Patent Application
20120003426
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a decoration device and a method for fabricating a decoration device, in particular, to a decoration device uneasily stained by dirt or oil material and a method for fabricating a decoration device.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, the illustrations or decorations formed on the surface of the plastic housing are mainly fabricated by spraying process or printing process to present certain effect on the sense of sight. Nevertheless, the spraying process is unfavorable in mass production for the disadvantages of time consumption, process complexity, and inconsistence in thickness. In addition, the conventional spraying process may cause the splashing of sprays containing lead or other heavy metals so that the spraying material is wasted and the problem of pollution is caused.
To solve the abovementioned problem, an in-mold decoration (IMD) technique is provided. The process of the IMD technique includes placing a decoration film that has predetermined decorations into the mold of the injection machine, injecting a melted resin at a side of the film in the mold so that the melted resin and the film are combined, and thereafter ejecting the decorated housing from the mold. Accordingly, a decoration device is completed.
The decoration device is usually used as a housing of a product such that the decoration device can not avoid from contacting by an external element such as a user's finger. The appearance of the decoration device is easily stained by oil material such as an ink or a fingerprint of the user. However, it is not easy to clean the oil material stained on the decoration device. In addition, the user must clean the decoration device frequently, which is not convenient to the user. Therefore, it becomes an important issue to fabricate a decoration device having the property of anti-oil material.
Accordingly, the invention is directed to a decoration device capable of reducing the contamination caused by an oil material.
The invention is directed to a method for fabricating a decoration device having anti-fingerprint property.
The invention is further directed to a method for fabricating a decoration device having easy-cleaning property and anti-fingerprint property.
The invention provides a decoration device including a housing, an anti-fingerprint layer, an easy-cleaning layer, and an adhesion layer. The anti-fingerprint layer is disposed on the housing and exposed. The easy-cleaning layer is disposed between the housing and the anti-finger print layer, and a material of the easy-cleaning layer includes a polymer containing fluorine. The adhesion layer is disposed between the housing and the easy-cleaning layer.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a material of the anti-fingerprint layer includes an extinction material such as paraffin, for example.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the anti-fingerprint layer can includes a plurality of diffusion particles, wherein a material of the diffusion particles is selected from SiO2, TiO2, CaCO3, polymethylmethacrylate, paraffin, or a combination thereof.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a material of the anti-fingerprint layer is selected from SiO2, TiO2, or a combination thereof. In addition, the anti-fingerprint layer can have a rough surface away from the housing. The surface roughness of the rough surface is substantially 50 nm.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a thickness of the anti-fingerprint layer is from 150 nm to 200 nm.
According to an embodiment, the polymer containing fluorine has a molar percentage of fluorine to a sum of fluorine plus hydrogen is substantially from 10% to 60%.
According to an embodiment, the polymer containing fluorine is selected from a group consisting of olefinic fluoride, epoxy resin fluoride, aliphatic polyurethane fluoride, and a combination thereof.
According to an embodiment, the polymer containing fluorine comprises polyacrylic fluoride copolymer.
According to an embodiment, the decoration device can further include an ink layer disposed between the easy-cleaning layer and the adhesion layer.
The invention also provides a method for fabricating a decoration device including the following steps. First, a decoration film including a substrate, a releasing layer, an anti-fingerprint layer, an easy-cleaning layer, and an adhesion layer sequentially stacked is provided, wherein a material of the anti-fingerprint layer comprises an extinction material and a material of the easy-cleaning layer comprises a polymer containing fluorine. Next, the decoration film is adhered on a housing through the adhesion layer. The releasing layer and the substrate are subsequently separated from the anti-finger print layer such that the anti-finger print layer is exposed.
According to an embodiment, the extinction material comprises paraffin.
According to an embodiment, the housing is formed by molding, stamping, lamination, or a combination thereof.
According to an embodiment, the anti-fingerprint layer comprises a plurality of diffusion particles. A material of the diffusion particles is selected from SiO2, TiO2, CaCO3, polymethylmethacrylate, paraffin, or a combination thereof.
According to an embodiment, a method for adhering the decoration film on a housing through the adhesion layer and subsequently separate the releasing layer and the substrate from the anti-finger print layer includes an in-mold rollor process, an in-mold film process, a heat transfer printing process, a sublimation heat transfer process, a hot stamping process, an ink jet printing process, a water transfer printing process, or a combination thereof.
The invention also provides a method for fabricating a decoration device. First, a decoration film including a substrate, a releasing layer, an anti-fingerprint layer, and an easy-cleaning layer sequentially stacked is provided, wherein a material of the easy-cleaning layer includes a polymer containing fluorine. The decoration film is adhered on a housing through the adhesion layer. Subsequently, the releasing layer and the substrate are separated from the easy-cleaning layer. An anti-fingerprint layer is formed on the easy-cleaning layer after the releasing layer and the substrate separated from the easy-cleaning layer such that the anti-finger print layer is exposed.
According to an embodiment, a material of the anti-finger print layer includes SiO2, TiO2, or a combination thereof.
According to an embodiment, a method for forming the anti-fingerprint layer includes a sputter process and the anti-fingerprint layer has a rough surface by the sputter process.
According to an embodiment, a method for adhering the decoration film on a housing through the adhesion layer and subsequently separate the releasing layer and the substrate from the anti-finger print layer includes an in-mold rollor process, an in-mold film process, a heat transfer printing process, a sublimation heat transfer process, a hot stamping process, an ink jet printing process, a water transfer printing process, or a combination thereof.
The invention further provides a decoration device including a housing, a decoration layer disposed on the housing, and an adhesion layer disposed between the decoration layer and the housing, wherein the decoration layer has an anti-fingerprint surface away from the adhesion layer and the anti-fingerprint surface is exposed.
According to an embodiment, the decoration layer includes a protection layer and the protection layer has the rough surface.
According to an embodiment, the decoration layer includes a releasing layer and the releasing layer has the rough surface.
According to an embodiment, a surface roughness of the rough surface is in the range of 10 nm to 200 nm.
In view of the above, the decoration device of the invention has an anti-fingerprint layer and an easy-cleaning layer. The anti-fingerprint layer or the exposed layer can be an extinction layer or have rough surface. Any oil material is not easily stained on the decoration device. Alternately, the oil material such as a fingerprint is not easily seen by a user because the extinction effect of the anti-fingerprint layer. In addition, a material of the easy-cleaning layer includes a polymer containing fluorine so that the oil material stained on the decoration device can be easily cleaned.
In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying figures are described in detail below.
Herein, the same or similar reference numbers used in the drawings and the descriptions are referred as the same or similar elements. For clearly describing the concept of the invention, the shapes and the thickness of the elements in the embodiments accompanying with the drawings may not definitely comply with the real circumstance. In addition, the following descriptions are directed to the elements or the combinations thereof, but the elements are not particularly restricted in the contents or the descriptions. Any form or shape known by one skilled in the art is applicable in the invention. Moreover, the description that a material layer disposed on a substrate or disposed on another material layer means that the material layer is directly located on the substrate or the another material layer, and may also mean that some interlayer is interrupted between the material layer and the substrate or between the material layer and the another material layer.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
The decoration device 100 has the anti-fingerprint layer 140 which is the outer layer so that a dirt or oil material such as a fingerprint is not easily stained thereon. Accordingly, the appearance is not dirtied and a user does not need to frequently clean the decoration device 100, which is convenient to the user. In addition, once the dirt or oil material such as the fingerprint is stained on the decoration device 100, the dirt or oil material can be easily removed due to the easy-cleaning property of the easy-cleaning layer 130. Therefore, the decoration device 100 can remain beautiful and look like a new one.
Specifically,
Generally, a material of the substrate 12, which is a flexible substrate, can be polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyethylene glycol-co-cyclohexane-1,4 dimethanol terephthalate (PETG), thermalplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyurethane (PU), polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (A-PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polystyrene (PS), triacetyl cellulose (TAC), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), methylmethacrylate-styrene (MMA-st, MS) copolymer, cyclo olefin copolymer (COC) and a combination thereof, but the invention is not restricted herein.
In addition, the releasing layer 14 directly contacting the substrate 12 is usually a thin film with low surface tension which can be made of a wax, a paraffin, or silicone, or an impermeable thin film with high smoothness which can be made of an irradiation curable multi-functional acrylic, silicone acrylate, epoxy, vinyl, allyl vinyl compound, unsaturated polyester or a mixture thereof. A material of the releasing layer 14 can be selected from a polycondensate, a copolymer, a blend, or a mixture consisting of epoxy, polyurethane, polyimide, polyamide, hexa methoxymethyl melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde, and a combination thereof. Accordingly, the releasing layer 14 can provide a removable effect or a temporary adhesion effect.
For having the anti-fingerprint function, an extinction material such as paraffin, for example, can be used as a material to fabricate the anti-fingerprint layer 140. Alternately, the anti-fingerprint layer 140 can includes a plurality of diffusion particles (not shown) for having the anti-fingerprint function. For example, a material of the diffusion particles (not shown) can be selected from SiO2, TiO2, CaCO3, polymethylmethacrylate, paraffin, or a combination thereof. Certainly, the anti-fingerprint layer 140 can be an extinction material layer having a plurality of diffusion particles distributed therein in another embodiment.
A material of the easy-cleaning layer 130 includes a polymer containing fluorine. Such material can be selected from a group consisting of olefinic fluoride, epoxy resin fluoride, aliphatic polyurethane fluoride, and a combination thereof. In an embodiment, the polymer containing fluorine includes polyacrylic fluoride copolymer. In the present embodiment, a molar percentage of fluorine to a sum of fluorine plus hydrogen in the easy-cleaning layer 130 is substantially from 10% to 60%.
The adhesion layer 120 can be formed by the material selected from polyacrylate, polymethacrylate, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyurethane, polyester, polyamide, epoxy resin, ethylene vinylacetate copolymer (EVA) or thermoplastic elastomer or a copolymer, blend, or combination thereof. Herein, the anti-fingerprint layer 140 and the easy-cleaning layer 130 are served as decoration layers while the substrate 12 and the releasing layer 14 are used for temporary carrying the decoration layers during the fabricating process in the present embodiment.
Specifically, referring to
In the present embodiment, the decoration process can be an in-mold decoration (IMD) technique, a heat transfer printing process, a sublimation heat transfer process, a hot stamping process, an ink-jet printing process, a water transfer printing process, and the like, wherein the IMD technique substantially includes an in-mold labelling (IML) process, an in-mold film (IMF) process, an in-mold roller (IMR) process, or the like. Namely, the housing 110 can be fabricated by a molding process such as an injection molding process, a thermoforming process, a compression molding process, a blow molding process, a thermal printing process, an injection molding process, a compression process, or a combination thereof. Specifically, a material of the housing 110 includes polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), methylmethacrylate-styrene (MMA-st, MS) copolymer, MS, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyoxymethylene (POM) or a combination thereof. However, the invention is not restricted thereto and other known processes capable of transferring the decoration layers such as the anti-fingerprint layer 140 and the easy-cleaning layer 130 from the substrate 12 onto the housing 110 can be applied.
In the decoration device 100, the anti-fingerprint layer 140 can be formed by the extinction material or have a plurality of diffusion particles distributed therein. It is known that the extinction material interferes the light irradiated thereon. Therefore, any dirt or contamination such as the fingerprint stained on the anti-fingerprint layer 140 is not easily seen due to the extinction characteristic. In addition, in the case that a plurality of diffusion particles is distributed in the anti-fingerprint layer 140, the diffusion particles (not shown) are capable of diffusing the light irradiated thereon so as to reduce the possibility that a user see the dirt or contamination such as the fingerprint stained on the anti-fingerprint layer 140. Accordingly, the disposition of the anti-fingerprint layer 140 is conducive to maintain the appearance of the decoration device 100 by interfering the light on the surface of the decoration device 100.
Furthermore, the easy-cleaning layer 130 having the composition of the polymer containing fluorine is conducive to provide specific interface property such that the dirt or oil material stained on the decoration device 100 can be easily removed. Accordingly, the decoration device 100 is easily to be cleaned so as to maintain beauty. Based on the high bonding energy of the material containing fluorine, the surface energy of the polymer is reduced and the contacting angle of water dropping on the polymer is increased. Therefore, the polymer containing fluorine has enhanced hydrophobic effect so that water drop can be rapidly slipped out the easy-cleaning layer 130. That is to say, the easy-cleaning layer 130 can not merely have the easy-cleaning property, but also have the hydrophobic property.
Specifically, the method for forming the anti-fingerprint layer 140 is not restricted in combining with the decoration process and another method for forming the same is exemplified in the following. Certainly, the methods depicted in the embodiments does not intend to limit the invention and other suitable processes can be applied for forming the anti-fingerprint layer 140.
Next, referring to
Subsequently, referring to
It is noted that the rough surface of the anti-fingerprint layer 140 conduces to reduce the area of the dirt or the contamination contacting the anti-fingerprint layer 140. Accordingly, the dirt or the contamination such as the fingerprint is not easily stained on the anti-fingerprint layer 140 so that the anti-fingerprint function can be achieved and the decoration device 100 can maintain the clear of the appearance. In addition to the anti-fingerprint layer 140, the easy-cleaning layer 130 is further conducive to prevent the decoration device 100 from being dirtied so that the decoration device 100 can keep a desirable appearance.
Generally, the decoration device 100 can further have other decoration layers for having various effects on the sense of sight. For example,
For fabricating the decoration device 200, any of the method illustrated in
In an embodiment, the ink layer served as the decoration layer 150 can be a colorful ink layer, a black ink layer, or a white ink layer. The ink layer can be formed by any suitable printing process such as a gravure printing, process, a screen printing process, a flexographic printing process, an offset printing, a reverse printing process, an ink jet printing process while a material of the ink layer can be sublimation type transferring ink, heat-melted type transferring ink, UV-type transferring ink, and the like. If a metal layer is served as the decoration layer 150, a metal material such as Al, Cu, Zn, Sn, Mo, Ni, Cr, Ag, Au, Fe, In, Tl, Ti, Ta, W, Rh, Pd, Mg, Pt, any alloy thereof, or a combination thereof can be used to form the decoration layer 150. The method for forming the metal layer includes, but not restricted to coating, laminating, electroplating, sputtering, vacuum evaporating, or a combination thereof. If the decoration layer 150 is a hologram layer, a layer of microstructures with a metal layer conformed thereto is provided between the adhesion layer 120 and the easy-cleaning layer 130.
It is noted that the anti-fingerprint layer 140 may not fabricated by performing the surface treating process 30 on the easy-cleaning layer 130 as described above for providing the anti-fingerprint function.
Thereafter, referring to
Next, referring to
It is noted that the decoration layer 210′ can include a plurality of material layers, wherein one of the material layers most away from the adhesion layer 220 can have the anti-fingerprint surface Ra. For example, the material layer having the anti-fingerprint surface Ra can be the protection layer, the easy-cleaning layer, or any material layer located at the outer side of the decoration device 200. For example, the releasing layer can be selectively remained on the housing 230 after the substrate 12′ is removed from the housing 230 so that the releasing layer can be a part of the decoration layer 210′ and the material layer having the anti-fingerprint surface Ra can be the releasing layer. Alternately, when the releasing layer is removed from the housing 230 accompanying with the substrate 12′, the decoration layer 210′ does not include the releasing layer and the material layer having the anti-fingerprint surface Ra can be the exposed material layer.
In summary, the decoration device of the invention includes at least an anti-fingerprint layer and an easy-cleaning layer. The anti-fingerprint layer may have extinction property to interfere the light on the surface of the decoration. Therefore, any dirt or oil material stained on the anti-fingerprint layer may not easily be seen. In addition, the anti-fingerprint layer or the exposed layer in the decoration device may have a rough surface so that the dirt or oil material would not be easily stained thereon to achieve the anti-fingerprint effect. Furthermore, the easy-cleaning layer can provide the easy-cleaning effect such that the decoration device of the invention can be easily cleaned to maintain clear appearance.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
