Corrosion-resistant coatings and methods of manufacturing the same

• US 6,905,773 B2
• Filed: 10/22/2002
• Issued: 06/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schlage Lock Company LLC (Allegion PLC)
• Original Assignee: Schlage Lock Company (Allegion PLC)
• Inventors: Knapp, Brad, Hein, Gerald F., Agnew, Greg
• Primary Examiner(s): MCNEIL, JENNIFER C
• Application Number:
  US10/277,711
• Publication Number:
  US 20040076837A1
• Time in Patent Office: 966 Days
• Field of Search: 428/469, 428/472, 428/446, 428/448, 428/336, 428/447, 428/450, 428/701, 428/702, 428/699, 428/697, 428/698, 428/624
• US Class Current: 428/450
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/401 containing silicon
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 1/00 Knobs or handles for wings; Knobs, handles, or press buttons for locks or latches on wings E05B5/00, E05B7/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 15/16 Use of special materials for parts of locks
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12556 Organic component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12611 Oxide-containing component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/265 1 mil or less

Abstract

A clear protective coating including a composition having a formula SiO_xC_yH_z, wherein x=0.8-1.5, y=1.0-2.0, and z=1.6-3.7 is provided. The coating may be formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The coating typically coats a substrate, and more particularly, a metal substrate. In a preferred embodiment, the coating coats an architectural hardware article, thereby providing corrosion and abrasion protection for the architectural hardware article.

Claims

1. An article comprising:

a substrate having an optically-transparent coating on at least a portion thereof, the coating comprising a composition of formula SiO_xC_yH_z, wherein x=about 0.8-1.5, y=about 1.0-2.0, and z=about 1.6-3.7, wherein the coating has a thickness greater than 5 μ

m, the article is an architectural hardware item chosen from a door handle, door lever, door grip, appliance handle, hand rail, an escutcheon, a knob, trim, decorative trim hardware and combinations thereof, and the substrate comprises metal.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the coating is about 5 μ

m to about 17 μ

m thick.

3. The article of claim 1, wherein the coating protects the article from corrosion for a minimum of 200 hours when exposed to an ASTM-B117 salt-fog test.

4. The article of claim 1, wherein the substrate is metal plated.

5. The article of claim 1, wherein the coating is applied to the substrate using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

6. An article comprising:

a substrate having an optically-transparent coating on at least a portion thereof, the coating comprising a composition of formula SiO_xC_yH_z, wherein x=about 0.8-1.5, y=about 1.0-2.0, and z=about 1.6-3.7, wherein the coating has a thickness greater than 5 μ

m, and the substrate comprises at least one of brass, zinc, aluminum, steel, and chrome.

7. An article comprising:

a substrate having a coating deposited thereon using physical vapor deposition (PVD), the PVD coating comprising at least one of titanium, titanium nitride, zirconium, zirconium nitride, chromium, chromium nitride, titanium-aluminum nitride, copper, copper nitride, aluminum, nickel, tin, brass, and combinations thereof, the PVD coating having an optically-transparent coating on at least a portion thereof, the optically-transparent coating comprising a composition of formula SiO_xC_yH_z, wherein x=about 0.8-1.5, y=about 1.0-2.0, and z=about 1.6-3.7, and wherein the coating has a thickness greater than 5 μ

m.

8. The article of claim 7, wherein the coating is greater than 5 μ

m to about 17 μ

m thick.

9. The article of claim 7, wherein the optically-transparent coating protects the article from corrosion for a minimum of 200 hours when exposed to an ASTM-B117 salt-fog test.

10. The article of claim 7, wherein the article is an architectural hardware item.

11. The article of claim 10, wherein the architectural hardware item is chosen from a door handle, door lever, door grip, appliance handle, hand rail, an escutcheon, knob trim, decorative trim hardware and combinations thereof.

12. The article of claim 11, wherein the optically-transparent coating is applied using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

13. The article of claim 7, wherein the metal substrate comprises at least one of zinc, aluminum, brass, chrome, and steel.