Electronic device and method of fabricating exterior member for the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9868274-B2
Application number	US-201514849949-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2015
Priority date	Oct 20, 2014
Publication date	Jan 16, 2018
Grant date	Jan 16, 2018

Abstract

An electronic device and method of fabricating an exterior member thereof are provided. The electronic device includes a basic member disposed on an outside of the electronic device and having an outer surface that is at least partially curved, and a glass film at least partially laminated to the outer surface of the basic member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a basic member disposed on an outside of the electronic device;
at least a portion of a periphery of the basic member formed in a curved shape;
a glass film at least partially laminated to an outer surface of the basic member; and
at least a portion of a periphery of the glass film formed in a curved shape,
wherein the curved shape of the glass film and the curved shape of the basic member being identical.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the glass film is formed of at least one of glass, transparent ceramic, sapphire, and plastic.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the glass film is chemically tempered.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an adhesive disposed between the basic member and the glass film.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the adhesive includes at least one of a heat curable adhesive, an ultraviolet (UV) curable adhesive, an optical adhesive, and a double-sided adhesive tape.

6. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the adhesive becomes transparent or translucent after being cured.

7. The electronic device of claim 4 , further comprising:
an ornamental layer disposed between the adhesive and the glass film, or between the adhesive and the basic member.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the ornamental layer includes a pattern formed by at least one of print, deposition, image transfer, and lamination.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a reinforcement film interposed between the glass film and the basic member; and
an adhesive interposed at least one of between the glass film and the reinforcement film and between the reinforcement film and the basic member.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the reinforcement film further includes a synthetic resin film molded to have a shape corresponding to the outer surface of the basic member.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the glass film is formed in a thickness of 0.01 mm to 0.2 mm.

12. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a housing; and
a rear cover provided on a rear surface of the housing,
wherein the basic member forms the rear cover.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , further comprising:
a camera module disposed on a rear surface of the housing; and
an opening formed in the rear cover so as to expose the camera module.

14. A method of fabricating an exterior member of an electronic device, the method comprising:
fabricating each of a basic member comprising an outer surface, at least a part of a periphery of which is formed in a curved shape, and a glass film of a chemically tempered glass material; and
laminating the glass film to the outer surface of the basic member,
wherein the glass film is laminated to the basic member by at least one of a roll laminating method and a pressing method, and
wherein heat is applied or light is illuminated during the lamination so that the glass film having a flat shape is deformed to a shape corresponding to a curved part of the basic member.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the fabricating of the glass film includes forming a glass material having a thickness of 0.01 mm to 0.2 mm into a film, of which a surface hardness is tempered through chemical tempering based on an ion exchange mechanism.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the ion exchange mechanism in the fabricating of the glass film includes a process of substituting a sodium component of the glass material with a potassium component.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
disposing an adhesive between the basic member and the glass film before the laminating.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
forming an ornamental layer between the glass film and the basic member before the laminating.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the forming of the ornamental layer includes a process of forming an ornamental pattern through at least one of print, deposition, image transfer, and lamination.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
fabricating a reinforcement film of a synthetic resin material;
molding the reinforcement film into a shape corresponding to the outer surface of the basic member; and
laminating the glass film to the reinforcement film.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the molding of the reinforcement film is performed when the reinforcement film is fabricated.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the molding of the reinforcement film is performed when the reinforcement film is laminated on the basic member.

23. The method of claim 20 , wherein the laminating includes laminating the glass film to the basic member by the roll laminating method in a state where the glass film is aligned with the reinforcement film.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Myung-Gon
• Ryu Jong-In
• Chang Min-Su

Classifications

• B32B2457/00

  Electrical equipment · CPC title

• H04M1/0283

  for providing a decorative aspect, e.g. customization of casings, exchangeable faceplate · CPC title

• B32B17/06 Primary

  comprising glass as the main or only constituent of a layer, next to another layer of a specific {material} · CPC title

• C03B27/00

  Tempering {or quenching} glass products · CPC title

• B32B7/12 Primary

  using interposed adhesives or interposed materials with bonding properties · CPC title