Patents by Inventor Naoto Matsuyuki

Naoto Matsuyuki has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11921259
    Abstract: An electronic device includes electrical components in a housing. The components may include optical components such as a display. Protective structures may be used to protect the optical components. The protective structures may include one or more protective transparent layers such as layers of glass or crystalline material such as sapphire. The protective transparent layers may be coated with an oleophobic coating. To enhance coating durability, catalyst may be used to help bond the oleophobic coating. An adhesion promotion layer such as a silicon oxide layer may be deposited on the transparent protective layer. A catalyst layer such as a layer of sodium fluoride may be deposited on the adhesion promotion layer. The oleophobic material may be evaporated or otherwise deposited on the catalyst layer. Heat and moisture may help the oleophobic material form chemical bonds with the adhesion promotion layer, thereby forming a durable oleophobic coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Manish Mittal, Feng Liu, Kenji Ishizeki, Matthew S. Rogers, Naoto Matsuyuki, Wolf Oetting
  • Patent number: 11910552
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing. The device may include metal structures such as a metal member forming a portion of the housing, a portion of a strap, or other portions of the device. A gold-containing coating such as a layer of elemental gold or a gold alloy may cover the metal member to provide the metal member with a gold appearance or other desired appearance. To protect the metal member and the gold-containing coating, the metal member and gold-containing coating may be covered with a protective coating layer such as an organic protective layer. The organic protective layer may have a fluoropolymer layer with thiol coupling groups to promote adhesion to the gold-containing layer or may contain a polymer layer with silane and thiol coupling groups that serves as an adhesion promotion layer for an overlapping fluoropolymer layer with silane coupling groups.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Manish Mittal, Brian S. Tryon, James A. Yurko, Jing Zhou, Matthew S. Rogers, Naoto Matsuyuki
  • Publication number: 20240008233
    Abstract: An electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and at least partially defining an internal volume of the electronic device, an electromagnetic radiation emitter and an electromagnetic radiation detector disposed in the internal volume, and an optical component disposed in the aperture. The optical component can include a first and second transparent portions disposed above the electromagnetic radiation detector and the electromagnetic radiation emitter, and an opaque portion disposed between the first and second transparent portions. A conductive component can be in electrical communication with the opaque portion and one or more components of the electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2023
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventors: Maegan K. Spencer, Brian R. Land, Naoto Matsuyuki, Erik L. Wang, William C. Lukens, Steven C. Roach
  • Publication number: 20230414122
    Abstract: An electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and at least partially defining an internal volume of the electronic device, an electromagnetic radiation emitter and an electromagnetic radiation detector disposed in the internal volume, and an optical component disposed in the aperture. The optical component can include a first and second transparent portions disposed above the electromagnetic radiation detector and the electromagnetic radiation emitter, and an opaque portion disposed between the first and second transparent portions and extending a thickness of the optical component. The first transparent portion, the second transparent portion, and the opaque portion can define a flush exterior surface of the electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2023
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Maegan K. Spencer, Brian R. Land, Naoto Matsuyuki, Erik L. Wang, William C. Lukens, Steven C. Roach
  • Publication number: 20230418377
    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have catadioptric lenses that each include a partial mirror, a quarter wave plate, and a polarizer. An optical system in the head-mounted device may have an infrared light-emitting device and an infrared light-sensing device. The optical system may illuminate a user's eyes in eye boxes and may gather measurements from the illuminated eye boxes for eye tracking and other functions. The optical system may operate through the catadioptric lenses. To enhance optical system performance, the polarizers may be wire grid polarizers that are formed from conductive lines that exhibit enhanced infrared transmission and/or the quarter wave plates may be formed from cholesteric liquid crystal layers that serve as quarter wave plates at visible wavelengths and that do not serve as quarter wave plates at infrared wavelengths.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2023
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Yokoyama, John N. Border, Naoto Matsuyuki, Serhan O. Isikman, Wei-Liang Hsu
  • Patent number: 11809619
    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have catadioptric lenses that each include a partial mirror, a quarter wave plate, and a polarizer. An optical system in the head-mounted device may have an infrared light-emitting device and an infrared light-sensing device. The optical system may illuminate a user's eyes in eye boxes and may gather measurements from the illuminated eye boxes for eye tracking and other functions. The optical system may operate through the catadioptric lenses. To enhance optical system performance, the polarizers may be wire grid polarizers that are formed from conductive lines that exhibit enhanced infrared transmission and/or the quarter wave plates may be formed from cholesteric liquid crystal layers that serve as quarter wave plates at visible wavelengths and that do not serve as quarter wave plates at infrared wavelengths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Yokoyama, John N. Border, Naoto Matsuyuki, Serhan O. Isikman, Wei-Liang Hsu
  • Patent number: 11805629
    Abstract: An electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and at least partially defining an internal volume of the electronic device, an electromagnetic radiation emitter and an electromagnetic radiation detector disposed in the internal volume, and an optical component disposed in the aperture. The optical component can include a first and second transparent portions disposed above the electromagnetic radiation detector and the electromagnetic radiation emitter, and an opaque portion disposed between the first and second transparent portions. A conductive component can be in electrical communication with the opaque portion and one or more components of the electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Maegan K. Spencer, Brian R. Land, Naoto Matsuyuki, Erik L. Wang, William C. Lukens, Steven C. Roach
  • Patent number: 11786139
    Abstract: An electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and at least partially defining an internal volume of the electronic device, an electromagnetic radiation emitter and an electromagnetic radiation detector disposed in the internal volume, and an optical component disposed in the aperture. The optical component can include a first and second transparent portions disposed above the electromagnetic radiation detector and the electromagnetic radiation emitter, and an opaque portion disposed between the first and second transparent portions and extending a thickness of the optical component. The first transparent portion, the second transparent portion, and the opaque portion can define a flush exterior surface of the electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Maegan K. Spencer, Brian R. Land, Naoto Matsuyuki, Erik L. Wang, William C. Lukens, Steven C. Roach
  • Publication number: 20230244018
    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with conductive structures such as conductive housing structures. A visible-light-reflecting coating may be formed on the conductive structures. The coating may have adhesion and transition layers and a multi-layer thin-film interference filter on the adhesion and transition layers. The multi-layer thin-film interference filter may have an uppermost SiCrN layer, a lowermost TiN layer, and a set of SiN layers interleaved with a set of SiH layers. The coating may exhibit an orange, yellow, or red color that has a relatively uniform visual response at different viewing angles even when the underlying conductive structures have a three-dimensional shape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2023
    Publication date: August 3, 2023
    Inventors: Brian S Tryon, Naoto Matsuyuki, Shuichi Shimada, Bin Fan, Hyuga Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 11604514
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a substrate for an electronic device. The substrate has a visually imperceptible surface texture that exhibits different coefficients of friction on various input objects. In some implementations, the texture of the textured substrate is created using a gas etching process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Naoto Matsuyuki, Dale N. Memering, Matthew S. Rogers, Victor Luzzato, Naoki Okahata
  • Patent number: 11540599
    Abstract: Watch bands can be provided with an ability to dynamically adjust the fit of a watch against a wrist of a user. One or more of a variety of tensioning elements can be provided with a shape memory polymer that responds to a stimulus to adjust a fit of the band. Such stimulus can be from user or actively applied by the watch. The shape memory polymer can be a composite material that provides high durability under cyclic stretching and high speed response of shape recovering while avoiding a drastic moduli drop by shape recovering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Yokoyama, Osamu Yabe, Eiryo Shiraishi, Naoto Matsuyuki
  • Patent number: 11518138
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed are directed to a woven fabric band that is capable of being secured to another object using threads or the band itself. The woven fabric band may include an inner layer having a first temperature melting point and an outer layer having a second temperature melting point that is higher than the first temperature melting point. When heat having the first temperature is applied to the woven fabric band, the inner layer of the woven fabric band melts while the outer layer remains in its original state. When the inner layer melts, the inner layer conforms to a first shape. As a result of the inner layer conforming to the first shape, the outer layer also conforms to the same shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Edward Siahaan, Douglas J. Weber, Hsiang Hung Chen, Naoto Matsuyuki, Yoji Hamada, Teodor Dabov, Whitney D. Mattson, Ying-Liang Su
  • Publication number: 20220359133
    Abstract: Keycaps for keyboards that have transparent top portions have a set of layered components to define a top surface that provides key definition by curvature, texture, ridges, or other external structural features. Other portions of the keycaps define a glyph or support structure for the top layer. Features such as angle filters and partially reflective materials are implemented to improve the visibility, contrast, and reflectivity of the keycaps. Multiple methods are used to bend or otherwise modify rigid transparent materials such as glass in order to add surface features and to improve aesthetics of the keycaps of a keyboard.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2022
    Publication date: November 10, 2022
    Inventors: Paul X. Wang, Christopher D. Jones, Dinesh C. Mathew, Keith J. Hendren, Martin Melcher, Matthew S. Rogers, Naoto Matsuyuki, Simon R. Lancaster-Larocque, Avianne Marie B. Tuano
  • Patent number: 11398359
    Abstract: Keycaps for keyboards that have transparent top portions have a set of layered components to define a top surface that provides key definition by curvature, texture, ridges, or other external structural features. Other portions of the keycaps define a glyph or support structure for the top layer. Features such as angle filters and partially reflective materials are implemented to improve the visibility, contrast, and reflectivity of the keycaps. Multiple methods are used to bend or otherwise modify rigid transparent materials such as glass in order to add surface features and to improve aesthetics of the keycaps of a keyboard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Paul X. Wang, Christopher D. Jones, Dinesh C. Mathew, Keith J. Hendren, Martin Melcher, Matthew S. Rogers, Naoto Matsuyuki, Simon R. Lancaster-Larocque, Avianne Marie B. Tuano
  • Patent number: 11345121
    Abstract: The disclosure provides an aluminized composite including a base material. The aluminized composite may also include a diffusion layer disposed over the base material. The aluminized composite may further include an aluminum material disposed over the diffusion layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Yokoyama, Naoto Matsuyuki, James A. Wright, Brian M. Gable, William A. Counts, Eric W. Hamann
  • Publication number: 20210400830
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing. The device may include metal structures such as a metal member forming a portion of the housing, a portion of a strap, or other portions of the device. A gold-containing coating such as a layer of elemental gold or a gold alloy may cover the metal member to provide the metal member with a gold appearance or other desired appearance. To protect the metal member and the gold-containing coating, the metal member and gold-containing coating may be covered with a protective coating layer such as an organic protective layer. The organic protective layer may have a fluoropolymer layer with thiol coupling groups to promote adhesion to the gold-containing layer or may contain a polymer layer with silane and thiol coupling groups that serves as an adhesion promotion layer for an overlapping fluoropolymer layer with silane coupling groups.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Publication date: December 23, 2021
    Inventors: Manish Mittal, Brian S. Tryon, James A. Yurko, Jing Zhou, Matthew S. Rogers, Naoto Matsuyuki
  • Patent number: 11199929
    Abstract: A textured enclosure component including two different types of surface features is disclosed. The two different types of surface features are differently sized. The combination of differently sized surface features provides both anti-glare and anti-reflective properties to the enclosure component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Joseph C. Poole, Matthew S. Rogers, Naoto Matsuyuki
  • Patent number: 11148398
    Abstract: A multilayer composite is provided. The composite may include a plurality of metallic glass layers interleaved with a plurality of polymer layers. The composite may have a thickness of up to 100 microns. The composite may have a fatigue strength of at least 1.5 times of the fatigue strength of a monolithic metallic glass having the same thickness as the composite and the same chemical composition as the metallic glass layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Yokoyama, Naoto Matsuyuki, Sungwon Bae, Theodore A. Waniuk
  • Patent number: 11098218
    Abstract: Patterned and plasma-treated coatings for surfaces of electronic devices are disclosed. The patterned and plasma-treated coatings may include a linear fluorinated oligomer or linear fluorinated polymer and may be transparent. Regions of a patterned coating may be micro-sized. The pattern defined by the coating may not be visually discernable, but may affect the frictional properties of the coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Naoto Matsuyuki, Manish Mittal, Matthew S. Rogers
  • Patent number: 11088718
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a housing of an electronic device includes applying a mask to a portion of a ceramic green body to define a masked portion and an unmasked portion, applying a pigment to the ceramic green body to color the unmasked portion, and sintering the ceramic green body to remove the mask and form a ceramic housing. The ceramic housing may comprise a first portion corresponding to the masked portion and having a first color, and a second portion corresponding to the unmasked portion and having a second color different from the first color.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Colin M. Ely, Dale N. Memering, Kazuya Takagi, Naoto Matsuyuki, Theodore A. Waniuk