Detailed Description
Reference will now be made in detail to examples of the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The examples described below with reference to the drawings are illustrative only for the purpose of explaining the present application and are not to be construed as limiting the present application.
In one aspect of the present application, a structural member for an electronic device is presented. In some examples of the present application, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the structural member for an electronic device includes: the ceramic substrate 100 includes a ceramic substrate 100, and the ceramic substrate 100 has a plurality of nano-scale pores therein, the nano-scale pores being distributed from an outer surface of the ceramic substrate 100 to an interior of the ceramic substrate 100, and the nano-scale pores being filled with ink 10 (see fig. 2). Therefore, the structural part has good ceramic texture and hand feeling and good appearance effect, and has the properties of high strength, high gloss, high fracture toughness, excellent heat insulation, high temperature resistance, wear resistance and the like of the ceramic material.
In the present application, "outer surface" refers to an appearance surface of the structural member, i.e., a surface that can be observed by human eyes after the structural member is assembled in an electronic device.
In some examples of the present application, the plurality of nano-scale pores are distributed from the outer surface of the ceramic matrix to the interior of the ceramic matrix, and the nano-scale pores are filled with the ink, on one hand, the ink is located in the ceramic matrix, so that the structural member has good ceramic texture and hand feeling, and the ceramic matrix can maintain the properties of the ceramic material, such as high strength, high gloss, high fracture toughness, excellent heat insulation, high temperature resistance, wear resistance and the like; on the other hand, the ink is distributed from the outer surface of the ceramic matrix to the interior of the ceramic matrix, so that the appearance surface of the structural component can show the color of the ink, and the appearance effect and the designability are better than the spraying effect on the inner surface of the ceramic matrix. Therefore, the structural component has good ceramic texture, hand feeling and appearance effect, and the performance of the ceramic matrix meets the use requirement of the structural component in the electronic equipment.
The following detailed description of the various parts of the structure is given according to some specific examples of the present application:
in some examples of the present application, the nano-scale pores in the ceramic matrix 100 may have a diameter of 20nm to 200nm, such as 20nm, 50nm, 80nm, 100nm, 120nm, 150nm, 180nm, 200 nm. The nanometer-level holes have proper sizes, the color effect of the filling ink cannot be influenced due to the fact that the sizes of the nanometer-level holes are too small, and the ceramic performance of the ceramic substrate cannot be influenced due to the fact that the sizes of the nanometer-level holes are too large. Therefore, the structural part can obtain a good appearance effect, and meanwhile, the structural part has good performances of wear resistance, high temperature resistance and the like, so that the structural part has a long service life.
In some examples of the present application, the structural member has at least one region, for example, the structural member has one region, and the ink filled in the nano-scale holes has the same color, so that the structural member can obtain a pure color appearance effect, and the structural member has good ceramic texture and hand feeling.
In some examples of the present application, the structure may also have multiple regions, where the colors of the inks in the different regions are not all the same. Therefore, the structural part can obtain appearance effects such as gradient color, collision color and the like, and meanwhile, the structural part has good ceramic texture and hand feeling. For example, in some specific examples of the present application, referring to fig. 3, the structure has two areas, a first area 110 and a second area 120, the inks in the first area 110 and the second area 120 having different colors. It should be noted that the inks in the first area 110 and the second area 120 have different colors, which may mean that the colors of the inks in the two areas are different, such as yellow in color for the ink in the first area 110 and blue in color for the ink in the second area 120, or may mean that the colors of the inks in the two areas are different in shade, such as dark red in color for the ink in the first area 110 and light red in color for the ink in the second area 120.
In some examples of the present application, referring to FIG. 1, the depth of ink immersion into the ceramic matrix 100 (H as shown in FIG. 1) may be 2 μm to 30 μm, such as 2 μm, 5 μm, 10 μm, 15 μm, 20 μm, 25 μm, 30 μm. Therefore, the immersed ink has darker color, so that the structural member has good appearance effect. In some examples of the present application, the ink fills the nano-scale holes on the surface of the ceramic substrate on the side for forming the cosmetic surface. Namely: the nano-scale holes on the surface of the ceramic substrate on the side for forming the appearance surface are filled with the ink, namely, all the inner surfaces of the nano-scale holes are contacted with the ink. In other words, the ink filled in the nano-scale holes on the outer surface may be flush with the surface of the ceramic substrate on the side for forming the cosmetic surface. This prevents the surface of the structure from being colored light due to insufficient ink filling.
In some examples of the present application, in the preparation process of the structural component, a plurality of micron-sized holes are formed on the surface and inside of a ceramic substrate blank, then ink is filled in part of the micron-sized holes, the micron-sized holes filled with the ink are distributed from the outer surface of the ceramic substrate blank to the inside of the ceramic substrate blank, finally, sintering treatment is performed to eliminate the micron-sized holes not filled with the ink, the micron-sized holes filled with the ink are sintered into nanometer-sized holes, the ink is wrapped in the nanometer-sized holes, and the nanometer-sized holes are filled with the ink to obtain a compact ceramic structure.
In some examples of the present application, the above-described structural member may include at least one of a battery rear cover, a middle frame, an integrated housing, a volume key, a power key, or other ceramic decorations. Therefore, the structural part has a good appearance effect, has good ceramic texture and hand feeling, and improves the practical value and the service life of the structural part.
In another aspect of the present application, a method of making the structural member described above is provided. In some examples of the present application, with reference to fig. 4, the method includes:
s100: preparation of ceramic matrix preforms
In this step, a ceramic matrix blank is prepared. In some examples of the present application, a ceramic substrate blank is prepared having a plurality of micron-sized pores therein. Therefore, a plurality of micron-sized holes are formed in the ceramic matrix rough blank in advance, ink can be filled in the micron-sized holes through subsequent steps, the ink can permeate into the ceramic matrix rough blank, and finally, a structural member with good appearance effect and good ceramic texture and hand feeling is obtained through sintering treatment.
In some examples of the present application, the diameter of the micro-scale holes may be 0.3 μm to 200 μm, such as 0.3 μm, 1 μm, 10 μm, 20 μm, 50 μm, 80 μm, 100 μm, 120 μm, 150 μm, 180 μm, 200 μm. The inventors have found that if the diameter of the micro-scale pores is too small (e.g., less than 0.3 μm), the ink is not easy to penetrate into the ceramic matrix blank, and if the diameter of the micro-scale pores is too large (e.g., greater than 200 μm), the structure of the ceramic matrix blank is affected, thereby affecting the structure and performance of the final ceramic matrix. The diameter setting of micron order hole is in above-mentioned scope in this application, can make during printing ink permeates ceramic base rough blank easily to can make the ceramic base that finally obtains have better structure and performance, with the operation requirement who satisfies the structure among the electronic equipment.
In some examples of the present application, preparing the ceramic matrix blank described above may include: firstly, molding a mixture of ceramic powder and a binder to obtain a ceramic matrix green body, and degumming the ceramic matrix green body; subsequently, the degummed ceramic substrate green body is presintered to obtain a ceramic substrate green body. The ceramic matrix blank is pre-sintered, and a plurality of micron-sized holes can be formed on the surface and inside of the ceramic matrix blank on the basis of ensuring the structure of the ceramic matrix blank, so that a filling space is provided for the ink.
In some examples of the present application, the pre-sintering may be performed in a reducing atmosphere or an oxidizing atmosphere or an inert atmosphere, the pre-sintering temperature may be 850-1050 ℃, such as 850 ℃, 900 ℃, 950 ℃, 1000 ℃, 1050 ℃, and the pre-sintering time may be 0.5-10h, such as 0.5h, 1h, 2h, 3h, 4h, 5h, 6h, 7h, 8h, 9h, 10 h. Therefore, the conditions can not only ensure that the ceramic matrix rough blank has a better structure, but also form holes with the diameter of 0.3-200 mu m on the surface and in the ceramic matrix rough blank so as to ensure that the printing ink can permeate.
In some examples of the present application, the ceramic powder may include at least one of alumina, zirconia, and zirconium nitride, and the purity of the ceramic powder is above 99.99%. Therefore, the structural part has good high strength, high gloss, high fracture toughness, excellent heat insulation, high temperature resistance, wear resistance and other properties.
In some examples of the present application, the binder may include at least one of paraffin, polyethylene glycol, stearic acid, dioctyl phthalate, polyethylene, polypropylene, polymethyl methacrylate, and polyoxymethylene. Thus, the ceramic powder can be bonded together with the binder.
In some examples of the present application, the content of the ceramic powder may be 70 to 99% and the content of the binder may be 1 to 30% based on the total mass of the mixture of the ceramic powder and the binder. Therefore, the finally obtained ceramic matrix has good performance, and the ceramic powder has good cohesiveness, thereby facilitating the molding treatment.
In some examples of the present application, the molding process may include injection molding, tape casting, or dry press molding. Thus, a mixture of ceramic powder and binder may be prepared into a green ceramic matrix for use using the above process.
S200: penetration of ink into ceramic matrix green body
In this step, the ceramic matrix blank is infiltrated with ink. In some examples of the present application, the ink is infiltrated in the ceramic matrix blank such that the ink fills a portion of the micron-sized pores in the ceramic matrix blank, and the micron-sized pores filled with the ink are distributed from an outer surface of the ceramic matrix blank to an interior of the ceramic matrix blank. Therefore, the ink is positioned in the ceramic matrix rough blank and is distributed from the outer surface of the ceramic matrix rough blank to the interior of the ceramic matrix rough blank, so that the finally obtained structural member has good ceramic texture and hand feeling and a good appearance effect.
In some examples of the present application, infiltrating the ink in the ceramic matrix brown blank may include: firstly, arranging printing ink on a substrate to obtain a membrane; then, placing the ceramic matrix rough blank in a thermal transfer printing mold, covering a membrane on the ceramic matrix rough blank, and arranging ink close to the outer surface of the ceramic matrix rough blank; subsequently, the thermal transfer mold is closed, and negative pressure is generated and heated in the thermal transfer mold, so that the ink permeates into the ceramic substrate blank. Therefore, the printing ink in the membrane can be sublimated and diffused into the ceramic substrate rough blank in a thermal transfer printing mode, and the process is simple and efficient.
In some examples of the application, the pattern color can be designed through software firstly, then the color of the printing ink on the substrate is adjusted according to the color design, so that the color effect of the printing ink on the substrate is consistent with the color effect of the software design, the structural member can obtain the color effect which is the same as the color effect of the software design after thermal transfer printing, the appearance effect and the designability which are better than the spraying effect on the inner surface of the ceramic substrate are achieved, the method is simple in process and high in product yield, and complex color effects such as gradual change or color collision can be easily manufactured.
In some examples of the present application, the material of the substrate in the film sheet may include polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Propylene Oxide (PO), amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (a-PET), poly (ethylene terephthalate-1, 4-cyclohexadienedimethylene terephthalate) (PETG), Polycarbonate (PC), or polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), or the substrate may include inkjet thermal transfer paper. Thereby, the ink can be carried by the substrate. The ink-jet thermal transfer paper comprises base paper, a first coating and a second coating, wherein the first coating and the second coating are respectively arranged on two sides of the base paper, the first coating is a functional coating for absorbing ink and separating dye, and the second coating is a coating for resisting warping.
In some examples of the application, the thickness of the ink on the substrate may be 2 μm to 15 μm, such as 2 μm, 5 μm, 8 μm, 10 μm, 12 μm, 15 μm. The inventors have found that if the thickness of the ink is too small (e.g., less than 2 μm), the color of the ink is lighter, which affects the appearance of the final structure, and if the thickness of the ink is too large (e.g., greater than 15 μm), the ink on the substrate cannot completely penetrate into the ceramic substrate blank, i.e., a portion of the ink remains on the outer surface of the ceramic substrate blank, which affects the texture and hand feeling of the structure, and affects the wear resistance of the structure. According to the method, the thickness of the printing ink on the base material is designed in a proper range, so that the finally obtained structural part obtains a good appearance effect and good ceramic texture and hand feeling.
In some examples of the present application, the ink on the substrate has a thickness of 2 μm to 15 μm, and the ink on the substrate is thermally sublimated and diffused into a part of the micro-scale pores of the ceramic substrate blank during the thermal transfer process, so that the ink is impregnated into the structure to a depth of 2 μm to 30 μm.
In some examples of the present application, disposing the ink on the substrate may be accomplished by inkjet printing, screen printing, or gravure printing. Therefore, the color effect which is the same as the software design can be simply formed on the base material by the method.
In some examples of the present application, the thermal transfer mold is preheated prior to placing the ceramic substrate blank in the thermal transfer mold, and the preheated temperature may be 150 ℃ to 170 ℃. Preheating the heat transfer printing mold can enable the whole processing environment to reach the preset temperature, and the heat transfer printing process is convenient to carry out.
In some examples of the present application, the thermal transfer mold may be formed using CNC machining of aluminum alloy, and the upper mold and the lower mold of the thermal transfer mold are designed according to the ceramic substrate blank to ensure stability of the diaphragm and the ceramic substrate blank after the thermal transfer mold is closed.
In some examples of this application, after putting ceramic matrix rough blank and diaphragm into the heat transfer mould, carry out the compound die with the heat transfer mould, and to the evacuation of heat transfer mould in order to produce the negative pressure, heat the heat transfer mould simultaneously, under the effect of pressure and temperature, the printing ink on the substrate takes place to sublimate and spreads to the ceramic matrix rough blank in, the printing ink fills partial micron order hole in the ceramic matrix rough blank, and the micron order hole that fills with the printing ink distributes to the inside of ceramic matrix rough blank from the surface of ceramic matrix rough blank, thereby make the printing ink be located the ceramic matrix rough blank, and the printing ink distributes to the inside of ceramic matrix from the surface of ceramic matrix rough blank.
In some examples of the present application, the negative pressure generated in the thermal transfer mold may be-0.05 MPa to-0.02 MPa, such as-0.05 MPa, -0.04MPa, -0.03MPa, -0.02MPa, the temperature at which the thermal transfer mold is heated may be 150 ℃ to 170 ℃, and the time for heating may be 30 to 60 seconds. Therefore, the printing ink on the base material can completely permeate into the ceramic matrix rough blank, so that the patterns on the base material are transferred into the ceramic matrix rough blank, and after subsequent sintering treatment, a good decorative effect is formed on the surface of the ceramic matrix.
The inventor finds that compared with the scheme that the ink is directly arranged on the outer surface of the ceramic substrate rough blank and then is infiltrated into the ceramic substrate rough blank through heating and pressurizing, the scheme that the ink is firstly arranged on the substrate and then is thermally transferred to the ceramic substrate rough blank has the following advantages: at first, ceramic base rough blank fragility is great, if directly set up printing ink on ceramic base rough blank, can have ceramic base rough blank to take place cracked problem, and the substrate has better pliability, can avoid taking place the cracked problem of ceramic base rough blank, secondly, when directly setting up printing ink on ceramic base rough blank, can have the problem that ceramic granule blockked up the spray gun, and set up printing ink on the substrate and can effectively avoid above-mentioned problem, thereby the scheme of this application has that production efficiency is higher, the advantage that the product yield is higher.
S300: sintering the ceramic matrix rough blank filled with the printing ink to obtain a ceramic matrix so as to obtain the structural component
In this step, the ceramic matrix blank filled with the ink is subjected to a sintering treatment to obtain a ceramic matrix to obtain a structural member. In some examples of the present application, in S200, the ink fills part of the micron-sized holes in the ceramic substrate blank, and the micron-sized holes filled with the ink are distributed from the outer surface of the ceramic substrate blank to the inside of the ceramic substrate blank, and through the sintering treatment in this step, the micron-sized holes not filled with the ink in the ceramic substrate blank can be removed, so that the ceramic substrate blank obtains a compact structure, and the micron-sized holes filled with the ink are sintered to be the nanometer-sized holes, so as to obtain the ceramic substrate, so that the ceramic substrate has good texture and hand feeling of the ceramic and good appearance effect, and meanwhile, the ceramic substrate has good structure and performance, so as to meet the use requirements of the structural members in the electronic device.
In some examples of the present application, the sintering process may be performed in a reducing atmosphere or an oxidizing atmosphere or an inert atmosphere, the temperature of the sintering process may be 1400 ℃ to 1600 ℃, and the time of the sintering process may be 0.5 to 10 hours. Thus, the ceramic substrate having the above-described structure can be secured by sintering for a long time under the above-described high-temperature condition.
In some examples of the present application, after obtaining the ceramic substrate, the ceramic substrate may be subjected to CNC machining, grinding and polishing, marking pattern making, full inspection, and the like to obtain a final structural member.
To sum up, this application sets up printing ink on the substrate according to the color effect of software design at first, make the color effect of printing ink on the substrate unanimous with the color effect of software design, then under negative pressure, the heating condition, shift printing ink to ceramic base body rough blank, form the structure through sintering treatment at last, make the decorative effect of structure protected by hard pottery, good pottery feel and feel have, and satisfy the operation requirement of electronic equipment structure, and make the color effect of structure surface unanimous with the color effect of software design, compare in at the internal surface spraying colour layer of ceramic base, the structure that this application obtained has better decorative effect, and easily make complicated color effects such as gradual change of color, collide with the look.
In another aspect of the present application, an electronic device is presented. In some examples of the present application, the electronic device includes the structural member described above. Thus, the electronic device has all the features and advantages of the structural member described above, which are not described in detail herein. Generally, the electronic equipment has good ceramic texture and hand feeling and good appearance effect.
In the description of the present application, the terms "upper", "lower", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of describing the present application but do not require that the present application must be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, cannot be construed as limiting the present application.
Various examples and features of different examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without contradiction. In addition, it should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" in this specification are used for descriptive purposes only and are used for visually distinguishing the first region from the second region, as well as the first coating layer from the second coating layer, and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated.
Although embodiments of the present application have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present application, and that variations, modifications, substitutions and alterations may be made to the above embodiments by those of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the present application.