U.S. patent application number 13/781838 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-04 for methods for treating aluminum surfaces.
This patent application is currently assigned to HTC Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is HTC CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Christopher Alan Porter.
Application Number | 20140246323 13/781838 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51420399 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140246323 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Porter; Christopher Alan |
September 4, 2014 |
Methods for Treating Aluminum Surfaces
Abstract
Methods for treating aluminum for providing a tactile sensation
of surface softness are provided. In this regard, a representative
method includes: providing an aluminum component having a surface;
exposing the surface to a first media blasting; exposing the
surface to a second media blasting; and, after the second media
blasting, chemical etching and anodizing the surface.
Inventors: |
Porter; Christopher Alan;
(San Francisco, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
HTC CORPORATION |
Taoyuan City |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
HTC Corporation
Taoyuan City
TW
|
Family ID: |
51420399 |
Appl. No.: |
13/781838 |
Filed: |
March 1, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
205/50 ;
205/208 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C25D 11/24 20130101;
C25D 11/16 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
205/50 ;
205/208 |
International
Class: |
C25D 11/16 20060101
C25D011/16; C25D 11/24 20060101 C25D011/24; C25D 7/06 20060101
C25D007/06 |
Claims
1. A method for treating aluminum for providing a tactile sensation
of surface softness, the method comprising: providing an aluminum
component having a surface; exposing the surface to a first media
blasting; exposing the surface to a second media blasting; and
after the second media blasting, chemical etching and anodizing the
surface.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the anodizing is performed prior
to the chemical etching.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the tactile sensation of surface
softness is exhibited without a coating being provided on the
surface.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein exposing the surface to the first
media blasting comprises: providing first blast media of
approximately #100-200 grit; and using a blast pressure of
approximately 2.0-4.0 kg/cm.sup.2.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first blast media is steel,
round blast media.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein exposing the surface to the
second media blasting comprises: providing second blast media of
approximately #100-200 grit; and using a blast pressure of
approximately 2.0-4.0 kg/cm.sup.2.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second blast media is steel,
round blast media.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the first blast media and the
second blast media are steel, round blast media.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein exposing the surface to the first
media blasting comprises exposing the surface to the first media
blasting for approximately 30-300 seconds.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein exposing the surface to the
second media blasting comprises exposing the surface to the second
media blasting for approximately 30-300 seconds.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein exposing the surface to the
first media blasting comprises: placing the aluminum component on a
conveyor; and conveying the aluminum component through a media
blasting zone.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein exposing the surface to the
second media blasting comprises conveying the aluminum component
through the media blasting zone for a second time.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the aluminum component is at
least a portion of a housing for a handheld electronic device.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the aluminum component is at
least a portion of a housing for a smartphone or a tablet
computer.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein providing an aluminum component
comprises: providing a sheet of aluminum; and forming the component
from the sheet.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the sheet has a thickness of
between approximately 1 mm and approximately 2 mm.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein forming the component from the
sheet comprises stamping the component form the sheet.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the aluminum component exhibits
a thickness, measured from the surface, of between approximately 1
mm and approximately 2 mm.
19. A handheld electronic device comprising a housing formed by the
method of claim 1.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to treatment of
aluminum surfaces.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Handheld electronic devices (such as smartphones and tablet
computers) typically include an outer casing or housing, within
which various components are mounted. Various types of materials
are used to form such housings. By way of example, some housings
are formed of plastic, whereas others are formed of metal. As is
known, such materials exhibit different characteristics. For
instance, metal (e.g., aluminum) is relatively light weight
compared to its mechanical strength, and plastic is relatively easy
to form with various surface textures.
SUMMARY
[0003] Methods for treating aluminum for providing a tactile
sensation of surface softness are provided. Briefly described, one
embodiment, among others, is a method comprising: providing an
aluminum component having a surface; exposing the surface to a
first media blasting; exposing the surface to a second media
blasting; and, after the second media blasting, chemical etching
and anodizing the surface.
[0004] Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the
present disclosure will be or may become apparent to one with skill
in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed
description. It is intended that all such additional systems,
methods, features, and advantages be included within this
description, be within the scope of the present disclosure, and be
protected by the accompanying claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with
reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings
are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon
clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure.
Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate
corresponding parts throughout the several views.
[0006] FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an example embodiment of a
handheld electronic device, showing the front thereof.
[0007] FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the example embodiment of
FIG. 1A, showing the back thereof.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting an example embodiment of a
method for treating aluminum for providing a tactile sensation of
surface softness.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional, schematic view of an example
embodiment of a housing.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional, schematic view of the
embodiment of FIG. 3 after a first media blasting.
[0011] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional, schematic view of the
embodiment of FIG. 4 after a second media blasting.
[0012] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional, schematic view of the
embodiment of FIG. 5 after chemical etching.
[0013] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an example embodiment of a
portion of an assembly line.
[0014] FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting another example embodiment
of a method for treating aluminum for providing a tactile sensation
of surface softness.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Having summarized various aspects of the present disclosure,
reference will now be made in detail to that which is illustrated
in the drawings. While the disclosure will be described in
connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit the
scope of legal protection to the embodiment or embodiments
disclosed herein. Rather, the intent is to cover all alternatives,
modifications and equivalents included within the spirit and scope
of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0016] In this regard, methods for treating aluminum that provide a
tactile sensation of surface softness are provided. As will be
described in detail, an example embodiment involves modifying the
texture of an aluminum surface so that the surface feels
interestingly soft to a user without the use of an applied surface
coating. In some embodiments, multi-pass media blasting is used to
prepare the surface, which is later chemically etched to reduce
surface peaks formed during the media blasting. The particular
combination of blasting media, associated pressures and other
parameters has been found to produce a surface effect that is
remarkably pleasing to users when compared to other surfaces formed
with deviations from the prescribed parameters.
[0017] FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams of an example
embodiment of a handheld electronic device that is manufactured in
accordance with an embodiment of such a method. In particular,
device 100 is configured as a smartphone, with a display (front)
side 102 being shown in FIG. 1A and a back side 104 being shown in
FIG. 1B. Device 100 incorporates a housing 106, within which
various components (not shown) are mounted. In this embodiment, the
housing is formed of aluminum and includes an outer surface 110. As
will be described in detail, surface 110 is treated to enhance the
feel or tactile sensation of the housing.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting an example embodiment of a
method for treating aluminum, such as surface 110 of FIGS. 1A and
1B. As shown in FIG. 2, the method may be construed as beginning at
block 120, in which an aluminum component having a surface is
provided. By way of example, the component may be a housing for a
handheld electronic device (e.g., device 100). A representative
aluminum component is depicted in FIG. 3. Specifically, FIG. 3 is a
cross-sectional, schematic view of an example embodiment of an
aluminum housing of a handheld electronic device. In this
embodiment, the thickness (x) of the aluminum component 100 is
between approximately 1.0 mm and approximately 2.0 mm.
[0019] Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 2, in block 122, the
outer surface of the component is exposed to a first media blasting
that modifies the surface such as by forming depressions and
associated ridges. In some embodiments, the blast media is
approximately #150 grit (e.g., between approximately #100 grit and
approximately #200 grit) that is directed at the surface using a
blast pressure of approximately 3.0 kg/cm.sup.2 (e.g., between
approximately 2.0 kg/cm.sup.2 and approximately 4.0 kg/cm.sup.2).
In some embodiments, the blast media is steel, round blast
media.
[0020] In this regard, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional, schematic view
of component 100 of FIG. 3, showing detail of surface 110 after a
first media blasting. Notably, surface 110 exhibits various
depressions (e.g., depression 134) and ridges (e.g., ridge
136).
[0021] After the first media blasting, the process proceeds to
block 124 of FIG. 2, in which the surface of the component is
exposed to a second media blasting. In this regard, FIG. 5 depicts
surface 110 after a second media blasting. Notably, the surface
exhibits a greater depth of the surface features as the distance
from a peak of a ridge (e.g., peak 138) to a bottom of a depression
(e.g., bottom 140) tends to be greater after the second media
blasting. It should also be noted that a multi-pass blasting
process is preferred over a single pass in order to produce the
desired surface effects.
[0022] After the second media blasting, the process proceeds to
block 126, in which chemical etching and anodizing of the surface
is performed. In some embodiments, the anodizing is performed prior
to the chemical etching.
[0023] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional, schematic view of the
embodiment of FIG. 5 after chemical etching. This view also
corresponds to section line 6-6 of FIG. 1B. As shown in FIG. 6, the
chemical etching removes the harsh peaks and generally tends to
smooth the surface 110. As a result, the tactile sensation of
surface softness is exhibited by the component without a coating
being provided on the surface.
[0024] It is noted that variations in the above parameters have
been shown to result in less than desirable tactile sensations. For
instance, samples made by the aforementioned process were selected
as feeling the most pleasant when compared with samples made by
altering the parameters by as little as 1.0 psi, 25 grit #, or 30
sec. etch time.
[0025] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an example embodiment of a
portion of an assembly line that may be used in performing an
embodiment of a method. As shown in FIG. 7, assembly line 150
includes a conveyor 152 that uses a continuous belt 154, which
moves work pieces (e.g., housings) from position A to position C.
Along an intermediate portion of the conveyor, a media blasting
zone 156 is located (position B is located within this zone).
[0026] In operation, a housing (e.g., housing 160) is placed on the
conveyor and conveyed into the media blasting zone, in which an
outer surface of the housing is exposed to media blasting. In some
embodiment, a housing is exposed to media blasting for
approximately 30-300 seconds.
[0027] After receiving a first media blasting, the housing is
conveyed to position C, in which it may be manually relocated to
position A so that a second pass through the media blasting zone
may be made. As should be understood, various other configurations
may be used in other embodiments.
[0028] FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting another example embodiment
of a method for treating aluminum for providing a tactile sensation
of surface softness. As shown in FIG. 8, the method may be
construed as beginning at block 180, in which an aluminum component
having a surface is provided. In some embodiments, the component
may be formed by stamping the component from a sheet of
aluminum.
[0029] In block 182, the outer surface of the component is exposed
to a first media blasting to begin deforming the surface. Then, as
depicted in block 184, the outer surface is exposed to a second
media blasting. In some embodiments, the second media blasting step
is performed identically to the first media blasting step.
[0030] After the second media blasting, the surface is anodized
(block 186). Thereafter, such as depicted in block 188, chemical
etching of the surface is performed.
[0031] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments
are merely examples of possible implementations. Many variations
and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments
without departing from the principles of the present disclosure.
All such modifications and variations are intended to be included
herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the
following claims.
* * * * *