Coated article with polymeric basecoat having the appearance of stainless steel

Abstract

An article is coated with a multi-layer decorative and protective coating having the appearance of stainless steel. The coating comprises a polymer layer on the surface of said article and vapor deposited on the polymer layer a protective and decorative layer comprised of the reaction products of refractory metal or refractory metal alloy, nitrogen and oxygen wherein the nitrogen and oxygen content of the reaction products are each from about 4 to about 32 atomic percent with the nitrogen content being at least about 3 atomic percent.

I claim:  
     
         1 . An article having on at least a portion of its surface a protective and decorative coating having the appearance of stainless steel comprising: 
 a layer comprised of polymer;    color layer comprised of reaction products of refractory metal or refractory metal alloy, nitrogen and oxygen, wherein the total nitrogen and oxygen content of said reaction products of refractory metal or refractory metal alloy, nitrogen and oxygen is from about 4 to about 32 atomic percent with the nitrogen content being at least about 3 atomic percent.    
     
     
         2 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said total nitrogen and oxygen content is from about 5 to about 28 atomic percent with the nitrogen content being at least about 4 atomic percent.  
     
     
         3 . The article of  claim 1  wherein a layer comprised of refractory metal or refractory metal alloy is on said layer comprised of polymer.  
     
     
         4 . The article of  claim 1  wherein a layer comprised of refractory metal oxide or refractory metal alloy oxide is on said color layer.  
     
     
         5 . The article of  claim 3  wherein a layer comprised of refractory metal oxide or refractory metal alloy oxide is on said color layer.  
     
     
         6 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said coating has the appearance of brushed stainless steel finish.  
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said refractory metal is selected from the group consisting of zirconium, titanium and hafnium.  
     
     
         8 . The article of  claim 3  wherein said refractory metal is selected from the group consisting of zirconium, titanium and hafnium.  
     
     
         9 . The article of  claim 5  wherein said refractory metal is selected from the group consisting of zirconium, titanium and hafnium.  
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said polymer is electrocoated on said article.