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AssigneeGuardian Industries Corp.
InventorsPhilip J. Lingle, Anton Dietrich, Ronald E. Laird, Jean-Marc Lemmer
Estimating the term…
A heat treatable coated article (e.g., vehicle windshield, IG unit, etc.) is provided with a dual-silver low-E coating. Before and/or after heat treatment (HT); the coating and/or coated article has a visible transmittance of at least 70%, more preferably at least 75%. Moreover, the coating and/or coated article is designed so as to have approximately the same color when viewed over a wide range of viewing angles. In certain embodiments, at least one contact layer (e.g., of or including NiCrOx) that contacts an infrared (IR) reflecting layer (e.g., Ag) is oxidation graded so that it progressively becomes less oxidized through its thickness as it nears the IR reflecting layer. In still other embodiments, a Si-rich silicon nitride layer(s) may be utilized to reduce haze.
A coated article including a coating supported by a glass substrate, the coating comprising:
A coated article including a coating supported by a substrate, the coating comprising:
A coated article including a coating supported by a substrate, the coating comprising:
A coated article comprising:
A coated article comprising:
A coated article comprising:
A coated article comprising:
A method of making a coated article including an oxidation graded layer, the method comprising:
A method of making a coated article, the method comprising:
A coating support by a substrate, the coating comprising from the substrate outwardly:
A coated article comprising:
A method of making a coated article, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
Nitrides: silicon nitride
Laminated safety glass or glazing: characterized by the number, the constitution or treatment of glass sheets
Characterized by the number, the constitution or treatment of glass sheets: comprising two outer glass sheets
Functional features of the laminated safety glass or glazing: coatings of a metallic or dielectric material on a constituent layer of glass or polymer
Term end not estimated
This invention relates to heat treatable (low-E) coated articles, and methods of making the same. Such coated articles may be used in the context of vehicle windshields, insulating glass (IG) units, and other suitable applications.
Layer coatings provided for solar management purposes are known in the art. Such coatings often seek to reflect infrared (IR) radiation while at the same time enabling a high amount of visible light transmittance. In the automobile industry, for example, vehicle windshields often must have a visible light transmittance of at least 70% in the United States, and at least 75% in Europe, even when laminated with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) layer provided between opposing glass substrates. This need for high visible transmittance often conflicts with the need for good IR reflection, and it is difficult to obtain both simultaneously. Making low-E coating designs more difficult is the need for a mechanically and/or chemically durable coating, as well as the need for a coating with low visible reflectance (glass side) that does not suffer radical color change when viewed at different viewing angles. It is also desirable for such coatings to be heat treatable, so that they may be used in vehicle windshields where heat bending is required, tempered IG units, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,902 (commonly owned herewith) discloses a low-E coating system including, from the glass-substrate outward, a stack of: Si3N4/NiCr/Ag/NiCr/Si3N4. Unfortunately, while this coating is heat treatable and low-E in nature, it is characterized by rather high emissivity and/or sheet resistance values which lead to rather low Rsolar (total solar energy reflectance) values around 22-24%. For example, one coating reported in the '902 patent had a sheet resistance (Rs) of 14.4 ohms/square and a normal emissivity (En) of 0.15 before heat treatment; and a Rs of 10.5 ohms/square and a En of 0.11 after heat treatment.
Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like parts or layers throughout the several views.
Certain embodiments of this invention provide a low-E coating or layer system that may be used in applications such as vehicle windshields, other vehicle windows, skylights, glass doors, IG units, and the like. Coatings according to certain embodiments of this invention preferably have low-E characteristics as well as high visible transmittance, and are heat treatable. Preferably, coatings of certain embodiments herein are mechanically durable before and/or after heat treatment (HT), and HT does not cause a significant jump in sheet resistance (Rs) and/or haze. As is known in the art, such HT often necessitates heating the coated substrate to temperatures of from 1100° F. (593° C.) to 1450° F. (788° C.) for a sufficient period of time to attain the desired result (e.g., tempering, bending, and/or heat strengthening).
FIG. 1 is a side cross sectional view of a coated article according to an embodiment of this invention. The coated article includes substrate 1 (e.g., clear, green, bronze, or blue-green glass substrate from about 1.0 to 10.0 mm thick, more preferably from about 1.8 mm to 4 mm thick), first dielectric anti-reflection layer 3, second dielectric haze-reducing layer 5, first lower contact layer 7 (which contacts layer 9), first conductive metallic infrared (IR) reflecting layer 9, first upper contact layer 11 (which contacts layer 9), third dielectric layer 13 (which may be deposited in one or multiple steps in different embodiments of this invention), fourth dielectric layer 15, second lower contact layer 17 (which contacts layer 19), second conductive metallic IR reflecting layer 19, second upper contact layer 21 (which contacts layer 19), fifth dielectric layer 23, and finally sixth protective dielectric layer 25. The “contact” layers each contact at least one IR reflecting layer. The aforesaid layers 3-25 make up heat treatable low-E (i.e., low emissivity) coating 27 which is provided on glass or plastic substrate 1.