Patent Application
20140246323
The present disclosure generally relates to treatment of aluminum surfaces.
Handheld electronic devices (such as smartphones and tablet computers) typically include an outer casing or housing, within which various components are mounted. Various types of materials are used to form such housings. By way of example, some housings are formed of plastic, whereas others are formed of metal. As is known, such materials exhibit different characteristics. For instance, metal (e.g., aluminum) is relatively light weight compared to its mechanical strength, and plastic is relatively easy to form with various surface textures.
Methods for treating aluminum for providing a tactile sensation of surface softness are provided. Briefly described, one embodiment, among others, is a method comprising: providing an aluminum component having a surface; exposing the surface to a first media blasting; exposing the surface to a second media blasting; and, after the second media blasting, chemical etching and anodizing the surface.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be or may become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Having summarized various aspects of the present disclosure, reference will now be made in detail to that which is illustrated in the drawings. While the disclosure will be described in connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit the scope of legal protection to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein. Rather, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents included within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
In this regard, methods for treating aluminum that provide a tactile sensation of surface softness are provided. As will be described in detail, an example embodiment involves modifying the texture of an aluminum surface so that the surface feels interestingly soft to a user without the use of an applied surface coating. In some embodiments, multi-pass media blasting is used to prepare the surface, which is later chemically etched to reduce surface peaks formed during the media blasting. The particular combination of blasting media, associated pressures and other parameters has been found to produce a surface effect that is remarkably pleasing to users when compared to other surfaces formed with deviations from the prescribed parameters.
Returning to the flowchart of
In this regard,
After the first media blasting, the process proceeds to block 124 of
After the second media blasting, the process proceeds to block 126, in which chemical etching and anodizing of the surface is performed. In some embodiments, the anodizing is performed prior to the chemical etching.
It is noted that variations in the above parameters have been shown to result in less than desirable tactile sensations. For instance, samples made by the aforementioned process were selected as feeling the most pleasant when compared with samples made by altering the parameters by as little as 1.0 psi, 25 grit #, or 30 sec. etch time.
In operation, a housing (e.g., housing 160) is placed on the conveyor and conveyed into the media blasting zone, in which an outer surface of the housing is exposed to media blasting. In some embodiment, a housing is exposed to media blasting for approximately 30-300 seconds.
After receiving a first media blasting, the housing is conveyed to position C, in which it may be manually relocated to position A so that a second pass through the media blasting zone may be made. As should be understood, various other configurations may be used in other embodiments.
In block 182, the outer surface of the component is exposed to a first media blasting to begin deforming the surface. Then, as depicted in block 184, the outer surface is exposed to a second media blasting. In some embodiments, the second media blasting step is performed identically to the first media blasting step.
After the second media blasting, the surface is anodized (block 186). Thereafter, such as depicted in block 188, chemical etching of the surface is performed.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely examples of possible implementations. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the principles of the present disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.
