Patent Application
20180257275
Designs for computing devices are ever changing. However, these designs are often limited by hardware components which enable device functionality. For example, hardware components affect certain aspects of design of a computing device, such as size, structure, and robustness. Portable computing devices are generally compact, and have robust designed chassis to withstand abrasions such as drops from elevated heights like from tables or from desks. Thus, chassis of computing devices, protecting various electronic parts, is manufactured with materials of high strength, such as carbon fiber composites.
The detailed description is provided with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features and components.
The present subject matter relates to carbon fiber composites. Chassis of computing devices are generally made of materials such as carbon fiber composites to protect the electronic components of the computing devices from accidental damage, and also safeguard the computing devices from wear and tear, arising out of their daily use. Further, carbon fiber composites are also used as shields for sensitive and costly components of the computing devices, such as displays and microprocessors.
Such carbon fiber composites are generally made using multiple sheets of carbon fibers. In such cases, 7 to 8 sheets of carbon fibers are stacked together and compressed at high temperatures to form the carbon fiber composite. Whilst the use of multiple sheets of carbon fibers provides support and strength to the carbon fiber composite, inclusion of multiple sheets of carbon fibers increases the cost of production of the carbon fiber composites. Further, the process of stacking, rolling and ‘forming’ of multiple sheets of carbon fibers at high temperatures is cumbersome and time consuming.
According to an example implementation of the present subject matter, carbon fiber composites are disclosed. Further, the example implementations of the present subject matter also disclose techniques of manufacture of such carbon fiber composites. The described carbon fiber composites may be produced at lower costs than general known carbon fiber composites formed by utilizing multiple sheets of carbon fibers. Furthermore, the described carbon fiber composites may also provide equivalent strength as provided by known carbon fiber composites.
In an example implementation of the present subject matter, two sheets of carbon fibers may be insert molded to form the cost effective carbon fiber composite. In the example implementation, the two sheets of carbon fibers may include an insert molded polymer layer in between such that the polymer layer is sandwiched between a top sheet of the carbon fiber and a bottom sheet of the carbon fiber. For the sake of explanation and clarity, the carbon fiber composite comprising polymer layer sandwiched in between may be referred to as a polymer carbon fiber composite, hereinafter.
In an example method of manufacture of the polymer carbon fiber composite, two sheets of carbon fibers may be subjected to an insert molding process such that a layer of polymer may be insert molded between the two sheets of carbon fibers. In operation, one sheet of carbon fiber may be secured at a cavity side of the insert molding mold, and the other sheet of carbon fiber may be secured at a core side of the insert molding mold. It would be noted that the insert molding process may include a separate core side and a separate cavity side such that a material to be insert molded may be inserted in between the core side and the cavity side.
In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the two sheets of carbon fibers may be secured by support pins. The support pins may secure one sheet of carbon fiber with the cavity side of the insert molding mold, and the other sheet with the core side of the insert molding mold. In an example, the support pins may secure the two sheets based on vacuum suction, such that the edges of the sheet are held stable during the insertion of molten polymer.
It would be noted that the polymer carbon fiber composite may be a 3-dimensional structure that may be molded in a predefined shape during the insert molding process, depending upon the application of the polymer carbon fiber composite. It would further be noted that since the polymer carbon fiber composite includes carbon fibers as the outer layers, the carbon fibers may provide strength to the entire polymer carbon fiber composite, and the polymer carbon fiber composite may act as a strong and robust material for shielding computing devices, and its components, against abrasions and accidental damages. Further, since the polymer carbon fiber composite utilizes merely two sheets of carbon fibers, the cost of production of the polymer carbon fiber composite may also be lower than known carbon fiber composites.
The above described techniques are further described with reference to description of following figures. It should be noted that the description and the figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter along with examples described herein and, should not be construed as a limitation to the present subject matter. It is thus understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and implementations of the present subject matter, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
The two sheets of carbon fibers 104 may be formed from any carbon fiber raw material, such as gaseous hydrocarbons, petroleum, coal, biomass, polymers, and prepolymers. Further, the polymers and the prepolymers may include any one of, but not limited to, resins, polyamides, and Polyacrylonitriles. Furthermore, the density of the two sheets of carbon fibers 104 may be between 1.2 Kilogram per meter cube (Kg/m3) and 2.0 Kg/m3, depending upon the raw material utilized for the purpose of manufacture of the carbon fiber.
Further, the polymer layer 106, insert molded between the two sheets of carbon fibers 104, may be made of any type including, but not limited to, a thermosetting polymer, a thermoplastic polymer, and an elastomer. The polymer may itself be of any material including, but not limited to, epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester, and nylon. Furthermore, the density of the polymer may be between 0.6 Kg/m3 and 1.2 Kg/m3. In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the density of the polymer may be less than the density of the carbon fibers.
In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the two sheets of carbon fibers 104 may be of about 0.1 millimeter (mm) to about 1.3 mm in thickness. Further, the polymer layer 106 may be of about 0.4 mm to 1.0 mm in thickness.
The polymer carbon fiber composite 102 may have high strength-to-weight ratio, and therefore, may be utilized to form chassis of computing devices, such as, but is not limited to, a server, a workstation, a desktop computer, a laptop, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDAs), a network storage device, a tablet, and the like. Further, the polymer carbon fiber composite 102 may also be utilized to cover and protect components of the computing devices, such as random access memory (RAM), processing resources like central processing unit (CPU), and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components which may be covered and protected by the polymer carbon fiber composite 102 may include, but not limited to, disk drives, network ports, keyboards, touchpads, and displays. In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the first sheet of carbon fiber 104-1 may form an outer shield of the polymer carbon fiber composite 102, and the second sheet of carbon fiber 104-2 may form an inner shield of the polymer carbon fiber composite 102.
In an example, the insert molding arrangement may include an insert molding mold 200 to form the polymer carbon fiber composite 102. In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the first sheet of carbon fiber 104-1 may be secured at a cavity side 202 of the insert molding mold 200. Similarly, the second sheet of carbon fiber 104-2 may be secured at a core side 204 of the insert molding mold 200. It would be noted that the insert molding mold 200 may include the two sides, the cavity side 202 and the core side 204 for the purpose of securing sheets and insert molding a polymer, in between the carbon fibers 104.
Moreover, the carbon fibers 104 may be held together at a predetermined distance from each other, such that the polymer layer 106 may be insert molded between the carbon fibers 104. Further, the two sheets of carbon fibers 104 may be held such that the two sheets of carbon fibers 104 are substantially parallel to each other. In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the predetermined distance between the two sheets of carbon fibers 104 may be such that the thickness of the polymer layer 106, to be insert molded in between the two sheets of carbon fibers 104, is about the predetermined distance. As explained earlier, in an example implementation of the present subject matter, the predetermined thickness may be of about 0.4 mm to 1.0 mm.
In operation, the cavity side 202 and the core side 204 of the insert molding mold 200 may include support pins to secure the sheets of carbon fibers 104 within the mold 200. The cavity side 202 of the insert molding mold 200 may include multiple support pins 206-1, 206-2, 206-3, . . . , 206-N to hold the first sheet of carbon fiber 104-1. Similarly, the core side 204 of the insert molding mold 200 may include multiple support pins 208-1, 208-2, 208-3, . . . 208-N to hold the second sheet of carbon fiber 104-2. For the ease of explanation, the support pins 206-1, 206-2, 206-3, . . . , 206-N have been commonly referred to as cavity support pins 206, and the support pins 208-1, 208-2, 208-3, . . . , 208-N have been collectively referred to as core support pins 208.
The cavity support pins 206 and the core support pins 208, in an example implementation, may include suction inserts which may hold the sheets of carbon fibers. In one example, the suction inserts may hold the sheets of carbon fibers through vacuum suction. It would be noted that the support pins may be implemented such that the sheets of carbon fibers are held stable during the process of insert molding.
During the process of insert molding, molten polymer, in the form of resin, may be inserted through a runner 210. The runner 210 may be an opening within the insert molding mold 200 to transport the polymer between the two sheets of carbon fibers 104. The runner 210 may further be coupled with at least one sub-gate 212 and at least one rib 214 to transport the polymer. In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the sub-gate 212 and the ribs 214 may be placed such that the polymer may be evenly distributed between the two sheets of carbon fibers 104.
It would be noted that the sub-gate 212, for the insertion of the polymer, may be placed on either side of the sheets of carbon fibers 104. That is, the runner 210 and sub-gate 212 has been shown to be included to the right of the cavity support pin 206-N and the core support pin 208-N, however, in an example implementation of the present subject matter, similar runner and sub-gate may also be included to the left of the cavity support pin 206-1 and the core support pin 208-1. Accordingly, the cavity support pin 206-1 and the core support pin 208-1 may be placed along the right edge of the sheets of carbon fibers 104 to hold the sheets of carbon fibers 104 stable.
The placement of the cavity support pin 206-N near the edge of the sheet of carbon fiber 104-1, and the core support pin 208-N near the edge of the sheet of carbon fiber 104-2, may hold the two sheet of carbon fibers 104 stable during the process of polymer injection. The edges of the two carbon fibers 104 may not deform at the entry region 302 and allow formation of the polymer carbon fiber composite 102.
It would be noted that whilst examples of placement of the cavity support pins 206 and the core support pins 208 may be explained with respect to associated figures, different arrangements of the support pins may be undertaken, depending upon the method of insert molding the polymer carbon fiber composite 102.
Referring to
In an example, the two sheets of carbon fibers may be secured by at least one support pin on either of the cavity side and the core side of the insert molding mold 200. The support pins may include suction inserts to hold the sheets of the carbon fibers. The suction inserts may hold the sheets of carbon fibers based on vacuum suction to keep the sheets of carbon fibers stable during the process of insert molding.
At block 404, a polymer may be insert molded between the two sheets of carbon fibers to form the polymer carbon fiber composite. The polymer may set between the two sheets of carbon fibers to form a sandwich structured polymer carbon fiber composite. Further, the polymer may be in contact with the two sheets of carbon fibers.
Referring to
At block 504, a polymer may be injected between the two sheets of carbon fibers to form the polymer carbon fiber composite. The polymer may set between the two sheets of carbon fibers to form a sandwich structured polymer carbon fiber composite, such that the polymer is in contact with the two sheets of carbon fibers.
In an example implementation of the present subject matter, the vacuum suctions may secure the two sheets of carbon fibers such that they are held stable during the injection of the polymer. Further, the vacuum suction may prevent any deformation of the edges of the two sheets of the carbon fibers at the entry region of the polymer resin.
Although process of formation of the polymer carbon fiber composite have been described in language specific to structural features and/or processes, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features or processes described. Rather, the specific features and processes are disclosed and explained in the context of a few implementations for formation of the polymer carbon fiber composite.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2015/094028 | 11/6/2015 | WO | 00 |
