JP2010206297A - Casing for portable electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a casing for a portable electronic device having a pattern, capable of changing an appearance design, when being water-wetted. <P>SOLUTION: A back surface cover 10 of a folding cellular phone 1 is formed of a transparent resin material, and fine unevenness is given by executing processing, such as, emboss processing or blasting, on at least a part of outer front surface thereof to make it appear as a frosted glass, and a decorating portion (a) having characters or patterns is provided on the back surface. When the front surface of the decorating portion (a) is dry, the characters and patterns applied on the back surface seem which becomes faded, because of complicated diffuse reflection or refraction of the light resulting from the fine unevenness on the back surface. When the outer surface of the decorated portion (a) is water-wetted, the unevenness of the outer front surface of the decorating portion (a) is filled with the water, and the surface becomes smooth and suppresses the diffuse reflection or refraction; and the back surface changes so that the characters and patterns applied on the inner surface side can be seen clearly through the front surface side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a casing for a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

  A technique for imparting a pattern or the like to a surface of a molded article such as a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone or a PDA, or a daily product or a toy has been generally implemented as a means for enhancing the design of a product (for example, (See Patent Documents 1 to 3).

  In the inventions described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a painting sheet in which a pattern or the like is formed on a base sheet is sandwiched in a mold and the mold is closed, and at the same time as a molten resin is injected into a cavity of the mold, a resin molded product By adhering the pattern of the painting sheet to the surface, it is possible to produce a decorative molded product that is painted on the surface of the molded product simultaneously with molding.

  In Patent Document 3, a pattern layer is formed on one side of a floor tile base layer, and a surface layer covering the pattern layer is mixed mainly with glass or glass having a predetermined surface roughness to prevent slipping. Constructed from a translucent material that uses a material to make the surface appear semi-transparent or frosted glass-like when dried, and when wet, it becomes transparent because water accumulates on the surface irregularities. The technology to make the pattern appear is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-231821 JP 2003-225984 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-62541 JP 2006-287313 A JP 2008-289103 A

  In recent years, portable electronic devices having a waterproof function such as mobile phones have been increasing (see Patent Documents 4 to 5), and there are many opportunities for use in water or around water. In addition, among the opportunities for using electronic devices around water, which have begun to increase, the superiority or inferiority of the exterior design of the electronic device casing is also an important appeal factor, and an excellent design is required.

  The objective of this invention is providing the portable electronic device housing | casing with a novel pattern which can solve the subject mentioned above.

  The portable electronic device casing of the present invention is entirely or partially constituted by a translucent member having a fine unevenness on the outer surface side and characters or a pattern on the inner surface side. The appearance of the character or the pattern seen from the outer surface side is changed depending on whether the outer surface side of the sex member is dry or wet with water.

  According to the present invention, in the use of an electronic device such as a waterproof-compatible mobile phone, it is possible to give the user enjoyment by the change in appearance that occurs when the product gets wet, and the design appeal effect can be enhanced. it can. It can also be expected to inform the user that the product is wet.

  In addition, the fine unevenness provided on the surface of the electronic equipment casing increases the frictional force when holding the electronic equipment by hand, resulting in an anti-slip effect, so that the electronic equipment may be accidentally dropped. A synergistic effect that reduces the occurrence of serious accidents can also be expected.

1 is a schematic front view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a mobile phone housing. It is a figure which shows the partial cross section of the mobile telephone housing | casing of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the effect | action of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the effect | action of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the effect | action of this embodiment. It is a partial cross section figure of the mobile telephone housing | casing which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a foldable mobile phone casing, and a decorative portion having the structure of the present invention is provided on the back cover of one folded casing. The mobile phone provided is shown. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the position where the decorative portion of the back cover is disposed.

  In FIG. 1, a decoration part a is provided on the back side cover 10 of at least one housing when the foldable mobile phone 1 is folded. In the present embodiment, the back cover 10 is made of a transparent resin material A as shown in FIG.

  The portion of the back cover 10 made of the transparent resin material A where the decorative portion a is provided is made of frosted glass by providing fine irregularities D on the surface by performing processing such as embossing or blasting. In this state, the back surface is provided with characters and patterns B by printing or painting process for printing at the same time when the back side cover 10 is injection molded.

  Further, on the back surface of the back side cover 10, the character or the pattern B of the decoration part a is made to stand out by white or single color printing, aluminum vapor deposition, or a base sheet at the time of painting the character or the pattern B. A background layer C is provided.

  3-5 has shown the effect | action when the surface of the said decoration part a in the folding type mobile telephone housing | casing of this embodiment is dry, and when a water droplet adheres.

  Since the surface of the decoration part a has fine irregularities on the surface as described above, when it is dry, light is diffusely reflected and refracted on the surface in a complex manner as shown on the left side of FIG. From the front surface side, the characters and the pattern B applied to the back surface appear blurred.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, when water droplets W adhere to the outer surface of the decorative portion a, the surface becomes smooth because the unevenness of the outer surface of the decorative portion a is filled with water by the attached water droplets, As shown in the image on the right side of FIG. 4, irregular reflection and refraction of light due to fine irregularities on the surface of the decoration part a are suppressed, and when viewed from the surface side, characters and patterns applied on the inner surface side can be clearly seen. .

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, when the heart pattern is printed on the back surface of the transparent resin material A, the heart pattern appears to be blurred in the dry region of the decorative portion a. The heart pattern can be clearly seen in the circled area w where water droplets are attached.

  In addition, although the example which provided the decoration part a in a part of the back side cover 10 comprised with the transparent resin material A was shown in the said embodiment, the decoration part a is comprised with the transparent resin material A. It can also be provided on the entire back side cover 10.

  In the mobile phone casing of this embodiment, a translucent member is used for at least a part of the back cover of the casing, and printing or molding of the casing of the mobile phone is performed on the inner surface of the casing made of the translucent member. Sometimes it is like a cloudy glass with fine irregularities by applying texturing and blasting on the outer surface, as well as applying letters and patterns by painting and engraving that are sometimes printed at the same time, Depending on whether the surface of the device is wet or dry, the appearance of letters and designs changes.

  Therefore, for example, when using an electronic device such as a waterproof-compatible mobile phone, the appearance change that occurs when the product gets wet can give the user fun and inform the user that the product is wet. The effect can also be expected.

  In addition, since the surface of the mobile phone casing is finely uneven, the frictional force increases and the holding is stable when held by hand, reducing the occurrence of accidents that could accidentally drop during use. This also produces an effect.

  In the present embodiment, since the back cover provided in the mobile phone casing is made of a translucent member, it is necessary to prepare a translucent member separately in order to change the appearance of characters and pictures. Therefore, it can be realized with a simple configuration.

  FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the back side cover in the mobile phone casing showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, the back side cover 10 is made of the light-transmitting resin material A. However, in this embodiment, the concave portion 11 ′ provided at a predetermined position of the back side cover 11 has a texture on its outer surface. Fine irregularities are provided by processing such as processing and blasting, and a transparent resin material A on which characters and patterns B are applied by printing or the like is fitted and arranged on the back surface. The back side cover 11 in the present embodiment can be configured using an opaque resin material.

  Also in this embodiment, since the fine surface is provided on the outer surface of the transparent resin material A, the characters and the pattern B applied on the back surface of the resin material A appear blurred when dried. When the water droplets W adhere to the outer surface of the resin material A, the characters and the pattern applied to the back surface can be clearly seen, so that the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained. is there.

  In addition, by providing an appropriate means for detachably attaching the transparent resin material A in the present embodiment to the concave portion 11 ′ provided at a predetermined position of the back side cover member 11, the user has a plurality of different characters and patterns. It is also possible to enjoy as a mobile phone case having different characters and patterns according to preference by owning the above resin material A and replacing it appropriately and attaching it to the recess 11 ′.

  In the above-described embodiment, the mobile phone casing has been described as an object. However, the present invention can be applied to a casing of a portable electronic device such as a PDA or a game machine.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the said resin material A was arrange | positioned at the back side cover of a housing | casing, it is also possible to arrange | position the said resin material A to the side surface or front surface of a housing | casing. Moreover, the character and pattern processing on the back surface of the translucent member are not limited to printing, and may be processing or engraving that is performed simultaneously with resin molding.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the transparent resin material A was used as a translucent member, the material of A is not restricted to a resin material, Transparent glass may be sufficient. Further, even if the resin and the glass material are not completely transparent, they may be colored as long as they are light transmissive.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 10, 11 Back cover of cellular phone housing 11 'Recessed portion provided on back cover 11 of cellular phone housing a Decoration portion A Transparent resin material B Character and design C Background layer D Decoration portion a surface Fine irregularities W water droplets

Claims (5)

  Depending on whether the outer surface side of the translucent member is dry or wet, it is provided with a translucent member with fine irregularities on the outer surface side and letters or designs on the inner surface side, A housing for a portable electronic device with a pattern, wherein the appearance of the character or the pattern seen from the outer surface side is changed.   The portable electronic device casing according to claim 1, wherein a back cover of the casing is configured by the light-transmissive member.   The portable electronic device casing according to claim 1, wherein the translucent member is attached to a surface of a back side cover of the casing.   The case for a portable electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the translucent member is configured to be detachable and replaceable with respect to a back side cover of the case. The case for a portable electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the case is a case for a portable electronic device having a waterproof function.

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