METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING HOUSING OF PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE
A method for manufacturing a housing of a portable electronic device includes the following blocks. A plate glass is provided. The plate glass is cut. The plate glass includes a main body with curved corners and a plurality of side edges. Each side edge is connected with two curved corners. A glass member is formed by a thermal bending process. The side edges are bent from the main body, and perpendicularly to the main body. A plastic member is formed and integrated with the glass member by insert molding. The plastic member is formed in the glass member and fit closely against the glass member.
The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/518486, filed on Oct. 20, 2014, which claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201310739452.7 filed on Dec. 26, 2013, the contents of which are entirely incorporated by reference herein.
FIELDThe subject matter herein generally relates to a method for manufacturing a housing of a portable electronic device.
BACKGROUNDPortable electronic devices, such as mobile phones and tablet computer (tablet PC), have become increasingly popular for general use. A housing of the portable electronic device can be made of plastic or metal. In order to increase the durability and scratch resistance, a housing of the portable electronic device can be made of curved glass.
Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts have been exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure.
Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented.
The term “substantially” is defined to be essentially conforming to the particular dimension, shape or other feature that substantially modifies, such that the component need not be exact. For example, “substantially cylindrical” means that the object resembles a cylinder, but can have one or more deviations from a true cylinder. The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series and the like.
The present disclosure is described in relation to a housing for a portable electronic device which can be used with various portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, note books, or tablet PCs.
Each sidewall 120 can include a second inner surface 121 toward the base plate 110, and an outer surface 122 opposite to the second inner surface. In at least one embodiment, the sidewalls 120 can include a plurality of through holes 123, and the through holes 123 can be used as sound holes or heat dissipation holes.
The sidewalls 120 can be spaced from each other, and the glass member 10 can further include four gap portions 130 corresponding to the corners 112. Each gap portion 130 can be defined between each neighboring pair of sidewalls 120.
In at least one embodiment,
In
In
The plastic member 20 can be integrated formed with the glass member 10. In detail, the glass member 10 can be deposited to a mold (not shown), and a plastic material can be injected to the mold, thereby the plastic member 20 which cover the inner space of the glass member 10 can be formed by insert molding method.
The glass member 10 and the plastic housing 20 can cooperatively define the housing 100. In order to improve the crash resistance of the housing 100, at least one plastic protrusion portion 210 can be formed in the corners of the housing 100.
In other embodiments, the numbers of the sidewalls 120 and the gap portions 130 can be two, or more.
The housing for portable electronic device of this disclosure includes a glass member and a plastic member integrated together, and the plastic member covers the inner space of the glass member, therefore, the housing is more crash resistant than the conventional housing made of glass. As the sidewalls of the glass member are substantially vertical to the base plate, the inner space of the housing is larger than the conventional housing made of curved glass. Furthermore, the plastic member covers the inner space of the glass member and the top ends of the sidewalls, and the plastic protrusion portions covers the corners of the glass member. Whenever a bottom, a side edge, or a corner of the housing heats the ground first, the plastic member can protect the glass member from breaking.
The embodiments shown and described above are only examples. Many details are often found in the art such as the other features of a housing for portable electronic device. Therefore, many such details are neither shown nor described. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present technology have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in the detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of the parts within the principles of the present disclosure up to, and including the full extent established by the broad general meaning of the terms used in the claims. It will therefore be appreciated that the embodiments described above may be modified within the scope of the claims.
Claims
1. A method for manufacturing a housing of a portable electronic device, comprising:
- providing a plate glass;
- cutting the plate glass, wherein, after cutting, the plate glass comprises a main body with curved corners and a plurality of side edges, each side edge is connected with two curved corners;
- forming a glass member by a thermal bending process, wherein the side edges are bent from the main body, and perpendicularly to the main body; and
- forming a plastic member integrated with the glass member by insert molding, wherein the plastic member is formed in the glass member and fit closely against the glass member.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of through hole is formed in the side edges.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the glass member is mirror polished, chemically strengthened, or surface coated before forming the plastic member.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the side edge is strip shaped.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the side edges are spaced from each other, and the glass member further comprises a plurality of gap portions between neighbored side edges.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the plastic member further comprises at least one plastic protrusion portion covered above at least one gap portion.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the glass member is rectangular and is made of a tempered glass.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plate glass is configured to be heated to a softening point and reshaped under gravity or other external force, before being naturally cooled.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 3, 2016
Publication Date: Sep 29, 2016
Inventor: SHAO-HAN CHANG (New Taipei)
Application Number: 15/172,446