Systems and methods for manufacturing electronic device housings

Abstract

A method of manufacturing an electronic device housing includes obtaining a monolithic body of RF transparent material and plating a surface of the monolithic body with a nanograin coating to increase the structural rigidity of the monolithic body. A portion of the nanograin coating is thereafter removed to create an RF window.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic device comprising:
 a monolithic body including an RF transparent material at least partially defining an internal volume;   a nanograin coating positioned on an outer surface of the monolithic body;   a communication device positioned in the internal volume under the outer surface of the monolithic body, the communication device configured to wirelessly communicate via RF signals; and   an RF window of the monolithic body positioned adjacent the communication device, wherein the RF window is a portion of the monolithic body in which the nanograin coating is not present on the outer surface of the RF transparent material.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the RF transparent material is a polymer. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the RF transparent material is at least 1 millimeter thick. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the nanograin coating is a metallic coating. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the monolithic body is a first monolithic body and the nanograin coating provides electrical conductivity to a second monolithic body. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein a structural rigidity of the monolithic body and the nanograin coating is at least twice that of a structural rigidity of the monolithic body alone. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the RF transparent material is nonconductive material. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device includes one or more body panels. 
     
     
         9 . The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein each of the one or more body panels partially defines an internal volume of the electronic device. 
     
     
         10 . The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the internal volume of the electronic device contains electronic components. 
     
     
         11 . The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more body panels provide electromagnetic (EM) shielding to the electronic components. 
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the nanograin coating provides EM shielding. 
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication device is configured to wirelessly communicate via RF signals through the RF window. 
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication device is one or more of a laptop device, a tablet computing device, a hybrid computing device, a desktop computing device, a server computing device, a wearable computing device, and a smart appliance. 
     
     
         15 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication device is a wireless antenna. 
     
     
         16 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication device is a short-range wireless BLUETOOTH connection. 
     
     
         17 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication device is a near-field communication (NFC) device. 
     
     
         18 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the RF transparent material includes one or more of a thermoplastic polymer and an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). 
     
     
         19 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the nanograin coating is less than 1 micrometer. 
     
     
         20 . An electronic device comprising:
 a monolithic body including an RF transparent material at least partially defining an internal volume;   a nanograin coating positioned on an outer surface of the monolithic body;   a communication device positioned in the internal volume, the communication device configured to wirelessly communicate via RF signals; and   an RF window of the monolithic body positioned adjacent the communication device, wherein the RF window is a portion of the monolithic body in which the nanograin coating is not present on the outer surface of the RF transparent material.