KR20100103296A - Thin film formed on housing of appliances - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A thin film formed in a housing of appliances is provided to express on a housing of appliances through color combination of first and second layers. CONSTITUTION: A thin film(100) formed in a housing(101) of appliances comprises an intermediate layer(102), a first layer(103), and a translucent second layer(104). The intermediate layer is formed on the housing. The first layer is formed on the intermediate layer and has a first color. The second level is formed on the first layer and has a second color. The intermediate layer reinforces the adhesion between the first layer and the housing. The color of the thin film is determined by the combination of the first and second colors of the first and the second layers.

Description

Thin film formed on housing of appliances

The present invention relates to a thin film formed in a housing of an electronic product.

The case of the electronic product is made of plastic or metal, and the surface of the case is coated with a ceramic material to realize various colors, and the surface hardness is enhanced to improve the durability of the case.

Electronics producers are working hard on the design and color of their electronics to not only improve their functionality, but also to meet the diverse tastes of buyers.

Recently, various colors and fine patterns have not been realized using a vacuum deposition technique, which cannot be realized using paint. Since the color coating layer formed by the vacuum deposition method has a weak fingerprinting property, a transparent layer is formed on the color coating layer.

However, when the transparent layer is applied on the color coating layer formed by the vacuum deposition method, there is a problem that the color of the color coating layer is discolored so that a color desired by the manufacturer cannot be realized.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a thin film that can easily implement the color to be implemented.

A thin film according to an embodiment of the present invention is a thin film disposed on a housing that provides an appearance of a product and exhibits the color of the product, the intermediate layer formed on the housing and the intermediate layer formed on the intermediate layer. A first layer having a color and a semitransparent second layer formed on the first layer, wherein the intermediate layer increases the adhesion between the housing and the first layer, The color is realized by a combination of the first color of the layer and the second color of the second layer.

In the present invention, the housing may be made of metal or plastic.

In the present invention, the intermediate layer may increase the adhesion between the first layer and the housing.

In the present invention, the intermediate layer may be made of any one of titanium, chromium, nickel, stainless steel and alloys thereof.

In the present invention, the intermediate layer may have a thickness of 3 to 100nm.

In the present invention, the intermediate layer may be formed by any one of vacuum deposition, sputtering, and ion plating.

In the present invention, the first layer may be made of any one of a nitride compound and a carbide compound having a color.

In the present invention, the nitride compound may be any one of titanium nitride (TiN) and zirconium nitride (ZrN).

In the present invention, the first layer made of titanium nitride is manufactured by the reactive sputtering method, and the first layer is formed according to the inflow amount of the reactive gas and argon (Ar) gas used during the process by the reactive sputtering method. Color can be adjusted.

In the present invention, the reactive gas is nitrogen gas, and when the ratio of the inflow amount of the nitrogen gas and the argon gas is about 9: 1, the color of the first layer may be light yellow.

In the present invention, the reactive gas is nitrogen gas, when the ratio of the inflow amount of the nitrogen gas and the argon gas is approximately 8: 2, the color of the first layer may be dark yellow.

In the present invention, the reactive gas is nitrogen gas, and when the ratio of the inflow amount of the nitrogen gas and the argon gas is about 7: 3, the color of the first layer may be brown.

In the present invention, the carbide compound may be titanium carbide (TiC).

In the present invention, the first layer made of titanium carbide is prepared by a reactive sputtering method, and the reactive gas used during the process by the reactive sputtering method may be an acetylene gas.

In the present invention, the first layer may be formed by a reactive arc ion plating method.

In the present invention, the thickness of the intermediate layer may be 1/10 to the thickness of the first layer.

In the present invention, the second layer may be a translucent paint.

According to the present invention made as described above, it is possible to implement a thin film of a desired color by combining the color of the first layer and the second layer.

Hereinafter, with reference to the embodiments of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the present invention. But. The present invention may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. The embodiments of the present invention are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the shape and size of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity, and the elements denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings are the same elements.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a thin film 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a thin film 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an intermediate layer 102, a first layer 103, and a second layer 104.

The thin film 100 is formed on the housing 101. The housing 101 is a kind of case that provides the appearance of the product. For example, the housing 101 may be a case of an IT product such as a mobile phone or a digital camera. The housing 101 may be made of metal or plastic.

The intermediate layer 102 is formed on the housing 101. The intermediate layer 102 functions to increase the adhesion between the housing 101 and the first layer 103 formed on the intermediate layer 102. Preferably, the intermediate layer 102 may be a metal capable of increasing the adhesion between the first layer 103 and the housing 101. The metal used as the intermediate layer 102 may be any one of titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), stainless steel, and alloys thereof. The thickness of the intermediate layer 102 may be 1/10 of the thickness of the first layer 103. When the thickness of the intermediate layer 102 is increased, the adhesion with the first layer 103 is reduced. Preferably, the intermediate layer 102 may be between 3 and 100 nm.

The intermediate layer 102 made of titanium, chromium, nickel, stainless steel, or an alloy thereof may be formed by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, an ion plating method, or the like.

The vacuum deposition method is a method of coating a base material by mounting a metal material as a heating source while maintaining the inside of the vacuum chamber at a constant pressure, and then evaporating the metal material using electric energy, electron collision, or laser heating. The heating source material uses tungsten (W) or molybdenum (Mo). At this time, depending on the metal material to be evaporated, the heating source may use a boat form or a coil form. The deposition rate depends on the type of metal material and the temperature of the heating source.

When the intermediate layer 102 of the present invention is formed by vacuum deposition, titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr) and nickel are used as the heating source while maintaining the vacuum degree in the vacuum chamber at 10 ^-5 to 10 ^-6 torr. After mounting a metal material such as (Ni) or stainless steel, the housing 101 is coated by evaporating the metal material using electrical energy, electron collision, or laser heating. When the intermediate layer 102 of the present invention was formed of titanium, the titanium was covered with the housing 101 at a deposition rate of approximately 30 nm / min. When the deposition rate is high, a peeling phenomenon may occur between the housing 101 and the intermediate layer 102.

The sputtering method is a method of covering a base metal with a metal by using a sputtering device composed of a vacuum chamber, a vacuum pumping device, a plasma generator, a gas injection device and a sputter target.

When the intermediate layer 102 of the present invention is formed by the sputtering method, an inert gas is passed through a precision gas injection device to generate a plasma after maintaining an initial vacuum degree of approximately 10 ^-5 to 10 ^-6 torr in the vacuum chamber. the injection of the argon (Ar) and a degree of vacuum of the vacuum chamber of approximately 10 ^-2 to ¹⁰ and maintained at ³ using a plasma generation power supply (power supply) was applied to the sputter target to a negative voltage (negative Potential) plasma The energy is used to evaporate the target material (titanium, chromium, nickel, stainless steel or alloys thereof) to apply the material onto the housing 101. At this time, the negative voltage is adjusted to approximately -300V to -1000V. The degree of vacuum of the chamber by argon gas injection is controlled in the range of approximately 1 × 10 ⁻³ to 2 × 10 ⁻² torr. The deposition rate is different depending on the plasma power, the vacuum degree, and the type of material applied. In the present invention, the intermediate layer 102 was formed at a deposition rate of 5 nm / min to 30 nm / min.

In the case of forming the intermediate layer 102 by the arc ion plating method, the initial degree of vacuum of the vacuum chamber of approximately 10 ^-5 to ¹⁰ and held in the storage ⁶ by the argon (Ar) gas through a gas injection device injecting a degree of vacuum of the vacuum chamber about 1x 10 ^-4 to about 1x 10 ^- it is maintained at a ^third storage. Thereafter, a negative voltage of -100 V to -30 V and a current of 30 A to 120 A are applied to the arc target to cover the housing 101. The arc target material may be titanium, chromium, nickel, stainless steel or alloys thereof.

The first layer 103 is formed on the intermediate layer 102. The first layer 103 may be made of a colored ceramic material. The first layer 103 combines with the color of the second layer 104 formed on the first layer 103 to implement the color of the thin film 100.

The first layer 103 may be a nitride compound or a carbide compound having a color. The nitride compound constituting the first layer 103 may be titanium nitride (TiN) or zirconium nitride (ZrN). The carbide compound constituting the first layer 103 may be titanium carbide (TiC).

The first layer 103 may be formed on the intermediate layer 102 by reactive sputtering or reactive ion plating.

Reactive sputtering is a method of coating a base material by simultaneously introducing argon gas with a reactive gas which may cause a chemical reaction in the sputtering process. In the case of forming the first layer 103 made of titanium nitride by the reactive sputtering method, nitrogen gas is used as the reactive gas. At this time, the color of the first layer 103 made of titanium nitride is changed according to the inflow rate of nitrogen gas and argon gas. That is, the color of the first layer 103 made of titanium nitride may be adjusted by adjusting the inflow rate of nitrogen gas and argon gas. Specifically, when the ratio of the inflow of nitrogen gas and argon gas is about 9: 1, the color of the first layer 103 is pale yellow, and when the ratio of the inflow of nitrogen gas and argon gas is about 8: 2, The color of the first layer 103 is dark yellow, and when the ratio of the inflow amount of nitrogen gas and argon gas is about 7: 3, the color of the first layer 103 is brown. As the inflow rate of argon gas increases, the color saturation of the first layer 103 increases.

When acetylene gas other than nitrogen gas is used as the reactive gas, the first layer 103 is made of titanium carbide. The first layer 103 made of titanium carbide exhibits a dark gray color.

The reactive arc ion plating method is a method of coating a base material by injecting a reactive gas into a vacuum chamber in an arc ion plating process. The reactive arc ion plating method may use a nitrogen gas as a reactive gas to form a layer made of a nitride compound such as titanium nitride (TiN) or zirconium nitride (ZrN). The reactive arc ion plating method has an advantage that the deposition rate is faster and a more dense layer structure is formed than the reactive sputtering method. In the reactive arc ion plating method, when the reactive gas is acetylene gas, the first layer 103 may be made of titanium carbide.

The thickness of the first layer 103 may be approximately 30 to 500 nm. When the first layer 103 is 30 nm or less, color implementation is not easy, and wear resistance of the first layer 103 may be weakened. In addition, when the thickness becomes 500 nm or more, the adhesion with the housing 101 may be weakened.

The second layer 104 is formed on the first layer 103. The second layer 104 is made of translucent paint. The second layer 104 is combined with the color of the first layer 103 to embody the color of the thin film 100. The second layer 104 is translucent and therefore complements the color of the first layer 103. That is, when the color of the first layer 103 is yellow or black, the second layer 104 may be applied on the first layer 103 to realize a deeper yellow or black color. In addition, the second layer 104 increases the wear resistance of the thin film 100.

The second layer 104 may be made of a translucent paint such as alumina, silica, propylene glycol monomethyl ether (PGME), or the like.

2 shows a product 200 in which a thin film of first layer 103 made of titanium nitride is formed on a housing. As shown in FIG. 2, the thin film is yellow.

FIG. 3 shows a product 300 in which a first layer 103 made of titanium carbide is formed on a housing, and FIG. 4 shows a product in which a first layer 103 made of titanium carbide is formed on a housing. 400 is shown. 3 and 4 both show that the first layer 103 is formed of titanium carbide, but due to the influence of the color of the second layer 104, the product 300 shown in FIG. 3 is dark gray and the product shown in FIG. 400 represents black.

The present invention is not limited by the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, but is intended to be limited by the appended claims, and various forms of substitution, modification, and within the scope not departing from the technical spirit of the present invention described in the claims. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes are possible.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a thin film according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 shows an article in which a thin film of first layer made of titanium nitride is formed on a housing.

3 shows an article in which a thin film of first layer consisting of titanium carbide is formed on a housing.

4 shows an article in which a thin film of first layer made of titanium carbide is formed on a housing.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: thin film 101: housing

102: intermediate layer 103: first layer

104: the second layer

Claims (17)

In a thin film disposed on a housing that provides the appearance of a product and exhibiting the color of the product, An intermediate layer formed on the housing; A first layer formed on the intermediate layer and having a first color; And A second translucent layer formed on the first layer and having a second color; The intermediate layer increases the adhesion between the housing and the first layer, And the color is realized by a combination of the first color of the first layer and the second color of the second layer. The method of claim 1, The housing is a thin film, characterized in that made of metal or plastic. The method of claim 1, The intermediate layer is a thin film made of a metal to increase the adhesion between the first layer and the housing. The method of claim 3, The intermediate layer is a thin film, characterized in that made of any one of titanium, chromium, nickel, stainless steel and alloys thereof. The method of claim 1, The intermediate layer is a thin film, characterized in that the thickness of 3 to 100nm. The method of claim 1, The intermediate layer is formed by any one of a vacuum deposition method, sputtering method, and ion plating method. The method of claim 1, The first layer is a thin film comprising any one of a nitride compound and a carbide compound having a color. The method of claim 7, wherein The nitride compound is a thin film, characterized in that any one of titanium nitride (TiN) and zirconium nitride (ZrN). The method of claim 8, The first layer made of titanium nitride is manufactured by a reactive sputtering method, and the color of the first layer is adjusted according to the inflow of the reactive gas and the argon (Ar) gas used during the process by the reactive sputtering method. Thin film characterized by. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the reactive gas is nitrogen gas and the color of the first layer is light yellow when the ratio of the inflow amount of the nitrogen gas and the argon gas is approximately 9: 1. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the reactive gas is nitrogen gas and the color of the first layer is dark yellow when the ratio of the inflow amount of the nitrogen gas and the argon gas is approximately 8: 2. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein the reactive gas is nitrogen gas and the color of the first layer is brown when the ratio of the inflow amount of the nitrogen gas and the argon gas is about 7: 3. The method of claim 7, wherein The carbide compound is a thin film, characterized in that the titanium carbide (TiC). The method of claim 13, The first layer of titanium carbide is manufactured by a reactive sputtering method, and the reactive gas used during the process by the reactive sputtering method is an acetylene gas. The method according to claim 8 or 13, The first layer is formed by a reactive arc ion plating method. The method of claim 1, The thickness of the intermediate layer is 1/10 to the thickness of the first layer. The method of claim 1, The second layer is a thin film, characterized in that the translucent paint.

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