Abstract:
A compound material article and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The compound material article includes a substrate molded by compound materials, and a film attached to a surface of the substrate. The film is capable of being painted different patterns or characters on a surface opposite to the substrate.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The disclosure relates to compound material articles and a method of manufacturing the same. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    For reinforcing a plastic article, fibers are usually added to the plastic. A conventional compound material article formed by injection has a coarse surface because of fibers at the surface of the compound material article. It is difficult to decorate the coarse surface. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a compound material article. 
           [0006]      FIGS. 2-5  are cross-sectional views of several embodiments of a compound material article. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0007]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a method is utilized to manufacture a compound material article decorated with patterns and/or symbols such as characters. The method includes the following steps: 
         [0008]    Step  102 , providing a film with patterns and symbols printed thereon; 
         [0009]    Step  104 , placing the film into a cavity of an injecting mold; 
         [0010]    Step  106 , closing the injecting mold and injecting melted compound material into the cavity. The melted compound material is in contact with the film. The compound material includes basic material, and additive material. The additive material is generally made of carbon fiber and fiberglass. The basic material is generally made of one or more of Polycarbonate (PC), Acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene (ABS), and nylon 66 (PA66). The percent content of the additive material relative to total volume of the compound material may range from about 5% to 65%; 
         [0011]    Step  108 , cooling the injecting mold; 
         [0012]    Step  110 , opening the injecting mold to remove the formed article, which is now decorated with the patterns and symbols. 
         [0013]    The method of the disclosure can be used to form enclosures of different notebook computers, mobile phones, and so on, with different patterns and characters thereon. 
         [0014]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , in a first embodiment, the formed compound material article includes a film  100 , and a substrate  200 . The film  100  is attached to a surface of the substrate  200 . The film  100  includes a base layer  102 , a first attaching layer  104 , a pattern layer  106 , and a second attaching layer  108 . The pattern layer  106  includes different patterns and characters formed thereon. The substrate  200  is molded by the compound material. 
         [0015]    The base layer  102  is used for protecting the formed compound material article from wear. The base layer  102  is generally made of one or more of Polycarbonate (PC), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), acrylic (PMMA), Oriented Polypropylene (OPP) and PolyvinylChloride (PVC), for example. In this embodiment, the thickness of the base layer  102  ranges from about 0.038 millimeters to 0.5 millimeters. 
         [0016]    The pattern layer  106  is provided by printing ink on the first attaching layer  104 . A metal decoration layer can also be provided as the pattern layer  106  via plating any of aluminum, chromium, copper, nickel, indium, and tin, alone or in combination, on the base layer  102  via vacuum evaporation method or electroplating method. 
         [0017]    The first attaching layer  104  is arranged between the base layer  102  and the pattern layer  106 . The second attaching layer  108  is arranged between the pattern layer  106  and the substrate  200  for attaching the film  100  to the substrate  200 . 
         [0018]    The first and second attaching layers  104 ,  108  may be made from materials selected from the group consisting of acrylic resin, nitrification fiber resin, polyamine formate resin, chlorination rubber resin, vinyl chloride-co-vinyl-acetic ester copolymer resin, polyamide resin, polyester resin, epoxy resin, polycarbonate resin, olefin resin, acrylonitrile-butylene-styrene monomer resin, for example. In this embodiment, the thickness of the second attaching layer  108  may range from about 0.0005 millimeters to 0.5 millimeters. The second attaching layer  108  is generally provided via concave printing, screen printing, offset printing, spraying method, dip coating method, coating in reverse order method and so on. 
         [0019]    The base layer  102  may be transparent or translucent to view the patterns and/or colors of the pattern layer  106 . 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , in a second embodiment, the compound material article includes a substrate  200 , and a film  100   a.  The film  100   a  includes a base layer  102 , a first attaching layer  104 , and a pattern layer  106 . Alternatively, the film  100   a  may include a base layer  102 , a pattern layer  106 , and a second attaching layer  108 . 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , in a third embodiment, the compound material article includes a substrate  200 , and a film  100   b.  If the basic material of the compound material and the material of the base layer  102  of the film are same, the film  100   b  may include a base layer  102  and a pattern layer  106 . 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , in a fourth embodiment, the compound material article includes a substrate  200  and a base layer  102  for viewing the natural color of the substrate  200  via the transparent or translucent base layer  102 . In this embodiment, the base layer  102  may be made of colored material, for giving color to the formed compound material article. 
         [0023]    It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the description or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being exemplary embodiments.