Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple 51 granted patents. The main focus of this report zeros in on future Apple devices made with Titanium and the special treatments that Apple will use to keep the metal from discoloring which is one of the current drawbacks to using Titanium today. Our report also links to five more patents of mild interest that covers Head-mounted device with an adjustable opacity system, a foldable lens system, Laser processing of fabric and more. And as always, we wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

Titanium Surfaces with Improved Color Consistency and Resistance to Color Change

Apple has been granted a series of patents relating to the use of titanium for future Apple devices over the last year (01, 02, 03 and 04) and today they've yet another one titled "Titanium surfaces with improved color consistency and resistance to color change."

According to Apple, titanium is an attractive candidate over stainless steel for metal enclosures because of titanium's combination of low density and corrosion resistance. Moreover, titanium has the highest strength: weight ratio of any metal. By utilizing titanium in metal enclosures, thinner enclosures can be utilized to carry more components inside. However, in spite of these advantages, titanium is far more susceptible to environmental exposure. In particular, the color of a titanium surface may be progressively altered from a natural silver color towards a shade of yellow, then brown, and then even purple and blue when oxidized.

Apple's invention which was granted to them today covers techniques for precisely controlling the "natural" color of titanium by ensuring that the thickness and color of the engineered anodized layer is precisely controlled (e.g.,.about.1 nm-2 nm of thickness) while also eliminating any variability in density and stoichiometry of the engineered anodized layer. The native metal oxide layer is replaced with an engineered anodized layer having a similar thickness and appearance, but with a more carefully engineered and controlled appearance and composition. As a result, the engineered anodized layer is far less susceptible to color variation and further oxidation. Beneficially, this technique reduces part-to-part variability.

For more details, review Apple's granted patent 11,032,930.

Other Granted Patents of Interest include:  

11,031,195: Laser processing of fabric for electronic devices

11,029,496: Folded lens system

11,029,521: Head-mounted device with an adjustable opacity system. Below you can see patent FIG. 1 which is a schematic diagram of an illustrative head-mounted device with an adjustable capacity system (highlighted in yellow); and FIG. 7 is a top view of an illustrative head-mounted device with support structures that support an optical coupler and a photochromic layer for an adjustable opacity system.

11,031,195: Laser processing of fabric for electronic devices

11,029,442: Self-mixing optical proximity sensors for electronic devices

The Remaining Patents Granted to Apple Today