Patent Application
20110048754
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to housings for electronic devices, especially to a housing having decorative metal patterns, and a method for making the housing.
2. Description of Related Art
Housings for electronic devices, such as mobile phones, decorated with gold may be more attractive. Gold ornaments can be fusion welded on housings. Specifically, a gold welding rod is melted and filled into a groove to form an ornament. However, it is difficult to accurately control the quantity of gold melted into the grooves, resulting in too little or too much gold being used which may degrade the appearance of the housing. Furthermore, fusion welding is only suitable for inlaying simple and large ornaments, so, it is difficult to form complex metal patterns on housing by fusion welding.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.
Many aspects of the housing for electronic device and method for making the housing can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present housing and the method for making the same.
The substrate 11 can be made of metal selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, magnesium alloy, aluminum alloy, and titanium alloy. The substrate 11 is stainless steel in this exemplary embodiment. The substrate 11 has an outer surface 110.
The metallic coating 12 is formed on at least the outer surface 110 of the substrate 11 by electroplating or physical deposition (such as vacuum evaporation or vacuum sputtering). The metallic coating 12 comprises a metal material having a first color, such as chromium, formed by electroplating. The metallic coating 12 defines a plurality of grooves 122 (as shown in
The metal pattern layer 13 fills the grooves 122. The metal pattern layer 13 may be coplanar with or protrude above the metallic coating 12. The metal pattern layer 13 may comprise a noble material such as gold, platinum, or imitation gold. The metal pattern layer 13 has a second color different from the first color of the metallic coating 12.
An exemplary method for making the housing 10 may include the following steps.
A substrate 11 is provided. The substrate 11 has the outer surface 110.
The substrate 11 is pretreated by degreasing and subsequently activating. When the substrate 11 is made of stainless steel, the substrate 11 can be activated in a hydrochloric acid solution containing trivalent iron.
The metallic coating 12 is formed on at least the outer surface 110 by, e.g., electroplating, vacuum evaporation, or vacuum sputtering. For example, the metallic coating 12 may be a chrome coating formed by electroplating. The electroplating process may be carried out in an electrolyte of 28˜25° C. containing a chromic salt, buffers of pH, and necessary additives, at a current density of about 3˜20 A/dm2 (ampere per square decimeter).
Referring to
Portions of the protective layer 14 and the corresponding metallic coating 12 are removed by, for example, laser carving. The plurality of grooves 122 are defined in the metallic coating 12.
The substrate 11 having the grooves 122 is then electroplated to form a metal pattern layer 13 within the grooves 122. The metal pattern layer 13 may be coplanar with or protrude above the metallic coating 12.
The protective layer 14 is removed. The method for removing the protective layer 14 depends on the respective material of the metallic coating 12 and the metal pattern layer 13. For example, when the metallic coating 12 is made of chrome and the metallic pattern layer 13 is made of gold which are both resistant to strong acids, 98% (by weight) sulfuric acid can be used to remove the protective layer 14.
The substrate 11 can be made of plastic. Accordingly, when the metallic coating 12 is formed by electroplating, the substrate 11 may be processed to be electroconductive before electroplating the metallic coating 12.
When the metallic coating 12 is electroplated with chrome, an electroless plated nickel layer and an electroplated copper layer can be formed between the substrate 11 and the metallic coating 12, for strengthening the bonding of the metallic coating 12 and the substrate 11.
It should be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200910306546.9 | Sep 2009 | CN | national |
