ULTRA THIN INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEM HOUSING WITH HYBRID ASSEMBLY

Abstract

An information handling system housing provides a reduced overall material thickness by forming a planar housing piece of a first metal, such as aluminum, with an interior surface having channels of reduced thickness and laser sintering a pattern in the channel with a second material, such as a pattern of interconnected hexagons formed by lines of steel. Locally formed shapes of components disposed in the housing, such as battery shape, provide room for the components with improved stiffness of the housing to meet structural constraints.

Claims

1. An information handling system comprising: plural processing components operable to process information; a display interfaced with the processing components and operable to present the information as visual images; a battery interfaced with the processing components and the display to provide power to process the information and present the visual images; and a housing sized to contain the processing components, display and battery, the housing formed of a planar metal material having a planar outer surface and an interior surface having first and second portions of first and second depths, the housing integrating a second material with the first material at the first portion having the first depth, the second material having plural lines forming a pattern of interconnected shapes.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein: the first material comprises aluminum having a perimeter, the first material having a first thickness within the perimeter of less than a second thickness at the perimeter, the first and second thicknesses defining the first and second depths; and the second material comprises steel disposed within the interior at the first depth.

3. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the second material pattern comprises interconnected hexagons.

4. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the first material thickness within the perimeter plus a thickness of the second material equal the first material thickness at the perimeter.

5. The information handling system of claim 4 wherein the first depth corresponds to a shape and location of the battery disposed in the housing.

6. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the housing comprises a keyboard cover having a palm rest, the first portion defined under the palm rest.

7. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises aluminum and the second material comprises copper.

8. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises aluminum and the second material comprises a ceramic.

9. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises aluminum and the second material comprises carbon fiber.

10. A method for manufacture of an information handling system housing, the method comprising: forming a planar housing from a first metal to have first and second portions, the first portion having a first thickness, the second portion having a second thickness of less than the first thickness; and laser sintering a pattern onto the second portion with a second metal, the pattern having plural interconnected shapes formed by lines of the second metal.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the pattern comprises plural hexagons.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first metal comprises aluminum and the second metal comprises stainless steel.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising: locating the second portion at a placement location of a component of the information handling system, the second portion having a perimeter of slightly greater than the component perimeter; and assembling the housing to enclose the component aligned with the second portion.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the component comprises a battery.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising: locating the second portion at a palm rest of a keyboard cover; and assembling the housing to cover a keyboard.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprising: coupling a carbon fiber composite frame to a perimeter of the housing; and assembling a display in the housing within the carbon fiber composite frame.

17. The method of claim 10 further comprising integrating copper.

18. An information handling system housing comprising: a metal sheet of a first metal having a planar exterior surface and an interior surface of first portion having a first depth and a second portion having a second depths; and a pattern formed with lines of a second metal integrated with the first metal at the second portion.

19. The information handling system housing of claim 18 wherein: the metal sheet is aluminum; and the second metal comprises steel forming the pattern of plural interconnected hexagons.

20. The information handling system of claim 19 wherein the second portion is formed to a perimeter of a component of the information handling system contained by the housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element.

[0012] FIGS. 1 and 1A depict an exploded perspective view of an information handling system having a thin housing formed with a secondary metal integrated as a pattern at an interior recess of a primary metal plate;

[0013] FIGS. 2, 2A and 2B depict a side perspective view of an example of an alternative embodiment of the interior surface of the lid housing portion;

[0014] FIG. 3 depicts a side perspective view of a secondary material reinforcement of cover housing portion 18 at a palm rest;

[0015] FIG. 4 depicts a side perspective view of a lid housing portion example embodiment having opening formations that support component placement;

[0016] FIG. 5 depicts a side cutaway view of an example of a housing stack for a lid housing portion;

[0017] FIG. 6 depicts a side cutaway view of an example of a housing stack for a lid housing portion reinforced by a secondary material; and

[0018] FIG. 7 depicts a chart of a variety of materials that may be used as a secondary material to provide support to the planar plate, such as an aluminum plate material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] An information handling system housing provides a thin yet robust structure with a plate of a primary metal reinforced in an interior recess by a pattern of a secondary metal integrated with the primary metal in the recess. For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.

[0020] Referring now to FIG. 1, an exploded perspective view depicts an information handling system 10 having a thin housing 12 formed with a secondary metal integrated as a pattern at an interior recess of a primary metal plate. In the example embodiment, information handling system 10 has a convertible configuration with a base housing portion 14 rotationally coupled to a lid housing portion 16 with a hinge 17. A cover housing portion 18 is disposed over processing components disposed in base housing portion 14 and supports a keyboard 20 that accepts end user inputs through key touches. In alternative embodiments, information handling system 10 may have a tablet configuration having the processing components disposed in a single planar housing portion. In the example embodiment, processing components communicate through a motherboard 22 disposed in base housing portion 14. For instance, a central processing unit (CPU) 24 executes instructions to process information in cooperation with a random access memory (RAM) 26 that stores the instructions and information. An embedded controller 28 manages physical component operations, such as thermal and power systems, and interactions with input/output (I/O) devices, such as inputs by keyboard 20. A graphics processor unit (GPU) 30 interfaces with CPU 24 and processes information to generate pixel values that present visual images at a display panel 32 that integrates in lid housing portion 16. In alternative embodiments, a variety of components may be disposed in housing 12 that cooperate to process information and manage system operating conditions, such as a power supply, battery, cooling fan and persistent storage.

[0021] Referring now to FIG. 1A, a front view of lid housing portion 16 depicts an example embodiment of a reinforcing secondary material pattern 36 that improves housing stiffness with reduced primary metal thickness. Lid housing portion 16 is, for instance, a planar plate 34 of 7075 aluminum having a thickness of 0.6 mm with a planar exterior surface suitable as an information handling system exterior, such as with some machining of the planar exterior to curve the surface in an aesthetic manner. Lid housing portion 16 is formed at the interior surface to have a central region of less thickness than the outer perimeter, such as 0.4 mm, so that viewing the interior surface of the central region has a depth of greater than the perimeter based upon the reduced material thickness. A perimeter support material 38 couples to the perimeter of lid housing portion 16 to provide additional support. For instance, perimeter support material 38 is a ceramic material, such as aluminum oxide ceramic, a carbon fiber composite material or other supportive material that aids the robustness of the underlying main planar plate 34. A secondary material pattern 36 integrates with planar plate 34 in the central region. For example, lines of a steel alloy, such as a nano-structural stainless steel 4140, are laser sintered with an additive material three dimensional printing technique to form interconnected hexagons. In the example embodiment, the size and position of the central region and secondary material pattern 36 co-locate with a position of a battery 37 disposed in lid housing portion 16. In one example embodiment, the central region may be formed to have a greater depth with secondary material pattern 36 formed so that additional room is available within the housing for placement of battery 37.

[0022] In the example embodiment, a 0.6 mm aluminum housing is provided with strength of a thicker aluminum material by leveraging additional strength offered by a nanosteel pattern formed in a channel at the interior side of the housing using three dimensional printing of the nanosteel pattern on the aluminum interior surface. Locally formed channel recess areas allow strengthening of the housing in a targeted manner with various shapes that correspond to components within the housing that may need additional space. The location of the channel recess areas may be placed where additional housing strength is needed, such as hinge locations or areas that experience greater torsional forces. In various embodiments, different types of material may be used for both the housing and secondary material pattern, such as ceramics, carbon fiber, titanium and copper. For example, copper and ceramic materials may be used to provide thermal management and antenna windows. Advantageously, recycled copper and steel may be used. For the example embodiment, a number of different manufacture techniques may be used. In one example embodiment, a uniform housing thickness of 0.4 mm of aluminum is formed across the entire housing and then the central regions are reinforced with 0.2 mm thick lines of laser sintered stainless steel so that the central region has a thickness of 0.6 mm. In an alternative embodiment, an aluminum 6063 plate of 0.75 mm has the central region machined to a reduced thickness of 0.3 to 0.4 mm where the battery or other components are located within the housing. The areas of reduced thickness are then reinforced with laser sintered stainless steel 304 of 0.2 mm so that the location(s) of the components provide additional room for the components without impacting structure integrity. A 0.6 mm thick housing wall having an aluminum base and stainless steel reinforcement offers approximately the same strength as the aluminum plate at full thickness. In one example embodiment, the use of the pattern in the steel reinforcement reduces the weight from 119 g if a plate of steel is used to 48 g for the pattern so that the overall housing weight of a plate of aluminum is reduced from 145 g to 131 g with the steel reinforcement. In one embodiment, a nanosteel may be used having an alloy crystal structure that enhances the rigidity of the housing structure. Automobile grade aluminum, such as is available from NOVELIS, provides enhanced strength for the housing plate, such as a specific yield strength in MPa/g/cm2 of 107 for 6HS-s615 and up to 222 for next generation materials.

[0023] Referring now to FIGS. 2, 2A and 2B, a side perspective view depicts an example of an alternative embodiment of the interior surface of lid housing portion 16. In the example embodiment, main planar plate 34 has a greater thickness along its perimeter than its interior. A support arm 40 is coupled at opposing sides of planar plate 34 to enhance rigidity and mount a display panel. Within the perimeter of planar plate 34, a pattern of a secondary material 42 is integrated, such as with laser sintering, to form a pattern. FIG. 2A depicts an example pattern of interconnected hexagons of secondary material 42 formed by laser sintered lines of stainless steel. FIG. 2B depicts a side cutaway view of lid housing 16 to illustrate one example of integration of the secondary material 42 within planar plate 34. In the example embodiment, an open region 44 is etched in planar plate 34 where secondary material 42 is laser sintered so that the total thickness of lid housing 16 equals the thickness at the perimeter. In the example embodiment, open region 44 provides less material proximate secondary material 42 to help reduce weight while the more stiff secondary material aids lid housing portion 16 stiffness so that a thinner planar plate 34 may be used for the housing. In an alternative embodiment, secondary material 42 may fill the entire opening. As described above, secondary material 42 may also form the pattern as a raised material over a planar surface rather than within the etched openings.

[0024] Referring now to FIG. 3, a side perspective view depicts a secondary material reinforcement of cover housing portion 18 at a palm rest. A recess depth 48 is formed in cover housing portion 18 on both sides of an opening that provides room for a touchpad at a base of where key openings 46 are formed. A secondary material pattern 36 is integrated in cover housing portion 18 in each recessed depth to provide reinforcement with an overall thinner material. In the example embodiment, the pattern has interconnected hexagons, however, in alternative embodiments other patterns may be used, such as squares, rectangles, diamonds and circles. Further, various sized patterns may be used to balance the weight of the housing portion and the amount of stiffness called for by the housing constraints.

[0025] Referring now to FIG. 4, a side perspective view of lid housing portion 16 depicts an example embodiment having opening formations 50 that support component placement. The openings 50 are formed in planar plate 34 to align with placement of components in the information handling system, such as a camera, microphone, speakers or hinge support. For instance, planar plate 34 is 0.75 mm thick aluminum that has openings 50 formed by machining or other methods to a thickness of 0.3 to 0.4 mm versus a thickness of 0.75 mm at regions 48 that are not machined. Opening 50 is then reinforces with a secondary material pattern, such as hexagons of stainless steel of 0.2 mm thickness so that additional depth is provided in the openings to accept components relative to the depth at region 48. The secondary material patterns improve housing stiffness to provide a robust solution.

[0026] Referring now to FIG. 5, a side cutaway view depicts an example of a housing stack for a lid housing portion such as used as a laptop information handling system display housing. The display housing plate 34 has a uniform thickness to meet defined stiffness constraints. An internal protrusion 38 of the display housing plate 34 provides a mounting surface for display panel adhesive tape 52 and the display panel 32. The relative internal system gap is shown as the vertical distance from the display surface to a system palmrest 56. The total stack height of the display housing is represented by arrow 54 The stack of materials define a thickness of the housing portion post assembly and includes a thicker assembly to meet stiffness constraints with a solid aluminum planar plate.

[0027] Referring now to FIG. 6, a side cutaway view depicts an example of a housing stack for a laptop display housing, such as lid housing portion plate 34 reinforced by a secondary material 58. A reduced thickness is supported by defining openings in the planar plate to insert secondary material so that a cover plate 48 has a reduced thickness. With the reduced thickness, additional components 60 fit between the inner surface of cover plate 48 at secondary material 58 and display panel 32, which is held in place by adhesive tape 52 at a perimeter support material 38. In addition, the spacing to palm rest 54 is increased to provide additional space within the housing. Alternatively the same gap from the display to palmrest 56 can be maintained to enable an overall reduced system thickness while meeting the same stiffness constraints.

[0028] Referring now to FIG. 7, a chart depicts a variety of materials that may be used as a secondary material to provide support to the planar plate, such as an aluminum plate material. The examples include a variety of titanium alloys having varying masses of tin, molybdenum, zirconium, aluminum, iron, chromium, manganese, vanadium, cobalt, copper and nickel. Selection of a particular secondary material may be based upon bonding of the selected alloy at the microstructure of the aluminum plate during laser sintering, such as based upon a microstructure and alloy used for the aluminum plate. In addition, the secondary material may be selected to aid in thermal transfer of the housing, such as by including at least some lines of a thermally conductive material, such as copper.

[0029] Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.