Abstract:
A method for making a housing comprises providing a transparent film; forming a metallic coating on the film; forming a protective coating on the metallic coating; and molding a substrate on the protective coating. A housing made by the method is also described there.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates to methods for making housings, especially to a method for making housing having a metallic appearance, and a housing thereof. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    In-Mold Label (IML) process is now a typical method used to produce housings of electronic devices. Housings formed by IML processes commonly include a transparent plastic film and optionally a pattern printed on the film, and a plastic substrate molded on the film and pattern. The pattern will not be abraded because it is disposed between the film and the substrate, and so the appearance of the housing can be maintained. However, housings made in this way will often not have a metallic appearance, which may be considered more attractive. 
         [0005]    Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE 
         [0006]    Many aspects of the housing can be better understood with reference to the following FIGURE. The components in the figure are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the housing. 
           [0007]    The FIGURE is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a housing. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0008]    In an exemplary embodiment, a method for making a housing may comprise providing a transparent film; forming a metallic coating on the film; forming a protective coating on the metallic coating; and molding a substrate on the protective coating. 
         [0009]    Referring to the FIGURE, a transparent film  11  is provided. The film  11  may be made of plastic. The plastic can be selected from a group consisting of polypropylene (PP), polyamide (PA), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The film  11  has a thickness of about 0.125-0.175 mm. 
         [0010]    An optional decorative coating  13  may be formed on one surface of the film  11 . The decorative coating  13  may be a transparent or translucent ink coating formed by printing. The decorative coating  13  can define a decorative pattern. The thickness of the decorative coating  13  may be about 3.5-4.5 μm. 
         [0011]    A metallic coating  15  is applied on the exposed surface of the decorative coating  13 . The metallic coating  15  may be formed by vacuum evaporation deposition or sputtering. The metallic coating  15  can be translucent or opaque, and has a metallic appearance. The material used for the metallic coating  15  can be indium, tin, indium-tin alloy, aluminum, titanium, titanium carbide, stainless steel or aluminum-silicon alloys. The metallic coating  15  can be made nonconductive by choosing from the above-mentioned materials and/or by controlling the thickness of the metallic coating  15  to be within a range of about 1-2 μm. 
         [0012]    A protective coating  17  is applied on the exposed surface of the metallic coating  15 . The protective coating  17  may be a transparent ultraviolet (UV) curing ink coating formed by printing. The UV ink can be repeatedly printed, forming 7-8 layers for example, to increase the thickness and the protective nature of the protective coating  17 . Each layer of the printed UV ink coating may have a thickness of about 8-10 μm. 
         [0013]    The coatings  11 - 17  are then applied to the interior of a mold and the substrate  19  is molded onto the protective coating  17  to form the housing. The material of molding the substrate  19  can be selected from a group consisting of polyethylene (PE), polycarbonate (PC), polyamide (PA), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 
         [0014]    Referring to the FIGURE, a housing  10  made by the above mentioned method includes a film  11 , and a decorative coating  13 , a metallic coating  15 , a protective coating  17 , a substrate  19  formed on the film  11  in that order. The decorative coating  13  is a transparent or translucent ink coating and defines a pattern, which can give the housing  10  an attractive appearance. The metallic coating  15  has a metallic appearance, which makes the housing  10  present a metallic appearance. The protective coating  17  is a transparent UV curing ink coating formed on the metallic coating  15 . The substrate  19  is a plastic coating molded on the protective coating  17 . 
         [0015]    The exemplary method for making the housing  10  forms a metallic coating  15  by using a IML process to give the housing  10  an attractive metallic appearance. The metallic coating  15  would not be abraded for it is disposed between the film  11  and the substrate  19 , with which the metallic appearance of the housing  10  would maintain permanently. 
         [0016]    It should be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.