Method and apparatus for progressively forging a mobile device casing

Abstract

A method and apparatus for progressively forging a mobile device casing is described. The method may include advancing an initial mobile device casing cut from an extruded sheet through a plurality of stations of a transfer die assembly. The method may also include performing a sequence of forgings on the initial mobile device casing to progressively form a mobile device casing having at least one three dimensional feature formed within at least one cavity of the progressively formed mobile device casing.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for progressively forging a mobile device casing, comprising:
 advancing an initial mobile device casing cut from an extruded sheet through a plurality of stations of a transfer die assembly; and   performing a sequence of forgings on the initial mobile device casing to progressively form a mobile device casing having at least one three dimensional feature formed within at least one cavity of the progressively formed mobile device casing.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the progressively formed mobile device casing comprises a bowl shaped mobile device casing with rounded side walls having a cavity formed on a front side of the bowl shaped mobile device casing and having one or more three dimensional features forged within a cavity in the front side of the bowl shaped mobile device casing. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein performing the sequence of forgings on the initial mobile device casing progressively forms the bowl shaped mobile device casing, further comprising:
 performing a first forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a first partially formed bowl shaped mobile device casing comprising at least raising a side wall height, reducing a plate thickness, and reducing a casing width;   performing a second forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a second partially formed bowl shaped mobile device casing comprising at least further raising the side wall height, raising a height of at least one three dimensional feature within a cavity of a front side of the second partially formed bowl shaped mobile device casing, further reducing the plate thickness, and further reducing the casing width; and   performing a third forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to fully form the bowl shaped mobile device casing comprising at least further raising the side wall height to a final side wall height, further raising the height of the least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side of the fully formed bowl shaped mobile device casing to a final feature height, further reducing the plate thickness to a final plate thickness, and further reducing the casing width to a final casing width.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the progressively formed mobile device casing comprises an i-frame mobile device casing having a cavity formed on a front side and a back side of the i-frame mobile device casing and having at least one three dimensional feature forged within the cavity of the front side and at least one three dimensional feature forged within the cavity of the back side of the i-frame mobile device casing. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein performing the sequence of forgings on the initial mobile device casing progressively forms the i-frame mobile device casing further comprises:
 performing a first forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a first partially formed i-frame shaped mobile device casing comprising at least raising a side wall height, raising a height of at least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side of the second first partially formed i-frame mobile device casing, and increasing a casing width;   performing a second forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a second partially formed i-frame mobile device casing comprising at least further raising the side wall height, reducing one or more regions of plate thickness, further raising the height of the at least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side of the second partially formed i-frame mobile device casing, and further increasing the casing width; and   performing a third forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to fully form the i-frame mobile device casing comprising at least further raising the side wall height to a final side wall height, further raising the height of the at least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side to a final feature height, further reducing the one or more regions of plate thickness, further increasing the casing width to a final casing width, and forming at least one three dimensional feature proximate to at least one side wall of the fully formed i-frame mobile device casing.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein performing the sequence of forgings on the initial mobile device casing further comprises:
 performing a forging operation on the progressively formed mobile device casing that forms a honeycomb cell feature on at least a portion of a front side, a back side, sidewalls, or a combination thereof, of the progressively formed mobile device casing.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein performing the sequence of forgings on the initial mobile device casing further comprises:
 annealing the mobile device casing after one or more stages in the sequence of forgings.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more stages in the sequence of forgings are performed at room temperature. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein a solutionized heat treatment followed by artificial aging is applied to a partially formed mobile device casing after the one or more stages performed at room temperature to obtain a homogeneous hardness of the formed mobile device casing. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more stages in the sequence of forgings includes pre-heating a partially formed mobile device casing to a predetermined temperature for a minimum duration of time before performing a forging operation. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein a heat treatment hardening followed by tempering is applied to a partially formed mobile device casing after the one or more stages that include pre-heating to obtain a homogeneous hardness of the formed mobile device casing. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein press plates of stations of the transfer die assembly that perform the forging operations are coated with titanium nitride. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device casing is formed from an aluminum alloy. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device casing is formed from a steel alloy. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device casing comprising one of a mobile phone enclosure, a phablet computer enclosure, a tablet computer enclosure, a laptop monitor enclosure, a laptop body enclosure, or a laptop keyboard enclosure. 
     
     
         16 . An apparatus for progressively forging a mobile device casing, comprising:
 a transfer die assembly to advance an initial mobile device casing cut from an extruded sheet through a multiple stations of the transfer die assembly; and   a plurality of stations from the multiple stations to perform a sequence of forgings on the initial mobile device casing to progressively form a mobile device casing having at least one three dimensional feature formed within at least one cavity of the progressively formed mobile device casing.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the progressively formed mobile device casing comprises a bowl shaped mobile device casing with rounded side walls having a cavity formed on a front side of the bowl shaped mobile device casing and having one or more three dimensional features forged within a cavity in the front side of the bowl shaped mobile device casing. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the sequence of forgings performed by the plurality of stations on the initial mobile device casing progressively forms the bowl shaped mobile device casing, further comprises:
 a first forging station that performs a first forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a first partially formed bowl shaped mobile device casing comprising the first forging station at least raising a side wall height, reducing a plate thickness, and reducing a casing width;   a second forging station that performs a second forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a second partially formed bowl shaped mobile device casing comprising the second forging station at least further raising the side wall height, raising a height of at least one three dimensional feature within a cavity of a front side of the second partially formed bowl shaped mobile device casing, further reducing the plate thickness, and further reducing the casing width; and   a third forging station that performs a third forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to fully form the bowl shaped mobile device casing comprising the third forging station at least further raising the side wall height to a final side wall height, further raising the height of the least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side of the fully formed bowl shaped mobile device casing to a final feature height, further reducing the plate thickness to a final plate thickness, and further reducing the casing width to a final casing width.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the progressively formed mobile device casing comprises an i-frame mobile device casing having a cavity formed on a front side and a back side of the i-frame mobile device casing and having at least one three dimensional feature forged within the cavity of the front side and at least one three dimensional feature forged within the cavity of the back side of the i-frame mobile device casing. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the sequence of forgings performed by the plurality of stations on the initial mobile device casing progressively forms the i-frame mobile device casing, further comprising:
 a first forging stage that performs a first forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a first partially formed i-frame shaped mobile device casing comprising the first forging stage at least raising a side wall height, raising a height of at least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side of the second first partially formed i-frame mobile device casing, and increasing a casing width;   a second forging stage that performs a second forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to form a second partially formed i-frame mobile device casing comprising the second forging stage at least further raising the side wall height, reducing one or more regions of plate thickness, further raising the height of the at least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side of the second partially formed i-frame mobile device casing, and further increasing the casing width; and   a third forging stage that performs a third forging operation in the sequence of forging stages to fully form the i-frame mobile device casing comprising the third forging stage at least further raising the side wall height to a final side wall height, further raising the height of the at least one three dimensional feature within the cavity of the front side to a final feature height, further reducing the one or more regions of plate thickness, further increasing the casing width to a final casing width, and forming at least one three dimensional feature proximate to at least one side wall of the fully formed i-frame mobile device casing.   
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the mobile device casing comprising one of a mobile phone enclosure, a phablet computer enclosure, a tablet computer enclosure, a laptop monitor enclosure, a laptop body enclosure, or a laptop keyboard enclosure.