CN101048043A - A material for covering the appearance of a device and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a material for covering the appearance of a device and a manufacturing method thereof, the manufacturing method of the material is that a PU fabric layer is coated on release paper, the fabric layer is dried after being coated, then a PU coating layer is coated on the PU fabric layer, a PU coating bottom layer is coated after the PU coating layer is dried, and the release paper is released through the steps of drying, reeling and ripening to obtain the electronic covering material with the PU appearance with surface color grains; the PU material is characterized in that the PU material has a surface grain color layer, so that the PU material is used for covering the appearance of an electronic product, can generate more diversified changes of the appearance, increases good touch feeling of a user, and enables the electronic product to be more integrated into the living space of the user.

Description

A material for covering the appearance of a device and its manufacturing method

technical field

The invention relates to a material for covering the appearance of a device and a manufacturing method thereof, especially to a material characteristic such as a variety of textures and color changes on the surface of a PU material, which is used to cover the appearance of electronic products, so that it has a soft, comfortable touch, and an appearance similar to genuine leather. Diversity and other characteristics.

Background technique

The housing materials of electronic products on the market mainly include ABS plastic, aluminum-magnesium alloy, carbon fiber and titanium alloy. Generally speaking, the most popular materials in the market are aluminum-magnesium alloy and titanium alloy. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The following is a comparison of the characteristics of these materials:

Type 1: Fireproof plastic-ABS

ABS is made of styrene, acrylonitrile and butadiene emulsion copolymerization. Its heat resistance and solvent resistance are better than HIPS, and it has gloss. Since the nitrile group of acrylonitrile has strong polarity, it can enhance the interaction of molecular chains in PS, so the impact strength, tensile strength and surface hardness of plastic parts are better than HIPS.

Generally, the higher the proportion of acrylonitrile, the better the heat resistance, rigidity and solvent resistance, but the worse the fluidity, and the plastic background color is yellowish, and its mechanical properties and dimensions are stable during injection molding (Injection Mold). The performance is very good, based on the above advantages, ABS resin has become an excellent engineering plastic.

ABS resin with high gloss, impact resistance, and electroplating properties is generally used in household appliances, toys and other daily necessities; ABS with high flow characteristics is generally used in molding products such as large household appliances, motorcycle shells, and thin-meat molded products; ABS with low flow characteristics is suitable for injection of plates and pipe fittings, generally used for refrigerator linings, suitcases, pipes and large containers, etc.; ABS with flame retardant characteristics, generally used for computer casings and accessories, electronic products, business machines, etc. Products that need to meet the requirements of UL94 specifications; heat-resistant ABS, products suitable for high temperature requirements, generally used for heating appliances, hair dryers, heaters and automotive components such as instrument panels, etc.

ABS plastic material, the thickness of a single piece is similar to that of carbon fiber products, about 1.2mm; in terms of heat conduction, the effect is average, not as good as aluminum-magnesium alloy and titanium alloy, the external temperature of the casing will make people feel warm when used; and In terms of material ductility, it is mediocre, so there will not be much shape change; its main advantages are high toughness and good shock resistance. Overall, the biggest advantage of ABS plastic material is its low cost. The manufacturing is fast, but it cannot meet the demand for the strength of the casing of today's electronic products, and it cannot solve the problem of electromagnetic wave leakage of notebook computers.

The second type: Magnesium Alloy material (Magnesium Alloy)

The application of magnesium alloy materials started in 1808, and was first used in the aviation industry. Due to the characteristics of strong, good heat dissipation and modularization of magnesium alloy internal components, and in recent years, electronic products have emphasized lightness, thinness, shortness, and smallness. Magnesium alloys are gradually replacing metals such as aluminum, steel, and plastic, and have performed well in product applications in various industries; also because magnesium alloys are lighter than other materials, plus they have heat dissipation, electrical conductivity, and anti-EMI , vibration absorption, recyclability, and product value enhancement, the application of casing components used in electronic information products has gradually expanded. First, it was widely used in projector casings, and then quickly applied to notebook computers, mobile phones, PDAs, cameras and other products. It has become the first consideration material for the casing components of 3C products.

Magnesium-aluminum alloy has many advantages, and it has good EMI barrier effect: Magnesium alloy is a non-magnetic metal, which has good shielding performance of electromagnetic wave noise and can effectively prevent electromagnetic interference; excellent heat dissipation: magnesium alloy has good thermal conductivity, and it can dissipate heat when the CPU continues to increase in speed. It is a good choice when the design is becoming more and more important; strong and light: the weight of magnesium is 1/3 of aluminum and 1/4 of iron, and its strength and rigidity are better than aluminum and iron; good shock absorption: magnesium The specific damping capacity of the alloy is 10 to 25 times that of aluminum alloy and 1.5 times that of zinc alloy, which shows its excellent shock absorption ability and can reduce noise and vibration. It is used in portable devices to help reduce the impact of external vibration sources on internal precision electronics. , Interference of optical components; small shrinkage rate: the thickness can reach 20mm, the shrinkage rate is small, there will be no shrinkage and sinking phenomenon, and the appearance is stable, and it will not change due to the influence of ambient temperature and time; high production efficiency: magnesium is better than aluminum The heat capacity of the same volume is small, and it can be solidified quickly in the mold. In addition to shortening the casting operation time and improving the same unit time, the surface of the casting is also more detailed.

In addition to the above-mentioned advantages, magnesium alloys still have considerable market space in the future because magnesium is the eighth largest element on the earth and is abundantly stored in magnesite, dolomite and seawater, and there is no shortage of raw material sources. Alloys have been used in some automobiles, bicycles and hand tools before. At present, 3C products still use engineering plastics as the main shell material. In order to meet the requirements of 3C products for continuous thinner and shorter EMI heat dissipation and heat resistance, magnesium alloy machine Shell demand came into being.

Magnesium-aluminum alloy material, the thickness of a single piece is about 1.0 mm, it is light in weight and has good ductility, so it can be used in graphic design, but the disadvantage is that the heat emitted by the case itself is relatively high, so it must be handled carefully during production Problems with heat dissipation.

At present, there are many problems encountered by magnesium-aluminum alloys. For example, in terms of mass production, the defect rate of magnesium-aluminum alloy die-casting is high, the number of secondary processing processes is large, and anti-rust chemical treatment and coating processes are required. , requires a lot of manpower and cost.

The third type: carbon fiber (Carbon-Fiber)

Electronic products made of carbon fiber alloys may replace the aluminum-magnesium alloys that have been popular for many years in the future, reduce the weight of electronic products, and improve the mobility of electronic products; Aluminum-magnesium alloy is a material for electronic products, but there are some problems in aluminum-magnesium alloy itself. For example, in consideration of environmental protection, there is no definite method for aluminum-magnesium alloy to be recycled, but it is only advertised as recyclable.

Carbon fiber alloy can greatly increase the elastic rate by increasing the amount of carbon fiber added, so that the strength is increased, it is not easy to deform, and it can also express the elastic rate that glass fiber cannot do.

Carbon fiber alloy not only achieves the purpose of completely lightweight design, but also presents a variety of styles of hairlines. Its strength is twice that of magnesium alloy, and its weight is only 80% of that of magnesium alloy. It is effective in preventing electromagnetic waves and EMI. have better performance.

Carbon fiber material, the thickness of a single piece is only 1.2 mm. In addition to the good shock resistance of ABS plastic material, its toughness is excellent, which is twice that of aluminum-magnesium alloy; the weight is also very light, good corrosion resistance, and not easy to deteriorate; The biggest feature of carbon fiber material is its better heat dissipation effect. It is the better material of notebook computer casings in all electronic products today. It is slightly better than ABS in general, but it is still strong in the strength of notebook computer casings. It is mediocre, and it still does not meet the strength requirements of today's notebook computer casings.

The fourth type: Titanium Alloy

Titanium alloys are widely used, and were first used in the aerospace industry; due to their light weight, toughness, shock resistance, good ductility, and good heat dissipation, titanium alloys began to be widely used in daily necessities; and, because titanium Alloys are heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and even artificial bones use titanium alloys.

Titanium alloy material is used in electronic products such as notebook computers. Its single-piece thickness is only 0.5 mm, which is one-half of aluminum-magnesium alloy. This material not only has the fastest heat dissipation speed, but also has excellent ductility. There is no design limitation; moreover, because of its good heat dissipation effect, the temperature of the casing is lower than other materials; the strength and toughness of titanium alloy is 3 to 4 times that of aluminum-magnesium alloy, and the weight is less than that of today's notebooks One of the lightest computer case materials.

Although titanium alloy material has the above-mentioned advantages when applied to notebook computers, the die-casting process cannot be used to manufacture notebook computer casings from titanium alloys, but the stamping process can only be used. Since the crystal structure of titanium metal is HCP, the mechanical properties of the material are relatively brittle. Therefore, the stamping process also has its difficulties; when the titanium alloy notebook computer case is manufactured by the stamping process, it can only be manufactured in pieces. There are many strong ribs in the notebook computer case, and the case is connected with other parts. The connecting part of the shell, the connecting part of the shell and the shell, etc., these parts need to be manufactured separately and then connected by bonding and sheet metal bonding. The number of secondary processing processes is too many, which requires a lot of manpower and cost.

Based on the above reasons, the shell materials of electronic products on the market mainly include ABS plastic, aluminum-magnesium alloy, carbon fiber and titanium alloy. Generally speaking, although the more popular materials in the market are aluminum-magnesium alloy and titanium alloy, but The biggest advantage of ABS plastic material is the plastic injection process, which has low cost and fast manufacturing. There are many reinforcing ribs in the housing of electronic products, the connection between the housing and other parts, the connection between the housing and the housing, etc. , can be completed at one time by the plastic injection process, but it cannot meet the strength requirements of the shells in today's electronic products, and cannot solve the problem of electromagnetic wave leakage in electronic products; there are also many problems encountered by aluminum-magnesium alloys. In terms of productivity, the defect rate of magnesium-aluminum alloy die-casting is extremely high, and the number of secondary processing processes is large. It also needs to go through anti-rust chemical conversion treatment and coating process, which requires a lot of manpower and cost; titanium alloy manufacturing electronic products The shell of the titanium alloy electronic product cannot be formed at one time by the die-casting process, but only the stamping process of pieces can be used. The stamping process is also difficult. When the shell of titanium alloy electronic products is manufactured by the stamping process, only slices can be used. In the case of electronic products, there are many reinforcing ribs, the connection between the case and other parts, the connection between the case and the case, etc. These parts need to be manufactured separately, and then connected by bonding and sheet metal , the number of post-processing processes is too many, which requires a lot of cost.

Ordinary electronic product shells are usually made of metallic iron, aluminum, or aluminum-magnesium alloys, or made of plasticized PC or ABS materials, which are hot-pressed or injection-molded. Watches usually have a hard surface in metals, which makes the user feel cold to the touch, or the surface of plasticized materials only changes in color, and cannot produce fluctuations in the texture of the shell surface. It must be integrated into modern electronic products. For users, it is impossible to achieve this purpose.

And the aluminum-magnesium alloy is used to cover the appearance of its electronic products. Although the material is light in weight and the silver-white appearance, it adds a noble symbol to the relatively expensive electronic products. However, in the process of its manufacture, physical and chemical principles and electrochemical surface treatment methods are applied, and a very large amount of solvent is used to make it have cleaning power, so that it can have cleaning power and replace the processing on the metal surface process, so the waste generated therein is highly polluting.

Contents of the invention

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a material structure used to cover the appearance of the device, thereby providing low manufacturing cost, no need to consume a lot of manpower, rich color and texture changes, softer touch and easy grip, so that it can be used more Covering materials for electronic products that integrate into the lives of users.

When using polyurethane (Polyurethane, PU) as the covering material of electronic products, because PU is easy to process and form patterns on the surface, and the PU material itself has an excellent touch, unlike metal or carbon fiber materials. It is cold and smooth, and if the metal or carbon fiber material forms a pattern on the surface, it needs to be etched on the surface, which is time-consuming and costly. However, the surface of the PU material itself can be patterned with release paper or Textures, so the PU material has better surface texture and tactility than metal or carbon fiber materials.

The present invention also aims to solve the limitations encountered when the above-mentioned fire-resistant plastic ABS, magnesium-aluminum alloy material, carbon fiber and titanium alloy are made into electronic product casings, so polyurethane (Polyurethane, PU) is used as the electronic product. Decorative covering materials are used to solve the above-mentioned problems. The following is a brief overview of PU:

Polyurethane (PU) is a product synthesized from diisocyanate (Diisocyanate), polyglycol (Polyol) and short-chain diol. Due to its excellent mechanical properties, solvent resistance and oil resistance, it can reach Wear resistance, oil resistance, acid and alkali resistance, impact resistance, noise reduction and shock absorption, solvent resistance, high elasticity, high load, good recovery and other characteristics.

PU resin has incompatible soft segment (Soft Segment, derived from polyglycol) and hard segment (Hard Segment, derived from diisocyanate and chain extender), resulting in phase separation, resulting in the hard segment appearing in the PU film The crystalline phase similar to sea islands makes PU physically cross-linked (that is, pseudo-cross-linked) at room temperature. Therefore, although the molecular weight of PU is only tens of thousands, due to the physical cross-linking produced by phase separation, its mechanical properties are very good. .

Polyurethane (PU) provides soft and hard foam, structural materials and semi-rigid self-forming foam, thermosetting elastomers and raw materials for the artificial leather industry. It can be used in the following These industries:

A. Automobile industry (auto parts such as seats, bumpers, fenders, steering wheels, dashboards and roof panels)

B. Construction industry (roof panels, insulation panels)

C. Soft foam industry (mattresses, furniture and bedding)

D. Self-forming leather and elastic resin industry (shoe soles, machine parts, concrete coverings, running tracks, electronic equipment, furniture, snowboards and synthetic leather)

E. Heat insulation and insulator industry (refrigerators, refrigerated containers, roof leak-proof projects and oil or liquid petroleum gas insulation delivery pipes)

F. Soft foam (can be used in sofa production)

The use of materials for various livelihood tools is already one of the mature and environmentally friendly material options.

In the manufacturing process of the present invention, dyes can be directly added to the PU coating to achieve the color required for the appearance of the material structure covered by the outer surface, and the process of using release paper to release the type can make the surface form a rich color. The texture changes, and the PU material itself is a skin-friendly material. When the skin is in contact with the material covered by the PU material, the touch is very good, which is better than the cold feeling brought by metal or the bright and smooth feeling of the ABS plastic shell. , plus the PU foam layer formed by the foaming agent added to the PU paint, can make the present invention thicker, and the formed PU foam layer can achieve waterproof, crack-proof, shock resistance, heat insulation, filling, sound insulation function.

As mentioned above, the PU material is used to cover the surface of electronic products. In particular, the present invention can use and make the PU material with surface color and texture changes into a material for covering the surface of electronic products, in addition to replacing the old ones. The shell covering material such as metal or ABS can make the shell of electronic products not only have rich color and texture changes, but also softer and easier to hold, so that it can be more integrated into the life of users.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a sectional view (first embodiment) of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view (second embodiment) of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view (the third embodiment) of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view (the fourth embodiment) of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the present invention (fifth embodiment).

【Description of figure number】

100 Material covering the exterior of the device 131 PU foam structure layer

120 Surface layer 132 PU non-foaming structure layer

130 Structural layer 140 Bottom layer

Detailed ways

With the specific structure related to the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, it is a cross-sectional view of the material 100 covering the outer surface of the device of the present invention, on which there is a surface layer 120 with a color and undulating PU texture, and a structural layer 130 in the middle, which can be formed by The structure made of foamed PU or non-foamed PU, and under the structure layer 130 is a bottom layer 140 .

In addition, as shown in Figure 2, the structure of another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the upper layer is also a surface layer 120 with a color and undulating PU texture, and the structural layer 130 under the surface layer 120 Partly, the PU foam structure layer 131 is formed by foaming PU, and a bottom layer 140 is used as the bottom under the PU foam structure layer 131; and as shown in Fig. 3, the structure of another preferred embodiment of the present invention consists The bottom layer 140 part of lower floor is from bottom to top, then respectively by bottom layer 140, PU foam structure layer 131 and PU foam structure layer 132, finally is the combination structure that surface layer 120 forms; As shown in Figure 4, the present invention also The structure of a preferred embodiment starts from the bottom layer 140 part of the lower layer from bottom to top, then respectively consists of the bottom layer 140, the PU non-foamed structure layer 132 and the PU foamed structure layer 131, and finally the composite structure composed of the surface layer 120; As shown in FIG. 5 , the structure of another preferred embodiment of the present invention consists of a bottom layer 140 on which a surface layer 120 is formed.

The present invention is a kind of material that covers the appearance of the device and its manufacturing method, and its various structural manufacturing methods are described as follows:

(Example 1)

After preparing the textured release paper, coat the colored PU fabric layer on the release paper. After the fabric layer is coated, dry it, and then apply the PU coating layer, and wait for it to dry to form a structure After the layer 130, apply the last PU paint primer as the primer layer 140. After the steps of drying, winding and aging, the release paper is released to form the surface layer 120, and a PU with surface color lines can be obtained. The surface electronic covering material, as shown in Figure 1, has a specification of total thickness of 0.5mm; PU coating layer porosity of 0%; softness and hardness ShoreA: 60.

(Example 2)

In the second embodiment of the present invention, after preparing the release paper with texture at the beginning, coat the PU fabric layer with color on the release paper, dry it after the coating of the fabric layer is completed, and then coat it Add the PU paint layer of foaming agent, after it is dried to form a PU foam structure layer 131, coat the last PU paint bottom layer as the bottom layer 140, through the steps of drying, coiling and ripening, release paper Form the surface layer 120 after the mold is released, and then you can get an electronic covering material with a PU appearance with surface color lines, as shown in Figure 2, its specification is a total thickness of 0.7mm; the porosity of the PU coating layer is 40%; the hardness Shore A: 30.

(Example 3)

In the third embodiment of the present invention, after the release paper with texture is prepared, the PU fabric layer with color is coated on the release paper. After the fabric layer is coated, it is dried, and then the PU is coated. Paint layer, after it is dried to form a PU non-foaming structure layer 132, coat the PU paint layer adding foaming agent, after it is dried to form a PU foaming structure layer 131, coat the last PU coating The bottom layer is used as the bottom layer 140. After the steps of drying, winding and aging, the release paper is released to form the surface layer 120, and an electronic covering material with a PU appearance with surface color lines can be obtained, and the structural layer 130 It has a structure of PU foamed structural layer 131 and PU non-foamed structural layer 132, and the structural layer next to the surface layer 120 is PU non-foamed structural layer 132, as shown in Figure 3, its specification is a total thickness of 0.6mm; The porosity of the PU coating layer is 0%; the porosity of the PU coating layer is 40%; the hardness ShoreA: 40.

(Example 4)

In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, after the release paper with texture is prepared, the PU fabric layer with color is coated on the release paper, and after the coating of the fabric layer is completed, it is dried and then coated Add the PU coating layer of foaming agent, after it dries to form a PU foaming structure layer 131, coat the PU coating layer, treat that after it dries to form a PU non-foaming structure layer 132, coat the last PU coating The bottom layer is used as the bottom layer 140. After the steps of drying, winding and aging, the release paper is released to form the surface layer 120, and an electronic covering material with a PU appearance with surface color lines can be obtained, and the structural layer 130 Have the structure of PU foam structure layer 131 and PU non-foam structure layer 132, and the structure layer next to surface layer 120 is PU foam structure layer 131, as shown in Figure 4, its specification is total thickness 0.8mm; PU The porosity of the coating layer is 0%; the porosity of the PU coating layer is 70%; the hardness ShoreA: 35.

(Example 5)

In the fifth embodiment of the present invention, first prepare the release cloth, apply the PU wet paint, put it into water to solidify the PU wet paint, rinse with water after solidification, curl after drying, and grind the surface After tearing off the release cloth, a fuzzy PU surface electronic covering material can be formed; its specification is a total thickness of 0.4mm; the porosity of the PU layer is 30%; the hardness ShoreA: 15.

To sum up, the material for covering the surface of the device and its manufacturing method of the present invention not only achieve the expected practical effect, but also have an unprecedented design, which meets the requirements of the patent law invention, so the application is filed in accordance with the law. For this reason, I would like to ask your reviewers to review in detail, and pray for the patent application as soon as possible, so thank you for your convenience.

The invention has been described in detail above, but the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when it can not limit the scope of the present invention, that is, all equivalent changes and modifications made in the scope of the patent application for the present invention, All should belong to the category that the patent scope of the present invention intends to protect.

Claims (15)

1. A surface-covering structure, specifically referring to a material covering the surface of a device. This material is located on the external structure of an electronic product, wherein the material includes: A surface layer, which is the surface of the textured surface after the release paper is released, and is the outermost layer of the overall covering structure; A structure layer is a structure made of PU material, in the middle part of the overall covering structure, the surface layer is connected to it, and the bottom layer is connected to it; A bottom layer is the bottom layer of PU paint, which is the bottom layer of the overall covering structure. 2. The material for covering the exterior of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the structural layer is a PU foam layer. 3. The structural layer of material covering the exterior of the device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the porosity of the PU foam layer is below 90%. 4. The material for covering the exterior of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the structural layer is a PU non-foaming layer. 5. The material for covering the exterior of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the structural layer is composed of a PU foamed layer and a PU non-foamed layer. 6. The structural layer of material covering the exterior of the device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the PU foam layer composed of the PU foam layer and the PU non-foam layer has a porosity of less than 90%. 7. The material for covering the exterior of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surface layer can have a color. 8. The material for covering the exterior of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the material structure is 0.1-1.0 mm. 9. The material for covering the exterior of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hardness of the material structure is ShoreA: 10-90. 10. The material for covering the appearance of a device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material structure can be applied to the casing of notebook computers, mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, thin TV sets and digital cameras, etc. inside. 11. A method of manufacturing a material covering the exterior of a device, at least comprising the following steps: Coat the PU fabric layer on the release paper, dry it after the fabric layer is coated, and then coat the PU paint layer on the PU fabric layer, after it is dried, coat the PU paint bottom layer, and then dry it , coiling and aging steps, release the release paper. 12. The method of manufacturing the material for covering the exterior of the device as claimed in claim 11, wherein any color can be added to the fabric layer. 13. The manufacturing method of the material covering the exterior of the device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the paint layer can be coated with PU paint containing a foaming agent. 14. The method of manufacturing the material for covering the exterior of a device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the coating layer is repeatedly coated for two or more layers. 15. A method for manufacturing a material covering the exterior of a device, wherein the coated PU structural layer is a wet paint, which is coated on a carrier, and then put into water to solidify the PU wet paint, rinsed with water after solidification, and dried Curl, release after surface grinding.

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