CN112074134A

CN112074134A - Metal shell of electronic equipment and processing technology thereof

Info

Publication number: CN112074134A
Application number: CN201910496549.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 严文龙; 张建涛
Original assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-06-10
Filing date: 2019-06-10
Publication date: 2020-12-11

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a metal shell of electronic equipment and a processing technology thereof, belonging to the technical field of metal processing. The electronic equipment metal shell prepared by the processing technology provided by the embodiment of the disclosure has glass highlight texture, and appearance texture which can be realized by the metal shell is enriched. The method comprises preparing a base shell having a predetermined structure; carrying out anodic oxidation treatment on the base shell to form a first film layer on the base shell; and carrying out optical coating treatment on the base shell to form a second film layer covering the first film layer on the base shell, wherein the light reflection coefficient of the second film layer is greater than that of the first film layer.

Description

Metal shell of electronic equipment and processing technology thereof

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of metal product processing, in particular to a metal shell of electronic equipment and a processing technology thereof.

Background

The metal shell is widely applied to electronic equipment such as mobile phones and tablet computers. In the related art, a process of molding before anodizing is used to process a metal case of an electronic device. The appearance requirement of the metal shell and the installation requirement in the electronic equipment are met through the molding treatment; the durability and appearance of the metal case are optimized by the anodizing process.

However, the inventor finds that in the related art, the metal shell can only present a metal texture, and the appearance texture is single, which is difficult to meet the user requirements.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a metal shell of an electronic device and a processing technique thereof, wherein the processed metal shell has appearance texture different from that of the metal shell in the related art.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a process for processing a metal housing of an electronic device is provided, the process including:

preparing a base shell with a preset structure; carrying out anodic oxidation treatment on the base shell to form a first film layer on the base shell; and carrying out optical coating treatment on the base shell to form a second film layer covering the first film layer on the base shell, wherein the light reflection coefficient of the second film layer is greater than that of the first film layer.

Optionally, the coating process for the base shell includes: and carrying out optical coating treatment on the base shell by adopting a vacuum evaporation or vacuum sputtering mode.

Optionally, the thickness of the second film layer is 120nm to 350 nm.

Optionally, the light reflection coefficient of the second film layer is configured to be 40-65 of the value of the color model lightness component of the metal shell.

Optionally, the second film layer is selected from a metal layer, a metal compound layer, or a non-metal compound layer.

Alternatively, the preparing of the base shell having the predetermined structure includes:

processing the metal section into a first matrix; carrying out nano injection molding treatment on the first matrix to obtain a second matrix with a resin structure; and removing the excess material on the second substrate according to the preset structure to obtain the base shell.

Optionally, before the anodizing the base shell, the process further comprises:

polishing the base shell; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and polishing the base shell, and performing sand blasting on the polished base shell.

Optionally, the anodizing the base shell to form a first film layer on the base shell includes:

and carrying out anodic oxidation treatment on the base shell at the temperature of 18-22 ℃ to form a first film layer with the thickness of 8-20 microns on the surface of the base shell.

Optionally, before the optical coating treatment is performed on the base shell, the processing technology further includes: and polishing the first film layer.

Optionally, after forming the second film layer on the base shell to cover the first film layer, the processing process further includes: and forming a third film layer on the second film layer, wherein the hydrophobicity of the third film layer is greater than that of the second film layer.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a metal housing for electronic equipment, the metal housing being prepared by the processing method of the first aspect, including:

the device comprises a base shell, a first film layer arranged on the base shell and a second film layer arranged on the first film layer; the light reflection coefficient of the second film layer is greater than the light reflection coefficient of the first film layer.

The metal shell of the electronic equipment and the processing technology thereof provided by the disclosure at least have the following beneficial effects:

according to the processing technology of the metal shell of the electronic device, the second film layer is formed on the surface of the metal shell through optical coating treatment. And the light reflectance of the second film layer is higher than that of the first film layer formed by the anodic oxidation treatment. Therefore, the second film layer enables the metal shell to be more easily highlighted, and the metal shell has glass texture different from the traditional metal texture. The process provided by the embodiment of the disclosure enriches the appearance texture of the metal shell, further contributes to improving the difference of electronic products, and meets the requirements of different users. And the whole process is simple and easy to operate, and is suitable for industrial production.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process flow for manufacturing a metal case of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a metal case machined by an electronics metal case machining process in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a portion of a process flow in a process for fabricating a metal case of an electronic device according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 4-6 are schematic views of product structures corresponding to various steps in the process flow provided in FIG. 3;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a partial process flow in a process for manufacturing a metal housing of an electronic device according to another exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. Unless otherwise defined, technical or scientific terms used herein shall have the ordinary meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The use of the terms "a" or "an" and the like in the description and in the claims of this application do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one. Unless otherwise indicated, the word "comprise" or "comprises", and the like, means that the element or item listed before "comprises" or "comprising" covers the element or item listed after "comprises" or "comprising" and its equivalents, and does not exclude other elements or items. The terms "connected" or "coupled" and the like are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Before explaining the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be noted that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the types of the electronic devices are not specifically limited. Illustratively, the electronic device is a cell phone, a tablet, a wearable device, or a medical apparatus.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a machining process of a metal shell of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment, and fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a metal shell prepared by the machining process provided by the embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 1, a processing process of a metal housing of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure includes:

step S101, preparing the base shell 10 having a predetermined structure.

The preset structure may be a plate-shaped structure, such as a rear cover plate of an electronic device; or, the preset structure is a frame-shaped structure, such as a frame of the electronic device; alternatively, the predetermined structure is a cavity structure, such as an integrally formed structure of the back cover plate and the frame.

Through step S101, the metal shell meets the appearance requirements and the installation requirements of different electronic devices, and the base shell provides a processing reference for the subsequent process.

Fig. 3 is a schematic process flow diagram for preparing a base shell having a predetermined structure according to an exemplary embodiment. Fig. 4-6 are schematic diagrams of product structures corresponding to different steps in the process flow provided in fig. 3.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3-6, step S101 includes:

step S301, the metal profile is processed into the first substrate 11.

Alternatively, the metal profile may be machined into the first substrate 11 by using a Numerical Control (CNC) machine to Control a lathe, a milling machine, a press, or the like. Wherein, the metal section bar can be selected to be an aluminum alloy section bar. The structure of the first substrate is not particularly limited, and may be a plate structure, a frame structure, a cavity structure, or the like.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 4, a target region 111, such as a groove, a hole (not shown in fig. 4), or the like, which needs to be nano-injection-molded, is formed on the first substrate 11 in step S301, so as to perform step S302.

Step S302, performing nano injection molding on the target region 111 of the first substrate 11 to obtain the second substrate 12 having the resin structure 121 as shown in fig. 5. Illustratively, a resin structure 121, such as an antenna strip on a back cover of a cellular phone, combined with a metal profile is formed on a target region 111 of the first substrate 11 shown in fig. 4 by a nano-injection molding process.

As an alternative, the nano injection molding process includes a nano process and an injection molding process. Nano-scale holes are formed on the surface of the first substrate 11 at the target region 111 by nano-processing (for example, partially or partially immersing the first substrate in a T-treatment agent, or an E-treatment agent), and the nano-scale holes are utilized to enhance the bonding tightness between the resin and the metal. A resin is injected on the target area 111 of the first substrate 11 through an injection molding process, and is then cured to form a resin structure 121.

Step S303, removing the excess material on the second substrate according to a preset structure to obtain the housing 10 (the structure of the housing 10 is shown in fig. 6).

Illustratively, the biscuit 122 on the second substrate 12 is removed using a CNC control device. Optionally, the excess material 122 is an excess material of the resin structure 121 formed by injection molding, for example, a portion with an excess edge of the antenna strip. Alternatively, the excess material 122 is a portion of the second substrate 12 that needs to be provided with a hole or a groove, such as a camera mounting hole.

In one embodiment, prior to anodizing the housing 10, the process further comprises: the base-removed shell 10 is surface treated.

As an alternative, the surface treatment includes polishing the base shell 10. And removing the knife grains left on the surface of the base shell 10 in the CNC processing process through polishing treatment, and reducing the surface roughness of the base shell 10 so as to provide a smooth action surface for the subsequent process and optimize the surface performance of the final metal shell.

Alternatively, the polishing process is a flat grinding process, a wet polishing process, or a robot polishing process.

Alternatively, the surface treatment includes polishing the base shell 10, and sand blasting the polished base shell 10.

The sand blasting process adopts compressed air as power to form high-speed spray beams, and sprays spray materials and the like to the surface of the base shell 10 at high speed, so that the surface appearance of the base shell 10 is changed. The base shell 10 exhibits a uniform sanding effect by performing sand blasting after polishing.

Optionally, the base shell 10 is sand blasted under an air pressure of 1.0-1.6 kg. The surface treatment is realized under the pressure condition on the premise of ensuring the stable structure of the base shell 10. Wherein, the spraying material can be selected from zircon sand, quartz sand and the like.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the process further includes step S102 of performing an anodic oxidation treatment on the base shell 10 to form the first film layer 20 on the base shell 10.

The first film layer 20 is an oxide layer, and the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the base shell 10 are optimized by the first film layer 20. And the first film layer 20 is provided with holes, so that the adsorption property is strong, the dyeing effect of the base shell 10 can be improved, and the appearance characteristic of the metal shell is enriched.

Fig. 7 is a schematic process flow diagram illustrating an anodization process performed on the base shell 10, according to an exemplary embodiment. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 7 and 2, the step S102 includes the following steps.

Step S701, cleaning the base housing 10.

Illustratively, the outer base shell 10 is first cleaned with an alkaline liquid to remove impurities such as oil stains on the surface of the base shell 10; then, cleaning by adopting an acid liquid, and neutralizing the alkaline liquid; finally, pure water is adopted for cleaning, redundant acid liquor on the surface of the base shell 10 is removed, and the cleaning process is completed.

Step S702, immersing the cleaned base shell 10 into an electrolyte at the temperature of 18-22 ℃ to carry out anodic oxidation treatment, so as to form a first film layer 20 with the thickness of 8-20 μm on the surface of the base shell 10.

In one embodiment, the base shell 10 is subjected to a dyeing process after step S102. Alternatively, the light color (e.g., pink, gold, gray, etc.) dyeing time is 150s to 200s, and the dark color (e.g., black, etc.) dyeing time is 450s to 600 s. And, after dyeing, the base shell 10 is subjected to hole sealing treatment, and the adsorption performance of the first film layer 20 is weakened through the hole sealing treatment, so that the first film layer 20 is ensured to have a lasting and stable dyeing effect.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the process further includes step S103 of performing an optical coating process on the base shell 10 to form a second film layer 30 covering the first film layer 20 on the base shell 10, wherein the light reflectance of the second film layer 30 is greater than the light reflectance of the first film layer 20.

Optical coating treatment is generally applied to the field of optical element processing. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the optical coating process forms the second film layer 30 having a higher light reflectance on the base case 10. In this manner, the second film layer 30 forms a brightness enhancing film layer that alters the optical properties of the metal housing, particularly the light reflecting properties. Particularly, the metal shell is easier to highlight under illumination, has a mirror reflection effect, and further presents the appearance texture similar to glass. The step S103 gives the metal shell different appearance texture from the conventional metal shell, enriches the appearance effect which can be realized by the metal shell of the electronic equipment, and meets the user requirements.

In one embodiment, the light reflectance of the second film layer 30 is configured to have a color model lightness component of the metal shell with a value of 40-65. The color model (Lab) characterizes the properties of the color itself, including the lightness component. Wherein, the value of the lightness component ranges from 0 to 100, and the higher the value of the lightness component is, the brighter the color is. Specifically, in a solid object, the greater the value of the lightness component of the object, the higher its light reflectance.

In the related art, the value of the lightness component of the metal shell of the electronic equipment is 8-15, the light reflection coefficient of the metal shell is low, and the metal shell presents a conventional metal texture. However, in the embodiment of the disclosure, the lightness component of the metal shell is 40-65, and the metal shell has high light reflection coefficient. In this way, the metal shell provided by the embodiment of the disclosure has a glass-textured highlight effect.

And, optionally, the thickness of the second film layer 30 is 120nm to 350 nm. The second film layer 30 in this thickness range can achieve the effect of light transmission and even transparency. Therefore, the color of the first film layer 20 can be expressed through the second film layer 30. Under the condition, the glass texture of the metal shell is optimized, so that the metal shell processed by the process provided by the embodiment of the disclosure has the dual texture of glass and metal, and a richer visual effect is achieved.

In particular, when the first film layer 20 is sandblasted before the optical coating, the metal shell can still have a frosted granular feel under the combined action of the first film layer 20 and the second film layer 30.

In this case, as shown in fig. 2, the surface where the first film layer 20 meets the base case 10 is a frosted surface, and since the thickness of the first film layer 20 is 80 to 120 μm, the first film layer 20 in this thickness range has light transmittance. Further, the light incident from the second film layer 30 to the first film layer 20 can be reflected by the frosted surface and then can be emitted out of the second film layer 30. The metal case can exhibit a grainy feel of a frosted surface where the first film layer 20 meets the base case 10. Moreover, the high light reflection coefficient of the second film layer 30 can still realize the highlight effect different from the traditional metal texture, and the appearance texture of the metal shell is further enriched.

In one embodiment, the base shell 10 is optically coated by physical vapor deposition. Preferably, the second film layer 30 is formed on the base case 10 by vacuum evaporation or vacuum sputtering.

Also, optionally, the second film layer 30 is a metal layer, for example, the metal is copper, molybdenum, or germanium. Alternatively, the second film layer 30 may be a metal compound layer, for example, a metal compound such as zinc sulfide, magnesium fluoride, zirconium oxide, or titanium dioxide. Alternatively, the second film layer 30 is a layer of a non-metallic compound, for example, a layer of silicon dioxide.

In one embodiment, before step S103, the processing process further includes: the first film layer 20 is subjected to a polishing process. Obvious unevenness on the first rete 20 is got rid of through polishing treatment, avoids setting up the second rete 30 on first rete 20 and causes the orange peel phenomenon because of wrinkling, and then optimizes metal casing's outward appearance effect.

When the first film layer 20 after being dyed and subjected to hole sealing is polished, attention needs to be paid to polishing to cause thickness loss of the first film layer 20, and the situation that the first film layer 20 is discolored or color distribution is not uniform due to polishing is avoided.

In one embodiment, after step S103, the processing process further includes: a third membrane layer 40 is formed on the second membrane layer 30 (the third membrane layer 40 is shown in fig. 2), and the hydrophobicity of the third membrane layer 40 is greater than that of the second membrane layer 30. The higher hydrophobicity of the third film layer 40 prevents the liquid residue from appearing on the surface of the metal shell, and the purpose of reducing fingerprints and stains is achieved. Optionally, the third film layer 40 is an AF coating film with a thickness of 8nm to 20 nm.

According to the processing technology of the metal shell of the electronic equipment, the metal shell is endowed with glass texture by utilizing the optical coating treatment, so that the metal shell produced by adopting the processing technology has the appearance different from the traditional metal texture, the difference of electronic products is improved, and different user requirements are met. And the whole process is simple and easy to operate, and is suitable for industrial production.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a metal casing of an electronic device, which is manufactured by the machining process provided in the first aspect, and as shown in fig. 2, the metal casing includes:

a base shell 10, a first film layer 20 disposed on the base shell 10, and a second film layer 30 disposed on the first film layer 20. The light reflection coefficient of the second film layer 30 is greater than that of the first film layer 20, so that the surface optical characteristics, especially the light reflectivity, of the metal shell are improved by the second film layer 30. And then this metal casing can realize the highlight effect, demonstrates similar glass's feel, and science and technology feels stronger, satisfies user experience.

Preferably, the thickness of the second film layer 30 is 120nm to 350 nm. The light reflectance of the second film layer 30 is configured such that the color model lightness component of the metal shell has a value of 40 to 65. In this way, the appearance texture of the metal case is further optimized.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A processing technology of a metal shell of electronic equipment is characterized by comprising the following steps:

preparing a base shell with a preset structure;

carrying out anodic oxidation treatment on the base shell to form a first film layer on the base shell;

and carrying out optical coating treatment on the base shell to form a second film layer covering the first film layer on the base shell, wherein the light reflection coefficient of the second film layer is greater than that of the first film layer.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein said optically coating said base shell comprises:

and carrying out optical coating treatment on the base shell by adopting a physical vapor deposition mode.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the second film layer is 120nm to 350 nm.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the light reflectance of the second film layer is configured to provide a color model lightness component of the metal housing having a value of 40 to 65.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein the second film layer is selected from a metal layer, a metal compound layer, or a non-metal compound layer.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein said preparing a base shell having a predetermined structure comprises:

processing a metal section into a first substrate, wherein the first substrate is provided with a target area to be subjected to injection molding;

carrying out nano injection molding treatment on the target area to obtain a second matrix with a resin structure;

and removing the excess material on the second substrate according to the preset structure to obtain the base shell.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein prior to said anodizing said base shell, said process further comprises:

8. The process of claim 1, wherein anodizing the base shell to form a first film layer on the base shell comprises:

9. The process of claim 1, wherein prior to said optical coating of said base shell, said process further comprises: and polishing the first film layer.

10. The process of claim 1, wherein after forming a second film layer on the base shell overlying the first film layer, the process further comprises:

and forming a third film layer on the second film layer, wherein the hydrophobicity of the third film layer is greater than that of the second film layer.

11. A metal shell of an electronic device, wherein the metal shell is prepared by the processing technology of any one of claims 1 to 10, and the metal shell comprises: