Patent Application
20200398466
This application claims priority of Taiwanese Invention Patent Application No. 108121085, filed on Jun. 18, 2019.
This disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a base plate, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a base plate for a keyboard.
Referring to
Referring to
However, the conventional base plate 11 for a keyboard has relatively high manufacturing costs due to the necessity of pre-forming the engaging structures 113 on the plate body 111. In addition, the plate body 111 made of aluminum cannot be used to produce a thinner or lighter keyboard.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a method for manufacturing a base plate for a keyboard so as to alleviate or eliminate the aforesaid shortcomings of the conventional base plate.
According to the disclosure, a method for manufacturing a base plate for a keyboard includes the steps of:
a) providing a mold assembly including
b) preparing a composite laminate which includes a carbon fiber layer and a thermoplastic resin layer bound to the carbon fiber layer, and which is formed with a plurality of positioning holes;
c) disposing the composite laminate in the female mold, and combining the female and male molds such that the thermoplastic resin layer of the composite laminate faces the male mold, and such that the recesses of the male mold cooperate with the positioning holes of the composite laminate, respectively to define a plurality of molding zones; and
d) injecting a plastic material at a temperature higher than 150° C. through the fluid passages into the molding zones while maintaining the female mold at a temperature ranging from 90° C. to 120° C., so as to form a plurality of positioning blocks which binds to the thermoplastic resin layer and which integrates with the composite laminate to form the base plate.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
a) providing a mold assembly 3 which includes a female mold 31 and a male mold 32;
b) preparing a composite laminate 2;
c) disposing the composite laminate 2 in the female mold 31 and combining the female and male molds 31, 32;
d) injecting a plastic material to form the base plate 2′; and
e) removing the base plate 2′ from the mold assembly 3.
In the mold assembly 3 provided in step a), the female mold 31 has a receiving space 311 for fittingly accommodating the composite laminate 2 therein in step c), and the male mold 32 has a plurality of recesses and a plurality of fluid passages 34 fluidly communicated with the recesses 33. Specifically, the male mold 32 has a surface 321 from which the recesses 33 are recessed inwardly.
The composite laminate 2 provided in step b) includes a carbon fiber layer 21 and a thermoplastic resin layer 22 binding to the carbon fiber layer 21, and is formed with a plurality of positioning holes 23.
In certain embodiments, step b) includes the sub-steps of:
b1) applying the thermoplastic resin layer 22 on the carbon fiber layer 21 to form the composite laminate 2, and
b2) punching the composite laminate 2 to form the positioning holes 23.
In this embodiment, the thermoplastic resin layer 22 is made of a polycarbonate resin.
In step c), the composite laminate 2 is disposed in the receiving space 311 of the female mold 31 such that the composite laminate 2 is fittingly accommodated in the receiving space 311, and the female and male molds 31, 32 are combined with each other such that the thermoplastic resin layer 22 of the composite laminate 2 faces the male mold 32, such that the surface 321 of the male mold 31 is in contact with the thermoplastic resin layer 22 of the composite laminate 2, and such that the recesses 33 of the male mold 32 cooperate with the positioning holes 23 of the composite laminate 2, respectively, to define a plurality of molding zones 35.
In step d), the plastic material is injected at a temperature higher than 150° C. through the fluid passages 34 into the molding zones 35 while maintaining the female mold 31 at a temperature ranging from 90° C. to 120° C., so as to form a plurality of positioning blocks 24, which binds to the thermoplastic layer 22 and which integrates with the composite laminate 2 to form the base plate 2′ as illustrated in
Specifically referring to
In certain embodiments, in step d), the plastic material is injected at a temperature ranging from 210° C. to 260° C.
It is worth noting that a resin material begins to exhibit adhesivity at temperatures higher than 140° C. Since the female mold 31 is maintained at a temperature ranging from 90° C. to 120° C. in step d), the thermoplastic resin layer 22 in the female mold 31 may also have a temperature ranging from 90° C. to 120° C. When the plastic material at a temperature higher than 150° C. is injected through the fluid passages 34 into the molding zones 35, a temperature of a part of the thermoplastic resin layer 22 in contact with the plastic material can be raised by the plastic material to above 140° C. so as to permit the thermoplastic resin layer 22 to bind to the binding surfaces 241 of the positioning blocks 24. In addition, by first raising the temperature of the thermoplastic resin layer 22 to a range from 90° C. to 120° C., embrittlement of the thermoplastic resin layer due to a big temperature gap between the thermoplastic resin layer 22 and the plastic material during the injection molding process can be prevented. Similarly, the remaining part of the thermoplastic resin layer 22 not in contact with the plastic material may be maintained at a relatively low temperature such that the molding may not be adversely affected due to the adhesivity of the remaining part of the thermoplastic resin layer 22.
Consequently, the positioning blocks 24 can bind to the thermoplastic resin layer 22 of the composite laminate 2 simultaneously while they are formed. Pre-forming of the engaging structures required in the prior art is not necessary in the method of the disclosure, and thus the costs for manufacturing the base plate 2′ can be effectively lowered.
In addition, the composite laminate 2 includes a carbon fiber layer 21 which has properties of high hardness, high strength, and light weight. Therefore, the base plate 2′ for a keyboard made with the composite laminate 2 in place of an aluminum board can be made thinner and lighter.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 108121085 | Jun 2019 | TW | national |
