member is a vacuum hood, the vacuum hood being located in the thermoforming zone when the vacuum member is in the first position.

3. A thermoforming apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the vacuum is provided in the main body compartment so as to be movable up and down.

4. The thermoforming apparatus of claim 2, wherein the thermoforming system comprises:

the heating device is used for heating the to-be-heated piece, and is an induction heating device;

the forming device is used for pressing and forming the workpiece to be processed and is positioned after the process of the heating device, the forming device comprises a pressing mechanism used for pressing a forming die, and the pressing mechanism is movably arranged in the vacuum piece in a penetrating mode.

5. A thermoforming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vacuum member comprises two vacuum diaphragms, each of said vacuum diaphragms being rotatably connected to said body section, said two vacuum diaphragms being opposed and spaced apart within said body section when said vacuum member is in said first position, said two vacuum diaphragms defining said thermoforming chamber with said body section therebetween.

6. A thermoforming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vacuum system further comprises an inflation device for inflating the thermoforming chamber with a protective gas.

7. The thermoforming apparatus according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the main body compartment has a preheating zone and an annealing zone, the preheating zone, the thermoforming zone, and the annealing zone being arranged in sequence in a processing order, the thermoforming apparatus comprising a preheating system for preheating the part to be processed and an annealing system for annealing the shaped part, wherein,

the heated forming zone is separated from the preheating zone and the annealing zone by the vacuum when the vacuum is in the first position;

and when the vacuum piece is positioned at the second position, the heating forming area is communicated with the preheating area and the annealing area.

8. A thermoforming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that said annealing zone comprises a first sub-annealing zone and a second sub-annealing zone provided after the first sub-annealing zone process, the cooling rate of said first annealing zone being less than the cooling rate of said second annealing zone when said thermoforming apparatus is in operation.

9. The thermoforming apparatus of claim 8, wherein the annealing zone further comprises a third sub-annealing zone, the third sub-annealing zone located between the first sub-annealing zone and the second sub-annealing zone, the temperature of the third sub-annealing zone being maintained at a constant temperature while the thermoforming apparatus is in operation.

10. A thermoforming apparatus as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that the temperature of the third sub-annealing zone is maintained at the annealing point during operation of the thermoforming apparatus.

11. A thermoforming method, wherein a thermoforming apparatus used in the thermoforming method comprises an apparatus body and a vacuum member, the main body compartment has a thermoforming zone therein, the vacuum member is movably disposed in the main body compartment between a first position and a second position, the vacuum member is located in the thermoforming zone and defines a closed thermoforming chamber together with the main body compartment when the vacuum member is located in the first position, and a workpiece to be processed can enter the thermoforming zone and a molded article formed after thermoforming can be removed from the thermoforming zone when the vacuum member is located in the second position, the thermoforming method comprising:

moving the workpiece to be processed to the heating forming area;

controlling the vacuum piece to move to the first position, wherein the piece to be processed is positioned in the heating forming cavity;

vacuumizing the heating forming cavity until the air pressure of the heating forming cavity reaches a first preset value;

heating and forming the workpiece to be processed to form a formed part;

controlling the vacuum member to move to the second position;

moving the shaped part out of the thermoforming zone.

12. The thermoforming method of claim 11, wherein the first preset value is less than 500 Pa.

13. The thermoforming method of claim 11, wherein the evacuation of the thermoforming chamber is stopped after pressing the forming mold.

14. The thermoforming method of claim 11, wherein after the workpiece to be processed is thermoformed to form the shaped part and before the vacuum member is controlled to move to the second position, the thermoforming chamber is filled with a protective gas until a gas pressure of the thermoforming chamber reaches a second preset value.

15. The thermoforming method of claim 14, wherein the current gas pressure inside the main body chamber excluding the other portions of the thermoforming chamber is an intra-chamber pressure value, and an absolute value of a difference between the second preset value and the intra-chamber pressure value is less than 20 Pa.

16. The thermoforming method of claim 11, wherein the body compartment is filled with a shielding gas prior to entry of the part to be machined into the body compartment.

17. The thermoforming method of any of claims 11-16, wherein the body compartment has an annealing zone therein, the shaped part is moved out of the thermoforming zone and to the annealing zone, and the shaped part is subjected to an annealing process in the annealing zone, the annealing process comprising a first annealing stage and a second annealing stage disposed after the first annealing stage process, the first annealing stage having a cooling rate less than that of the second annealing stage.

18. The thermoforming method of claim 17, wherein the shaped part is brought into the second annealing stage after the shaped part has cooled to an annealing point via the first annealing stage.

19. The thermoforming method of claim 17, wherein the annealing process further comprises a third annealing stage between the first annealing stage and the second annealing stage, the shaped part being held at a constant temperature during the third annealing stage.

20. The thermoforming method of claim 19, wherein the temperature of the shaped part is maintained at the annealing point during the third annealing stage.

21. A glass article characterized in that it is manufactured using a thermoforming apparatus according to any of claims 1-10 or manufactured using a thermoforming method according to any of claims 11-20.

22. A housing, characterized in that the housing is manufactured using a thermoforming apparatus according to any of claims 1-10, or the housing is manufactured using a thermoforming method according to any of claims 11-20.

23. An electronic device, comprising: the housing of claim 22.