1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a three-dimensional workpiece, and more particularly, to a three-dimensional workpiece using composite material.
2. Description of Related Art
With the advancement in semiconductor devices and display technology, electronic products are being developed toward small size, multi-function and ease of carry. Common portable electronic products include notebook computers, tablet computers and mobile phones.
In order to reduce weight and increase structural strength of casings of the portable electronic products, an existing method is using a composite material of fiber and metal to manufacture the casings. The casing adopting composite materials currently contains two metal plates and a core layer, in which the core layer is located between the two metal plates and bound with the two metal plates.
In order to reduce the weight of the casing, the core layer herein has multiple openings, and these openings cover the entire surface of the core layer. However, the casing after its three-dimensional shaping may have unsmooth-appearance defect due to the openings of the core layer at casing's bent place.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a three-dimensional workpiece able to maintain its smooth appearance at the bent place thereof.
The present invention provides a three-dimensional workpiece, which includes a first ductile plate, a second ductile plate and a core layer. The core layer is located between the first ductile plate and the second ductile plate. The first ductile plate, the second ductile plate and the core layer are bound together and have a three-dimensional shape. The first ductile plate has a plate flat area and a plate curved area. The core layer has a core flat area and a core curved area. The core flat area is superposed with the plate flat area and the core curved area is superposed with the plate curved area.
Based on the description above, the present invention can reduce the weight of the three-dimensional workpiece by forming openings on the core flat area of the core layer and thus ensure the smooth-appearance of the first ductile plate by using the core flat area of the core layer.
Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the further technological features disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention wherein there are shown and described preferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of modes best suited to carry out the invention.
In the embodiment, the first ductile plate 110 and the second ductile plate 120 can be metal plate, ductile material plate containing metal or prepreg, in which the material of the prepreg can be plant fiber, glass fiber or carbon fiber. When both the first ductile plate 110 and the second ductile plate 120 are metal plates, the metal plate can be stainless steel plate (SUS plate), aluminium plate or tin-plated steel plate (SPTE). In addition, the core layer 130 can be mylar/film, fiber braid layer or prepreg, in which the mylar/film can be plastic one and the material of the fiber braid layer or the prepreg can be plant fiber, glass fiber or carbon fiber.
Depending on different product designs, the core layer 130 may be a core layer formed of multiple material layers or a single material layer. In addition, to meet the demand of product appearance or structure strength, the core layer 130 may have a uniform thickness or a non-uniform thickness. The first ductile plate 110 and the second ductile plate 120 may have a uniform thickness or a non-uniform thickness as well. When the adopted core layer 130 is a prepreg, the first ductile plate 110 and the second ductile plate 120 may be respectively and directly bound onto the prepreg (the adopted core layer 130) through the pre-impregnated liquid on the prepreg (the adopted core layer 130), without the need of additional adhesive layer.
When the first ductile plate 110, the second ductile plate 120 and the core layer 130 have three-dimensionally shaped, the core flat area 132 is superposed with the plate flat area 112, and the weight of the core layer 130 is reduced by forming the openings 136 on the core flat area 132. In addition, the core curved area 134 is superposed with the plate curved area 114, and by the design of the core curved area 134, the plate curved area 114 of the first ductile plate 110, in particular the place at the position of ridge line, keeps a smooth appearance.
According to the real requirement, in the embodiment, when the plate curved area 114 surrounds the plate flat area 112, the core curved area 134 may accordingly surround the core flat area 132. With different product designs, the core curved area 134 may form a curved corner with a radius R after bending, while the width w of the core layer 130 at the core curved area 134 (referring to
In the embodiment, the aspect ratio of the core curved area 134 on the core layer 130a is less than the aspect ratio of the core flat area 132 so that the plate curved area after the bending (such as the mark 114 in
In summary, the present invention may reduce the weight of the three-dimensional workpiece by forming openings on the core flat area of the core layer and thus ensure the smooth-appearance of the first ductile plate by specifying the aspect ratio of the core curved area less than the aspect ratio of the core flat area.
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.
This application claims the priority benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/497,033, filed on Jun. 14, 2011. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61497033 | Jun 2011 | US |