U.S. patent application number 13/645480 was filed with the patent office on 2013-05-02 for housing.
The applicant listed for this patent is Han-Ching Huang, Po-An Lin, Jung-Chin Wu. Invention is credited to Han-Ching Huang, Po-An Lin, Jung-Chin Wu.
Application Number | 20130106262 13/645480 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48149126 |
Filed Date | 2013-05-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130106262 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Huang; Han-Ching ; et
al. |
May 2, 2013 |
HOUSING
Abstract
A housing having a flat portion and a curved portion is
provided. The housing includes an upper material layer, a lower
material layer and a core layer. The core layer is disposed between
the upper material layer and the lower material layer. The core
layer has a first material region and a second material region. The
first material region is corresponding to the flat portion. The
second material region is corresponding to the curved portion. A
material of the first material region is different from a material
of the second material region.
Inventors: |
Huang; Han-Ching; (Taipei
City, TW) ; Wu; Jung-Chin; (Taipei City, TW) ;
Lin; Po-An; (Taipei City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Huang; Han-Ching
Wu; Jung-Chin
Lin; Po-An |
Taipei City
Taipei City
Taipei City |
|
TW
TW
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
48149126 |
Appl. No.: |
13/645480 |
Filed: |
October 4, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61551464 |
Oct 26, 2011 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
312/223.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K 5/02 20130101; B32B
5/142 20130101; B32B 2457/00 20130101; B32B 3/266 20130101; B32B
37/1207 20130101; Y10T 428/24331 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
312/223.1 |
International
Class: |
H05K 5/02 20060101
H05K005/02 |
Claims
1. A housing having a flat portion and a curved portion, the
housing comprising: an upper material layer; a lower material
layer; and a core layer, disposed between the upper material layer
and the lower material layer, wherein the core layer has a first
material region and a second material region, the first material
region is corresponding to the flat portion, the second material
region is corresponding to the curved portion, and a material of
the first material region is different from a material of the
second material region.
2. The housing as recited in claim 1, wherein the material of the
first material region is metal, and the material of the second
material region is plastic.
3. The housing as recited in claim 1, wherein the material of the
first material region is plastic, and the material of the second
material region is metal.
4. The housing as recited in claim 1, wherein the upper material
layer is a carbon fiber layer, a glass fiber layer, a Kevlar fiber
layer, a metal layer or a plastic layer, and the lower material
layer is a carbon fiber layer, a glass fiber layer, a Kevlar fiber
layer, a metal layer or a plastic layer.
5. The housing as recited in claim 1, wherein a material of the
upper material layer is different from a material of the lower
material layer.
6. The housing as recited in claim 1, wherein the curved portion
surrounds the flat portion.
7. The housing as recited in claim 1, wherein the second material
region extends from the curved portion to the flat portion so that
boundaries of the first material region and the second material
region are located within the flat portion.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the priority benefits of U.S.
provisional application Ser. No. 61/551,464, filed on Oct. 26,
2011. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is
hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this
specification.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates to a housing, and more particularly,
to a housing suitable for an electronic device.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] In recent years, portable electronic device with
increasingly diverse functions, progressively smaller volume and
conveniences in wireless communications and wireless network,
allowing people to obtain network information through the portable
electronic device, has become increasingly popular. The portable
electronic device is a work platform carried around by the people,
and is stored with large amounts of data and applications;
therefore, if a structural strength of the portable electronic
device is not complied with safety requirements, not pressure
endurable and not crashworthiness, it would result in a trouble of
portability. In order to enhance the portability, the portable
electronic device has continued to shrink in thickness and weight;
however, in features of some designs, reducing the thickness and
weight is contradicting with the maintenance of the structural
strength. Therefore, increasing the structure strength of the
portable electronic device while trying to reduce the thickness and
the weight of overall structure has always been a design focus for
the portable electronic device. A composite material constituted of
combining lightweight materials, such as mylar, graphite, bamboo
fiber or carbon fiber, with a metal have both features of favorable
structural strength and thinness, and thus is applied to an
electronic device housing.
[0006] Many composite materials applied to the electronic device
housing have utilized a metal as a core layer for enhancing the
structural strength; however, the weight of the metal is heavier
and would limit the thinning of the composite materials. Therefore,
enabling the composite material to have both features of structural
strength and thinness has become a design focus for the electronic
device housing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The invention provides a housing with a lighter weight and
capable of having favorable structural strength.
[0008] The invention provides a housing having a flat portion and a
curved portion. The housing includes an upper material layer, a
lower material layer and a core layer. The core layer is disposed
between the upper material layer and the lower material layer. The
core layer has a first material region and a second material
region. The first material region is corresponding to the flat
portion. The second material region is corresponding to the curved
portion. A material of the first material region is different from
a material of the second material region.
[0009] In an embodiment of the invention, the material of the first
material region is metal, and the material of the second material
region is plastic.
[0010] In an embodiment of the invention, the material of the first
material region is plastic, and the material of the second material
region is metal.
[0011] In an embodiment of the invention, the upper material layer
is a carbon fiber layer, a glass fiber layer, a plant fiber layer,
a Kevlar fiber layer, a metal layer or a plastic layer, the lower
material layer is a carbon fiber layer, a glass fiber layer, a
Kevlar fiber layer, a metal layer or a plastic layer.
[0012] In an embodiment of the invention, a material of the upper
material layer is different from a material of the lower material
layer.
[0013] In an embodiment of the invention, the curved portion
surrounds the flat portion.
[0014] In an embodiment of the invention, the second material
region extends from the curved portion to the flat portion so that
boundaries of the first material region and the second material
region are located within the flat portion.
[0015] According to the foregoing, the core layer of the invention
is composed of the first material region and the second material
region with different materials, one of the materials of the first
material region and the second material region may selectively be a
metal so as to maintain the structural strength of the housing, and
the other one of the materials of the first material region and the
second material region may selectively be a plastic so as to lower
the weight of the housing.
[0016] When the material of the first material region corresponding
to the flat portion of the housing is selected to be metal and the
material of the second material region corresponding to the curved
portion of the housing is selected to be plastic, the housing is
enabled to have favorable anti-deflection deformation strength.
When the material of the first material region corresponding to the
flat portion of the housing is selected to be plastic and the
material of the second material region corresponding to the curved
portion of the housing is selected to be metal, the housing is
enabled to have favorable anti-twisting deformation strength.
Accordingly, the materials of the first material region and the
second material region may be determined according to design
requirements, so as to enhance all kinds of anti-deformation
abilities of the housing.
[0017] In order to make the aforementioned and other features and
advantages of the invention comprehensible, several exemplary
embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail
below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate
embodiments of the invention and, together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a housing
according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0020] FIG. 2 is an exploded view illustrating the housing in FIG.
1.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the housing
along a profile line I-I in FIG. 1.
[0022] FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a core layer
according to another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a housing
according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded
view illustrating the housing in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a
cross-sectional view illustrating the housing along a profile line
I-I in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the housing 100 of
the present embodiment has a flat portion 100a and a curved portion
100b (in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the flat portion 100a and the curved
portion 100b are distinguished with a dotted line). The housing 100
includes an upper material layer 110, a lower material layer 120
and a core layer 130, and the core layer 130 is disposed between
the upper material layer 110 and the lower material layer 120. The
core layer 130 has a first material region 132 and a second
material region 134, the first material region 132 is corresponding
to the flat portion 100a of the housing 100, the second material
region 134 is corresponding to the curved portion 100b of the
housing 100, and a material of the first material region 132 is
different from a material of the second material region 134.
[0024] In the present embodiment, the material of the first
material region 132 corresponding to the flat portion 110a is, for
example, metal, and the material of the second material region 134
corresponding to the curved portion 100b is, for example, plastic.
The first material region 132 with a material of metal may maintain
the structural strength of the housing 100, and the second material
region 134 with a material of plastic may enable the core layer 130
to have a non-full-metal structure, so as to lower the weight of
the housing 100.
[0025] FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a core layer
according to another embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG.
4, differences between the core layer 130' of the present
embodiment and the core layer 130 in FIG. 2 are that, a material of
the first material region 132' of the core layer 130' is plastic,
and a material of the second material region 134' of the core layer
130' is metal. The core layer 130' in FIG. 4 may be used to replace
the core layer 130 in FIG. 2, so that the first material region
132'of the core layer 130' is corresponding to the flat portion
100a shown in FIG. 1, and the second material region 134' of the
core layer 130' is corresponding to the curved portion 100b shown
in FIG. 1. The second material region 134' with a material of metal
may maintain the structural strength of the housing, and the first
material region 132' with a material of plastic may enable the core
layer 130' to have a non-full-metal structure, so as to lower the
weight of the housing.
[0026] Furthermore, when the material of the first material region
132 corresponding to the flat portion 100a of the housing is
selected to be metal and the material of the second material region
134 corresponding to the curved portion 100b of the housing is
selected to be plastic (such as the core layer 130 shown in FIG.
2), the housing is enabled to have favorable anti-deflection
deformation strength. When the material of the first material
region 132' corresponding to the flat portion 100a of the housing
is selected to be plastic and the material of the second material
region 134' corresponding to the curved portion 100b of the housing
is selected to be metal (such as the core layer 130' shown in FIG.
4), the housing is enabled to have favorable anti-twisting
deformation strength. As a result, materials of the first material
region and the second material region may be determined according
to design requirements, so as to enhance all kinds of
anti-deformation abilities of the housing.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the curved
portion 100b surrounds the flat portion 100a, so that the housing
100 becomes a structure with flat central and curved periphery, and
may be applied to a back cover of a notebook display. In other
embodiments, the housing may have a structure of other shapes, and
may be applied to other types of apparatus; the invention is not
limited thereto.
[0028] The flat portion 100a of the housing 100 is a flat structure
without curvature, and the curved portion 100b is a curved
structure with curvature. As shown in FIG. 3, the second material
region 134 is designed to be extending from the curved portion 100b
to the flat portion 100a so that boundaries of the first material
region 132 and the second material region 134 are located within
the flat portion 100a, and the first material region 132 and the
second material region 134 may be avoid of breaking apart from each
other when the curved portion 100b is machining processed.
[0029] In the present embodiment, the upper material layer 110 is,
for example, a carbon fiber layer, a glass fiber layer, a Kevlar
fiber layers, a metal layer, a plastic layer or other suitable
types of fiber layers; the lower material layer 120 is, for
example, a carbon fiber layer, a glass fiber layer, a Kevlar fiber
layers, a metal layer, a plastic layer or other suitable types of
the fiber layers; and materials of the upper material layer 110 and
the lower material layer 120 may be the same or different; the
invention is not limited thereto.
[0030] In summary, the core layer of the invention is composed of
the first material region and the second material region with
different materials, one of the materials of the first material
region and the second material region may selectively be a metal so
as to maintain the structural strength of the housing, and the
other one of the materials of the first material region and the
second material region may selectively be a plastic so as to lower
the weight of the housing.
[0031] When the material of the first material region corresponding
to the flat portion of the housing is selected to be metal and the
material of the second material region corresponding to the curved
portion of the housing is selected to be plastic, the housing is
enabled to have favorable anti-deflection deformation strength.
When the material of the first material region corresponding to the
flat portion of the housing is selected to be plastic and the
material of the second material region corresponding to the curved
portion of the housing is selected to be metal, the housing is
enabled to have favorable anti-twisting deformation strength.
Accordingly, the materials of the first material region and the
second material region may be determined according to design
requirements, so as to enhance all kinds of anti-deformation
abilities of the housing.
[0032] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the
invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the
invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the
invention cover modifications and variations of this invention
provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and
their equivalents.
* * * * *