Methods for securing features to housings
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorDouglas Joseph Weber
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A housing for an electronic device as well as methods for forming the housing are disclosed. The housing can be formed from a substrate having perforations to assist in adhering components internal to the housing. The substrate is typically a multi-layer substrate having at least two layers. In one embodiment, an inner layer of the multi-layer substrate can be provided with perforations. The perforations can them be used to adhere internal features to the multi-layer substrate. The internal features can be used for attaching parts or components to the multi-layer substrate, thereby securing the parts or components to the multi-layer substrate and thus the housing.
Claims21
1-21. (canceled)
A method for forming a securing feature to an interior surface of an enclosure having at least one anchor cavity therein, comprising:
- depositing a flowable medium on the interior surface in a manner that fills the at least one anchor cavity forming at least one corresponding anchor portion that is integrally formed with a layer of the flowable medium deposited on the interior surface of the enclosure;
- and
- forming the securing feature by causing the flowable medium to harden.
A method of forming an enclosure for an electronic device, the enclosure having an outer portion and a support structure, the method comprising:
- coupling the outer portion to the support structure, the support structure comprising a curved surface and a plurality of anchor portions, each anchor portion having a flared geometry, wherein coupling the outer portion to the support structure comprises:
- encapsulating each of the anchor portions within a corresponding anchor cavity of the outer portion, wherein each of the anchor cavities has an undercut geometry configured to engage with the flared geometry of a corresponding anchor portion providing a multi-axis securing force that secures the outer portion to the curved surface of the support structure.
A method of forming a feature on an enclosure for an electronic device, the method comprising:
- forming a plurality of anchor cavities within the enclosure, each anchor cavity having an undercut geometry;
- and
- binding the feature to the enclosure, the feature comprising a body portion that covers at least a portion of a curved surface of the enclosure and a plurality of anchor portions continuous with the body portion by:
- depositing the plurality of anchor portions within corresponding anchor cavities, wherein each of the anchor portions has a geometry that cooperates with the undercut geometry of each of the corresponding anchor cavities providing a multi-axis securing force that secures the feature to the curved surface of the enclosure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.