Heat treatable coated glass

• US 6,190,776 B1
• Filed: 07/07/1999
• Issued: 02/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Turkiye SISE VE CAM Fabrikalari As
• Original Assignee: Turkiye Sise Cam
• Inventors: Demiryont, Hülya
• Primary Examiner(s): Jones, Deborah
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miranda, Lymarie
• Application Number:
  US09/349,305
• Time in Patent Office: 594 Days
• Field of Search: 428/216, 428/434, 428/472, 428/432, 428/697, 428/699, 428/701, 428/702, 428/698, 359/359, 296/84.1
• US Class Current: 428/434
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/36 at least one coating being a metal
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3618 Coatings of type glass/inorganic compound/other inorganic layers, at least one layer being metallic
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3644 the metal being silver
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3652 the coating stack containing at least one sacrificial layer to protect the metal from oxidation
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/366 Low-emissivity or solar control coatings
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3681 the multilayer coating being used in glazing, e.g. windows or windscreens
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2217/78 Coatings specially designed to be durable, e.g. scratch-resistant
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/086 of zinc, germanium, cadmium, indium, tin, thallium or bismuth
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/185 by cathodic sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12549 Adjacent to each other
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12597 Noncrystalline silica or noncrystalline plural-oxide component [e.g., glass, etc.]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24975 No layer or component greater than 5 mils thick
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/265 1 mil or less

Abstract

A heat-treatable coated glass article comprises a substantially transparent substrate with a substantially transparent dual-function coating on a surface of the substrate. The coating provides low emissivity and high anti-solar performance properties. It comprises a first anti-reflection layer of dielectric material, preferably tungsten oxide. An infra-red reflective layer of silver metal and/or copper metal overlies the anti-reflection dielectric layer. A buffer layer, such as a chromium buffer layer, is positioned between the anti-reflection layer and the infra-red reflective layer. Also, optionally, a color control layer may be used, preferably being positioned between the anti-reflection layer and the substrate. A second buffer layer directly overlies the infra-red reflective layer. A second anti-reflection layer overlies the second buffer layer. In accordance with a method of manufacturing the coated article, each of the layers of the coating is deposited in turn by D.C. magnetron sputtering in a multi-station sputtering chamber. Passing the transparent substrate through the sputtering chamber a second time to produce a double-layer coating structure is found to provide especially high quality performance characteristics.

Claims

1. A heat-treatable coated glass article comprising a substantially transparent glass substrate with a substantially transparent coating on a surface of the glass substrate, the substantially transparent coating comprising:

a first anti-reflection layer of dielectric material overlying the glass substrate,

a first chromium buffer layer overlying the first anti-reflection layer,

an infra-red reflective layer of metal selected from silver metal, copper metal and a

mixture of both, directly overlying the first buffer layer,

a second chromium buffer layer directly overlying the infra-red reflective layer, and

a second anti-reflection layer of dielectric material overlying the second buffer layer.

2. The coated article of manufacture according to claim 1 wherein the infra-red reflective layer is silver metal and the first and second anti-reflection layers each is SnO₂.

3. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 2 wherein the thickness of each chromium buffer layer is 10% to 30% of the thickness of the infra-red reflective layer of silver metal.

4. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 2 wherein the thickness of each chromium buffer layer is 1 nm to 5 nm and the thickness of the infra-red reflective layer of silver metal is 6 nm to 13 nm.

5. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 4 wherein the first and second anti-reflection layers of SnO₂ each has a substantially uniform thickness from 20 nm to 50 nm.

6. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 1 wherein said glass is not heat-treated and, when the glass has a thickness of about 2.2 mm to 6 mm, has the following characteristics:

grey-blue color and substantially free of haze;

visible transmittance of 40% to 70%; and

sheet resistance of not more than 7 ohms/sq.

7. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 1 wherein said glass is heat-treated clear glass and, when the glass has a thickness of about 2.5 mm to 6 mm, has the following characteristics after heat-treatment:

substantially free of haze;

visible transmittance of 50% to 80%; and

sheet resistance of not more than 5 ohms/sq.

8. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 1 wherein the first anti-reflection layer lies directly on the surface of the glass.

9. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 8 wherein the first chromium buffer layer lies directly on the first anti-reflection layer.

10. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 9 wherein the infra-red reflective layer directly overlies the first chromium buffer layer.

11. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 10 wherein the second chromium buffer layer directly overlies the infra-red reflective layer.

12. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 11 wherein the second anti-reflection layer directly overlies the second buffer layer.

13. The heat-treatable coated glass article according to claim 1 wherein the substantially transparent glass substrate is soda-lime-silica glass.

14. A heat-treatable coated glass article comprising a substantially transparent glass substrate with a substantially transparent coating on a surface of the glass substrate, the substantially transparent coating comprising:

a first anti-reflection layer of dielectric material overlying the glass substrate,

a first buffer layer overlying the first anti-reflection layer,

a first infra-red reflective layer of silver metal directly overlying the first buffer layer, a second buffer layer directly overlying the infra-red reflective layer,

a second anti-reflection layer of dielectric material overlying the second buffer layer, a third buffer layer overlying the second anti-reflection layer,

a second infra-red reflective layer of silver metal directly overlying the third buffer layer, a fourth buffer layer overlying the second infra-red reflective layer of silver metal, and a third anti-reflection layer of dielectric material overlying the fourth buffer layer.

15. The heat-treatable coated glass article of claim 14 wherein each of the anti-reflection layers is SnO₂ and the buffer layers each is a chromium buffer layer.