CN108811385B

CN108811385B - Sheet material, preparation method thereof, shell and mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: CN108811385B
Application number: CN201810598561.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄志勇; 杨光明
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2018-06-12
Filing date: 2018-06-12
Publication date: 2021-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 2038-06-12
Also published as: CN108811385A

Abstract

The invention discloses a plate, a preparation method thereof, a shell and a mobile terminal. A substrate, wherein a convex part is arranged on one side surface of the substrate; the transition layer is arranged on the surface of one side of the substrate with the convex part and covers the area outside the convex part; the metal coating is arranged on one side of the transition layer, which is far away from the base material; in the base material, the convex part is made of a first material, the first material is a non-chemical plating base material, the part outside the convex part is made of a second material, and the second material is a chemical plating base material; the surface of the metal coating layer, which is far away from one side of the transition layer, is flush with the top surface of the bulge. Therefore, the plate is low in cost and good in surface flatness, the transition layer and the metal coating can enable the plate to have metal texture, the hardness, the strength and the corrosion resistance of the plate are improved, a good metal appearance effect is achieved, the mechanical performance is good, and the appearance surface flatness is good.

Description

Sheet material, preparation method thereof, shell and mobile terminal

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of electronic equipment, in particular to a plate, a preparation method of the plate, a shell and a mobile terminal.

Background

With the upgrading of consumption structures and the improvement of consumption levels, the consumption concept of people is also changed. For example, in the field of mobile terminals, people no longer pay attention to the configuration and performance of mobile terminals, and appearance is becoming an important factor influencing final selection of users. In order to meet the appearance requirements of users on the mobile terminal, manufacturers continuously explore and perfect material selection, modeling structure design and processing technological processes of the mobile terminal shell, and simultaneously combine the properties of the mobile terminal shell, such as strength, hardness and the like, with appearance effects. Namely, the material, structure, color, texture, strength, hardness and other properties of the mobile terminal shell play a decisive role in the appearance effect of the mobile terminal. Specifically, the material of the mobile terminal housing may be plastic, metal, glass, etc., and the corresponding surface treatment process includes spraying, oxidation, coating, etc., whereas the mobile terminal housing with high strength, high hardness and metal appearance becomes a hot spot of current research in consideration of the combination of appearance effect and service performance.

Therefore, the current sheet material, the manufacturing method thereof, the housing and the mobile terminal still need to be improved.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect of the invention, a panel is provided. The sheet material comprises: the substrate, there is a bulge on one side of the said substrate; a transition layer which is arranged on the surface of the substrate on the side with the convex part and covers the area outside the convex part; the metal coating is arranged on one side of the transition layer, which is far away from the base material; wherein, in the base material, the convex part is made of a first material, the first material is a non-electroless base material, the part except the convex part is made of a second material, and the second material is an electroless base material; the surface of one side of the metal coating, which is far away from the transition layer, is flush with the top surface of the bulge.

Therefore, the plate is low in cost and good in surface flatness, the transition layer and the metal coating can enable the plate to have metal texture, and the hardness, strength and corrosion resistance of the plate are improved; when the plate is used for forming a mobile terminal shell, the cost can be remarkably reduced, the shell has a better metal appearance effect, the strength is high, the hardness is high, the scratch resistance and abrasion resistance are good, the corrosion resistance is excellent, and the appearance surface flatness is good. Furthermore, due to the characteristics of the first material, electroless plating cannot be performed on the surface of the first material, and electroless plating can be performed on the surface of the second material by electroless plating. Therefore, the transition layer and the metal coating can be simply and conveniently formed only in the area outside the protruding part, the transition layer and the metal coating on the protruding part do not need to be removed additionally, the preparation method is further simplified, and the production efficiency is improved.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of making a panel is provided. The method comprises the following steps: providing a base material, wherein a convex part is arranged on one side surface of the base material; forming a transition layer on the surface of the substrate on the side with the convex part except the convex part; forming a metal coating on one side of the transition layer far away from the base material through electroplating treatment; wherein, in the base material, the convex part is made of a first material, the first material is a non-electroless base material, the part except the convex part is made of a second material, and the second material is an electroless base material; the surface of one side of the metal coating, which is far away from the transition layer, is flush with the top surface of the bulge.

The sheet material produced by the method may be the sheet material described above, and thus, may have all of the features and advantages of the sheet material described above, and will not be described herein again. In general. The method can simply and conveniently prepare the plate, and has the advantages of simple process, high production efficiency and low cost; the prepared plate has good surface flatness, the transition layer and the metal coating can enable the plate to have metal texture, and the hardness, strength and corrosion resistance of the plate are improved; when the plate is used for forming a mobile terminal shell, the cost can be remarkably reduced, the shell has a better metal appearance effect, the strength is high, the hardness is high, the scratch resistance and abrasion resistance are good, the corrosion resistance is excellent, and the appearance surface flatness is good. Furthermore, due to the characteristics of the first material, electroless plating cannot be performed on the surface of the first material, and electroless plating can be performed on the surface of the second material by electroless plating. Therefore, the transition layer and the metal coating can be simply and conveniently formed only in the area outside the protruding part, the transition layer and the metal coating on the protruding part do not need to be removed additionally, the preparation method is further simplified, and the production efficiency is improved.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, a housing is presented. The housing includes: a panel as hereinbefore described or a panel as hereinbefore described prepared by the process as hereinbefore described.

Thus, the housing may have all the features and advantages of the housing described above or of a housing prepared by the method described above, which will not be described in detail herein. Generally speaking, the shell is low in cost, has a good metal appearance effect, and is high in strength, high in hardness, good in scratch resistance and abrasion resistance, excellent in corrosion resistance and good in appearance surface flatness.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, a mobile terminal is presented. The mobile terminal comprises the housing as described above.

Thus, the mobile terminal may have all of the features and advantages of the housing described above and will not be described in detail herein. Generally speaking, the mobile terminal has a good metal appearance effect, and the shell of the mobile terminal is low in cost, high in strength, high in hardness, good in scratch resistance and abrasion resistance, excellent in corrosion resistance and good in appearance surface flatness.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural view of a panel according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structural view of a panel according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic partial flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic partial flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic partial flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to yet another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic partial flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to yet another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic partial flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method of making a panel according to one embodiment of the invention;

fig. 12 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 shows a schematic partial structural view of a housing according to one embodiment of the invention; and

fig. 14 shows a partial structural view of a housing according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

100: a substrate; 110: a crude substrate; 200: a transition layer; 210: a first sublayer; 220: a second sublayer; 300: a metal plating layer; 10: a projection; 40: an additional structure; 1000: a mobile terminal.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative only for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

In one aspect of the invention, a panel is provided. According to an embodiment of the invention, with reference to fig. 1, the sheet material comprises: a substrate 100, a transition layer 200, and a metal plating layer 300. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate 100 is provided with the convex portion 10 on one side surface. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transition layer 200 is disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 100 and covers the area other than the convex portion. According to the embodiment of the invention, the metal plating layer 300 is disposed on the side of the transition layer 200 away from the substrate 100. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the projections 10 in the base material 100 are composed of a first material, which is a non-electroless base material, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the term "non-electroless base material" is to be broadly understood in the present invention. According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the "electroless base material" means that electroless metal cannot be formed on the surface thereof due to the characteristics of the material itself when electroless plating is performed. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate 100 is composed of a second material other than the projections 10, and the second material is an electroless base material, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the term "electroless base material" is to be broadly understood in the present invention. According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, "electroless plating a base material" means that electroless plating metal can be formed on the surface thereof by electroless plating. Therefore, the transition layer and the metal coating can be simply and conveniently formed only in the area outside the protruding part, the transition layer and the metal coating on the protruding part do not need to be removed additionally, the preparation method is further simplified, and the production efficiency is improved. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the surface of the metal plating layer 300 on the side away from the transition layer 200 is flush with the top surface (surface C shown in fig. 1) of the projection 10. Therefore, the plate is low in cost and good in surface flatness, and the metal coating can enable the plate to have metal texture and improve the hardness, strength and corrosion resistance of the plate; when the plate is used for forming a mobile terminal shell, the cost can be remarkably reduced, the shell has a better metal appearance effect, the strength is high, the hardness is high, the scratch resistance and abrasion resistance are good, the corrosion resistance is excellent, and the appearance surface flatness is good.

For the sake of understanding, the following is a detailed description of the principle of the plate material to achieve the above technical effects:

the inventor finds that the current mobile terminal shell generally has the problems of high cost, poor appearance effect, difficulty in combining preparation cost, appearance effect and strength and the like. The inventor finds that when the shell is made of metal materials, although the shell has high strength and hardness and can achieve the appearance effect of metal texture, the pre-processing process of the metal materials is complex and high in cost; when the shell is prepared by using plastic with strong plasticity, the front processing can adopt mould injection molding, the cost is low, but the surface treatment process of the plastic shell adopts a spraying mode, so that the prepared shell has poor hand feeling and appearance visual effect, a good metal texture effect is difficult to achieve, and the plastic material has low strength, low hardness and poor scratch resistance and abrasion resistance. Although the metal layer can be arranged on the surface of the plastic shell to realize the appearance of metal texture, the metal layer needs to be processed in the antenna area to avoid forming signal shielding in consideration of meeting the antenna communication requirement. Therefore, complex processes such as shielding, etching, antenna slot filling, or post color processing are often required, which increases production cost, prolongs production time, and reduces production efficiency. Therefore, if a mobile terminal housing with better metal texture can be prepared by plastic with strong plasticity, and the mobile terminal housing has the properties of high strength, high hardness and the like at the same time of low cost, the problems can be solved to a great extent, and the market competitiveness of the mobile terminal housing can be greatly improved. The inventor finds that by arranging the convex part on one side surface of the substrate, for example, arranging the convex part in the area corresponding to the antenna area of the electronic equipment shell, and the surface of the metal plating layer formed on the area except the convex part is flush with the top surface of the convex part, the plastic shell with better surface flatness and metal appearance texture can be simply and conveniently obtained. Because the substrate is formed by plastic materials, the convex part only needs to change the shape of the injection molding template, and complex shielding, etching and antenna groove filling processing are not needed to be carried out on the plate. The protruding part in the base material is formed by the first material, and the part except the protruding part is formed by the second material, so that the part except the protruding part can be simply and conveniently formed by the second material, and then the protruding part is formed on one side surface of the base material by the first material, for example, the protruding part is formed in an injection molding mode. Furthermore, when the selected second material is an electroless plating base material, that is, the second material can form electroless plating metal on the surface thereof by an electroless plating mode, and the selected first material (forming the convex part) is a non-electroless plating base material, that is, the first material cannot form electroless plating metal on the surface thereof when the electroless plating is performed, therefore, in the subsequent step of preparing the plate, the transition layer and the metal plating layer can be simply and conveniently formed only on the region except the convex part, the transition layer and the metal plating layer cannot be formed on the convex part, and the transition layer and the metal plating layer on the convex part do not need to be removed additionally, thereby further simplifying the preparation method.

It should be noted that the surface of the metal plating layer 300 away from the transition layer 200 is flush with the top surface of the protruding portion 10, and particularly, under the condition of visual observation, the surface of the metal plating layer 300 away from the transition layer 200 has no obvious step with the top surface of the protruding portion 10, and has a uniform overall surface and good flatness. In some embodiments of the present invention, the sheet may be used to prepare a middle frame or a battery cover plate of a mobile terminal, and the area corresponding to the protruding portion 10 may be an area where an antenna is located, so that the area where the antenna is located has no transition layer or metal plating layer, and does not affect an antenna signal, and on the premise of not affecting the antenna signal, a height difference between the protruding portion and the transition layer or metal plating layer is eliminated, so that the surface flatness of the housing is good; in addition, the formed middle frame or the battery cover plate has low cost, better metal appearance effect, high strength, high hardness, good scratch resistance and abrasion resistance and excellent corrosion resistance.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the height of the protruding part 10 is equal to the total thickness of the transition layer 200 and the metal plating layer 300. As shown in fig. 1, taking the surface of the substrate 100 on the side away from the protruding portion 10 as a plane as an example, the height of the protruding portion 10 disposed on one side of the substrate 100 is a, that is, the height a is equal to the total thickness of the transition layer 200 and the metal plating layer 300. Therefore, the plate eliminates the height difference between the convex part 10 and the transition layer 200 and the metal plating layer 300, and the surface flatness of the plate is good. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the height of the protruding part 10 is not particularly limited, and it is sufficient that the total thickness of the transition layer 200 and the metal plating layer 300 is equal to the height of the protruding part 10. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the height of the protrusion 10 may be 20 to 100 μm. In some embodiments of the present invention, the height of the projections 10 may be 20 micrometers, 50 micrometers, 100 micrometers. Therefore, the height difference between the formed transition layer and the metal coating and the convex part can be eliminated, and the surface flatness of the plate is good.

It should be noted that the surface of the substrate 100 on the side away from the convex portion 10 may not be a plane but may have a certain concave-convex structure. At this time, it is only necessary that the total thickness of the transition layer 200 and the metal plating layer 300 is consistent with the height of the convex portion 10, and no obvious step or step is observed by naked eyes. The surface of the substrate 100 on the side provided with the projections 10 may not be flat but may have a certain uneven structure. At this time, it is only necessary to have the protruding portion 10, and the total thickness of the transition layer 200 and the metal plating layer 300 is consistent with the height of the protruding portion 10, and no obvious step or step can be observed by naked eyes. More specifically, the surface of the substrate 100 on the side provided with the projections 10 may also have a concave surface where the projections 10 may be formed.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate 100 may be formed of an insulating material. That is, the first material and the second material may be insulating materials. Therefore, the base material is low in cost and easy to process, and the performance and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific type of the first material is not particularly limited, and it is sufficient that electroless plating is not formed on the projections formed by the first material when electroless plating is performed in the step of preparing the plate material. According to an embodiment of the invention, the first material comprises at least one of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Therefore, the first material has low cost, good plasticity, easy processing and light weight; the convex part can be formed simply by injection molding. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the specific type of the second material is not particularly limited, and it is sufficient that electroless metal plating may be formed on the surface of the second material by electroless plating in the step of preparing the plate. According to an embodiment of the invention, the second material comprises Polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (ABS) and a blend of polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate (PC-ABS). Therefore, the base material is low in cost, good in plasticity, easy to process and light in weight, and the performance and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved. The second material may be formed with electroless plating metal on its surface by electroless plating, and the first material (including at least one of PPS and PET) may not be formed with electroless plating metal on its surface due to its material characteristics, so that in the subsequent step of preparing the plate material, the transition layer and the metal plating layer may be simply and conveniently formed only in the region other than the convex portion, the transition layer and the metal plating layer may not be formed on the convex portion, and the transition layer and the metal plating layer on the convex portion need not be removed separately, thereby further simplifying the preparation method and improving the production efficiency.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific shape of the substrate 100 is not particularly limited, and it is sufficient that the substrate 100 has the protruding portion 10 on one side. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific formation position of the protrusions 10 in the substrate 100, the orthographic projection area on the substrate, and the number are not particularly limited, and those skilled in the art can select the position according to actual needs. For example, the substrate 100 may have a plurality of projections 10, and the orthographic projection area of each projection 10 on the substrate 10 may be different.

The inventor finds out through a large amount of experiments that although the methods for forming the metal layer on the plastic base material are various, the chemical plating metal formed by chemical plating has better bonding force with the plastic base material and lower cost, but the chemical plating metal formed by chemical plating has poorer appearance texture. Therefore, a transition layer can be formed on the base material by adopting a chemical plating method, and the bonding force between the subsequent structure and the base material can be further ensured. And the formed transition layer has better conductivity, so that the quality of subsequent electroplating can be improved. The metal plating layer 300 may be formed on the transition layer 200 by electroplating, whereby the structure of the metal plating layer 300 can be easily controlled: the position of the metal plating layer 300 can be adjusted and controlled by adjusting the transition layer 200, that is, the specific position of the electroplated electrode, and the thickness can be more accurately controlled by controlling the electroplating parameters.

Referring to fig. 2, the transition layer 200 may further include: a first sublayer 210 and a second sublayer 220. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sub-layer 210 is disposed on the surface of the substrate 100 on the side having the protrusions 10, and covers the region other than the protrusions 10. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second sublayer 220 is disposed on a side of the first sublayer 210 facing away from the substrate 100. Therefore, the first sub-layer and the second sub-layer can enhance the surface hardness, the strength and the corrosion resistance of the plate, so that the plate has a metal texture.

The manner of forming the first sub-layer 210 according to an embodiment of the present invention is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sub-layer 210 may be formed by means of electroless plating. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a material forming the first sub-layer 210 is not particularly limited, and may be selected by one skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, the material forming the first sublayer 210 may include at least one of nickel, copper, silver, gold, and cobalt. According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the material forming the first sublayer 210 may be nickel. The thickness of the first sub-layer 210 is not particularly limited and may be selected by one skilled in the art according to actual needs, according to embodiments of the present invention. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the first sub-layer 210 may be 2 to 20 μm. In some embodiments of the present invention, the first sub-layer 210 may have a thickness of 2 microns, 2.5 microns, 5 microns, 10 microns, 15 microns, 20 microns. Therefore, the performance and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved.

The manner of forming the second sublayer 220 according to an embodiment of the present invention is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual requirements. For example, the second sub-layer 220 may be formed by nano-plating according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the material forming the second sublayer 220 is not particularly limited, and may be selected by one skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, the material forming the second sublayer 220 may include at least one of nickel, chromium, and zinc. According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the material forming the second sublayer 220 may be nickel. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second sublayer 220 may have a porous structure having a pore size of less than 10 nm. In some embodiments of the present invention, the pore size of the porous structure in the second sublayer 220 may be 4 nm, 6 nm, 8 nm, 9 nm. The second sublayer may thus make the surface of the shell denser and have better wear and corrosion resistance. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the hardness of the second sublayer 220 is not less than 8H. In some embodiments of the present invention, the hardness of the second sub-layer 220 may be 8H, 9H. Thus, the hardness of the second sub-layer is high, and the surface hardness of the plate can be obviously enhanced. According to the embodiment of the invention, the yield strength of the second sub-layer 220 is 700-1000 MPa. In some embodiments of the present invention, the yield strength of the second sub-layer 220 may be 700MPa, 800MPa, 900MPa, 1000 MPa. Therefore, the surface strength of the second sub-layer is high, and the surface strength of the plate can be obviously enhanced. The thickness of the second sublayer 220 is not particularly limited and may be selected by one skilled in the art according to actual needs, according to embodiments of the present invention. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the second sub-layer 220 may be 3 to 20 μm. In some embodiments of the present invention, the second sublayer 220 may have a thickness of 3 microns, 3.5 microns, 5 microns, 10 microns, 15 microns, 20 microns. Therefore, the performance and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved.

The manner of forming the metal plating layer 300 according to the embodiment of the present invention is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal plating layer 300 may be formed by electroplating. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the material forming the metal plating layer 300 is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the material forming the metal plating layer 300 may include at least one of copper, nickel, zinc, cadmium, gold, and silver. Therefore, the surface hardness, strength and corrosion resistance of the plate can be further enhanced, and the surface metallic luster of the plate is further improved. The thickness of the metal plating layer 300 is not particularly limited according to an embodiment of the present invention, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the metal plating layer 300 may be 15 to 60 μm. In some embodiments of the present invention, the thickness of the metal plating layer 300 may be 15 microns, 20 microns, 30 microns, 40 microns, 50 microns, 60 microns. Therefore, the performance and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the sheet further comprises: and (5) coating the layer. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the coating layer is disposed on the side of the metal plating layer 300 away from the substrate 100, or the coating layer is disposed on the top surface of the projection 10 and the side of the metal plating layer 300 away from the substrate 100. From this, the dope layer can make the surface color of panel more diversified, is favorable to individualized trend, can further promote the outward appearance effect of panel. According to the embodiment of the invention, the specific manner, material, position and color of forming the coating layer are not particularly limited, and can be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, according to the embodiment of the present invention, a paint layer may be formed on the top surface of the protruding portion 10 and on the side of the metal plating layer 300 away from the substrate 100 by printing, the formed paint layer is an insulating material, and when the plate is used to form a housing of a mobile terminal and the area corresponding to the protruding portion is the position of the antenna, the paint layer on the top surface of the protruding portion 10 does not affect the antenna signal. Therefore, the surface color of the plate can be diversified, the individuation trend is facilitated, and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the coating layer may be transparent to some extent. Therefore, the reflected light of the metal structure formed below can be emitted through the coating layer, and the plate with metal texture and certain appearance such as color, texture, pattern and the like is obtained.

Alternatively, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the coating layer may be formed on the side of the metal plating layer 300 away from the substrate 100 by physical vapor deposition, and the material forming the coating layer includes at least one of titanium, tungsten, and chromium. Therefore, the metal texture of the plate can be further improved, the surface color of the plate is diversified, the individuation trend is facilitated, and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the coating layer is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the coating layer may be 1 to 20 micrometers. In some embodiments of the invention, the thickness of the coating layer may be 1 micron, 1.5 microns, 5 microns, 10 microns, 15 microns, 20 microns. Therefore, the performance and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that when the coating is formed of metal, it is necessary to remove the coating on the top surface of the projection 10 to prevent the formation of a shield that would obstruct the transmission of the antenna signal in the area corresponding to the projection.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of making a panel is provided. The sheet material produced by the method may be the sheet material described above, and thus, may have all of the features and advantages of the sheet material described above, and will not be described herein again. In general. The method can simply and conveniently prepare the plate, and has the advantages of simple process, high production efficiency and low cost; the prepared plate has good surface flatness, the transition layer and the metal coating can enable the plate to have metal texture, and the hardness, strength and corrosion resistance of the plate are improved; when the plate is used for forming a mobile terminal shell, the cost can be remarkably reduced, the shell has a better metal appearance effect, the strength is high, the hardness is high, the scratch resistance and abrasion resistance are good, the corrosion resistance is excellent, and the appearance surface flatness is good. According to an embodiment of the invention, referring to fig. 3, the method comprises:

s100: providing a substrate

In this step, the substrate is provided with projections on one side, and according to an embodiment of the present invention, the projections in the substrate are made of a first material which is a non-electroless base material, i.e., the first material cannot form electroless metal on its surface due to the characteristics of its material when electroless plating is performed. According to the embodiment of the invention, the part of the base material except the convex part is composed of the second material, and the second material is the base material for electroless plating, namely the second material can form the electroless plating metal on the surface of the base material by means of electroless plating. Therefore, in the subsequent steps, the transition layer and the metal coating can be simply and conveniently formed only in the region outside the protruding part, and the transition layer and the metal coating on the protruding part do not need to be removed additionally, so that the preparation method is further simplified, and the production efficiency is improved. The detailed description of the substrate shape, and the specific forming position, forming area, and number of the protruding portions according to the embodiments of the present invention are not repeated herein. In some embodiments of the present invention, the sheet prepared by the method based on the substrate may be further used to prepare a middle frame or a battery cover plate of a mobile terminal, the area corresponding to the protruding portion may be an area where an antenna is located, and in subsequent steps of the method, no metal plating layer is formed in the area where the antenna is located, so that a height difference between the protruding portion and a transition layer and between the protruding portion and the metal plating layer may be eliminated on the premise of not affecting an antenna signal, and the surface flatness of the housing may be good; and the formed middle frame or battery cover plate has low cost, better metal appearance effect, high strength, high hardness, good scratch resistance and abrasion resistance and excellent corrosion resistance.

According to some embodiments of the invention, referring to fig. 4, the substrate may be formed by:

s110: providing a crude substrate

In this step, referring to (a) in fig. 5, a crude substrate 110 is provided which is formed using the second material. The specific type of the second material has been described in detail above and will not be described further herein.

S120: forming a convex part

In this step, referring to (b) in fig. 5, the projections 10 are formed on one side of the crude substrate 110 with the first material so as to form the substrate 100. The specific type of the first material has been described in detail above and will not be described further herein.

It should be noted that the surface of the substrate crude product 110 on the side having the convex portion 10 or the surface on the side away from the convex portion may not be a plane but may have a certain concave-convex structure. At this time, it is only necessary that the total thickness of the transition layer 200 and the metal plating layer 300 is consistent with the height of the convex portion 10, and no obvious step or step is observed by naked eyes. More specifically, the surface of the substrate crude product 110 on the side having the convex portion 10 may also have a concave surface where the convex portion 10 may be formed.

S200: forming a transition layer

In this step, a transition layer is formed on the surface of the substrate on the side having the projections, in the region other than the projections.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transition layer finally obtained in this step may include: the first sub-layer is arranged on the surface of the substrate at the side with the protruding part and covers the area except the protruding part, and the second sub-layer is arranged at the side of the first sub-layer far away from the substrate. Therefore, the first sub-layer and the second sub-layer can enhance the surface hardness, the strength and the corrosion resistance of the plate, so that the plate has a metal texture. The materials and thicknesses of the first sub-layer according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described in detail above, and will not be described herein. The formation material, thickness, hardness, yield strength, and pore size of the voids of the second sublayer are described in detail above according to embodiments of the present invention, and will not be described in detail herein.

The specific steps for forming the transition layer will be described in detail below.

According to some embodiments of the invention, referring to fig. 6, the transition layer may be formed by:

s210: forming a first sub-layer

In this step, referring to (a) and (b) in fig. 7, a first sub-layer 210 is formed by electroless plating on the surface of the base material 100 on the side having the projections 10, on the region other than the projections 10. It should be noted that the second material (including at least one of PC, ABS and PC-ABS blend) may form the first sub-layer 210 on the surface thereof by electroless plating, while the first material (including at least one of PPS and PET) forming the protrusions 10 may not form the first sub-layer on the surface thereof by electroless plating due to the nature of the material itself. Therefore, the transition layer and the metal coating layer can be simply and conveniently formed only on the surface of the substrate 100 on the side with the convex part 10, the transition layer and the metal coating layer are not formed on the top surface of the convex part 10, the transition layer and the metal coating layer on the convex part do not need to be removed additionally, the preparation method is further simplified, and the production efficiency is improved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the specific manner of the above electroless plating is not particularly limited, and it is sufficient to form the first sub-layer on the surface of the substrate on the side having the projections 10. For example, when the first sub-layer is formed of nickel, an electroless nickel plating solution may be used to react with the plating member (substrate) at room temperature for 3-8 minutes to deposit a uniform first sub-layer. In some embodiments of the present invention, the electroless nickel plating solution may include a main salt, a reducing agent, and an auxiliary agent, wherein the main salt may be nickel sulfate, the reducing agent may be sodium hypophosphite, and the auxiliary agent may be triethanolamine.

S220: second sublayer

In this step, referring to (b) and (c) of fig. 7, on the side of the first sublayer 210 away from the substrate 100, a second sublayer 220 is formed by nano-plating. Therefore, the transition layer can be prepared simply and conveniently, and the performance and appearance effect of the plate prepared by the method are further improved. It should be noted that due to the nature of the first material (including at least one of PPS and PET) forming the protruding part 10, the first sub-layer 210 is not formed on the top surface thereof when electroless plating is performed, and therefore, the second sub-layer is not formed on the top surface of the protruding part 10 when nano-plating is subsequently used.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the nano-plating is not particularly limited, and the second sub-layer 220 may be formed on the first sub-layer 210 away from the substrate 100. For example, when the second sublayer is formed of nickel, a nano nickel plating solution at 50 to 60 degrees Celsius, pH 3 to 5, and current density 2 to 5A/dm may be used²The plating piece (base material) is treated for 8-15 minutes under the condition of (1) to obtain the required second sub-layer 220. In some embodiments of the present invention, the nano nickel electroplating solution may include nickel sulfate, nickel oxide, boric acid, nano nickel base solution, and an auxiliary agent.

S300: forming a metal coating

In this step, referring to fig. 1, on the side of the transition layer 200 away from the base material 100, a metal plating layer 300 is formed by an electroplating process. Note that, since the transition layer is not formed on the top surface of the projection 10 when the electroless plating and the nano plating are performed, the metal plating layer 300 is not formed on the projection 10 when the plating process is used.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the surface of the metal plating layer on the side far away from the transition layer is flush with the top surface of the bulge. Under the condition of visual observation, the surface of one side of the metal coating layer, which is far away from the transition layer, has no obvious step with the top surface of the bulge, and the whole surface is uniform and has good flatness.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, when the transition layer and the metal plating layer are formed, it is necessary to control the total thickness of the transition layer and the metal plating layer to be equal to the height of the protrusion. Therefore, the height difference between the convex part and the transition layer and between the convex part and the metal coating is eliminated, and the surface flatness of the plate is good.

The thickness and the material of the metal plating layer according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described in detail above, and are not described in detail herein.

According to an embodiment of the invention, by electroplatingIn the formation of the metal plating layer, the specific manner of the electroplating treatment is not particularly limited, and the metal plating layer only needs to be formed on the side of the transition layer away from the substrate. For example, when the metal layer is made of chromium, a chromium plating solution may be used at 30 to 50 degrees centigrade, pH 2 to 4, and current density 8 to 12A/dm²Treating the plated piece (base material) for 2-5 minutes under the condition to obtain the required metal plating layer. In some embodiments of the present invention, the chromium electroplating bath may include chromium chloride, boric acid, and a trivalent chromium carrier. When the metal layer is formed by chromium, the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved, the appearance can have silvery-white luster, and the metal texture of the plate is further improved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to further improve the performance and appearance effect of the plate prepared by the method, referring to fig. 8, the method further includes:

s400: forming a coating layer

In this step, a coating layer is formed. The coating layer sets up in the metal coating and keeps away from one side of substrate, perhaps, the coating layer sets up on the top surface of bulge and the metal coating keeps away from one side of substrate. Therefore, the surface color of the plate can be diversified, the individuation trend is facilitated, and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the specific manner, material, position and color of forming the coating layer are not particularly limited, and can be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. For example, according to the embodiment of the present invention, a paint layer may be formed on the top surface of the protruding portion 10 and on the side of the metal plating layer 300 away from the substrate 100 by printing, the formed paint layer is an insulating material, and when the plate is used to form a housing of a mobile terminal and the area corresponding to the protruding portion 10 is the position of the antenna, the paint layer on the protruding portion 10 does not affect the antenna signal. Therefore, the surface color of the plate can be diversified, the individuation trend is facilitated, and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved. Alternatively, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the coating layer may be formed on the side of the metal plating layer 300 away from the substrate 100 by means of physical vapor deposition, and the material forming the coating layer includes at least one of titanium, tungsten, and chromium. Therefore, the metal texture of the plate can be further improved, the surface color of the plate is diversified, the individuation trend is facilitated, and the appearance effect of the plate can be further improved. It should be noted that, when a paint layer is formed by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), a PVD material formed on the protrusion may be removed by laser etching, so that when the mobile terminal housing is prepared from the plate (where the area corresponding to the protrusion is the area where the antenna is located), signals affecting the antenna are avoided. After PVD materials are removed from the convex parts through laser etching, the areas can be dyed, and therefore the plate can have more uniform colors. The thickness of the coating layer according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, and will not be described herein again.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to further improve the performance and appearance effect of the plate prepared by the method, referring to fig. 9, before forming the transition layer, the method may further include:

s500: pretreatment of

According to an embodiment of the invention, in this step, the substrate is pretreated. Referring to fig. 10, the preprocessing includes, according to an embodiment of the present invention:

s1: degreasing treatment and degreasing treatment

In this step, the base material is subjected to degreasing treatment and degreasing treatment in this order. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific manner of the degreasing treatment and the degreasing treatment is not particularly limited. For example, the degreasing treatment and the degreasing treatment may be performed by immersing the substrate with a degreasing liquid at a certain temperature, and then performing surface cleaning water washing. Therefore, the oil removal and degreasing can ensure that the surface of the substrate is clean and free of oil stains, thereby being beneficial to uniform coarsening of the surface of the substrate.

S2: surface roughening treatment

In this step, the degreased substrate is subjected to surface roughening treatment. According to embodiments of the present invention, the specific manner of the surface roughening treatment is not particularly limited. For example, the substrate may be roughened by immersing the substrate in a roughening solution, wherein the roughening solution may be chromic acid, and the roughening temperature may be 60 to 70 ℃. Therefore, the coarsening can enable the surface of the base material to form a micropore shape so as to ensure that the surface of the base material forms proper roughness and further ensure that a transition layer formed subsequently has good bonding force with the base material.

S3: neutralizing job processing

In this step, the base material subjected to the surface roughening treatment is subjected to a neutralization operation. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific manner of the neutralization job processing is not particularly limited. For example, the neutralization treatment may be performed using an acid solution, and the neutralization temperature may be room temperature. Thus, the neutralizing operation can remove the roughening solution remaining on the surface of the substrate.

S3: activation treatment

In this step, the substrate subjected to the neutralization operation is subjected to an activation treatment. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific manner of the activation treatment is not particularly limited. For example, the substrate may be first immersed in a pre-immersion liquid (e.g., a mixed solution of stannous sulfate and hydrochloric acid) to remove a portion of impurities on the substrate, and then immersed in an activation liquid (e.g., a mixed solution of palladium chloride, hydrochloric acid, and stannous sulfate), wherein the temperature of the activation liquid may be 35-45 ℃. Therefore, the activation treatment can enable the surface of the microporous base material after coarsening to uniformly adsorb the activating agent colloid, and provide a catalytic carrier for subsequent chemical plating.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to further improve the performance and appearance effect of the plate prepared by the method, referring to fig. 11, the method further includes:

s600: dispergation treatment

According to the embodiment of the invention, after the pretreatment is carried out and before the transition layer is formed, the substrate is subjected to dispergation treatment. The core of the colloid adsorbed on the surface of the substrate is metallic palladium, and the periphery of the colloid is a particle group of divalent tin, so that divalent tin is easily hydrolyzed into a colloid during water washing, palladium is wrapped in the colloid, and the catalytic action of palladium cannot be embodied, therefore, the divalent tin in the pre-soaking salt remained on the surface of the colloid group can be removed by performing dispergation treatment, and the palladium of the activating agent is exposed to be a catalytic active point of a first sub-layer formed by subsequent chemical plating. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the specific manner of the dispergation treatment is not particularly limited. For example, the dispergation treatment can be performed by using a hydrochloric acid aqueous solution, and the dispergation temperature can be 35-45 ℃.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, after each of the above steps, the method may further include a step of washing with water to remove the solution remaining on the surface of the substrate, wherein water used for the washing with water includes at least one of deionized water, distilled water, and purified water.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, a housing is presented. The housing includes: a panel as hereinbefore described or a panel as hereinbefore described prepared by the process as hereinbefore described. Thus, the housing may have all the features and advantages of the housing described above or of a housing prepared by the method described above, which will not be described in detail herein. Generally speaking, the shell is low in cost, has a good metal appearance effect, and is high in strength, high in hardness, good in scratch resistance and abrasion resistance, excellent in corrosion resistance and good in appearance surface flatness.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, a mobile terminal is presented. Referring to fig. 12, a mobile terminal 1000 includes the housing as previously described in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Thus, all the features and advantages of the housing described above can be achieved, and are not described in detail herein. Generally speaking, the mobile terminal has a good metal appearance effect, and the shell of the mobile terminal is low in cost, high in strength, high in hardness, good in scratch resistance and abrasion resistance, excellent in corrosion resistance and good in appearance surface flatness.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal 1000 further includes an antenna (not shown in the figure). The antenna is arranged at the position corresponding to the bulge of the shell. Because no transition layer and metal coating are formed on the bulge, the signal of the antenna can not be influenced, and the bulge eliminates the height difference between the bulge and the transition layer and the metal coating on the premise of not influencing the signal of the antenna, so that the surface flatness of the shell is good.

The housing in the mobile terminal 1000 may be a center frame or a battery cover plate according to an embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the performance and the appearance effect of the mobile terminal can be further improved. According to the embodiment of the invention, the area corresponding to the protruding part of the housing can be the position of the antenna. Therefore, on the premise of not influencing the antenna signal, the shell can eliminate the height difference between the convex part and the transition layer and between the convex part and the metal coating, so that the surface of the shell is good in flatness. According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, when the middle frame or the battery cover plate is further prepared based on the above plate or the plate prepared by the above method, the substrate may be subjected to a molding treatment to form a middle frame substrate or a battery cover plate substrate, and then the steps of the pretreatment, the dispergation treatment, the formation of the transition layer, the formation of the metal plating layer, the formation of the coating layer, and the like are sequentially performed to finally form the middle frame or the battery cover plate. The forming treatment can be injection molding and integral forming of the base material to obtain a required middle frame structure or a required battery cover plate structure. Specifically, referring to fig. 13, the center substrate is formed by integral injection molding, D, E, F, G in fig. 13 is a protrusion, an area corresponding to the protrusion is an area where the antenna is located, the height of the protrusion is equal to the total thickness of the transition layer and the metal plating layer formed in the subsequent steps, so that the height difference between the protrusion and the transition layer and the metal plating layer is eliminated, and the protrusion does not form the transition layer and the metal plating layer, so that the antenna signal is not affected, and the surface flatness of the housing is good. Or, referring to fig. 14, the battery cover plate substrate is formed by two-time injection molding, specifically, the portion of the battery cover plate substrate other than the protruding portion 10 is formed by injection molding of a second material, and then the protruding portion 10 is formed by injection molding of a first material, and finally the battery cover plate substrate with a desired shape is formed. H in fig. 14 is the protruding portion 10, the area corresponding to the protruding portion 10 is the area where the antenna is located, the height of the protruding portion is equal to the total thickness of the transition layer and the metal plating layer formed in the subsequent steps, so that the height difference between the protruding portion and the transition layer and between the protruding portion and the metal plating layer is eliminated, and the transition layer and the metal plating layer are not formed on the protruding portion, so that the antenna signal is not affected, and the surface flatness of the housing is good.

It should be noted that as shown in fig. 13, additional structures 40, such as ribs, spacers, etc., may also be included in the region formed by the first material. Therefore, the mechanical strength of the middle frame can be further improved, or the middle frame can be conveniently positioned when being matched with other structures in the follow-up process.

In the description of the present invention, the terms "upper", "lower", and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of describing the present invention but do not require that the present invention must be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description herein, references to the description of "one embodiment," "another embodiment," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, various embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without contradiction. In addition, it should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" in this specification are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implying any number of technical features indicated.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention, and that variations, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the above embodiments by those of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A panel, comprising:

the substrate, there is a bulge on one side of the said substrate;

a transition layer which is arranged on the surface of the substrate on the side with the convex part and covers the area outside the convex part;

the metal coating is arranged on one side of the transition layer, which is far away from the base material;

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

in the base material, the convex part is made of a first material, the first material is a non-electroless plating base material, the part except the convex part is made of a second material, and the second material is an electroless plating base material;

the surface of one side of the metal plating layer, which is far away from the transition layer, is flush with the top surface of the convex part,

the first material includes at least one of polyphenylene sulfide and polyethylene terephthalate, and the second material includes at least one of PC, ABS, and a PC-ABS blend.

2. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the height of the projections is equal to the combined thickness of the transition layer and the metallic coating.

3. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the transition layer comprises:

a first sublayer provided on a surface of the base material on a side having the projecting part and covering a region other than the projecting part;

a second sublayer disposed on a side of the first sublayer distal from the substrate.

4. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the projections have a height of from 20 to 100 microns.

5. A sheet material according to claim 3, wherein the second sub-layer is porous and the pore size of the porous structure is less than 10 nanometres.

6. A sheet material according to claim 3, in which the hardness of the second sub-layer is not less than 8H.

7. A sheet material as claimed in claim 3, in which the second sub-layer has a yield strength in the range 700 to 1000 MPa.

8. A panel according to claim 1, wherein said first material and said second material are each independently formed of an insulating material.

9. A panel according to claim 1, wherein the material forming the metallic coating comprises at least one of copper, nickel, zinc, cadmium, gold and silver.

10. The panel of claim 1, further comprising:

the dope layer, the dope layer sets up the metallic coating keeps away from one side of substrate, perhaps, the dope layer sets up on the bulge the top surface and the metallic coating keeps away from one side of substrate.

11. A method for preparing a plate, comprising:

providing a base material, wherein a convex part is arranged on one side surface of the base material;

forming a transition layer on the surface of the substrate on the side with the convex part except the convex part;

forming a metal coating on one side of the transition layer far away from the base material through electroplating treatment;

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

in the base material, the protruding portion is made of a first material, the first material is a non-electroless plating base material, the portion except the protruding portion is made of a second material, the second material is an electroless plating base material, the first material comprises at least one of polyphenylene sulfide and polyethylene terephthalate, and the second material comprises at least one of PC, ABS and PC-ABS blend;

the surface of one side of the metal coating, which is far away from the transition layer, is flush with the top surface of the bulge.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the substrate is formed by:

providing a crude substrate, the crude substrate being formed using the second material;

the projections are formed on one side of the crude base material with the first material.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

controlling the total thickness of the transition layer and the metal plating layer to be equal to the height of the convex part.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the transition layer is formed by:

forming a first sub-layer on the surface of the substrate on the side with the convex part except for the convex part by chemical plating;

a second sublayer is formed by nano-plating on the side of the first sublayer remote from the substrate.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

and forming a coating layer, wherein the coating layer is arranged on one side of the metal coating layer far away from the substrate, or the coating layer is arranged on the top surface of the bulge part and on one side of the metal coating layer far away from the substrate.

16. A housing, comprising:

a panel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 or produced by a method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 15.

17. A mobile terminal, comprising:

the housing of claim 16.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, further comprising:

the antenna is arranged at the position corresponding to the bulge of the shell.