CN102629527A - Key cap and method for making key cap - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a keycap and a manufacturing method thereof. In the manufacturing method, an in-mold transfer printing method is used to form a cap with an ink layered structure attached thereon; then, a pattern is formed on the ink layered structure by a high-energy optical engraving method; finally, a cap is formed on the ink layered structure A light-transmissible protective layer covers the pattern. Compared with the prior art, the present invention can shorten the production time of traditional keycaps with patterns formed thereon, such as keycaps used in backlit keyboards; in addition, the present invention can also increase the ink layer structure and caps by using the in-mold transfer printing method. The bonding strength between bodies can effectively inhibit the possibility of peeling off the layered structure of the ink.

Description

Keycap and method for making keycap

technical field

The invention relates to a key cap and a method for making the key cap, in particular to a key cap with a pattern on it and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background technique

Generally, keycaps are mostly made by injection molding. If it is necessary to form a pattern on the keycap, the pattern is formed in an additional process independent of the aforementioned injection molding. For example, keycaps used in backlit keyboards usually have a transparent cap body firstly, and then sequentially print or spray multiple layers of ink on the surface of the cap body. The pattern is formed by etching the aforementioned multi-layer ink with laser. Finally, a protective adhesive layer is sprayed on the multi-layer ink, especially on the pattern, and the protective adhesive layer is hardened. At this point, the keycap with the pattern is complete. Therefore, the above-mentioned keycap needs to go through multiple manufacturing processes, which is quite time-consuming, especially the formation of multiple layers of ink on the cap body is time-consuming, and the process variation is also relatively large.

Contents of the invention

In view of the problems in the prior art, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a method for making keycaps, using in-mold transfer printing and high-energy optical engraving methods to make keycaps with patterns on them, so that the entire process time is shortened, and Further improve process stability.

To achieve this purpose, the present invention proposes a method for making a keycap, which comprises the following steps:

(a) forming a cap body with an ink layered structure attached thereon by injecting an in-mold transfer printing method;

(b) forming a pattern on the ink layered structure by a high-energy optical engraving method; and

(c) forming a light-permeable protective layer on the ink layered structure to cover the pattern.

As an optional technical solution, step (a) includes the following steps:

preparing a transfer film, the transfer film has a layered structure and includes a carrier and an ink layered structure, and the ink layered structure is formed on the carrier;

Prepare an injection mold, the injection mold has a mold cavity;

placing the transfer film in the mold cavity and attaching the carrier to the inner wall of the mold cavity;

Injecting plastic into the mold cavity to form a cap with the ink layer structure attached thereto; and

The carrier is peeled off from the ink layered structure.

As an optional technical solution, in step (a), the transfer film further includes a release layer and an adhesive layer, the release layer is formed between the carrier and the ink layer structure, and the adhesive layer forms On the ink layer structure, the ink layer structure is attached to the cap body through the adhesive layer, and the carrier is peeled off from the ink layer structure through the release layer.

As an optional technical solution, in step (b), the ink layer structure includes a light-permeable ink layer and a covering ink layer, the light-transmitting ink layer is located between the cap body and the covering ink layer, and the high-energy Optical engraving methods use a laser beam to etch the masking ink layer to form the pattern.

As an optional technical solution, step (c) includes the following steps:

forming a first UV adhesive layer on the ink layered structure; and

The first ultraviolet adhesive layer is irradiated with ultraviolet light to harden to form the light-transmissible protective layer.

As an optional technical solution, in step (c), the cap body has an upper surface and a side surface, the pattern is located on the upper surface, and the first ultraviolet adhesive layer is formed on the upper surface and the side surface.

As an optional technical solution, in step (a), the in-mold transfer method uses a transfer film, which has a layered structure and includes a carrier, a release layer, a second ultraviolet adhesive layer, and an ink layer. shape structure and adhesive layer, the release layer, the second UV adhesive layer, the ink layer structure and the adhesive layer are sequentially formed on the carrier, the cap has an upper surface and a side surface, the first The second ultraviolet adhesive layer and the ink layer structure are attached to the upper surface and the side surface through the adhesive layer, and the carrier is peeled off from the second ultraviolet adhesive layer through the release layer;

In step (b), the high-energy optical engraving method uses a laser beam to simultaneously etch the second UV adhesive layer and the ink layer structure to form the pattern, the pattern is located on the upper surface; and

In step (c), the first ultraviolet adhesive layer is formed on the second ultraviolet adhesive layer and located on the upper surface, and the ultraviolet light irradiates the first ultraviolet adhesive layer and the second ultraviolet adhesive layer at the same time layer to harden to form the light-transmissive protective layer.

As an optional technical solution, in step (a), the cap body is formed by injection of light-permeable plastic.

In addition, the present invention also proposes a keycap, which includes a cap body, an ink layered structure and a light-transmitting protective layer, wherein the ink layered structure is formed on the cap body by an in-mold transfer printing method, and the ink layer The ink-like structure has a pattern formed by a high-energy optical engraving method; a light-transmitting protective layer is formed on the ink layered structure and covers the pattern.

As an optional technical solution, the keycap further includes an adhesive layer for adhering the ink layer structure on the cap body.

As an optional technical solution, the ink layer structure includes a light-permeable ink layer and a covering ink layer, the light-permeable ink layer is located between the cap body and the covering ink layer, and the pattern is formed on the covering ink layer.

As an optional technical solution, the light-permeable protective layer is a first ultraviolet light hardening layer.

As an optional technical solution, the cap body has an upper surface and a side surface, the pattern is located on the upper surface, and the light-transmittable protective layer is formed on the upper surface and the side surface.

As an optional technical solution, the cap body has an upper surface and a side surface, and the light-transmitting protective layer includes a first ultraviolet hardening layer and a second ultraviolet hardening layer, and the second ultraviolet hardening layer is formed on the ink layer On the structure, the first UV curable layer is formed on the second UV curable layer and located on the upper surface, and the pattern is simultaneously formed on the second UV curable layer and the ink layered structure and located on the on the upper surface.

As an optional technical solution, the cap body is a translucent cap body.

Compared with the previous technology, the present invention uses the in-mold transfer method to greatly save the process time for the ink layered structure to be attached to the cap body, and can also increase the bonding strength between the ink layered structure and the cap body, effectively inhibiting the peeling of the ink layered structure possibility.

The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but not as a limitation of the present invention.

Description of drawings

1 is a top view of a keycap according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the line X-X of the keycap in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is the main flowchart of the method for making keycap according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 is the detailed flowchart of keycap making among Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transfer film used in the production process of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 to Fig. 11 are the production schematic diagrams according to the flowchart of Fig. 4;

Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a keycap according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transfer film used in the keycap in FIG. 12 .

Detailed ways

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a top view of a keycap 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the keycap 1 along line X-X in FIG. Main flowchart of the method of making keycaps. As shown in step S100, the method for making a keycap mainly uses in-mold transfer printing to form the cap body 12 with an ink layered structure 14 attached thereon; as shown in step S200, the method for making a keycap is followed by The high-energy optical engraving method forms a pattern 16 on the ink layered structure 14. In this embodiment, the pattern 16 is a letter A, but the invention is not limited thereto. Finally, as shown in step S300 , in the method for manufacturing a keycap, a light-transmittable protective layer 18 is formed on the ink layered structure 14 to cover the pattern 16 . In this way, the production of the keycap 1 utilizes the in-mold transfer printing method to improve the efficiency of forming the ink layered structure 14 on the cap body 12, and also improve the bonding strength between the ink layered structure 14 and the cap body 12, solving the problem of conventional patterns. The manufacturing process of keycaps is time-consuming, and the manufacturing process is highly variable.

In this embodiment, the in-mold transfer printing method adopts the in-mold decoration (In-Mold Decoration by Roller) method in the in-mold decoration (In-Mold Decoration) technology, and the high-energy optical engraving method uses laser light, which is further implemented The description is as follows, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Please also refer to Fig. 4 to Fig. 11, Fig. 4 is a detailed flow chart of making keycap 1, Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the transfer film 15a used in the production process of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 to Fig. The production schematic diagram of the flow chart of , wherein the transfer film 15a is represented by a thick black line in FIGS. 6 to 8 .

In this embodiment, step S100 in FIG. 3 is implemented by steps S110 , S120 , S130 and S140 in FIG. 4 . As shown in step S110 , the method for manufacturing the keycap includes preparing the transfer film 15 a and the injection mold 2 . As shown in Figure 5, the transfer film 15a has a layered structure and includes a carrier 152, a release layer 154 formed on the carrier 152, a masking ink layer 142 formed on the release layer 154, and a masking ink layer 142 formed on the masking ink layer 142. The light-transmitting ink layer 144 and the adhesive layer 156 formed on the light-transmitting ink layer 144 , wherein the covering ink layer 142 and the light-transmitting ink layer 144 form the ink layer structure 14 . As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , the injection mold 2 includes an upper mold 22 and a lower mold 24 , and the mold cavity 26 can be formed after the upper mold 22 and the lower mold 24 are closed.

As shown in step S120 , in the method for manufacturing the keycap, the transfer film 15 a is placed in the mold cavity 26 and the carrier 152 is attached to the inner wall of the mold cavity 26 . In actual operation, the transfer film 15a is placed on the lower mold 24 corresponding to the mold cavity 26 by using the roller 3, and the vacuum adsorption effect can be further used to make the carrier 152 closely adhere to the inner wall of the mold cavity 26, as shown in FIG. 6; , the upper mold 22 and the lower mold 24 are closed to form a mold cavity 26, as shown in FIG. 7 .

As shown in step S130 , the method for manufacturing the keycap is then injected into the plastic 4 into the mold cavity 26 , as shown in FIG. 8 . While the plastic 4 is cooled in the mold cavity 26 to form the cap body 12 , the ink layered structure 14 is attached to the cap body 12 through the adhesive layer 156 . Since the plastic 4 is pressurized and injected into the mold cavity 26, the bonding strength between the cap body 12 and the ink layered structure 14 is usually stronger than the bonding structure formed by spraying or glue-coating under normal temperature and pressure. Stripping can be avoided. In addition, in this embodiment, the keycap 1 is used for a backlit keyboard, so the plastic 4 is made of light-transmitting plastic, so that the cap body 12 can transmit light; but the present invention is not limited thereto.

After the mold 2 is opened, the cap body 12 with part of the transfer film 15a attached thereon can be taken out from the mold cavity 26 . As shown in step S140 , the carrier 152 is peeled off from the ink layered structure 14 through the release layer 154 . After peeling off, a cross-sectional view of the cap body 12 with the ink layered structure 14 attached thereon is shown in FIG. 9 .

In this embodiment, step S200 in FIG. 3 is implemented by steps S210 and S220 in FIG. 4 . As shown in step S210, the method for making a keycap then uses a laser beam to irradiate the masking ink layer 142 of the ink layer structure 14; as shown in step S220, the masking ink layer 142 is etched to form the pattern 16, but still remains Light-transmitting ink layer 144 . After the etching is completed, it is shown in FIG. 10 ; wherein the pattern 16 is located on the upper surface 122 of the cap body 12 .

In this embodiment, step S300 in FIG. 3 is implemented by steps S310 and S320 in FIG. 4 . As shown in step S310, the method for making a keycap then forms a first ultraviolet adhesive layer 19a on the ink layered structure 14, as shown in FIG. The cloth pattern is formed on the upper surface 122 and the side surface 124 of the cap body 12 and covers the pattern 16 . In actual operation, the first ultraviolet adhesive layer 19 a can fill up the hollow area in the pattern 16 . As shown in step S320 , in the method of manufacturing the keycap, the first ultraviolet light adhesive layer 19 a is irradiated with ultraviolet light to harden to form the light-transmittable protective layer 18 , as shown in FIG. 2 . At this point, the keycap 1 is completed.

Please refer to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 , FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a keycap 5 according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a schematic sectional view of a transfer film 15 b used in the keycap 5 . In this embodiment, compared with the transfer film 15a, the transfer film 15b further includes a second UV adhesive layer 19b between the release layer 154 and the masking ink layer 142, that is, the release layer 154, the second UV adhesive layer 19b The adhesive layer 19 b , the ink layer structure 14 and the adhesive layer 156 are sequentially formed on the carrier 152 . Therefore, in the aforementioned step S140, the carrier 152 is peeled off from the second UV adhesive layer 19b through the release layer 154; in the aforementioned steps S210 and S220, the laser beam will simultaneously etch the second UV adhesive layer 19b and the ink layer. The structure 14 is used to form the pattern 16 , that is, the pattern 16 is simultaneously formed on the second ultraviolet adhesive layer 19 b and the ink layered structure 14 and is located on the upper surface 122 of the cap body 12 . Since the second ultraviolet adhesive layer 19b has covered the upper surface 122 and the side surface 124 of the cap body 12, in the aforementioned step S310, the first ultraviolet adhesive layer 19a only needs to be formed on the second ultraviolet adhesive layer 19b and Located on the upper surface 122 of the cap body 12 to cover the pattern 16, the ink layered structure 14 can be covered by the first UV adhesive layer 19a and the second UV adhesive layer 19b together. And in the aforementioned step S320, the ultraviolet light will irradiate the first ultraviolet light adhesive layer 19a and the second ultraviolet light adhesive layer 19b at the same time to harden to form the light-transmissible protective layer 18, that is, the light-transmissible protective layer 18 contains ultraviolet light. The UV curable layer formed by hardening the adhesive layers 19a and 19b can also provide complete protection for the ink layered structure 14 and the pattern 16 .

It is supplemented that, in actual operation, the transfer films 15a and 15b are not limited to the layered structure disclosed in the foregoing embodiments, and may include more layers according to the requirements of actual product specifications, which will not be repeated here. In addition, in the foregoing embodiments, both the keycaps 1 and 5 are hardened by the ultraviolet adhesive layers 19 a and 19 b to form the ultraviolet hardening layer, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In practice, other structures capable of forming a light-transmitting protective layer can also be used as the light-transmitting protective layer 18 of the present invention, such as other cured resins.

As described above, compared with the prior art, the present invention uses the in-mold transfer printing method to greatly save the process time for the ink layered structure to attach to the cap body, and can also increase the bonding strength between the ink layered structure and the cap body, effectively inhibiting ink Possibility of exfoliation of lamellar structures. In addition, the present invention utilizes the transfer film to form an ink layered structure with uniform thickness, which solves the problem that the spraying method in the prior art is limited by the spraying angle and easily causes uneven spraying thickness. In addition, when the transfer film used already includes a hardened glue layer (such as an ultraviolet light glue layer), after the pattern is formed, it is only necessary to cover the pattern part (ie, the upper surface of the cap body) with another hardened glue layer, so It can achieve a complete protection effect on the layered structure of the ink, and can reduce the degree of uneven thickness that may occur when the hardened adhesive layer coats the entire cap body.

Certainly, the present invention also can have other multiple embodiments, without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make various corresponding changes and deformations according to the present invention, but these corresponding changes All changes and modifications should belong to the scope of protection of the appended claims of the present invention.

Claims (15)

1. A method for making a keycap, characterized in that the method for making a keycap comprises the following steps: (a) forming a cap body with an ink layered structure attached thereon by injecting an in-mold transfer printing method; (b) forming a pattern on the ink layered structure by a high-energy optical engraving method; and (c) forming a light-permeable protective layer on the ink layered structure to cover the pattern. 2. the method for making keycap according to claim 1, is characterized in that: step (a) comprises the following steps: preparing a transfer film, the transfer film has a layered structure and includes a carrier and an ink layered structure, and the ink layered structure is formed on the carrier; Prepare an injection mold, the injection mold has a mold cavity; placing the transfer film in the mold cavity and attaching the carrier to the inner wall of the mold cavity; Injecting plastic into the mold cavity to form a cap with the ink layer structure attached thereto; and The carrier is peeled off from the ink layered structure. 3. The method for making a keycap according to claim 2, wherein in step (a), the transfer film further comprises a release layer and an adhesive layer, and the release layer is formed on the carrier and the Between the ink layered structure, the adhesive layer is formed on the ink layered structure, the ink layered structure is attached to the cap body through the adhesive layer, and the carrier passes through the release layer from the ink layer Peel off the structure. 4. The method for making a keycap according to claim 1, wherein in step (b), the ink layer structure includes a light-transmitting ink layer and a covering ink layer, and the light-transmitting ink layer is located on the Between the cap body and the masking ink layer, the high energy optical engraving method uses laser beams to etch the masking ink layer to form the pattern. 5. the method for making keycap according to claim 1, is characterized in that: step (c) comprises the following steps: forming a first UV adhesive layer on the ink layered structure; and The first ultraviolet adhesive layer is irradiated with ultraviolet light to harden to form the light-transmissible protective layer. 6. The method for making a keycap according to claim 1, wherein in step (c), the cap body has an upper surface and a side surface, the pattern is located on the upper surface, and the first ultraviolet glue Layers are formed on the upper surface and the side surfaces. 7. The method for making a keycap according to claim 1, characterized in that: in step (a), the in-mold transfer method uses a transfer film, the transfer film is a layered structure and includes a carrier, a release film A type layer, a second ultraviolet adhesive layer, an ink layer structure and an adhesive layer, the release layer, the second ultraviolet adhesive layer, the ink layer structure and the adhesive layer are sequentially formed on the carrier, The cap body has an upper surface and a side surface, the second ultraviolet adhesive layer and the ink layered structure are attached to the upper surface and the side surface through the adhesive layer, and the carrier is separated from the upper surface and the side surface through the release layer. Peel off on the second ultraviolet light adhesive layer; In step (b), the high-energy optical engraving method uses a laser beam to simultaneously etch the second UV adhesive layer and the ink layer structure to form the pattern, the pattern is located on the upper surface; and In step (c), the first ultraviolet adhesive layer is formed on the second ultraviolet adhesive layer and located on the upper surface, and the ultraviolet light irradiates the first ultraviolet adhesive layer and the second ultraviolet adhesive layer at the same time layer to harden to form the light-transmissive protective layer. 8 . The method for manufacturing a keycap according to claim 1 , wherein in step (a), the cap body is formed by injection of light-transmitting plastic. 9 . 9. A keycap, characterized in that the keycap comprises: cap body; An ink layered structure is formed on the cap body by an in-mold transfer printing method, and the ink layered structure has a pattern formed by a high-energy optical engraving method; and The light-transmitting protective layer is formed on the ink layer structure and covers the pattern. 10. The keycap according to claim 9, wherein the keycap further comprises an adhesive layer for adhering the ink layer structure on the cap body. 11. The keycap according to claim 9, wherein the ink layer structure comprises a light-permeable ink layer and a covering ink layer, and the light-transmitting ink layer is located between the cap body and the covering ink layer, The pattern is formed on the masking ink layer. 12 . The keycap according to claim 9 , wherein the light-transmittable protective layer is a first ultraviolet hardening layer. 13 . 13. The keycap according to claim 12, wherein the cap body has an upper surface and a side surface, the pattern is located on the upper surface, and the light-transmittable protective layer is formed on the upper surface and the side surface . 14. The keycap according to claim 9, wherein the cap body has an upper surface and a side surface, and the light-transmitting protective layer comprises a first ultraviolet hardening layer and a second ultraviolet hardening layer, the second The UV curable layer is formed on the ink layered structure, the first UV curable layer is formed on the second UV curable layer and is located on the upper surface, and the pattern is simultaneously formed on the second UV curable layer and The ink layer structure is on and located on the upper surface. 15. The keycap according to claim 9, wherein the cap body is a translucent cap body.

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