Housing components and electronic devices

Abstract

The present invention discloses a housing component and an electronic device, wherein the housing component comprises: a glass substrate, the glass substrate having a bottom surface and a plurality of side walls, the bottom surface and the plurality of side walls defining a receiving space; and a glass fiber cloth, the glass fiber cloth being located on a side of the glass substrate facing the receiving space, the glass fiber cloth having pores, and a binder in the pores. Thus, the thickness of the housing component can be reduced by combining the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electronic equipment, in particular to a housing assembly and an electronic equipment. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous improvement of mobile communication technology, electronic devices are used more and more frequently in people's daily lives. In order to improve the beauty, feel and durability of electronic devices, more and more manufacturers use glass as the back cover of electronic devices to improve the overall texture and durability of electronic devices. However, the glass back cover in the related art is usually thicker, which makes the total thickness of the electronic device thicker and the overall appearance of the electronic device poorer.

[0003] Therefore, current housing assemblies and electronic devices still need to be improved. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention aims to alleviate or solve at least one of the above-mentioned problems to at least some extent.

[0005] In one aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a housing component, comprising: a glass substrate, the glass substrate having a bottom surface and a plurality of side walls, the bottom surface and the plurality of side walls defining a receiving space; a glass fiber cloth, the glass fiber cloth being located on a side of the glass substrate facing the receiving space, the glass fiber cloth having pores, and a binder in the pores. Thus, the thickness of the housing component can be reduced by combining the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth.

[0006] In another aspect of the present invention, the present invention proposes an electronic device, comprising: a housing assembly, the housing assembly being the aforementioned housing assembly; a battery and a mainboard, the battery and the mainboard being located inside a receiving space defined by the housing assembly, the mainboard being electrically connected to the battery. Thus, the electronic device has all the features and advantages of the aforementioned housing assembly, which will not be described in detail here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and easily understood from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0008] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a housing assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0009] Figure 2 A partial structural schematic diagram of a housing assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0010] Figure 3 A partial structural schematic diagram of a housing assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0011] Figure 4 A partial structural schematic diagram of a housing assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0012] Figure 5 A surface morphology image of a glass fiber cloth according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0013] Description of reference numerals:

[0014] 100: glass substrate; 200: glass fiber cloth; 310: polymer protective layer; 320: decorative film layer; 321: coating layer; 322: ink layer; 330: anti-fingerprint layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention, and cannot be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0016] In one aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a housing assembly, referring to Figure 1 , comprising: a glass substrate 100, the glass substrate 100 having a bottom surface and a plurality of side walls, the bottom surface and the plurality of side walls defining a receiving space; a glass fiber cloth 200, the glass fiber cloth 200 being located on a side of the glass substrate facing the receiving space, Figure 5 , the glass fiber cloth 200 has pores, and there is a binder in the pores. The glass fiber cloth is bonded to the glass substrate by the binder in the pores of the glass fiber cloth, so that while reducing the overall thickness of the shell component, the mechanical properties of the shell component, such as bending strength and hardness, can also be improved compared with the shell component formed by a pure glass substrate. On the premise that the shell component has the same mechanical properties, the shell component obtained by compounding the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth is thinner than the shell component having only the glass substrate; on the premise that the shell component has the same thickness, the shell component obtained by compounding the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth has better mechanical properties than the shell component having only the glass substrate.

[0017] For ease of understanding, the principle that the housing assembly in the present application has the aforementioned beneficial effects is explained below:

[0018] In the present application, the inventors found that the hardness of a single glass substrate is relatively large, while the hardness of a glass fiber cloth is relatively small and overall soft. As far as the glass substrate after thinning is concerned, the pressure that the glass substrate can withstand after thinning is reduced compared to the thicker glass substrate before thinning. However, when the glass substrate after thinning is compounded with the glass fiber cloth, the deformation amount after being subjected to force is relatively large due to the high ductility of the glass fiber cloth. The bending strength P of the plate is directly proportional to the bending pressure F of the plate and the deformation amount X of the plate. Therefore, although the bending pressure F that the plate obtained after the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth are compounded is slightly reduced, the deformation amount X that can be tolerated is significantly increased, which ultimately makes the bending strength of the plate formed by the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth relatively higher than that of the glass substrate with the same thickness, and the thickness of the plate formed by the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth is relatively thinner than that of the glass substrate with the same bending strength.

[0019] According to some embodiments of the present invention, reference Figure 1 The connecting surface between the bottom surface and the side wall of the glass substrate 100 may be a curved surface, and the bending angle of the curved surface is not particularly limited. For example, the bending angle of the curved surface may be 40-90°. According to other embodiments of the present invention, the glass fiber cloth 200 may have a similar shape to the glass substrate 100, that is, the glass fiber cloth may also have a bottom surface and a plurality of side walls, and the connecting surface between the bottom surface and the side wall may be a curved surface, and the bending angle of the curved surface may be 40-90°.

[0020] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the shell assembly is not particularly limited. For example, the thickness of the shell assembly can be less than 0.5 mm. The shell assembly with a thickness of less than 0.5 mm has a significant reduction in thickness compared to the shell assembly in the related art, and has a high value for reducing the overall thickness of the electronic device.

[0021] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the glass fiber cloth can be selected according to the thickness of the glass substrate, as long as the sum of the two is less than 0.5mm. For example, the thickness of the glass substrate can be 0.2-0.3mm, and the thickness of the glass fiber cloth can be 0.2-0.3mm. When the thickness of the glass substrate is greater than 0.3mm, in order to ensure that the total thickness of the shell assembly is less than 0.5mm, the thickness of the glass fiber cloth needs to be less than 0.2mm. At this time, the thickness of the glass fiber cloth is too thin, and the advantage of the glass fiber cloth having good ductility cannot be fully utilized, and the bending strength of the shell assembly is poor; when the thickness of the glass substrate is less than 0.2mm, the glass substrate is too thin, and the bending pressure that the composite plate formed by the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth can withstand is too low, so that the bending strength of the shell assembly is too poor. In addition, when the thickness of the glass substrate is less than 0.2mm, the glass substrate itself has problems such as excessive warping and poor flatness, and cannot meet the basic requirements of the shell assembly.

[0022] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the glass substrate is not particularly limited as long as its flatness can meet the use requirements of the shell component. This can improve the surface of the composite board formed by the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth to be relatively flat. When the composite board is attached to the electronic device as a shell component, the overall appearance of the electronic device is relatively smooth without abnormal protrusions.

[0023] According to some embodiments of the present invention, by forming a composite of a glass substrate and a glass fiber cloth, the bending strength of the shell assembly can be improved while reducing the thickness of the shell assembly. For example, the bending strength of the shell assembly can range from 380 to 600 MPa. When the bending strength of the shell assembly is within the above range, the bending force borne by the shell assembly when assembled to an electronic device will not have a significant impact on the structural stability of the shell assembly. When the electronic device after the shell assembly is assembled is hit by an external force, it will also exhibit a higher structural stability and will not easily crack or break under the impact of an external force.

[0024] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the type of the binder is not particularly limited, for example, the binder may be epoxy resin. The epoxy resin binder has high transparency, and filling the inside of the glass fiber cloth with epoxy resin as a binder will not have an adverse effect on the appearance of the housing assembly.

[0025] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the structure of the housing assembly is not particularly limited. Figure 2 and Figure 3 The shell assembly may further include: a polymer protective layer 310, the polymer protective layer 310 is located between the glass substrate 100 and the glass fiber cloth 200; a decorative film layer 320, the decorative film layer 320 is located between the glass substrate 100 and the glass fiber cloth 200, and the decorative film layer 320 is located on the side of the polymer protective layer 310 away from the glass substrate 100. The polymer protective layer 310 can be used as a base layer of the decorative film layer 320 structure to improve the strength of the glass substrate 100 and reduce the attenuation effect of the setting of the decorative film layer 320 on the strength of the glass substrate. The thickness of the polymer protective layer is relatively thin and can be ignored compared to the thickness of the glass substrate. Specifically, the decorative film layer 320 may include an ink layer 322 and a coating layer 321, the coating layer 321 is located on the side of the polymer protective layer 310 away from the glass substrate 100, and the ink layer 322 is located on the side of the coating layer 321 away from the polymer protective layer 310. The coating layer can give the shell component a metallic luster, improving the aesthetics of the shell component; the ink layer can give the shell component good shielding properties and a certain color, which not only protects the internal structure but also improves the aesthetics of the shell component. The thickness of the coating layer and the ink layer are both relatively thin, and can be ignored compared to the thickness of the glass substrate.

[0026] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the structure of the housing assembly is not particularly limited. Figure 4 The housing assembly may further include an anti-fingerprint layer 330, which is located on the side of the glass substrate 100 away from the glass fiber cloth 200, that is, the anti-fingerprint layer is located on the side of the glass substrate facing away from the inside of the electronic device. The anti-fingerprint layer can reduce the residual fingerprints on the surface of the housing assembly during use, thereby improving the aesthetics of the housing assembly.

[0027] It should be noted that Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 Only the bottom surface structure of the shell assembly is shown, and the side edges and the connecting surface between the bottom surface and the side walls are not shown. It can be understood that the side walls of the shell assembly and the connecting surface between the bottom surface and the side walls have the same stacking structure as the bottom surface.

[0028] For ease of understanding, the method for preparing the aforementioned housing assembly is briefly described below, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0029] S100: Provide glass substrate

[0030] According to some embodiments of the present invention, a glass substrate is provided in this step, and the thickness of the glass substrate can be 0.2-0.3 mm. For example, the glass substrate in the above thickness range can be obtained by thinning a glass mother material having a thickness of not less than 0.5 mm. Specifically, the thinning process can be chemical thinning. Compared with physical thinning, the thinning rate of chemical thinning is controllable, and the surface flatness of the glass substrate obtained after thinning is higher. Furthermore, the glass mother material can be a high-aluminum glass with an aluminum content of not less than 15%, such as at least one of commercially available Corning GG5, Panda 1681 and DT Star2.

[0031] S200: Sequentially set a polymer protective layer and a decorative film layer on the glass substrate

[0032] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the polymer protective layer and the device film layer are arranged in this step, which may specifically include the following steps: finely carving the glass substrate, cutting the glass substrate into a desired shape and size; edge polishing the finely carved glass substrate; hot bending the edge polished glass substrate, for example, the glass substrate may be arranged in a profiling jig and heated and hot bent, so that the glass substrate has a bottom surface and a plurality of side walls, the bottom surface and the side walls are connected by an arc-shaped connecting surface, and the bottom surface and the plurality of side walls define a containing space; chemically strengthening the glass substrate after hot bending, for example, high-temperature sodium-potassium ion exchange, to increase the stress value of the glass.

[0033] According to some embodiments of the present invention, a polymer protective layer is formed on the side of the glass substrate that has been chemically strengthened and faces the accommodation space. Specifically, the polymer protective layer can be provided by a printing process; a coating layer is formed on the side of the polymer protective layer away from the glass substrate, and the process for forming the coating layer is not particularly limited. Specifically, the coating layer can be formed by at least one of magnetron sputtering coating or evaporation coating; an ink layer is formed on the side of the coating layer away from the polymer protective layer, and the ink used when forming the ink layer is not particularly limited. Specifically, the ink used when forming the ink layer can be at least one of a thermosetting ink, a UV curing ink, and a yellow light ink. Further, after the ink is screen printed on the surface of the glass substrate, the ink can be cured by a curing process.

[0034] S300: Arrange a glass fiber cloth on the surface of the glass substrate facing the receiving space

[0035] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in this step, glass fiber cloth is disposed on the surface of the glass substrate facing the accommodating space. The thickness of the glass fiber cloth can be selected according to the thickness of the glass substrate, as long as the sum of the two is less than 0.5 mm. For example, the thickness of the glass fiber cloth can range from 0.2 to 0.3 mm.

[0036] According to some embodiments of the present invention, setting the glass fiber cloth may include the following steps: immersing the glass fiber cloth in a binder solution so that the binder fills the pores of the glass fiber cloth; conforming the glass fiber cloth with the binder in the pores to the accommodating space of the glass substrate, and since the binder has initial viscosity, there is a certain degree of adhesion between the glass fiber cloth and the glass substrate at this time; heating and curing the above-mentioned binder so that the binder resin is cured, so that the glass fiber cloth and the glass substrate are firmly bonded.

[0037] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the temperature and time of the adhesive curing treatment are not particularly limited as long as the adhesive can be cured. For example, when the adhesive is epoxy resin, the curing treatment temperature can be 80-150°C and the time can be 30-60 minutes.

[0038] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in order to simplify the process steps, a glass fiber cloth having an area larger than the inner surface area of ​​the glass substrate may be used for the above-mentioned bonding process. After the curing process is completed, a CNC trimming process may be used to trim off the excess glass fiber cloth during bonding, so that the glass fiber cloth and the glass substrate match in shape.

[0039] In order to further improve the performance of the housing component prepared by the method, alleviate fingerprints remaining on the surface of the housing component during use, and improve the smoothness of the housing component, the method for preparing the housing component may further include:

[0040] S400: forming an anti-fingerprint layer on the surface of the glass substrate facing away from the receiving space

[0041] According to some embodiments of the present invention, in this step, an anti-fingerprint layer having a water contact angle greater than 110 degrees is formed on the side of the glass substrate surface that contacts the outside. The method of forming the anti-fingerprint layer is not particularly limited, and specifically, it can be at least one of magnetron sputtering coating or evaporation coating. The material forming the anti-fingerprint layer can be perfluoropolyether.

[0042] In another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides an electronic device, comprising: a housing assembly, which is the aforementioned housing assembly; a battery and a mainboard, which are located inside a receiving space defined by the housing assembly, and the mainboard is electrically connected to the battery. Thus, the electronic device has all the features and advantages of the aforementioned housing assembly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0043] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the electronic device may be any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Specifically, the electronic device may be a mobile phone or a smart phone (e.g., an iPhone-based TM , based on Android TM phones), portable gaming devices (such as the Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM , Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM ), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players and data storage devices, other handheld devices and such as watches, in-ear headphones, pendants, headphones, etc. The electronic device can also be other wearable devices (for example, head-mounted devices (HMD) such as electronic glasses, electronic clothes, electronic bracelets, electronic necklaces, electronic tattoos or smart watches).

[0044] The scheme of the present application is described below by specific examples. It should be noted that the following examples are only used to illustrate the present application and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the present application. If no specific technology or conditions are specified in the examples, the technology or conditions described in the literature in this area or the product instructions are used. The reagents or instruments used are not specified by the manufacturer, and are all conventional products that can be obtained commercially.

[0045] Embodiment 1:

[0046] A shell component is obtained by compounding a glass substrate with a thickness of 0.3 mm and a glass fiber cloth with a thickness of 0.2 mm. The adhesive is epoxy resin. The pores of the glass fiber cloth contain the adhesive. The glass fiber cloth is bonded to the glass substrate through the adhesive. The glass substrate is hot-bent. The connecting surface between the bottom surface of the glass substrate and the side wall is a curved surface, and the bending angle of the curved surface is 90°.

[0047] Embodiment 2:

[0048] Example 2 is consistent with Example 1, except that the thickness of the glass substrate is 0.2 mm and the thickness of the glass fiber cloth is 0.2 mm.

[0049] Comparative Example 1:

[0050] A glass substrate with a thickness of 0.5 mm is selected to be hot-bent to obtain a shell component. The connecting surface between the bottom surface and the side wall of the glass substrate is a curved surface with a bending angle of 90°.

[0051] Comparative Example 2:

[0052] Comparative Example 2 is consistent with Comparative Example 1, except that the thickness of the glass substrate is 0.4 mm.

[0053] The shell components in the above-mentioned embodiments and comparative examples were subjected to a four-point bending test, and the test results are as follows: the bending strength of the shell component in Example 1 is 512MPa, the bending strength of the shell component in Example 2 is 397MPa, the bending strength of the shell component in Comparative Example 1 is 478MPa, and the bending strength of the shell component in Comparative Example 2 is 370MPa. The results show that the bending force borne by the shell components in Examples 1 and 2 when assembled to the electronic device will not have a significant impact on the structural stability of the shell component; the electronic device after the shell components in Examples 1 and 2 are assembled will also show a high structural stability when impacted by external forces, and it is not easy to crack or break under external force impact. The shell components in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 are prone to structural damage when subjected to external force impact, and cannot meet the use requirements. The shell components obtained by compounding the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth in Examples 1 and 2 have better bending strength than the shell components made of glass of equal thickness, and the glass fiber composite glass battery cover can be used to achieve thinning of the thickness of the entire electronic device.

[0054] Unless otherwise specified, all scientific and technological terms used in the present invention have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs. All patents and publications to which the present invention relates are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The term "comprising" or "including" is an open expression, i.e., including the contents specified in the present invention, but does not exclude contents in other aspects. In the present invention, regardless of whether the words "about" or "approximately" are used, all numbers disclosed herein are approximate values. The value of each number may differ by less than 10% or a reasonable difference considered by those skilled in the art, such as a difference of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% or 5%.

[0055] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0056] In the description of the present invention, "plurality" means two or more.

[0057] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "another embodiment", etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art can combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of different embodiments or examples, unless they are contradictory. In addition, it should be noted that in this specification, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated.

[0058] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is to be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and are not to be construed as limitations of the present invention. A person skilled in the art may change, modify, replace and vary the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A housing assembly, characterized in that: include: A glass substrate, wherein the glass substrate has a bottom surface and a plurality of side walls, wherein the bottom surface and the plurality of side walls define a receiving space; A glass fiber cloth, the glass fiber cloth is located on a side of the glass substrate facing the accommodation space, the glass fiber cloth has pores, and a binder is contained in the pores; A polymer protective layer, wherein the polymer protective layer is located between the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth; The decorative film layer is located between the glass substrate and the glass fiber cloth, and is located on a side of the polymer protective layer away from the glass substrate.

2. The housing assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting surface between the bottom surface and the side wall is a curved surface, and the bending angle of the curved surface is 40-90°.

3. The housing assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that: The thickness of the housing assembly is less than 0.5 mm.

4. The housing assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that: The thickness of the glass substrate is 0.2-0.3 mm, and the thickness of the glass fiber cloth is 0.2-0.3 mm.

5. The housing assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that: The bending strength of the shell assembly is 380-600 MPa.

6. The housing assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The adhesive is epoxy resin.

7. The housing assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The decorative film layer comprises an ink layer and a coating layer, wherein the coating layer is located on a side of the polymer protective layer away from the glass substrate, and the ink layer is located on a side of the coating layer away from the polymer protective layer.

8. The housing assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: Further including: An anti-fingerprint layer is located on a side of the glass substrate away from the glass fiber cloth.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: A shell assembly, wherein the shell assembly is the shell assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 8; A battery and a mainboard, wherein the battery and the mainboard are located inside a receiving space defined by the shell assembly, and the mainboard is electrically connected to the battery.

Images