Improvements in high reflective aluminum sheeting and methods for making same
AssigneeDielectric Coating Industries
InventorsCarmen B. Bischer, Jr., Edward A. Small, Jr.
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Abstract
Improvements in the method and apparatus of vacuum deposition of a highly reflective surface onto aluminum base, including unanodized roll-polished aluminum, wherein a coil of the aluminum is disposed within the vacuum chamber, both as it unwinds and as it rewinds, and the water vapor created by heating the aluminum web is made available to other vacuum deposition processing compartments within the vacuum chamber including a glow discharge chamber typically fueled by argon gas. A relatively thick layer of oxide is vacuum deposited onto an unanodized aluminum base as a substrate for the reflective surface.
Claims17
In a process for vacuum depositing of a reflective finish onto an aluminum substrate the step of:
- vacuum depositing a layer of oxide equal to or greater than 0.50 microns in thickness onto the substrate.
In a process for forming a reflective finish onto a base of aluminum that has not been anodized the steps of:
- subjecting the base to a glow discharge;
- vacuum depositing onto the base a layer of oxide having a thickness of 0.50 microns or more;
- and
- vacuum depositing over the oxide layer a layer of reflectance material.
In a process for vacuum depositing a reflectance finish onto a continuously moving substrate of unanodized aluminum wherein the aluminum substrate is a roll of aluminum and the process takes place in a vacuum chamber which includes the roll of aluminum and through which the substrate travels as it is unrolled from the roll, the improvement comprising:
- vacuum depositing a layer of oxide equal to or greater than 0.50 microns in thickness onto the moving substrate prior to the reflectance finish being vacuum deposited onto the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.