Coated non-metallic sheet having a brushed metal appearance, and coatings for and method of making same

Abstract

A method of making an article that exhibits a metallic appearance includes treating a surface of a non-metallic substrate, e.g. a glass sheet to have a textured surface, and applying an overlay, e.g. a coating over the pattern. The percent of visible light transmittance, and percent visible light reflectance, of the substrate and the overlay is selected such that the pattern is visible when the article is viewed through one of the surfaces of the substrate or overlay. Also provided is a heatable coating having a low emissivity that can be used as the overlay.

1 . A coating comprising:
 an aesthetic reflective layer selected from steel, copper, brass, niobium, aluminum, nichrome, tin, nickel, and chrome, noble metals and mixtures thereof;   a primer layer over the aesthetic reflective layer, wherein the primer layer is selected from the group comprising titanium containing material, a zirconium containing material, an aluminum containing material, a nickel containing material, a chromium containing material, a hafnium containing material, a copper containing material, a niobium containing material, a tantalum containing material, a vanadium containing material, an indium containing material, a zinc containing material, and mixtures thereof, and   a dielectric layer over the primer layer, wherein the dielectric layer is selected from the group comprising oxides of titanium, hafnium, zirconium, niobium, zinc, bismuth, lead, indium, tin, zinc and tin, oxides of indium-tin alloys, silicon nitrides, silicon aluminum nitrides, oxynitrides, and aluminum nitrides.   
     
     
         2 . The coating according to  claim 1 , wherein the aesthetic reflective film has a thickness in the range of 1 to 20 nanometers (“nm”); the primer layer has a thickness of 1 to 10 nm; the dielectric film has a thickness in the range of 1 to 10 nm. 
     
     
         3 . The coating according to  claim 2 , further comprising a protective overcoat on the dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer is an oxide of a mixture of silica and alumina and has a thickness in the range of 10 to 500 nm. 
     
     
         4 . A heatable coating having a low emissivity, comprising:
 a layer of a visible light absorbing material;   a first dielectric layer over the layer of the visible light absorbing material;   a first silver layer over the first dielectric layer;   a first primer layer over the first silver layer;   a second dielectric layer over the first primer layer;   a second silver layer over the second dielectric layer;   a second primer layer over the second silver film; a third dielectric layer over the second primer layer; and   a protective overcoat over the dielectric layer.   
     
     
         5 . The coating according to  claim 4 , wherein the coating has color coordinates according to the CIE 1976 standard with illuminant D65 at a 10° observer angle of a*=0.3, b*=4.5, and L*=78, wherein the listed color coordinates can vary by +10%. 
     
     
         6 . The coating according to  claim 5 , wherein the layer of the visible light absorbing material is selected from titanium nitride, nickel, chrome, and mixtures thereof and has a thickness in the range of 2 to 10 nanometers (“nm”); the first dielectric layer is on the layer of visible light absorbing material and has a thickness in the range of 30 to 50 nm; the first silver layer is on the first dielectric layer and has a thickness in the range of 10 to 100 nm; the first primer layer is on the first silver layer and has a thickness in the range of 1 to 6 nm; the second dielectric layer is on the first primer layer and has a thickness in the range of 30 to 50 nm; the second silver layer is on the second dielectric layer and has a thickness in the range of 10 to 100 nm; the second primer layer is on the second silver layer and has a thickness in the range of 1 to 6 nm; the third dielectric layer is on the second primer layer and has a thickness in the range of 30 to 50 nm; and the protective overcoat is on the third dielectric layer and has a thickness in the range of 10 to 500 nm. 
     
     
         7 . A method of making an article that exhibits a metallic appearance comprising:
 treating a surface of a non-metal substrate to provide a predetermined pattern on textured surface of the substrate; and   applying an overlay over the textured surface of the substrate, wherein percent visible light transmittance of the substrate having the overlay, and percent visible light reflectance of the substrate having the overlay is selected such that the predetermined pattern is visible when the article is viewed through one of outer surfaces of the article.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7  wherein the substrate has a Delta % haze of greater than 10%. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the non-metal substrate is selected from the group of glass and plastic, and the treating of the non-metal substrate is accomplished by brushing the surface of the non-metal substrate to impose grooves in the surface of the substrate. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 7  wherein the treated surface of the non-metal substrate is a first surface, the non-metal substrate has a second surface opposite to the first surface, the overlay has a percent visible transmission of zero, the non-metal substrate has a percent visible transmission of greater than zero and the textured surface of the substrate is observed when viewed through the second surface of the substrate. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the treated surface of the non-metal substrate is a first surface, the non-metal substrate has a second surface opposite to the first surface, the overlay has a percent visible transmission of greater than zero, the non-metal substrate has a percent visible transmission of greater than zero and the textured surface of the substrate is observed when viewed through the first surface or the second surface of the substrate. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the non-metal substrate is selected from the group of glass and plastic, and the treating of the non-metal substrate is accomplished by brushing the surface of the non-metal substrate to impose grooves in the surface of the substrate. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined pattern has grooves, the overlay is a coating and the applying the overlay is accomplished by applying the coating into the grooves such that the coating is below the surface of the non-metal substrate. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined pattern has grooves and ridges, the overlay is a coating and the applying the overlay is accomplished by applying the coating into the grooves such that the coating is above the surface of the non-metal substrate and the surface of the non-metal substrate is completely covered. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein treating a surface of the non-metal substrate is accomplished by chemically etching the surface to provide grooves in the surface. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 7  wherein treating a surface of the non-metal substrate is accomplished by mechanical abrading the surface to provide grooves in the surface. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the overlay is a coating and the applying the coating is accomplished by applying the coating to cover the surface of the non-metallic substrate, wherein the coating in the grooves is below the surface of the non-metal substrate. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the overlay is a coating and the applying the coating is accomplished by applying the coating to cover the surface of the non-metallic substrate, wherein surface of portions of the coating in the grooves and surface of portions of the coating outside the grooves substantially lie in the same plane.