The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jul. 22, 2025

Filed:

Aug. 30, 2021
Applicant:

Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);

Inventors:

Brian S. Tryon, Redwood City, CA (US);

Isabel Yang, San Jose, CA (US);

Todd Mintz, San Jose, CA (US);

Jeremy Li, San Jose, CA (US);

Brian Gable, Los Gatos, CA (US);

Lijie Bao, Saratoga, CA (US);

Yi Chen, San Jose, CA (US);

Christopher D. Prest, San Francisco, CA (US);

James Yurko, Saratoga, CA (US);

Assignee:
Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
C23C 28/00 (2006.01); G04B 37/22 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
C23C 28/34 (2013.01); C23C 28/32 (2013.01); C23C 28/321 (2013.01); G04B 37/226 (2013.01);
Abstract

An electronic device such as a wristwatch may include a conductive housing. A corrosion-resistant coating may be deposited on the conductive housing. The coating may include transition layers and an uppermost alloy layer. The transition layers may include a chromium seed layer on the conductive housing and a chromium nitride layer on the chromium seed layer. The uppermost alloy layer may include TiCrCN or other alloys and may provide the coating with desired optical reflection and absorption characteristics. The transition layers may include a minimal number of coating defects, thereby eliminating potential sites at which visible defects could form when exposed to salt water. This may allow the electronic device to exhibit a desired color and to be submerged in salt water without producing undesirable visible defects on the conductive housing structures.


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