Method of forming a housing for an electronic device
A portable computing device is disclosed. The portable computing device can take many forms such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and so on. The portable computing device can include at least a single piece housing. The single piece housing can be machined from a single billet of material, such as a billet of aluminum. The single piece housing can include ledges with a surface receiving a trim bead and a cover. Corner brackets can be attached to the single piece housing to improve the damage resistance of the housing.
1. A method of forming a housing for an electronic device using a single billet of material comprising:
machining the billet to form an exterior surface of the housing, the exterior surface including a curved surface and a substantially flat bottom surface;
machining the billet to form an interior cavity, a portion of the billet that defines the interior cavity being substantially flat and parallel to the substantially flat bottom surface;
machining the billet to form interior sidewalls including ledges that extend from the interior sidewalls, the ledges including a surface, approximately parallel to the flat bottom surface, for receiving a cover; and
forming an opening extending through the interior sidewall to the curved surface, the opening configured pass sound generated by an internal audio element.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
machining the billet to form support shelves for attaching corner brackets to the housing; and
bonding and electrically grounding the corner brackets to the housing, wherein the corner brackets include a surface for receiving a corner portion of the trim bead and the cover, the surface aligned with and at approximately same height as the surface on the ledges.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the corner brackets include a castellation pattern.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a width of the ledges varies around a perimeter of the interior cavity.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: removing a portion of the ledges to allow a component to be installed proximate to the interior sidewalls in the interior cavity.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the component is a switch with a controlling portion extending through an opening in the interior sidewall to allow access to the controlling portion from the exterior surface of the housing.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining computer numerical control cutting paths for at one of the machining operations.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said operation of determining computer numerical control cutting paths for at one of the machining operations utilizes local relative dimensions.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said operation of machining the billet to form interior sidewalls including ledges that extend from the interior sidewalls further comprises utilizing a local thickness of the interior sidewalls to determine a machining path.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one interior attachment or alignment point.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one interior attachment or alignment point comprises at least one aperture.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one interior attachment or alignment point comprises at least one raised column.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one interior attachment or alignment point is configured to receive at least one fastener.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing excess material from the billet.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the excess material is removed from underneath at least one of the ledges.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the opening is formed by machining into the curved surface portion in a direct proximately normal to the surface.
17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing at least a portion of a corner region of at least one of the ledges.
18. A method of machining a single billet of material to form a housing for an electronic device, comprising:
shaping an exterior surface of the billet to include a curved surface and an integral bottom surface;
removing material from the billet to form an interior cavity, a portion of the billet that defines the interior cavity includes a flat portion parallel to the bottom surface;
forming ledges that are configured to receive a trim bead and a cover, extend from interior sidewalls surrounding the interior cavity, and are parallel to the flat portion; and
forming an opening in the curved surface to allow sound generated by an internal speaker to exit through the housing.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the opening in the curved surface is formed by cutting a hole.
20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising forming an interior to exterior cut-out in the billet.
21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the opening in the curved surface is formed by machining in a direct proximately normal to a surface of the ledges.