Non-woven material device covering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10101773-B2
Application number	US-201615094712-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 8, 2016
Priority date	Apr 8, 2016
Publication date	Oct 16, 2018
Grant date	Oct 16, 2018

Abstract

A method of covering a device includes splitting a sheet of non-woven material between a cosmetic surface of the non-woven material and a non-cosmetic surface of the non-woven material. This produces two sheets—a cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material including the cosmetic surface and a first split surface opposite the cosmetic surface, and a non-cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material including the non-cosmetic surface and a second split surface opposite the non-cosmetic surface. The method further includes applying an at least partially transparent coating to the non-cosmetic surface of the non-cosmetic sheet. The first split surface of the cosmetic sheet is affixed to a first portion of the device, and the second split surface of the non-cosmetic sheet is affixed to a second portion of the device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of covering a device, the method comprising:
splitting a sheet of non-woven material between a cosmetic surface of the non-woven material and a non-cosmetic surface of the non-woven material to produce:
a cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material including the cosmetic surface and a first split surface opposite the cosmetic surface, and
a non-cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material including the non-cosmetic surface and a second split surface opposite the non-cosmetic surface;

applying an at least partially transparent coating to the non-cosmetic surface of the non-cosmetic sheet;
affixing the first split surface of the cosmetic sheet to a first side of the device; and
affixing the second split surface of the non-cosmetic sheet to a second side of the device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising joining one or more edges of the cosmetic sheet to one or more edges of the non-cosmetic sheet around an edge of the device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least partially transparent coating comprises a polyurethane-based coating.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising forming the polyurethane-based coating by:
applying at least one clear color coating to a sheet of release paper to form a clear color-coated sheet;
applying a binder coating to the clear color-coated sheet of release paper to form a binder-coated sheet; and
laminating a hot melt film to the binder-coated sheet to form a laminated sheet of polyurethane-based coating.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein applying the at least partially transparent coating to the non-cosmetic surface of the non-cosmetic sheet comprises roll-to-roll laminating the laminated sheet of clear polyurethane-based coating to the non-cosmetic surface of the non-cosmetic sheet.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the binder coating comprises an adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH)-based coating with an aromatic percentage of 10% and an aliphatic percentage of 90%.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one clear color coating comprises an aromatic percentage of 40% and an aliphatic percentage of 60%.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-woven material comprises a microfiber sheet.

9. A device, comprising:
a housing having a first side and a second side;
a cosmetic sheet of a non-woven material affixed to at least a portion of the first side of the housing at a first split side of the cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material;
a non-cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material affixed to at least a portion of the second side of the housing at a second split side of the non-cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material; and
an at least partially transparent coating applied to a non-cosmetic side of the non-cosmetic sheet, the non-cosmetic side of the non-cosmetic sheet being opposite the second split side of the non-cosmetic sheet.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the cosmetic sheet and the non-cosmetic sheet are split from the non-woven material, the non-cosmetic side of the non-cosmetic sheet corresponding to a non-cosmetic surface of the non-woven material and the cosmetic side of the cosmetic sheet corresponding to a cosmetic surface of the non-woven material.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the non-woven material comprises a microfiber fabric.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the cosmetic sheet and the non-cosmetic sheet have different thicknesses.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the non-cosmetic sheet is thinner than the cosmetic sheet.

14. The device of claim 9 , wherein the at least partially transparent coating comprises an optically clear polyurethane coating.

15. The device of claim 9 , wherein at least a portion of an edge of the cosmetic sheet is joined to at least a portion of an edge of the non-cosmetic sheet around an edge of the housing.

16. A keyboard comprising:
a housing having a first side and a second side, the first side corresponding to a bottom of the keyboard and the second side corresponding to a top of the keyboard and framing keys of the keyboard;
a cosmetic sheet of a non-woven material affixed to the first side of the housing at a first split side of the cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material;
a non-cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material affixed to at least a portion of the second side of the housing at a second split side of the non-cosmetic sheet of the non-woven material; and
an at least partially transparent coating applied to a non-cosmetic side of the non-cosmetic sheet, the non-cosmetic side of the non-cosmetic sheet being opposite the second split side of the non-cosmetic sheet.

17. The keyboard of claim 16 , wherein the cosmetic sheet and the non-cosmetic sheet are split from the non-woven material, the non-cosmetic side of the non-cosmetic sheet corresponding to a non-cosmetic surface of the non-woven material and the cosmetic side of the cosmetic sheet corresponding to a cosmetic surface of the non-woven material.

18. The keyboard of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of an edge of the cosmetic sheet is joined to at least a portion of an edge of the non-cosmetic sheet around an edge of the housing, and wherein one or more of electrical and mechanical components of the keyboard are housed within the housing and between the cosmetic sheet and the non-cosmetic sheet.

19. The keyboard of claim 16 , wherein the at least partially transparent coating comprises an optically clear polyurethane coating and wherein the non-woven material comprises a microfiber sheet.

20. The keyboard of claim 16 , wherein the non-cosmetic sheet extends around and frames a touchpad positioned below the keys of the keyboard.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Rosen David Ian
• Bell Rachael Sara
• Ishihara James Alec
• Bailey Katherine

Classifications

• G06F1/169

  the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes (G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033) · CPC title

• B29C63/02

  using sheet or web-like material (B29C63/26 {and B29C63/38} take precedence) · CPC title

• B29L2031/3481

  Housings or casings incorporating or embedding electric or electronic elements · CPC title

• B44C1/00

  Processes, not specifically provided for elsewhere, for producing decorative surface effects (decorating textiles D06Q) · CPC title

• G06F1/1662

  Details related to the integrated keyboard · CPC title