Articles including anticondensation coatings and/or methods of making the same

• US 8,304,045 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2010
• Issued: 11/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Guardian Glass LLC (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Guardian Industries Corporation (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lemmer, Jean-Marc, Murphy, Nestor P.
• Primary Examiner(s): SAMPLE, DAVID R
• Application Number:
  US12/662,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20110210656A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 428/34
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 1/002 with means for clear vision, e.g. anti-frost or defog panes, rain shields window heating in H05B3/84, H05B3/86
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3417 all coatings being oxide coatings
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/3435 comprising a nitride, oxynitride, boronitride or carbonitride
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2217/214 Al2O3
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2217/22 ZrO2
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2217/231 In2O3/SnO2
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2217/281 Nitrides
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 2218/154 by sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: C09D 5/00 Coating compositions, e.g. paints, varnishes or lacquers, characterised by their physical nature or the effects produced electrically insulating plastics, resins or waxes H01B3/30; Filling pastes
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/0652 Silicon nitride
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/081 of aluminium, magnesium or beryllium
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/083 of refractory metals or yttrium
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/086 of zinc, germanium, cadmium, indium, tin, thallium or bismuth
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/34 Sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/04 only coatings of inorganic non-metallic material
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 3/6715 specially adapted for increased thermal insulation or for controlled passage of light E06B3/66323 takes precedence; coating of glass pains C03C17/00; devices or arrangements for controlling the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light G02F1/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/2495 Thickness [relative or absolute]

Abstract

Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to articles including anticondensation coatings that are exposed to an external environment, and/or methods of making the same. In certain example embodiments, the anticondensation coatings may be survivable in an outside environment. The coatings also may have a sufficiently low sheet resistance and hemispherical emissivity such that the glass surface is more likely to retain heat from the interior area, thereby reducing (and sometimes completely eliminating) the presence condensation thereon. The articles of certain example embodiments may be, for example, skylights, vehicle windows or windshields, IG units, VIG units, refrigerator/freezer doors, and/or the like.

Claims

1. A skylight, comprising:

first and second substantially parallel, spaced apart glass substrates;

a plurality of spacers arranged to help maintain the first and second substrates in substantially parallel, spaced apart relation to one another;

an edge seal sealing together the first and second substrates; and

an anticondensation coating provided on an exterior surface of the first substrate exposed to an environment external to the skylight, the anticondensation coating comprising the following layers moving away from the first substrate;

a layer comprising silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride,

a layer comprising a transparent conductive oxide (TCO),

a layer comprising silicon nitride, and

a layer comprising at least one of zirconium oxide, zirconium nitride,

aluminum oxide, and aluminum nitride,

wherein the anticondensation coating has a hemispherical emissivity of less than less than 0.23 and a sheet resistance of less than 30 ohms/square.

2. The skylight of claim 1, wherein the TCO comprises ITO.

3. The skylight of claim 1, wherein at least one of the layers comprising silicon nitride consists essentially of silicon nitride which may be doped with aluminum.

4. The skylight of claim 1, wherein the anticondensation coating further comprises a layer comprising silicon nitride and a layer comprising titanium oxide that are located between the glass substrate and said layer comprising silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride.

5. The skylight of claim 1, wherein said layer comprising silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride consists essentially of silicon oxynitride which may be doped with aluminum.

6. The skylight of claim 1, wherein the anticondensation coating further comprises a layer comprising DLC as an outermost layer.

7. The skylight of claim 6, wherein a contact angle of the DLC initially is less than or equal to about 15 degrees.

8. The skylight of claim 1, wherein a low emissivity coating including at least one infrared (IR) reflecting layer comprising silver is disposed on an inner surface of the first substrate and/or an inner surface of the second substrate.

9. A coated article comprising:

a coating supported by a substrate, wherein the coating is an anticondensation coating comprising the following layers moving away from the substrate;

a layer comprising silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride,

a layer comprising a transparent conductive oxide (TCO),

a layer comprising silicon nitride, and

a layer comprising one or more of zirconium oxide, zirconium nitride,

aluminum oxide, and aluminum nitride,

wherein the anticondensation coating is disposed on an exterior surface of the substrate such that the anticondensation coating is exposed to an external environment, and

the anticondensation coating has a hemispherical emissivity of less than less than 0.23 and a sheet resistance of less than 30 ohms/square.

10. The coated article of claim 9, wherein the TCO comprises ITO.

11. The coated article of claim 9, wherein the layer comprising one or

more of zirconium oxide, zirconium nitride, aluminum oxide, and aluminum nitride, comprises zirconium oxide.

12. The coated article of claim 9, wherein the layer comprising one or

more of zirconium oxide, zirconium nitride, aluminum oxide, and aluminum nitride, comprises aluminum oxynitride.

13. The coated article of claim 9, wherein the anticondensation coating further comprises a layer comprising silicon nitride and a layer comprising titanium oxide that are located between the glass substrate and said layer comprising silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride.

14. The coated article of claim 9, wherein the external environment is the inside of a house or vehicle.

15. The coated article of claim 9, wherein the external environment is the outside environment.

16. The coated article claim 9, wherein the anticondensation coating further comprises a layer comprising DLC as an outermost layer.

17. The coated article of claim 16, wherein a contact angle of the DLC initially is less than or equal to about 15 degrees.

18. An insulating glass (IG) unit, comprising:

a coated article according to claim 9;

a second substrate in parallel spaced apart relation to the coated article;

a plurality of spacers arranged to help maintain the coated article and the second substrate in substantially parallel, spaced apart relation to one another; and

an edge seal sealing together the coated article and second substrates,

wherein the external environment is the inside of a house.

19. The IG unit of claim 18, wherein a second anticondensation coating is disposed on an exterior surface of the second substrate.

20. The IG unit of claim 9, wherein the IG unit has a U-value of less than or equal to 0.30 and a solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of less than or equal to 0.30.

21. The IG unit of claim 18, wherein a low emissivity coating is disposed on a surface of either the first substrate or the second substrate that faces the other of the first substrate and second substrate.

22. A refrigerator/freezer door, comprising:

a coated article according to claim 9;

a second substrate in parallel spaced apart relation to the coated article;

a plurality of spacers arranged to help maintain the coated article and the second substrate in substantially parallel, spaced apart relation to one another; and

an edge seal sealing together the coated article and second substrates.