Apple Inc.
Precious-metal-alloy contacts

Abstract:

Contacts that may be highly corrosion resistant, may be readily manufactured, and may conserve precious materials. One example may provide contacts having a layer of a precious-metal alloy to improve corrosion resistance. The precious-metal-alloy layer may be plated with a hard, durable, wear and corrosion resistant plating stack for further corrosion resistance and wear improvement. The resources consumed by a contact may be reduced by forming a bulk or substrate region of the contact using a more readily available material, such as copper or a material that is primarily copper based.