Patent Publication Number: US-2011050055-A1

Title: Method for making device housing and device housing thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a method for making device housing and a device housing made by the method. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Housings of electronic devices are commonly made of plastic or metal. Metal housings are usually more attractive for their shiny metallic appearance and high strength. However, some may think metal housings have a dull appearance because of a lack of decorative detail. However, if paint or ink coatings are applied to decorate the metal housings, the metallic appearance of the metal housings is reduced. 
     Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE 
       Many aspects of the device 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 device housing. 
       The FIGURE is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a device housing. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A method for manufacturing a device housing may include the following steps: providing a metal substrate; etching grooves on a portion of the surface of the metal substrate; forming a metallic coating on the surface of the metal substrate and in the grooves; removing the metallic coating formed on the surface of the metal substrate not comprising the grooves. 
     Referring to the FIGURE, a metal substrate  11  is provided. The metal substrate  11  may have the shape of a device housing. The metal substrate  11  may be made of stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, titanium, or titanium alloy. 
     A plurality of grooves  13  is formed on one surface of the metal substrate  11  by chemical etching. The chemical etching process may be carried out by immersing the metal substrate  11  in an etching solution containing copper ions, iron ions, chlorine ions, sulfate ions, and nitrate ions. During the etching process, chemical reaction occurs at the surface of the metal substrate  11 , which etches the metal substrate  11  and forms the grooves  13  in the surface of the metal substrate  11 . The surface of the metal substrate  11  where the grooves  13  are not wanted is shielded by a film during the etching process. In this embodiment, each groove  13  may have a depth of about 0.1-0.12 mm. The grooves  13  may form a decorative pattern such as a geometrical pattern. 
     The surfaces of the grooves  13  are roughened by, for example, blasting the grooves  13  with white corundum (primarily consisting of Al 2 O 3 ) particles having a diameter of about 0.2-0.3 mm under a load of about 1.6 kilograms. The roughening process ensures that subsequent coatings will bond well with the surface of the grooves  13 . Surfaces of the metal substrate  11  not needing roughening are shielded by an adhesive tape or a shield workpiece during the roughening process. 
     The material used for blasting the grooves  13  can also be quartz sand (primarily consisting of SiO 2 ). 
     A metallic coating  15  is formed on the surface of the metal substrate  11  and in the grooves  13  by thermal spraying. The metallic coating  15  may have a different color or texture from the metal substrate  11 . The metallic coating  15  may be made of aluminum, aluminum alloy, molybdenum, copper, copper alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, or stainless steel. The thickness of the metallic coating  15  may be of about 0.1-0.2 mm. 
     The metallic coating  15  on the surface of the substrate  11  may then be removed by mechanical polishing, thus only the grooves  13  remain coated with the metallic coating  15  to present an aesthetic appearance of one kind of metal inlaid in another kind of metal. The surface of the metallic coating  15  filled in the grooves  13  may be level with the surface of the metal substrate  11 . 
     Referring to the FIGURE, in an exemplary embodiment, the device housing  10  formed by the method includes a metal substrate  11 , a plurality of grooves  13  formed in the metal substrate  11 , and a metallic coating  15  formed in the grooves  13 . The metal substrate  11  may be made of stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, titanium, or titanium alloy. The grooves  13  may be formed by a chemical etching process. The metallic coating  15  may be formed by thermal spraying. The metallic coating  15  may be of aluminum, aluminum alloy, molybdenum, copper, copper alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, or stainless steel. The surface of the metallic coating  15  may be level with the surface of the metal substrate  11 . 
     The device housing  10  may be, for example, a housing of a mobile phone, a note-book computer, or a digital camera. 
     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.