Shell, preparation method thereof and earphone

Abstract

The invention relates to a shell, a preparation method thereof and an earphone, the shell comprises a shell base material, the shell base material comprises an inner surface and an outer surface which are arranged oppositely, and the shell base material comprises an antenna area and a charging contact area which are arranged at an interval; the antenna radiator is located in the antenna area and exposed out of the inner surface, and the antenna radiator is used for being connected with an antenna module so as to support receiving and transmitting of radio frequency signals; and the charging contact part is located in the charging contact area and penetrates through the base material of the shell, the charging contact part is used for being electrically connected with the charging module, and the antenna radiator and the charging contact part are integrated on the shell, so that the cost can be reduced, and the miniaturization design of a product can be facilitated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of antennas, and particularly to a housing, a preparation method thereof, and a headset. Background Art

[0002] With the development of technology, as an important accessory in mobile communication electronic products, the headset plays an irreplaceable role in actual communication applications. In recent years, with the rapid development of electronic technology, wireless headsets have been widely used. For example, true wireless stereo headsets (abbreviated as TWS headsets) and Bluetooth headsets are increasingly accepted by the public due to their portable usage experience.

[0003] Generally, a charging module and a functional module of an antenna module are usually provided inside the headset. However, the antenna branches used to connect to the antenna module and the charging contacts of the charging module are costly and occupy a large space. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present application provide a housing, a preparation method thereof, and a headset, which can integrate an antenna radiator and a charging contact portion on the housing, and can reduce costs while facilitating the miniaturized design of the product.

[0005] The present application provides an antenna assembly, including:

[0006] A housing substrate, the housing substrate includes an inner surface and an outer surface arranged opposite to each other, and the housing substrate includes an antenna area and a charging contact area arranged at intervals;

[0007] An antenna radiator, located in the antenna area and exposed on the inner surface, the antenna radiator is used to connect to an antenna module to support the transceiver of radio frequency signals;

[0008] A charging contact portion, located in the charging contact area and penetrating the housing substrate, the charging contact portion is used to electrically connect to a charging module;

[0009] Wherein, the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion are respectively conductors and are insulated from each other.

[0010] The present application provides a method for preparing a housing, including:

[0011] Respectively injection-mold to form a housing substrate, an antenna injection body, and a contact injection body; wherein, the housing substrate includes an antenna area and a charging contact area arranged at intervals, the antenna injection body is located in the antenna area and exposed on the inner surface of the housing substrate, and the contact injection body penetrates the housing substrate;

[0012] A first electroplated layer is formed on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate to form an antenna radiator;

[0013] A second electroplated layer is formed on the inner surface of the contact injection molded body to form a charging contact portion.

[0014] This application provides a pair of earphones, including:

[0015] An ear rod portion, including a first housing and a second housing connected to the first housing. The second housing includes the aforementioned housing, or the second housing includes a housing prepared by using the preparation method of the aforementioned housing;

[0016] An earplug portion, connected to the ear rod portion;

[0017] A main board, disposed in the accommodation cavity formed by enclosing the first housing and the second housing. Among them, the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion are respectively electrically connected to the main board.

[0018] For the above-mentioned housing and earphones, the housing includes a housing substrate, an antenna radiator, and a charging contact portion. Among them, the antenna radiator is located in the antenna area of the housing substrate and is exposed on the inner surface, and the charging contact portion is located in the charging contact area of the housing substrate and penetrates the housing substrate. In this way, the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion can be integrated on the housing at the same time, without the need to additionally form independent parts for the charging contact portion and the antenna radiator independent of the housing. While reducing costs, it can also improve the integration of the product, facilitate the miniaturized design of the product, and simplify the assembly steps.

[0019] For the preparation method of the above-mentioned housing, the housing substrate, the antenna injection molded body, and the contact injection molded body can be formed by an injection molding method, and then a first electroplated layer and a second electroplated layer are respectively formed on the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body exposed on the housing substrate, so as to correspondingly form an antenna radiator and a charging contact portion. In this way, the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion can be integrated on the housing substrate, without the need to additionally form independent parts for the charging contact portion and the antenna radiator independent of the housing. While reducing costs, it can also improve the integration of the product, facilitate the miniaturized design of the product, and simplify the assembly steps. Description of the Drawings

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0021] Figure 1Schematic structural diagram of a housing of an embodiment;

[0022] Figure 2 Color schematic structural diagram of a housing of an embodiment;

[0023] Figure 3 Partial schematic diagram of an earphone in an embodiment;

[0024] Figure 4 Partial schematic diagram of an earphone in another embodiment;

[0025] Figure 5 Partial color schematic diagram of an earphone in another embodiment;

[0026] Figure 6 Explosion schematic diagram of an antenna injection molded body and a contact injection molded body of an embodiment;

[0027] Figure 7 Partial schematic diagram of a charging contact part of an embodiment;

[0028] Figure 8 Partial color schematic diagram of a charging contact part of an embodiment;

[0029] Figure 9 Partial schematic diagram of a charging contact part of another embodiment;

[0030] Figure 10 Partial color schematic diagram of a charging contact part of another embodiment;

[0031] Figure 11 Flowchart of a method for manufacturing a housing of an embodiment;

[0032] Figure 12 Flowchart of injection molding to form a housing base material, an antenna injection molded body, and a contact injection molded body respectively in an embodiment;

[0033] Figure 13 Flowchart of a method for manufacturing a housing of another embodiment.

[0034] Explanation of reference numerals:

[0035] 10 Ear rod part; 101 - First housing; 100 - Second housing; 110 - Housing base material; 120 - Antenna radiator; 121 - Antenna injection molded body; 130 - Charging contact part; 131 - Contact injection molded body; 133 - Conductive protective layer;

[0036] 20 - Earplug part; 30 - Main board; 41 - First connecting member; 42 - Second connecting member. Detailed implementation manners

[0037] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer and more understandable, the following further elaborates on this application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for explaining this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0038] It can be understood that the terms "first", "second", etc. used in this application may be used herein to describe various elements, but these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish a first element from another element and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features. In the description of this application, "a plurality" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined. When an element is considered to be "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be intervening elements present simultaneously.

[0039] As described in the background art, current TWS earphones are increasingly accepted by the public due to their portable usage experience. TWS earphones generally include multiple functional modules, for example, an acoustic module, a control module, a human-machine module, a charging module, and an antenna module, etc. Among them, the acoustic module is used to ensure a good sound quality listening experience and a good noise reduction experience for the TWS earphones. The control module is used to implement a human-machine interface, such as play / pause, volume adjustment, turn on / off the noise reduction function, etc. The human-machine module is used to achieve a good usage experience for the user and alleviate the discomfort in the human ear caused during the wearing process.

[0040] The charging module is used to charge the TWS earphones. For example, batteries are placed both in the TWS earphones and in the charging case. When the TWS earphones are being used by the user, the battery in the earphones can provide electrical energy for the TWS earphones through the charging module; when the TWS earphones are not being used by the user and the earphones are stored in the charging case, the charging case can charge the earphones through the charging module.

[0041] In the related art, the charging part of TWS earphones mostly uses metals (copper, stainless steel materials) to process charging contacts, and through holes corresponding to the metal contacts are provided on the plastic housing of the earphones. During the earphone assembly process, the charging contacts are passed through the through holes on the housing, and then the charging contacts can be welded to the earphone main board.

[0042] The antenna module is used to support communication with an electronic device (such as a mobile phone). In the related art, the antenna forms of its antenna module include LDS (Laser-Direct-structuring) antennas, FPC antennas, and on-board antennas.

[0043] LDS Antenna: LDS antenna technology is the laser direct forming technology. It uses a computer to control the movement of a laser according to the trajectory of a conductive pattern, projects the laser onto a three-dimensional plastic device formed by molding, and activates a circuit pattern within a few seconds. Simply put (for mobile phone antenna design and production), on a formed plastic bracket, a metal antenna pattern is directly formed by plating on the bracket using laser technology. Such a technology can directly laser the antenna on the shell.

[0044] FPC Antenna: An FPC is made into an antenna pattern form and pasted on the inner wall of the shell through an adhesive.

[0045] On-Board Antenna: An antenna integrated on a circuit board.

[0046] Based on the above description, it can be seen that in the related art, the shell, antenna, and charging contact in the earphone are separately processed and prepared, and finally assembled on the shell. In this way, its integration degree is not high, the preparation cost and assembly cost of each part are high. In addition, the shell, antenna, and charging contact occupy a large space in the product design, which is not conducive to the miniaturization design of the earphone. Moreover, during the assembly process of the shell, antenna, and charging contact, due to the machining tolerance of parts and the process fluctuations of the production line, it is inevitable to generate protrusions, depressions, gaps, etc. at the mating parts, and its assembly efficiency is low and the difficulty is high.

[0047] Based on this, the present application provides a shell and a preparation method thereof, on which an antenna radiator and a charging contact part can be integrated simultaneously, without the need to separately form independent parts for the charging contact part and the antenna radiator. While reducing costs, it can also improve the integration degree of the product, facilitate the miniaturization design of the product, and simplify the assembly steps.

[0048] The following takes the accompanying drawings as an example to illustrate the specific structures of the shell and the earphone.

[0049] The embodiment of the present application provides a shell. In an exemplary embodiment, the shell can be understood as a part of the shell of an electronic device. For example, it can be at least part of the ear stem of an earphone.

[0050] As Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the shell includes a shell substrate 110, an antenna radiator 120, and a charging contact part 130.

[0051] The housing substrate 110 includes an inner surface S1 and an outer surface S2 that face away from each other. The outer surface S2 is the surface of the housing exposed to the air, and the inner surface S1 is the surface that faces the charging module and the antenna module inside the electronic device when the housing is installed on the electronic device. Exemplarily, the housing substrate 110 can be formed as a three-dimensional curved surface housing. For ease of explanation, the example of the housing applied to a headset will be used for illustration. Among them, the housing substrate 110 can not only be a housing including four sides and a back and integrally formed, but also a part of the above housing. For example, the four sides and the back in the housing substrate 110 can be smoothly connected.

[0052] The housing substrate 110 includes an antenna area and a charging contact area that are spaced apart. Among them, the antenna area is used to set the antenna radiator 120 to support radio frequency signal transceiver. The charging contact area can be used to set the charging contact portion 130, which can be used as the contact portion for charging connection.

[0053] In an exemplary embodiment, the material of the housing substrate 110 can be a plastic material, including but not limited to polycarbonate (abbreviation: PC), polymethyl methacrylate (abbreviation: PMMA), etc. Since the material of the housing substrate 110 is a plastic material, the housing substrate 110 will not cause interference or shielding to the antenna signals inside the electronic device.

[0054] The antenna radiator 120 is located in the antenna area and is exposed on the inner surface S1 of the housing substrate 110. Exemplarily, the antenna radiator 120 is embedded in the housing substrate 110. Exemplarily, the housing substrate 110 has an antenna receiving groove, and the antenna radiation is located in the antenna receiving groove.

[0055] Among them, the antenna radiator 120 includes a first surface and a second surface that are oppositely arranged. The first surface of the antenna radiator 120 is in contact with the housing substrate 110, and the second surface of the antenna radiator 120 is exposed on the inner surface S1 of the housing substrate 110. Exemplarily, the second surface of the antenna radiator 120 can be flush with the inner surface S1 of the housing substrate 110. Or, the second surface of the antenna radiator 120 protrudes relative to the inner surface S1 of the housing substrate 110. Or, the inner surface S1 of the housing substrate 110 protrudes relative to the second surface of the antenna radiator 120 of the housing substrate 110. In the embodiments of the present application, the relative positions of the antenna radiator 120 and the housing substrate 110 are not limited to the above examples, and other setting methods are also possible.

[0056] The antenna radiator 120 is a conductor. When the housing is applied to a headset, the antenna radiator 120 is used to connect to the antenna module in the headset to support the transceiver of radio frequency signals. Exemplarily, the antenna module can excite the antenna radiator 120 to generate an excitation current, which can generate a corresponding resonance mode to support the transceiver of radio frequency signals.

[0057] The charging contact portion 130 is located in the charging contact area and penetrates the housing base material 110. It can be understood that the charging contact portion 130 can be a conductive contact portion. The charging contact portion 130 can penetrate its housing base material 110 and part of it is exposed outside the housing base material 110. Among them, the charging contact portion 130 includes a first surface and a second surface that are oppositely arranged. Among them, the first surface is the surface exposed to the air, which can also be called the outer surface S2. For example, the charging contact portion 130 can penetrate its housing base material 110, and its first surface is exposed outside the housing base material 110. The second surface is the surface facing the charging module and the antenna module inside the electronic device when the housing is installed on the electronic device, which can also be called the inner surface S1.

[0058] In an exemplary embodiment, the number of the charging contact portions 130 can be one or multiple. When multiple charging contact portions 130 are provided, the charging contact portions 130 are arranged at intervals from each other. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the number of the charging contact portions 130 is not limited. In the embodiments of the present application, for the convenience of description, an example in which the number of the contact portions is 2 is taken for illustration.

[0059] The charging contact portion 130 is used for electrically connecting with the charging module to realize the electrical connection of charging. For example, when the earphone is charged in the earphone case, the first surface of its charging contact portion 130 can contact the charging contact in the earphone case to realize electrical connection; the second surface of the charging contact portion 130 can be connected to the charging module in the earphone, and thus the charging connection of the earphone can be realized.

[0060] In the embodiments of the present application, the housing includes a housing base material 110, an antenna radiator 120, and a charging contact portion 130. Among them, the antenna radiator 120 is located in the antenna area of the housing base material 110 and is exposed outside the inner surface S1. The charging contact portion 130 is located in the charging contact area of the housing base material 110 and penetrates the housing base material 110. In this way, the antenna radiator 120 and the charging contact portion 130 can be integrated on the housing at the same time, and there is no need to additionally form independent parts for the charging contact portion 130 and the antenna radiator 120 independent of the housing. While reducing costs, it can also improve the integration of the product, facilitate the miniaturization design of the product, and simplify the assembly steps.

[0061] The embodiments of the present application also provide an earphone. As Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the earphone includes an earstem portion 10, an earplug portion 20, and a main board 30. Among them, the earstem portion 10 includes a first housing 101 and a second housing 100 connected to the first housing 101. Herein, an accommodation cavity is formed by enclosing the first housing 101 and the second housing 100. Among them, the first housing 101 can be understood as the bottom housing connected to the earplug portion 20, and the second housing 100 can be understood as the top housing of the earstem portion 10. Among them, the second housing 100 of the earstem portion 10 can be the housing in the above embodiment, on which an antenna radiator 120 and a charging contact portion are integrated.

[0062] The main board 30 is disposed in the accommodation cavity formed by enclosing the first housing 101 and the second housing 100. Among them, the antenna radiator 120 and the charging contact portion 130 are respectively electrically connected to the main board 30. Exemplarily, the main board 30 may include, but is not limited to, a circuit board, and a plurality of functional modules may be disposed on the circuit board. For example, an antenna module, a charging module, a control module, etc. Exemplarily, the antenna radiator 120 integrated on the second housing 100 can be electrically connected to the antenna module on the main board 30 to support the transceiver of radio frequency signals, and the charging contact portion 130 integrated on the second housing 100 can be electrically connected to the charging module on the main board 30 to achieve the charging of the earphone.

[0063] In the embodiment of the present application, the earstem portion 10 of the earphone includes a housing substrate 110, an antenna radiator 120, and a charging contact portion 130. Among them, the antenna radiator 120 is located in the antenna area of the housing substrate 110 and is exposed on the inner surface S1, and the charging contact portion 130 is located in the charging contact area of the housing substrate 110 and penetrates the housing substrate 110. Thus, the antenna radiator 120 and the charging contact portion 130 can be integrated on the housing at the same time. The antenna radiator 120 can be electrically connected to the antenna module and the ground layer on the main board 30 to support the transceiver of radio frequency signals, and the charging contact portion 130 integrated on the second housing 100 can be electrically connected to the charging module on the main board 30 to achieve the charging of the earphone. Thus, there is no need to additionally form independent parts for the charging contact portion 130 and the antenna radiator 120 independent of the housing, which can reduce costs while improving the integration of the product, facilitating the miniaturized design of the product and simplifying the assembly steps.

[0064] As Figure 4 and Figure 5 shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the earphone may further include a first connecting member 41 and a second connecting member 42. Among them, the antenna radiator 120 in the second housing 100 can be electrically connected to the main board 30 through the first connecting member 41, and the charging contact portion 130 in the second housing 100 can be electrically connected to the main board 30 through the second connecting member 42.

[0065] Exemplarily, the first connector 41 and the second connector 42 include, but are not limited to, conductive elastic pieces, conductive columns, metal wires, conductive silicone rubber, SMT conductive foam, etc. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the materials of the first connector 41 and the second connector 42 are not limited to the above examples, as long as they can achieve electrical connection.

[0066] In an exemplary embodiment, the number of the second connectors 42 is equal to the number of the charging contact portions 130 and the charging contact areas, and they are arranged in one-to-one correspondence. For example, one charging contact portion 130 is located in one charging contact area and is electrically connected to one second connector 42 correspondingly.

[0067] In an exemplary embodiment, the ear rod portion 10 includes a first end portion and a second end portion which are oppositely arranged, wherein the second end portion is arranged close to the earplug portion 20. Exemplarily, the two charging contact portions 130 provided on the housing can be located at the first end portion of the ear rod portion 10, and the second connectors 42 connected to the charging contact portions 130 are located at the second end portion. The first connector 41 electrically connected to the antenna radiator 120 is located at the second end portion.

[0068] In this embodiment, arranging the first connector 41 of the antenna radiator 120 and the second connector 42 of the charging contact portion 130 at opposite ends of the ear rod portion 10 respectively can avoid interference between them, and can also make reasonable use of the internal space of the ear rod portion 10, which is beneficial to the layout design of other functional modules on the main board 30.

[0069] As Figure 6 shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the antenna radiator 120 includes an antenna injection molded body 121 and a first electroplated layer (not shown in the figure).

[0070] Among them, the antenna injection molded body 121 is located in the antenna area. The material of the antenna injection molded body 121 is an electroplating grade plastic material, so as to facilitate the formation of the first electroplated layer thereon, and then form the conductive antenna radiator 120. Exemplarily, the shape of the antenna injection molded body 121 is not limited to the formation as Figure 5 shown, and may also include, but is not limited to, at least one of U-shaped, serpentine, zigzag, and strip-shaped. The shape of the antenna injection molded body 121 is the same as the shape of the antenna radiator 120 and the antenna area.

[0071] The first electroplated layer is located on the side of the antenna injection molded body 121 away from the housing substrate 110, and the first electroplated layer is exposed on the inner surface S1. The first electroplated layer is formed on the side of the antenna injection molded body 121 away from the housing substrate 110 by electroplating. Exemplarily, the electroplating methods include, but are not limited to, water plating (for example, wet electroplating), vacuum plating (for example, physical vapor deposition (PVD), such as evaporation plating, sputtering plating, ion plating), etc.

[0072] Please continue to refer to Figures 6 - 8 The charging contact portion 130 includes: a contact injection molded body 131 and a second electroplated layer (not shown in the figure). Among them, the contact injection molded body 131 is located in the charging contact area. The material of the contact injection molded body 131 is an electroplating-grade plastic material, so as to facilitate the formation of a second electroplated layer thereon, and then form a conductive charging contact portion 130.

[0073] The second electroplated layer wraps the contact injection molded body 131 exposed to the housing substrate 110. The second electroplated layer is formed on the contact injection molded body 131 exposed to the housing substrate 110 by electroplating. Exemplarily, the electroplating methods include but are not limited to water plating, vacuum plating, etc.

[0074] Exemplarily, the contact injection molded body 131 exposed to the housing substrate 110 may include a relatively arranged first surface A1 and a second surface A2, and a parting surface A3 located between the first surface A1 and the second surface A2. The second electroplated layer may be located on the first surface A1, the second surface A2, and the parting surface A3. In this way, when the charging contact portion 130 is connected to the contact portion of the charging case, it can introduce the current provided by the charging case into the second surface A2 of the charging contact portion 130 through the second electroplated layer, and then be introduced into the charging module connected to the main board 30 through the second connecting member 42, which can improve the transmission stability and efficiency of the current.

[0075] In this embodiment, the materials of the antenna injection molded body 121 and the contact injection molded body 131 are both electroplating-grade plastic materials, and then electroplating can be carried out on them respectively to correspondingly form a first electroplated layer and a second electroplated layer, so as to form an antenna radiator 120 and a charging contact portion on the housing substrate 110. Compared with the antenna radiator 120 and the charging contact portion independent of the housing in the related art, the present application can integrate the antenna radiator 120 and the charging contact portion on the housing at the same time, which can simplify the assembly, reduce the cost, and also reduce the occupied space of the housing, which is beneficial to the miniaturization design of the earphone.

[0076] In an exemplary embodiment, the materials of the antenna injection molded body 121 and the contact injection molded body 131 may be electroplating-grade plastic materials respectively.

[0077] Exemplarily, the electroplating-grade plastic materials include acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, polybutylene terephthalate, nylon, acrylic, or a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer. Among them, the specific type of the electroplating-grade plastic material is related to the process type of the electroplating process for forming the first electroplated layer and the second electroplated layer. Among them, the process types include water plating process and vacuum plating process.

[0078] Exemplarily, taking the electroplating process as an example of the aqueous plating process, the electroplating-grade plastic materials can be selected from polycarbonate PC, polypropylene PP, nylon PA, polyphenylene sulfide PPS, or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer ABS. Alternatively, the electroplating-grade plastic material can also be a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer. It should be noted that when using polycarbonate PC, polypropylene PP, or nylon PA, each material needs to be modified, such as chemical roughening and activation treatment.

[0079] Exemplarily, taking the electroplating process as an example of the vacuum plating process, the electroplating-grade plastic materials can be selected from acrylic PMMA, nylon PA, polybutylene terephthalate PBT, or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer ABS. Alternatively, the electroplating-grade plastic material can also be a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer. In the embodiments of the present application, the mixing ratio of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer is not limited. It should be noted that when using acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer ABS, nylon PA, or polybutylene terephthalate PBT, each material needs to be modified, such as spraying a conductive coating (non-chemical roughening) treatment.

[0080] In the embodiments of the present application, a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer can be used as the electroplating-grade plastic material, which combines the advantages of the two resins and has characteristics such as high strength, high heat resistance, low water absorption, good insulation, and low odor. Thus, the hardness, compressive resistance, and stability of the antenna injection molded body 121 and the contact injection molded body 131 can be improved.

[0081] In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the antenna injection molded body 121 can be less than the thickness of the housing substrate 110. For example, the thickness range of the antenna injection molded body 121 can be 0.35 mm - 0.45 mm. Exemplarily, the thickness of the antenna injection molded body 121 can be 0.35 mm, 0.37 mm, 0.39 mm, 0.41 mm, 0.43 mm, or 0.45 mm, or any value between any two of the above values.

[0082] In this embodiment, by reasonably setting the thickness dimension of the antenna injection molded body 121, the injection molding of the antenna injection molded body 121 and the formation of the first electroplating layer can be achieved without affecting the appearance of the housing. In addition, it is also beneficial to the performance of the antenna radiator 120 not being affected by the housing substrate 110, and it is also beneficial to the miniaturized design of the housing.

[0083] In an exemplary embodiment, the first electroplating layer of the antenna radiator 120 and the second electroplating layer in the charging contact portion 130 each include one or more metal layers.

[0084] In an exemplary embodiment, the multi-layer metal layer comprises at least a copper layer and a gold layer stacked in sequence. Exemplarily, the copper layer is disposed in contact with the injection molding body, and the gold layer is located on a side of the copper layer away from the injection molding body.

[0085] Exemplarily, the first electroplating layer and the second electroplating layer may include at least one of a chromium layer, a titanium layer, and a nickel layer in addition to a copper layer and a gold layer. In the embodiment of the present application, the specific number of film layers of the first electroplating layer and the second electroplating layer is not limited.

[0086] In this embodiment, the first electroplating layer and the second electroplating layer of the antenna radiator 120 and the charging contact portion 130 may respectively include one or more metal layers, which may improve the conductivity of the corresponding electroplating layers.

[0087] like Figure 9 and Figure 10 As shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the charging contact portion 130 further includes a conductive protective layer 133. The conductive protective layer 133 is at least located on the second electroplating layer corresponding to the first surface A1 of the contact injection molding body 131 (for example, the outer surface S2 of the contact injection molding body 131). It can be understood that the conductive protective layer 133 is exposed on the outer surface S2 of the housing substrate 110.

[0088] In an exemplary embodiment, the material of the conductive protection layer 133 includes at least one of palladium, platinum, rhodium and ruthenium. Exemplarily, the conductive protection layer 133 may be a composite conductive layer, for example, it may include at least two layers of a palladium layer, a platinum layer, a rhodium layer and a ruthenium layer. Exemplarily, the conductive protection layer 133 may also be a single-layer structure, and its material may include any one of palladium, platinum, rhodium and ruthenium, or a mixed material of at least two of palladium, platinum, rhodium and ruthenium.

[0089] In this embodiment, by disposing a conductive protective layer 133 on the second electroplating layer exposed to the outer surface S2 of the shell substrate 110 , the hardness and corrosion resistance of the region of the charging contact portion 130 can be improved.

[0090] The present application also provides a method for preparing a shell, so as to prepare the shell in any of the above embodiments. The method for preparing the shell is described below in combination with the flowchart of the method and the structure obtained by each process.

[0091] like Figure 11 As shown, the method for preparing the shell includes steps 1102 to 1106.

[0092] Step 1102, respectively forming a housing substrate, an antenna injection-molded body, and a contact injection-molded body by injection molding.

[0093] Injection molding, also known as injection molding, is a molding method that combines injection and molding. Injection molding is a method in which a completely molten plastic material is injected into a mold cavity under high pressure at a certain temperature and then cooled and solidified to obtain a molded product.

[0094] The plastic material of the housing substrate includes non-electroplated plastic materials, such as, including but not limited to polycarbonate (abbreviated as PC), polymethyl methacrylate (abbreviated as PMMA), etc. The housing substrate is formed by injection molding, and the housing substrate can form the appearance part of the ear rod part housing.

[0095] The plastic materials of the antenna injection body and the contact injection body are electroplated grade plastic materials.

[0096] In the embodiment of the present application, by utilizing the different electroplating characteristics of different plastic materials, corresponding materials can be injection molded in different regions of the housing of the ear rod part to correspondingly form the housing substrate, the antenna injection body, and the contact injection body. Among them, the housing substrate includes an antenna area and a charging contact area arranged at intervals. The antenna injection body is located in the antenna area and is exposed on the inner surface, and the contact injection body penetrates the housing substrate.

[0097] Exemplarily, electroplated grade plastic materials can be first injection molded in the antenna area and the charging contact area to correspondingly form the antenna injection body and the contact injection body, and then non-electroplated plastic materials are injection molded based on the formed antenna injection body and contact injection body to form the housing substrate.

[0098] It should be noted that the injection molding formation order of the housing substrate, the antenna injection body, and the contact injection body is not limited to the above examples, and no specific limitation is made thereto.

[0099] Step 1104, form a first electroplated layer on the outer surface side of the antenna injection body away from the housing substrate to form an antenna radiator.

[0100] Step 1106, form a second electroplated layer on the contact injection body exposed on the housing substrate to form a charging contact part.

[0101] Exemplarily, a first electroplated layer can be formed on the outer surface side of the antenna injection body away from the housing substrate by electroplating, and a second electroplated layer can be formed on the contact injection body exposed on the housing substrate.

[0102] Exemplarily, the electroplating methods include but are not limited to aqueous plating (such as, wet electroplating), vacuum plating (such as, physical vapor deposition (PVD), such as evaporation plating, sputtering plating, ion plating), etc.

[0103] A first electroplated layer is formed on the outer surface side of the antenna injection body away from the housing substrate, which can form an antenna radiator. A second electroplated layer is formed on the contact injection body exposed on the housing substrate, which can form a charging contact part.

[0104] In this embodiment, the housing substrate, the antenna injection molded body, and the contact injection molded body can be formed by injection molding. Then, on the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body exposed to the housing substrate, a first electroplated layer and a second electroplated layer are respectively formed, and then an antenna radiator and a charging contact portion can be correspondingly formed. In this way, the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion can be integrated on the housing substrate, and there is no need to additionally form independent parts of the charging contact portion and the antenna radiator independent of the housing, which can reduce costs while improving the integration of the product, facilitating the miniaturized design of the product, and simplifying the assembly steps.

[0105] In an exemplary embodiment, the plastic materials of the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body are electroplating-grade plastic materials, which include but are not limited to acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, polybutylene terephthalate, nylon, acrylic, or a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer. Among them, the specific type of the electroplating-grade plastic material is related to the process type of the electroplating process for forming the first electroplated layer and the second electroplated layer. Among them, the process types include the water plating process and the vacuum plating process.

[0106] Exemplarily, taking the electroplating process as the water plating process as an example for illustration, the electroplating-grade plastic material can be selected from polycarbonate PC, polypropylene PP, nylon PA, polyphenylene sulfide PPS, or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer ABS. Or, the electroplating-grade plastic material can also be a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer. It should be noted that when using polycarbonate PC, polypropylene PP, or nylon PA, each material needs to be modified, such as chemical roughening and activation treatment.

[0107] Exemplarily, taking the electroplating process as the vacuum plating process as an example for illustration, the electroplating-grade plastic material can be selected from acrylic PMMA, nylon PA, polybutylene terephthalate PBT, or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer ABS. Or, the electroplating-grade plastic material can also be a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer. In the embodiments of the present application, the mixing ratio of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer is not limited. It should be noted that when using acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer ABS, nylon PA, or polybutylene terephthalate PBT, each material needs to be modified, such as spraying a conductive coating (non-chemical roughening) treatment.

[0108] In this embodiment, during the electroplating process, since the materials of the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body are both electroplating grade plastic materials, while the material of the housing substrate is a non-electroplating plastic material, therefore, there is no need to additionally set up a mask to shield the housing substrate, and the structure obtained in step 1102 can be directly electroplated to form a first electroplating layer and a second electroplating layer. In this way, not only can the cost of manufacturing the housing be reduced, but also the manufacturing process can be simplified and the manufacturing efficiency can be improved.

[0109] As Figure 12 shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the housing substrate, the antenna injection molded body, and the contact injection molded body are respectively injection molded, including steps 1202 - 1206.

[0110] Step 1202, provide a two-color mold.

[0111] A two-color mold is a mold in which two plastic materials are injection molded on the same injection molding machine, formed in two times, but the product is demolded only once.

[0112] This two-color mold includes a housing injection molding area, an antenna injection molding area, and a contact injection molding area. Among them, the antenna injection molding area and the contact injection molding area are used for injection molding electroplating grade plastic materials, while the housing injection molding area is used for injection molding non-electroplating plastic materials.

[0113] Step 1204, inject the molten electroplating grade plastic materials into the antenna injection molding area and the contact injection molding area respectively, and cool to form the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body respectively.

[0114] In the implementation of this application, the molten electroplating grade plastic materials can be respectively injected into the antenna injection molding area and the contact injection molding area of the two-color mold, and then cooled. An antenna injection molded body can be formed in the antenna injection molding area, and a contact injection molded body can be formed in the contact injection molding area.

[0115] Exemplarily, the materials of the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body are the same. Therefore, they can be injection molded in one time, which can improve the manufacturing efficiency of the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body.

[0116] Step 1206, inject the molten non-electroplating plastic material into the housing injection molding area, and cool to form the housing substrate.

[0117] In the implementation of this application, the molten non-electroplating plastic material can be respectively injected into the housing injection molding area of the two-color mold, and then cooled. A housing substrate can be formed in the housing injection molding area.

[0118] Among them, the housing substrate can be formed after the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body are formed. That is to say, the housing substrate is formed by secondarily injecting the molten non-electroplating plastic material.

[0119] In an exemplary embodiment, the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body may be formed after the housing substrate is formed. That is, the housing substrate is formed by injecting a molten non-electroplated plastic material in the first stage, while the wire injection molded body and the contact injection molded body are formed by injecting a molten electroplated plastic material in the second stage. It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the sequence of steps 1204 and 1206 is not limited.

[0120] In this embodiment, the housing substrate, the antenna injection molded body, and the contact injection molded body are injection molded using a two-color mold. Thus, in the process of preparing the housing substrate, the antenna injection molded body, and the contact injection molded body, not only can the preparation efficiency be improved, the number of injection molds be reduced to lower the cost, but also the injection pressure can be reduced, the power consumption can be reduced, and the environmental friendliness can be improved.

[0121] In an exemplary embodiment, forming a first electroplated layer on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate includes the step of electroplating a metal material on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate based on the housing substrate to form the first electroplated layer. Forming a second electroplated layer on the contact injection molded body exposed outside the housing substrate includes the step of forming the second electroplated layer on the contact injection molded body exposed outside the housing substrate based on the housing substrate.

[0122] Exemplarily, electroplating methods such as vacuum plating and water plating can be used to electroplate a metal material on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate and on the contact injection molded body exposed outside the housing substrate to form corresponding electroplated layers.

[0123] Exemplarily, the metal material includes at least one of, but is not limited to, copper, gold, chromium, titanium, and nickel. In the embodiments of the present application, the metal material is not limited to the above examples and can also be other materials with conductive properties.

[0124] In this embodiment, since the material of the housing substrate is a non-electroplated plastic material, while the materials of the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body are electroplated plastic materials respectively, the housing substrate can be used as a shielding mask for the electroplating process. The structure formed with the housing substrate, the antenna injection molded body, and the contact injection molded body can be directly electroplated to form a first electroplated layer on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate and a second electroplated layer on the contact injection molded body exposed outside the housing substrate. Thus, not only can the process flow for preparing the electroplated layer be simplified, but also the cost can be reduced. In addition, the first electroplated layer and the second electroplated layer can be prepared synchronously by electroplating the metal material, which can improve the preparation efficiency of the first electroplated layer and the second electroplated layer.

[0125] In an exemplary embodiment, electroplating a metal material includes the steps of electroplating a first metal material to form a first metal layer, and electroplating a second metal material on a surface of the first metal layer facing away from the housing substrate to form a second metal layer. Wherein, the first metal material and the second metal material are different.

[0126] Exemplarily, for the sake of illustration, an example is given where the first metal material is copper and the second metal material is gold. By electroplating the first metal material, such as copper, in the corresponding areas of the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body, a copper layer can be formed. Then, on the basis of the obtained structure, by continuing to electroplate the second metal material, such as gold, a gold layer can be formed on the surface of the copper layer facing away from the housing substrate. In this way, both the first electroplated layer and the second electroplated layer can be double-layer metal structures, which can improve their conductivity.

[0127] As Figure 13 shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the method for preparing a housing includes step 1302 - step 1310.

[0128] Step 1302, injection molding the housing substrate, the antenna injection molded body, and the contact injection molded body respectively.

[0129] Step 1304, forming a first electroplated layer on the outer surface of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate to form an antenna radiator.

[0130] Step 1306, forming a second electroplated layer on the inner surface of the contact injection molded body to form a charging contact portion.

[0131] Step 1308, providing a shielding jig.

[0132] Wherein, the shielding jig can be used to shield the inner surface of the housing substrate, as well as the second surfaces of the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion, so as to expose the outer surface of the housing.

[0133] Step 1310, based on the shielding jig, forming a conductive protective layer on the second electroplated layer corresponding to the outer surface of the contact injection molded body.

[0134] Exemplarily, the material of the conductive protective layer may include at least one of palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium.

[0135] Exemplarily, an electroplating method can be adopted to electroplate the conductive material on the outer surface of the contact injection molded body to form a conductive protective layer. Wherein, the electroplating method includes but is not limited to aqueous plating (for example, wet electroplating), vacuum plating (for example, physical vapor deposition (PVD), such as evaporation plating, sputtering plating, ion plating), etc.

[0136] Based on the shielding jig, by adopting the electroplating method, the conductive material can be electroplated only on the second electroplated layer corresponding to the outer surface of the contact injection molded body to form a conductive protective layer.

[0137] It should be noted that, since the electroplating processes of the conductive protective layer are different, the shielding jigs used are also different. In the embodiments of the present application, the types, shapes, etc. of the shielding jigs are not limited.

[0138] Exemplarily, a composite conductive layer can be formed by electroplating different conductive materials multiple times. For example, the composite conductive layer can include at least two layers of a palladium layer, a platinum layer, a rhodium layer, and a ruthenium layer.

[0139] Exemplarily, a conductive protective layer with a single-layer structure can be formed by electroplating a conductive material once. The conductive material can include any one of palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium, or a mixed material of at least two of palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium. In the embodiments of the present application, the specific number of film layers of the conductive protective layer and the types of specific conductive materials are not specifically limited.

[0140] In this embodiment, by electroplating to form a conductive protective layer on the second electroplated layer exposed on the outer surface of the housing substrate, the hardness and corrosion resistance of this area of the charging contact part can be improved.

[0141] It should be noted that the housing or the second housing of the earphone ear rod part in the foregoing embodiments can all be prepared by using the preparation method of the housing in any of the above embodiments.

[0142] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity of description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, it should be considered as the scope recorded in this specification. The above embodiments only represent several implementation manners of the present application. Their descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, but they should not be understood as a limitation to the patent scope of the present application. It should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present application, several deformations and improvements can still be made, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present application should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A housing, characterized in that, Comprising: A housing substrate, the housing substrate including an inner surface and an outer surface disposed opposite to each other, the housing substrate including an antenna area and a charging contact area disposed at intervals; An antenna radiator, located in the antenna area and exposed on the inner surface, the antenna radiator being used to connect with an antenna module to support the transceiver of radio frequency signals; A charging contact portion, located in the charging contact area and penetrating the housing substrate, the charging contact portion being used to electrically connect with a charging module; Wherein, the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion are respectively conductors and are insulated from each other.

2. The housing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The antenna radiator includes: An antenna injection molded body, located in the antenna area; wherein, the material of the antenna injection molded body is an electroplating grade plastic material; A first electroplating layer, located on the side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate, the first electroplating layer being exposed on the inner surface.

3. The housing according to claim 1, wherein, The charging contact portion includes: A contact injection molded body, located in the charging contact area; wherein, the material of the contact injection molded body is an electroplating grade plastic material; A second electroplating layer, covering the contact injection molded body exposed on the housing substrate.

4. The housing according to claim 3, characterized in that, The contact injection molded body exposed on the housing substrate includes a first surface and a second surface disposed opposite to each other, and a parting surface located between the first surface and the second surface, wherein, the first surface is exposed on the outer surface of the housing substrate, and the second electroplating layer covers the first surface, the second surface and the parting surface.

5. The housing according to claim 3, characterized in that, The contact injection molded body includes a first surface and a second surface disposed opposite to each other; wherein, the first surface is exposed on the outer surface of the housing substrate, and the charging contact portion further includes: A conductive protective layer, at least located on the second electroplating layer corresponding to the first surface of the contact injection molded body.

6. The housing according to claim 5, characterized in that, The material of the conductive protective layer includes at least one of palladium, platinum, rhodium and ruthenium.

7. The housing according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The electroplating grade plastic material includes acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, polybutylene terephthalate, nylon, acrylic or a mixture of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer.

8. The housing according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The electroplating layers in the antenna radiator and the charging contact portion respectively include one or more metal layers.

9. A method for preparing a housing, characterized in that, Comprising: Respectively injection molding to form a housing substrate, an antenna injection molded body, and a contact injection molded body; wherein, the housing substrate includes an antenna area and a charging contact area disposed at intervals, the antenna injection molded body is located in the antenna area and exposed on the inner surface of the housing substrate, and the contact injection molded body penetrates the housing substrate; Forming a first electroplating layer on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate to form an antenna radiator; Forming a second electroplating layer on the contact injection molded body exposed on the housing substrate to form a charging contact portion.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The respectively injection molding to form a housing substrate, an antenna injection molded body, and a contact injection molded body includes: Providing a two-color mold; the two-color mold includes a housing injection molding area, an antenna injection molding area and a contact injection molding area; Injecting the molten electroplating grade plastic material into the antenna injection molding area and the contact injection molding area respectively, and cooling to respectively form the antenna injection molded body and the contact injection molded body; Inject the molten non-electroplated plastic material into the injection molding area of the housing, and cool it to form the housing substrate.

11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, Form a first electroplated layer on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate, including: Based on the housing substrate, electroplate a metal material on the outer surface side of the antenna injection molded body away from the housing substrate to form the first electroplated layer; Form a second electroplated layer on the contact injection molded body exposed from the housing substrate, including: Based on the housing substrate, electroplate a metal material on the contact injection molded body exposed from the housing substrate to form the second electroplated layer.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The electroplated metal material includes: Electroplate a first metal material to form a first metal layer; On the surface of the first metal layer facing away from the housing substrate, electroplate a second metal material to form a second metal layer; wherein, the first metal material and the second metal material are different.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein The method further includes: Provide a shielding jig; Based on the shielding jig, form a conductive protective layer on the second electroplated layer corresponding to the outer surface of the contact injection molded body.

14. A headset, characterized in that, Including: The ear rod part includes a first housing and a second housing connected to the first housing. The second housing includes the housing according to any one of claims 1-8, or, the second housing includes a housing prepared by using the preparation method of the housing according to any one of claims 9-13; The earplug part is connected to the ear rod part; The main board is arranged in the accommodation cavity formed by enclosing the first housing and the second housing. Among them, the antenna radiator and the charging contact are respectively electrically connected to the main board.

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