Apple Inc.

Xtalic Corporation

James A Curran

Todd S Mintz

Zechariah D Feinberg

Sonja R Postak

William A Counts

Isabel Yang

Eric W Hamann

Sean R Novak

James A Dean

Aaron D Paterson

Daniel T McDonald

Karin H Rasmussen

Brian S Tryon

Evgeniya Freydina

James A Wright

Abhijeet Misra

Alan C Lund

Hoishun Li

Shiyun Ruan

Jason Reese

Joshua Garth Abbott

Robert Daniel Hilty

Lisa J Chan

William D Burke

Leon J Garcia, Jr

Alan Kleiman-Shwarsctein

Jody R Akana

Christopher D Prest

Joseph C Poole

Ivan S Maric

Masashige Tatebe

James A Yurko

Alexander W Williams

Takahiro Oshima

Brian M Gable

Lei Gao

Shi Hua Zhang

Yu Yan

Jan K Quijalvo

Kenji Hara

Ayumi Hongou

Paisith P Boonsom

Yutaka Nakagishi

Junichi Katayama

Yasuhiro Ito

Rohit G Puranik

Justin Memar-Makhsous

Cole Snider

Chuan Liu

Kar-Wai Hon

Nathaniel A Dixon

Daniel T Mcdonald

A chemical treatment process has been identified as a simple and effective means of improving the bonding of injection-molded polymer to titanium surfaces. This process forms an oxide layer on a titanium surface that includes a layered double hydroxide. The layered double hydroxide both raises the bond strength and minimizes air or water leakage. The process enables the use of titanium alloys with injection molded polymer structural bonds in strong, lightweight, and water-resistant enclosures for consumer electronics.

Porous oxide for improved titanium-polymer bonding

An enclosure for an electronic device includes a titanium-aluminum clad substrate and an anodic oxide coating disposed on the titanium-aluminum clad substrate. The anodic oxide coating includes a density of between about 2.1 g/cmand about 2.4 g/cmor includes a maximum porosity between about 21% and about 31% and can be exposed to a temperature of over 150° C. without cracking or crazing.

Anodic oxide coating with high temperature tolerance

A component for an electronic device can include a part including a first metal and a second metal diffusion bonded to the first metal. The first metal can be aluminum and the second metal can be different from the first metal. A porous aluminum oxide layer can overlie a portion of the first metal and can be disposed adjacent to an interface between the first metal and the second metal. The component can further include a non-metallic material bonded to the part and extending into pores defined by the porous aluminum oxide layer.

Non-aqueous aluminum anodizing

A housing for an electronic device can include an exterior titanium portion, an interior metal joined to the exterior titanium portion, the interior metal being a different metal than the exterior titanium portion, and an intermetallic compound having a thickness of less than 1 μm disposed between the interior metal and the exterior titanium portion.

Electronic device including clad components

A head-mounted device may have optical modules that present images to a user's left and right eyes. Each optical module may have a lens barrel with a low-reflectance coating, a display coupled to the lens barrel that generates a visible-light image, a lens mounted to the lens barrel through which the image is viewable from an eye box, an infrared light-emitting diode that emits infrared light that illuminates an eye box at an infrared wavelength through the lens, and an infrared camera that captures an image from the eye box at the infrared wavelength. The low-reflectance coating may be a low-visible-reflectance-and-low-infrared-reflectance coating that exhibits low-reflectance for visible light from the display and for infrared light at the infrared wavelength that is generated by the light-emitting diode.

Electronic devices with low-reflectance coatings

This application relates to an enclosure for a portable electronic device. The enclosure includes an aluminum alloy substrate and an anodized layer overlaying and formed from the aluminum alloy substrate. The anodized layer includes pores, where the pores include (i) dye particles that impart the anodized layer with a color, and (ii) divalent metal cations.

Dye solution alternatives for reduced dye uptake in anodized layers

This application relates to an anodized part. The anodized part includes a metal substrate and an anodized layer overlaying and formed from the metal substrate. The anodized layer includes (i) an external surface that includes randomly distributed light-absorbing features that are capable of absorbing visible light incident upon the external surface, and (ii) pores defined by pore walls, where color particles are infused within the pores. The anodized layer is characterized as having a color having an L* value using a CIE L*a*b* color space that is less than 10.

Anodized part having a matte black appearance

This application relates to an enclosure for a portable electronic device. The enclosure includes a metal substrate, and an anodized layer overlaying the metal substrate and including pores having a near-infrared (NIR) light-absorbing material therein, where an average specular reflectance of NIR light that is incident upon an external surface of the anodized layer is less than 3%.

Anodized part having low reflectance of visible and near-infrared light

Anodic oxide coatings that provide corrosion resistance to parts having protruding features, such as edges, corners and convex-shaped features, are described. According to some embodiments, the anodic oxide coatings include an inner porous layer and an outer porous layer. The inner layer is adjacent to an underlying metal substrate and is formed under compressive stress anodizing conditions that allow the inner porous layer to be formed generally crack-free. In this way, the inner porous layer acts as a barrier that prevents water or other corrosion-inducing agents from reaching the underlying metal substrate. The outer porous layer can be thicker and harder than the inner porous layer, thereby increasing the overall hardness of the anodic oxide coating.

Corrosion resistance for anodized parts having convex surface features

This application relates to a multi-piece enclosure for a portable electronic device. The enclosure includes a metal part including a metal substrate and a metal oxide layer overlaying the metal substrate, the metal oxide layer having an external surface that includes openings that lead into undercut regions. The openings are characterized as having a first width, and the undercut regions are characterized as having a second width that is greater than the first width. The enclosure further includes a non-metallic bulk layer including protruding portions that extend into the undercut regions such that the non-metallic bulk layer is interlocked with the metal part.

Etching for bonding polymer material to anodized metal

This application relates to a part for a portable electronic device. The part includes a titanium alloy substrate including a network of branching channels. The branching channels include a first channel and a second channel, where the first channel is defined by a first channel wall that extends away from a first opening in the exterior surface, and the second channel is defined by a second channel wall that extends away from a second opening in the first channel wall.

Titanium part having an etched surface

An enclosure for a portable electronic device includes a titanium substrate having a textured surface that includes peaks separated by valleys, where the textured surface is characterized as having (i) an Sdq (root mean square gradient) that is greater than 0.2 micrometers, and (ii) a gloss value that is greater than 90 gloss units as measured at 60 degrees by a gloss meter.

Titanium parts having a blasted surface texture

An enclosure for a portable electronic device can include a titanium substrate defining a textured surface and a nominal surface. The titanium substrate can include a first region that extends above the nominal surface and a second region adjacent to the first region and extending below the nominal surface. A separation distance between an apex of the first region and a bottom of a trough defined by the second region can be at least 1 micrometer. A metal oxide layer can overlay the trough defined by the second region.

Titanium part having an anodized layer

This application relates to a method for forming an enclosure for a portable electronic device, the enclosure including a metal substrate that is overlaid by an anodized layer. The method includes dyeing the anodized layer by exposing pores of the anodized layer to a dye. The method further includes sealing the dye within the pores by exposing the anodized layer to a zinc-based sealing solution, where an external surface of the anodized layer having the pores that are sealed includes an amount of zinc between about 3 wt % to about 6 wt %.

Process for incorporating zinc into a dyed anodized layer for protecting dye colorants from light exposure

Colored oxide coatings having multiple oxide layers are described. Processes for forming the multilayer oxide coating can include converting a portion of a metal substrate to a primary oxide layer, coloring the primary oxide layer, and depositing a secondary oxide layer on the primary oxide layer. The primary oxide layer and the secondary oxide layer can be at least partially transparent such that a texture of an underlying metal substrate surface is visible through the multilayer oxide coating. A top surface of the secondary oxide layer can be polished to a high gloss to give the multilayer oxide coating an appearance of depth.

Colored multilayer oxide coatings

Growing community of inventors

Morgan Hill, CA, United States of America

James A Curran