Shell, method for manufacturing shell, and electronic device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a thin-wall shell, which comprises a metal part and a plastic part. The plastic part is integrally formed on the metal part. The metal part comprises at least one groove for accommodating the plastic part. A convex tooth for reducing the opening of the groove is formed at the opening position of the groove. The convex tooth is used to lock the plastic part.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a shell and a manufacturing method thereof, and in particular to a shell formed integrally of a thin-walled metal part and a plastic part, a manufacturing method of the shell and an electronic device. Background Art

[0002] Metal shells made of metals such as aluminum / aluminum alloy, magnesium / magnesium alloy, and stainless steel have the advantages of light weight, exquisite appearance, and high mechanical strength. They are often used to make shells for electronic products such as tablets and mobile phones. The inner surface of the shell of an electronic product is usually set to a complex structure. In industry, CNC machine tools (Computer Numerical Control, CNC) are generally used to mill the inner surface of the metal shell to form the structure, which is time-consuming and has low shell processing efficiency. Plastic and metal are formed into a shell through insert molding. Plastic is used to mold the complex structure of the shell, which can improve the processing efficiency of the shell. However, due to the large difference in the material of plastic and metal, the bonding force between the two is not strong, which can easily lead to the peeling of plastic and metal, affecting the performance of the shell.

[0003] At present, the main method is to improve the iron-plastic bonding strength through strip-shaped glue grooves and nano-holes. This structure requires thicker materials, and the forging process requires more material removal and takes a long time to process. For the popular full-screen narrow-frame mobile phones on the market, its applicability is greatly reduced. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, a housing with strong bonding force, a method for manufacturing the housing and an electronic device are provided in which metal parts and plastic parts are integrally formed.

[0005] A shell comprises a metal part and a plastic part, wherein the plastic part is integrally formed on the metal part, and the metal part comprises at least one groove for accommodating the plastic part, wherein the opening of the groove is formed with a convex tooth for reducing the opening of the groove, and the convex tooth is used to lock the plastic part.

[0006] Preferably, the metal part includes a plurality of metal strips and a middle frame, the middle frame is a hollow rectangular sheet structure, the plurality of metal strips are arranged on two opposite sides of the middle frame, and the end of each of the metal strips is spaced relative to an end of the middle frame, so that a gap is formed between the end of each of the metal strips and the corresponding end of the middle frame, and the plastic part also fills the gap.

[0007] Preferably, the groove is arranged on the inner surface of the metal strip, and the groove comprises a lower end surface, an upper end surface opposite to the lower end surface, and a side surface connecting the upper end surface and the lower end surface, and the groove is concave from both ends to the middle in the length direction so that the side surface is roughly in the shape of an inward concave arc.

[0008] Preferably, the middle portion of the edge of the lower end surface and the middle portion of the edge of the upper end surface are respectively protruded toward each other to form the convex teeth, and the cross-section of the groove along the thickness direction at the convex teeth is a "C"-shaped structure.

[0009] Preferably, the thickness of the metal part is less than or equal to 1.5 mm.

[0010] Preferably, the metal part is made of stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, titanium, titanium alloy, copper or copper alloy.

[0011] Preferably, the material of the plastic part is thermoplastic plastic or thermosetting plastic, the thermoplastic plastic is polybutylene terephthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polyethylene terephthalate, polyetheretherketone, polycarbonate or polyvinyl chloride, and the thermosetting plastic is polyurethane resin, epoxy resin or polyurea resin.

[0012] A method for manufacturing a shell comprises the following steps:

[0013] Providing a metal member, the metal member having a shape of a local area of ​​an electronic device;

[0014] At least one groove is formed on the metal part by CNC processing, and a convex tooth for reducing the opening of the groove is formed in the opening direction of the groove;

[0015] A plastic part is formed on a metal part by injection molding, the metal part forming the groove is placed in an injection molding mold cavity, and molten plastic is injected to form a plastic part connected to the metal part, and the plastic part and the metal part together constitute the shell.

[0016] Preferably, the thickness of the metal part is less than or equal to 1.5 mm.

[0017] Preferably, the groove includes a lower end face, an upper end face opposite to the lower end face, and a side face connecting the upper end face and the lower end face, and the groove is recessed from both ends to the middle in the length direction so that the side face is roughly in the shape of an inward concave arc, and the middle portion of the edge of the lower end face and the middle portion of the edge of the upper end face are respectively protruded in a direction close to each other to form the convex teeth.

[0018] An electronic device comprises a display screen and a shell, wherein the display screen is installed in the shell.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the shell, shell manufacturing method and electronic device provided by the present invention, the metal part includes at least one groove for accommodating the plastic part, the opening of the groove is formed with a convex tooth for reducing the size of the groove, the convex tooth is used to lock the plastic part, thereby enhancing the bonding force between the metal part and the plastic part and achieving a thin shell. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the housing of the present invention being applied to an electronic device.

[0021] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the housing.

[0022] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 Disassembly diagram of the casing.

[0023] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the metal parts of the housing.

[0024] Figure 5 yes Figure 3 A partial schematic diagram of the plastic part of the shell.

[0025] Figure 6 It is a processing schematic diagram of the shell manufacturing method.

[0026] Figure 7 It is a cross-sectional view of the shell along the VII-VII direction.

[0027] Main component symbols

[0028]

[0029] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention is described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them.

[0031] Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without making any creative work shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0032] It should be noted that when a component is referred to as being "fixed to" another component, it may be directly on the other component or there may also be a component centered. When a component is considered to be "connected to" another component, it may be directly connected to the other component or there may also be a component centered. When a component is considered to be "set on" another component, it may be directly set on the other component or there may also be a component centered. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower" and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only.

[0033] In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification, claims, and drawings are used to distinguish similar parts, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the numbers used in this way can be interchanged where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated herein.

[0034] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art of the present invention. The terms used herein in the specification of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

[0035] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention provides a housing 100 applied to an electronic device 200. The electronic device 200 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a digital camera, or the like. The electronic device 200 includes, but is not limited to, the housing 100 and a display screen 201, wherein the display screen 201 is installed in the housing 100. Obviously, the electronic device 200 may further include, but is not limited to, other mechanical structures, electronic components, modules, and software for realizing its preset functions.

[0036] The display screen 201 is used to provide an interactive interface to enable the user to interact with the electronic device 200 .

[0037] Please also read Figure 3 , the shell 100 includes a metal part 10 and a plastic part 20. In the present embodiment, the shell 100 is a frame of the electronic device 200. It is understandable that the shell 100 may further include but is not limited to other mechanical structures, electronic components, modules, and circuits that realize its preset functions. In the present embodiment, the material of the metal part 10 may be stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, titanium, titanium alloy, copper or copper alloy. It is understandable that in other embodiments, the metal part 10 may also be made of other metals or alloys. The metal part 10 and the plastic part 20 are integrally formed and together constitute the shell 100. The metal part 10 can be prepared by common technologies such as casting, stamping or CNC machine tool (Computer Number Control, CNC) technology, preferably by stamping or CNC machine tool technology.

[0038] It can be understood that the material of the plastic part 20 has good compatibility with the metal part 10. The material of the plastic part 20 can be thermoplastic plastic or thermosetting plastic.

[0039] The thermoplastic plastic may be polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polycarbonate (PC) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

[0040] The thermosetting plastic may be epoxy resin, polyurea resin or UV glue, etc. The UV glue may be acrylic resin or polyurethane.

[0041] Please also read Figure 4 , the metal part 10 is a roughly rectangular frame. Preferably, the metal part 10 includes a plurality of spaced metal strips 13 and a middle frame 14. The middle frame 14 is roughly a hollow rectangular sheet structure. The plurality of metal strips 13 are arranged on opposite sides of the middle frame 14. The end of each of the metal strips 13 is spaced relative to an end of the middle frame 14, so that a gap 101 is formed between the end of each of the metal strips 13 and the corresponding end of the middle frame 14. In this embodiment, two spaced metal strips 13 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the middle frame 14. The metal part 10 may further include a middle plate part (not shown), which may be integrally formed with the metal part 10. It can be understood that the middle plate part may also be arranged independently of the metal part 10.

[0042] The plastic part 20 is formed on the inner surface 15 of the metal part 10. The plastic part 20 may at least fill each of the gaps 101. Thus, the plastic part 20 is used to be accommodated in each of the gaps 101, so that the two metal strips 13 and the middle frame 14 are connected to each other through the plastic part 20 to form the housing 100.

[0043] Please also read Figure 5 and Figure 6 , the metal strip 13 includes an inner surface 15 and at least one groove 11 formed on the inner surface 15. The plastic part 20 is partially embedded in the at least one groove 11. The groove 11 is formed by CNC processing using a special tool and a special path. The front view of the groove 11 is roughly a dog bone structure, which includes a lower end face 111, an upper end face 113 opposite to the lower end face 111, and a side face 115 connecting the upper end face 113 and the lower end face 111. In the length direction of the groove 11, the groove 11 is recessed from both ends to the middle, that is, the depth of the side face 115 from the inner surface 15 gradually deepens from the edge to the middle. The opening position of the groove 11 is formed with a convex tooth that reduces the opening of the groove 11.

[0044] Specifically, in this embodiment, the middle portion of the edge of the lower end surface 111 and the middle portion of the edge of the upper end surface 113 extend toward each other to form the protruding teeth 117. Figure 7 The cross section of the groove 11 along the thickness direction at the convex teeth 117 is a "C"-shaped structure. The groove 11 can lock the plastic part 20 from four directions of top, bottom, left and right by using the convex teeth 117 formed at its opening position and the concave side surface 115, which is conducive to providing a stronger bonding force between the plastic part 20 and the thin-walled metal part 10, and preventing the plastic part 20 from detaching from the metal part 10.

[0045] In other embodiments, a pair of protruding teeth close to each other may be formed at the opening of the groove 11 and on opposite sides of the side surface 115 to reinforce and lock the plastic component 20 .

[0046] In this embodiment, the groove 11 is arranged on the inner surface 15 of the metal strip 13 of the metal part 10. In other embodiments, the groove 11 can also be arranged on the middle frame 14 of the metal part 10. A plurality of the grooves 11 are arranged at intervals. The grooves 11 are used to accommodate the plastic part 20, so that the thickness of the metal part 10 (the thickness between the inner and outer surfaces) is less than or equal to 1.5 mm, which can reduce the forging difficulty of the metal part 10 and reduce the CNC processing time, and can achieve the thinning of the housing of the electronic device 200.

[0047] In this embodiment, the plastic component 20 is partially disposed in the metal component 10 for connecting the metal strip 13 and the middle frame 14 of the metal component 10 to form the housing 100. The other portion of the plastic component 20 is formed in the groove 11 of the metal component 10, thereby forming a protrusion 21 matching the groove 11 in the groove 11, and the protrusion 21 is an arc-shaped protrusion structure, thereby increasing the bonding force between the metal component 10 and the plastic component 20.

[0048] A method for manufacturing the housing 100 according to one embodiment includes the following steps:

[0049] Step 1: Provide a metal part 10, which has the shape of a local area of ​​an electronic device 200. It is understood that the metal part 10 can be prepared by common methods such as casting, stamping or CNC machine tools, preferably by stamping or CNC machine tools.

[0050] The metal member 10 is a roughly rectangular frame. Preferably, the metal member 10 includes a plurality of metal strips 13 and a middle frame 14. The middle frame 14 is roughly a hollow rectangular sheet structure. The plurality of metal strips 13 are arranged on two opposite sides of the middle frame 14, and the plurality of metal strips 13 on each side of the middle frame 14 form a U-shape. In this embodiment, each side of the middle frame 14 includes two spaced metal strips 13, and the end of each metal strip 13 is spaced relative to one end of the middle frame 14, so that a gap 101 is formed between the end of each metal strip 13 and the corresponding end of the middle frame 14.

[0051] Step 2: Form at least one groove 11 on the metal member 10 by CNC processing. In this embodiment, the groove 11 is formed in at least one metal strip 13 of the plurality of metal strips 13 on each side of the middle frame 14 .

[0052] In this embodiment, if Figure 6 As shown, the metal part 10 is processed by CNC processing. In one embodiment, a special tool 12 can be used for milling and forming at one time, so that the groove 11 is formed on the metal part 10. The special tool 12 includes a shaft 121 and a processing end 122 arranged at one end of the shaft 121. The processing end 122 is a cylindrical structure, and the end of the processing end 122 close to the shaft 121 is recessed inward to form a roughly annular groove, and the end of the processing end 122 away from the shaft 121 is also recessed inward to form a roughly annular groove. First, the inner surface 15 of the metal strip 13 is milled by the processing end 122 of the special tool 12 to form the upper end surface 113 and the lower end surface 111 of the groove 11, and then the processing end 122 is moved up and down to mill the inner surface 15 to form the side surface 115 of the groove 11. In the length direction, the groove 11 is concave from both ends to the middle, and the middle part of the edge of the lower end surface 111 and the middle part of the edge of the upper end surface 113 are respectively provided with convex teeth 117 extending in the direction of approaching each other, that is, the groove 11 is formed. The side surface 115 is a roughly concave arc shape, and the depth of the side surface from the inner surface 15 gradually deepens from the edge to the middle. The cross section of the groove 11 along the thickness direction at the convex teeth 117 is a "C"-shaped structure, and the front view is roughly a dog bone structure.

[0053] It is understandable that in other embodiments, the rough outline of the groove 11 can be milled out with a milling tool, and then the groove 11 can be processed by end milling so that each of the grooves 11 is roughly a dog-bone structure to increase the bonding strength between the metal part 10 and the plastic part 20.

[0054] In this embodiment, before processing the groove 11, the metal part 10 can be preheated by electric heating, plasma arc heating or laser heating, so that the cutting part can be softened by heat, and its hardness and shear strength can be appropriately reduced by plastic deformation, thereby improving the cutting performance, reducing the cutting force and power consumption, reducing the vibration generated during the cutting process, ensuring that the groove 11 meets the set size, shape and position tolerance requirements, and improving the cutting accuracy. At the same time, the cutting speed can be increased on the basis of ensuring the surface roughness, and the tool will not fail due to the increase in cutting speed, thereby extending the service life of the tool.

[0055] In this embodiment, the special shape of the groove can lock the plastic part 20, so that the metal shell can be thinned, that is, the thickness of the metal part 10 is controlled within 1.5 mm. In this way, the forging difficulty of the metal part 10 and the CNC processing time can be reduced, and the shell of the electronic device 200 can be made thinner.

[0056] Step three, forming a plastic part 20 on the metal part 10 by injection molding. Specifically, the metal part 10 with the groove 11 is placed in an injection molding mold cavity, and molten plastic is injected to form a plastic part 20 connected to the metal part 10, and the plastic part 20 and the metal part 10 together constitute the housing 100.

[0057] In this embodiment, the metal part 10 forming the groove 11 is placed in an injection molding mold cavity, and molten plastic is injected. The flow direction of the plastic is consistent during injection molding, which can reduce the risk of air entrapment and form a plastic part 20 connected to the metal part 10, thereby strengthening the bonding strength between the plastic part 20 and the metal part 10.

[0058] The plastic part 20 is formed on the inner surface 15 of the metal part 10. The plastic part 20 may at least fill each of the gaps 101. Thus, the plastic part 20 is used to be accommodated in each of the gaps 101, so that the two metal strips 13 and the middle frame 14 are connected to each other through the plastic part 20 to form the housing 100.

[0059] It is understandable that the plastic component 20 may further cover other areas of the metal component 10 to increase the bonding force between the metal component 10 and the plastic component 20 .

[0060] Specifically, the injection molding process may be as follows: the metal part 10 is embedded in a molding die (not shown), and the injection temperature and injection pressure are adjusted. Molten plastic is injected into the molding die, and the plastic fills the groove 11 of the metal part 10 to form the plastic part 20. After the plastic is cooled, the plastic part 20 is combined with the metal part 10.

[0061] It is understandable that the plastic part 20 can be formed by a general injection molding method, or by performing NMT (Nano Mold Technology) processing on the metal part 10 to form the plastic part 20 .

[0062] In summary, the shell, the method for manufacturing the shell and the electronic device provided by the present invention, the metal part 10 includes at least one groove 11 of a roughly "dog bone" structure for accommodating the plastic part 20, and the opening of the groove 11 is convexly provided with convex teeth 117 extending toward each other, and the convex teeth 117 and the concave side surfaces are used to lock the plastic part 20 from four directions of up, down, left and right, thereby enhancing the bonding force between the metal part 10 and the plastic part 20. Therefore, the material thickness of the metal part 10 can be controlled within 1.5 mm, thereby realizing the thin-walled metal part, and further realizing the thinness of the electronic device.

[0063] For those skilled in the art, other corresponding changes or adjustments can be made based on the inventive scheme and inventive concept of the present invention in combination with actual production needs, and these changes and adjustments should all fall within the scope disclosed by the present invention.

Claims

1. A housing, comprising a metal part and a plastic part, characterized in that: The plastic part is integrally formed on the metal part, and the metal part includes at least one groove for accommodating the plastic part. A convex tooth for reducing the opening of the groove is formed at the opening position of the groove, and the convex tooth is used to lock the plastic part; the groove includes a lower end surface, an upper end surface opposite to the lower end surface, and a side surface connecting the upper end surface and the lower end surface; the middle part of the edge of the lower end surface and the middle part of the edge of the upper end surface respectively extend in directions close to each other to form the convex tooth; the opposite sides of the side surface also form a pair of convex teeth close to each other.

2. The housing according to claim 1, characterized in that The metal component includes a plurality of metal strips and a middle frame, wherein the middle frame is a hollow rectangular sheet structure, wherein the plurality of metal strips are arranged on two opposite sides of the middle frame, wherein an end of each of the metal strips is spaced apart from an end of the middle frame, and a gap is formed between an end of each of the metal strips and a corresponding end of the middle frame, and the plastic component also fills the gap formed between an end of each of the metal strips and a corresponding end of the middle frame.

3. The housing according to claim 1, characterized in that The cross-section of the groove along the thickness direction at the convex tooth is a "C"-shaped structure.

4. The housing according to claim 1, characterized in that The thickness of the metal part is less than or equal to 1.5 mm.

5. The housing according to claim 1, wherein: The metal part is made of stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, titanium, titanium alloy, copper or copper alloy.

6. The housing according to claim 1, wherein: The plastic part is made of thermoplastic plastic or thermosetting plastic. The thermoplastic plastic is polybutylene terephthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polyethylene terephthalate, polyetheretherketone, polycarbonate or polyvinyl chloride. The thermosetting plastic is polyurethane resin, epoxy resin or polyurea resin.

7. A method for manufacturing a shell, comprising the following steps: Providing a metal member, the metal member having a shape of a local area of ​​an electronic device; At least one groove is formed on the metal part by CNC processing, and the opening of the groove is formed with a convex tooth for reducing the opening; A plastic part is formed on a metal part by injection molding, the metal part forming the groove is placed in an injection molding mold cavity, and molten plastic is injected to form a plastic part connected to the metal part, and the plastic part and the metal part together constitute the shell.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The groove includes a lower end face, an upper end face opposite to the lower end face, and a side face connecting the upper end face and the lower end face. The groove is recessed from both ends to the middle in the length direction so that the side face is roughly in the shape of an inwardly concave arc. The middle portion of the edge of the lower end face and the middle portion of the edge of the upper end face are respectively protruded in a direction close to each other to form the convex teeth.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that: The electronic device comprises a display screen and a housing according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the display screen is installed in the housing.

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