1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to molded products and in particular to decorating molded surfaces, and a method of manufacturing the molded product.
2. Description of Related Art
It is difficult to paint different patterns or characters on the edges of a molded product, and consequently, the edges of electronic device enclosures having 3D surfaces are plain and unattractive.
Referring to
Step 202, a film 20 with patterns and characters printed thereon is provided.
Step 204, the film 20 is shaped in a first mold according to the designed 3D outer surface 32 of the molded product 30 to be molded. The shaped film 20 includes an attached portion 21 to be attached to the 3D outer surface 32 of the molded product 30 and a cover portion 22 extending inward slantingly from an edge of the attached portion 21 for covering an edge 34 of the molded product 30. A connecting portion 23 is formed between the cover portion 22 and the attached portion 21.
Step 206, a cutter 300 is used for cutting off an otiose portion of the shaped film 20 along an edge of the cover portion 22 away from the attached portion 21, according to an edge 34 of the molded product 30. In one embodiment, the edge 34 may be slantingly or perpendicularly connected to an edge of the outer surface 32 of the molded product 30.
Step 208, referring to
Step 210, referring to
Step 212, referring to
Step 214, the molded product 30 is cooled and the second mold 40 is open to get the mold product 30, therefore, the outer surface 32 and edge 34 of the molded product 30 are both covered with the shaped film 20, referring to
This method can be used for manufacturing the casing of both small and large products such as various parts of mobile phones and notebook computers.
Referring to
The base layer 202 acts as a scratch/abrasion-resistant for the pattern layer 204. The base layer 202 generally consists of at least polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, acrylic, oriented polypropylene, or polyvinyl chloride, for example. The thickness of the base layer 202 can range from about 0.01 millimeters to about 0.125 millimeters.
A metal decoration layer can also be provided as the pattern layer 204. The metal decoration layer plating may be aluminum, chromium, copper, nickel, indium, and stannum, alone or combined, on the base layer 202 via either a vacuum evaporation or electroplating method.
The attaching layer 206 is used for attaching the film 20 to the outer surface 32 of the molded product 30. The attaching layer 206 may be made from a plurality of resin materials consisting of acrylic, nitrification fiber, polyamine formate, chlorination rubber, vinyl chloride-co-vinyl-acetic ester copolymer, polyamide, polyester, epoxy, polycarbonate, olefin, and acrylonitrile-butylene-styrene monomer resin, for example. The attaching layer 206 is generally provided via concave, screen, and offset printing, or spraying, dip-coating method, or a coating in reverse order method, for example.
The base layer 202 may be either transparent or translucent to illuminate the patterns and/or colors of the pattern layer 204.
In another embodiment, the film 20 includes a base layer 202 and an attaching layer 206, but does not includes a pattern layer 204, for highlighting the natural color of the resin of the molded product 30 through the transparent or translucent base layer 202. It is noteworthy that in other embodiments, the base layer 202 may be made of material with color, for coloring the formed molded product 30.
Referring to
It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the description or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being exemplary embodiments.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
200910301363.8 | Apr 2009 | CN | national |