Back to results
US 2020/0347492 A1Published application
Aluminum physical vapor deposition for the cosmetic finishing of recycled aluminum alloys
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsBrian S. Tryon, Alexander W. Williams, James A. Curran, Sonja R. Postak
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of forming a surface coating on a component of an electronic device can include depositing an aluminum layer including at least about 0.05 weight percent (wt %) of a grain refiner on a surface of the component by a physical vapor deposition process, and anodizing the aluminum layer to form an anodized aluminum oxide layer having a L* value greater than about 85 in the CIELAB color space.
Claims20
A component for an electronic device, comprising:
- a substrate material defining a surface;
- and
- an anodized aluminum oxide layer formed over the surface, the anodized aluminum oxide layer having a thickness greater than about 4 microns and an L* value in a CIELAB color space of greater than about 85.
A coating formed on a substrate material, comprising:
- an aluminum layer having a surface area ratio of grains with a major surface dimension greater than 1 micron to grains with a major surface dimension less than 1 micron, wherein the surface area ratio is less than about 0.1;
- the aluminum layer having a thickness greater than about 2 microns.
A method of coating a substrate, comprising:
- depositing an aluminum layer including at least about 0.05 weight percent (wt %) of a grain refiner on a surface of the substrate by a physical vapor deposition process;
- and
- anodizing the aluminum layer to form an anodized aluminum oxide layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.