CN101203098A - A kind of electronic product casing and preparation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic product casing includes a film layer, an ink layer and a material layer, and the ink layer is located between the film layer and the material layer, wherein the casing also includes a metal plating layer, and the metal plating layer is located between the ink layer and the film layer. The invention provides a preparation method for the shell of the electronic product. The housing of the electronic product provided by the invention further includes a metal plating layer between the ink layer and the film layer, and the metal coating displays the pattern of the housing of the electronic product, so that the pattern of the housing of the electronic product is bright in color and has a metallic texture. In addition, since the metal coating is located between the thin film layer and the ink layer, during the use of the electronic product, the thin film layer is in contact with the outside to protect the metal coating, and the metal coating will not be worn.

Description

A kind of electronic product casing and preparation method thereof

technical field

The invention relates to an electronic product casing and a preparation method thereof.

Background technique

With the wide application and continuous development of electronic products, the appearance of electronic products is also increasingly rich. For example, there are generally patterns on the shell of a mobile phone. Generally, the in-mold decoration injection molding (In Mold Decoration, IMD) method is used to make a shell with a pattern. The IMD method usually includes printing ink on a film (usually a transparent sheet) according to the required pattern to form an ink layer; The film of the layer is formed, die-cut into the desired shape, and then the material layer is formed on the film with the ink layer by injection molding method, using rigid plastic, to make the shell with the pattern, the ink layer is between the film layer and the material layer In between, the ink layer, that is, the pattern, is shown through the transparent film layer. Although the existing IMD method can obtain colorful patterns by using inks of different colors, the color of the shell patterns displayed by the inks is not bright enough to meet people's needs for metallic texture.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide an electronic product case with a bright pattern and a preparation method thereof in order to overcome the disadvantage that the pattern color of the existing electronic product case is not bright enough.

The invention provides a shell of an electronic product, the shell includes a film layer, an ink layer and a material layer, and the ink layer is located between the film layer and the material layer, wherein the shell also includes a metal coating, and the metal coating is located between the ink layer and the film between layers.

The invention provides a method for preparing the shell of an electronic product, wherein the method comprises forming a metal coating on the surface of the film layer and forming an ink layer on a part of the metal coating, and then removing the metal layer without the ink layer on the surface to obtain A film layer with a metal plating layer and an ink layer; a material layer is formed on the film layer with a metal plating layer and an ink layer, so that the metal plating layer and the ink layer are located between the film layer and the material layer.

The housing of the electronic product provided by the invention further includes a metal plating layer between the ink layer and the film layer, and the metal coating displays the pattern of the housing of the electronic product, so that the pattern of the housing of the electronic product is bright in color and has a metallic texture. In addition, since the metal coating is located between the film layer and the ink layer, during the use of the electronic product, the film layer is in contact with the outside to protect the metal coating, and the metal coating will not be worn.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic product housing provided by the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the mobile phone case prepared in Example 1 of the present invention.

Detailed ways

As shown in Figure 1, the housing of the electronic product provided by the present invention includes a film layer 1, an ink layer 2 and a material layer 3, and the ink layer 2 is located between the film layer 1 and the material layer 3, wherein the housing also includes a metal coating 4, The metal coating 4 is located between the ink layer 2 and the film layer 1 .

Described film layer can be identical with the film layer of existing electronic product shell, can be made of the transparent material that is applicable to IMD method, for example, can be polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) sheet material, polycarbonate (PC ) sheet, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymer (ABS) sheet or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet. The thickness of the film layer can be a conventional thickness, preferably 0.05-0.5 mm, more preferably 0.175-0.25 mm.

The metal coating can be a metal electroplating layer, an electroless coating or a sputtering coating, and the sputtering coating is preferably a sputtering coating because the thickness of the sputtering coating is uniform and the adhesion to the film layer is relatively good. The thickness of the metal coating can be 1-20 microns, preferably 3-15 microns. The metal element or alloy contained in the metal coating can be any metal element or alloy suitable for the magnetron sputtering ion plating method, and the type of metal element or alloy in the metal coating can be adjusted according to the color of the desired pattern. The metal coating is preferably copper, nickel, stainless steel, chromium, aluminum or titanium, or an alloy of two or more metals among copper, nickel, chromium, stainless steel, aluminum and titanium.

The ink layer can be the same as the ink layer of the existing electronic product casing, and can be made of printing ink suitable for the IMD method. The types of inks are known to those skilled in the art and can be obtained commercially, for example, Seiko GG730 lead-free PAN BLACK C, Seiko SG series 710 or Seiko HAC series 710 inks. The thickness of the ink layer can be a conventional thickness, preferably 10-60 microns, more preferably 20-30 microns.

Described material layer can be identical with the material layer of existing electronic product shell, can be made of the hard plastic that is applicable to IMD method, for example, can be polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate ( One or more of PET), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymer (ABS). The thickness of the material layer may be a conventional thickness, preferably 1.0-3.0 mm, more preferably 1.5-2.5 mm.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the housing of the electronic product may further include a protective agent layer 5 , and the protective agent layer 5 is located between the ink layer 2 and the material layer 3 . As shown in FIG. 1 , a part of the protective agent layer is on the surface of the ink layer 2 , and another part of the protective agent layer is on the surface of the film layer 1 . The protective agent layer can be the same as the protective agent layer of the existing electronic product casing, and can be made of background ink suitable for the IMD method. The types of inks for the protective agent layer are known to those skilled in the art and are commercially available. The protective agent layer can protect the ink layer, metal coating and film layer in the process of forming the material layer. The thickness of the protective agent layer can be a conventional thickness, preferably 10-30 microns, more preferably 10-20 microns.

The preparation method of the electronic product casing provided by the present invention comprises forming a metal coating on the surface of the film layer and forming an ink layer on a part of the surface of the metal coating, and then removing the metal coating without the ink layer on the surface to obtain a metal coating and an ink layer. A film layer; forming a material layer on the film layer with the metal plating layer and the ink layer, so that the metal plating layer and the ink layer are located between the film layer and the material layer.

The method of forming a metal coating on the surface of the film layer can be an electroplating method, an electroless plating method or a magnetron sputtering ion plating method, because the thickness of the sputtering coating obtained by the magnetron sputtering ion plating method is uniform and compared with the adhesion of the film layer Well, so it is preferred to use the magnetron sputtering ion plating method.

The magnetron sputtering ion plating method may be an existing conventional magnetron sputtering ion plating method. For example, the magnetron sputtering ion plating method includes applying power to the magnetron target under sputtering conditions to sputter and deposit the target material of the magnetron target on the thin film layer.

The sputtering conditions can be various existing sputtering conditions for magnetron sputtering ion plating, such as sputtering conditions include pressure (absolute pressure) is 0.1-1.0 Pa, preferably 0.3-0.8 Pa, the temperature is 20-300°C, preferably 50-150°C. The sputtering time can be selected according to the thickness of the metal coating to be formed, and the sputtering time can generally be 1-30 seconds, preferably 3-15 seconds.

The power supply can be an AC power supply or a DC power supply, preferably a DC power supply. The power supply voltage is 200-600 volts, preferably 300-350 volts; the current is 5-30 amps, preferably 10-20 amps.

The magnetron sputtering ion plating method of the present invention can use various existing magnetron sputtering ion plating equipment, and the magnetron sputtering ion plating equipment can be obtained commercially. The structure of the magnetron target is well known to those skilled in the art. For example, the magnetron target may include a target base and a target material, and the target material is installed on the target base. The target base is a magnet, and the magnet can be various existing magnets, for example, it can be one or more of ferromagnets and NdFeB magnets.

The target contains a target substance, which can be a single element target (that is, a target contains only one target substance) or a multi-element target (that is, a target contains multiple target substances), preferably a single element For the target, the purity of the target material is preferably greater than 99.9%. The type of target material can be selected according to the composition of the film layer. For example, when Ti is plated on the substrate, the target material is Ti; when TiAl alloy is plated on the substrate, the target material is Ti and Al. The target material can be selected from one or more of copper, nickel, stainless steel, chromium, aluminum and titanium.

The sputtering is performed under an inert gas atmosphere. Described inert gas is the gas that does not participate in sputtering reaction, for example can be helium and/or argon; The consumption of described inert gas is known to those skilled in the art, for example, the consumption of inert gas only needs to make sputtering The pressure can reach 0.1-1.5 Pa. It can be vacuumed first to make the absolute pressure in the magnetron sputtering ion plating equipment reach the range of 2×10 ^-3 Pa to 6×10 ^-3 Pa, and then fill in inert gas to make the magnetron sputtering ion plating The absolute pressure inside the equipment reaches 0.1-1.5 Pa.

The method for forming the ink layer on the part surface of the metal coating can be the same as the conventional method for forming the ink layer on the thin film layer, for example, ink can be printed on the part surface of the metal coating (ie, using existing various known printing methods) The part that needs to be patterned). The printing method is well known to those skilled in the art and will not be repeated here.

After the ink layer is formed on the part of the surface of the metal plating layer, the metal layer without the ink layer on the surface is then removed. Various existing methods can be used to remove the metal layer, such as laser engraving or using a deplating solution. Because in the present invention, the pattern part, that is, the ink layer may only occupy a small part, and the metal plating layer is formed on the entire surface of the film layer, so it is necessary to remove the metal layer other than the pattern part. If the laser engraving method is used, the cost will be relatively high. high. The ink layer generally has acid resistance or alkali resistance, so an acidic or alkaline stripping solution that does not react with the ink layer can be used.

The method for removing the metal layer without the ink layer on the surface includes contacting the metal plating layer with a deplating solution. When the ink layer has acid resistance, the deplating solution may be an acidic aqueous solution capable of dissolving metals, such as nitric acid solution, hydrochloric acid solution, sulfuric acid solution or a mixed solution thereof. The concentration of the stripping solution can be 5-15% by weight, preferably 7-10% by weight. The deplating solution may also contain additives, the content of which may be 30-100 g/L, preferably 50-80 g/L; said additives may be tetraammonium nitrate and/or cerium sulfate. The conditions for the metal coating to be in contact with the deplating solution include that the contact temperature is 15-30°C, preferably 20-25°C; the contact time is as long as the metal layer without the ink layer on the surface is removed, for example, it can be 0.5-10 minutes, Preferably it is 1-5 minutes. The consumption of the deplating solution only needs to remove the metal layer without the ink layer on the surface. The type of the acid-resistant ink layer is known to those skilled in the art, for example, Seiko GG730 lead-free PAN BLACK C or Seiko HAC series 710 ink.

When the ink layer has alkali resistance and the metal coating is aluminum, an alkaline aqueous solution capable of dissolving aluminum can also be used as the stripping solution, such as sodium hydroxide solution, potassium hydroxide solution or a mixed solution thereof. The concentration of the alkaline aqueous solution may be 5-15% by weight, preferably 8-12% by weight. The type of the alkali-resistant ink layer is known to those skilled in the art, for example, Seiko SG series 710 ink.

The method of forming the material layer on the film layer with the metal plating layer and the ink layer can be a conventional method in the art, for example, the film layer with the metal plating layer and the ink layer can be put into a mold, and then the material layer can be formed by injection molding. The injection molding method is well known to those skilled in the art and will not be repeated here.

Before the material layer is formed on the film layer having the metal plating layer and the ink layer, a protective agent layer may also be formed on the film layer having the metal plating layer and the ink layer. The method of forming the protective agent layer may be a conventional method, for example, printing a background ink on the film layer. The printing method is well known to those skilled in the art and will not be repeated here.

Before forming the material layer on the film layer with the metal plating layer and the ink layer, the film layer can also be shaped and punched to make the film layer have a desired shape. The methods of forming and punching are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be repeated here.

The present invention will be described in more detail by way of examples below.

Example 1

Using magnetron sputtering ion plating equipment (multi-arc-magnetron sputtering ion coating machine, manufactured by Beijing Beiyi Innovation Vacuum Technology Co., Ltd., model JP-700), the PMMA sheet with a thickness of 0.175 mm is placed on the magnetic On the workpiece rack in the vacuum chamber of the controlled sputtering ion plating equipment, start the vacuum pump to evacuate. When the vacuum degree in the vacuum chamber reaches 4×10 ^-3 Pa, fill it with argon gas so that the absolute pressure in the vacuum chamber is 0.5 Pa. The temperature in the vacuum chamber was adjusted to 150°C. Start the DC power supply (voltage is 400 volts, electric current is 15 volts) that is applied on the magnetron target (target material is 99.99% aluminum), under above-mentioned temperature and pressure condition, sputter 3 seconds, form on the PMMA sheet material Aluminum coating with a thickness of 10 microns.

Print patterns on the aluminum coating, the ink used is Seiko GG730 lead-free PAN BLACK C, as shown in Figure 2, the printed pattern is a logo 6 and a circular decorative ring 7.

The aluminum coating was contacted with a nitric acid solution having a concentration of 5% by weight (the nitric acid solution contained 70 g/L tetraammonium nitrate) at 25° C. for 1 minute to remove the aluminum coating not covered by the ink.

Print the background ink (Baolong's HTR8403C) on the PMMA sheet, then shape it, punch it into the desired shape, and use polycarbonate (PC) plastic material to form the material layer by injection molding method, and make it as shown in Figure 2 The mobile phone casing, wherein the logo 6 and the circular decorative ring 7 have a bright silver metallic luster, and since the aluminum coating is located between the PMMA sheet and the material layer, it will not be worn.

Claims (10)

1. An electronic product casing, the casing includes a film layer, an ink layer and a material layer, the ink layer is located between the film layer and the material layer, it is characterized in that the casing also includes a metal coating, and the metal coating is located between the ink layer and the film between layers. 2. The casing according to claim 1, wherein the metal coating is a sputtered coating, and the thickness of the sputtered coating is 1-20 microns. 3. The shell according to claim 1, wherein the metal coating is copper, nickel, stainless steel, chromium, aluminum or titanium, or two or more of copper, nickel, chromium, stainless steel, aluminum and titanium Alloys of metals. 4. The casing according to claim 1, wherein the film layer has a thickness of 0.05-0.5 mm; the ink layer has a thickness of 20-60 microns; and the material layer has a thickness of 1-3 mm. 5. The casing according to claim 1, wherein the casing further comprises a protective agent layer, the protective agent layer is located between the ink layer and the material layer, and the thickness of the protective agent layer is 10-30 microns. 6. A preparation method for an electronic product shell, characterized in that the method comprises forming a metal coating on the surface of the film layer and forming an ink layer on a part of the metal coating, and then removing the metal coating without the ink layer on the surface to obtain A film layer with a metal plating layer and an ink layer; a material layer is formed on the film layer with a metal plating layer and an ink layer, so that the metal plating layer and the ink layer are located between the film layer and the material layer. 7. method according to claim 6, wherein, the method for forming metal coating on film layer surface is magnetron sputtering ion plating method, and magnetron sputtering ion plating method comprises under sputtering condition, on magnetron target Apply power to sputter the target material of the magnetron target and deposit it on the film layer; the target material is one or more of copper, nickel, stainless steel, chromium, aluminum and titanium; the sputtering conditions include a pressure of 0.1- 1.0 Pa, the temperature is 20-300°C, and the sputtering time is 1-30 seconds. 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the method for removing the metal layer without the ink layer on the surface comprises contacting the metal plating layer with a deplating solution. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, the ink layer is an acid-resistant ink layer, and the stripping solution is nitric acid solution, hydrochloric acid solution, sulfuric acid solution or their mixed solutions, and the concentration of the stripping solution is 5 -15% by weight; the conditions for the metal plating to be in contact with the deplating solution include a contact temperature of 15-30°C and a contact time of 0.5-10 minutes. 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein, the ink layer is an alkali-resistant ink layer, the metal coating is aluminum, and the stripping solution is sodium hydroxide solution, potassium hydroxide solution or their mixture solution, the concentration of the deplating solution is 5-15% by weight; the conditions for contacting the metal plating layer with the deplating solution include a contact temperature of 15-30° C. and a contact time of 0.5-10 minutes.

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