Method for coating a metal strip

A method of producing a coated metal strip with a corrosive-resistant alloy comprising the steps of:

• a) selecting a strip formed of a given metal and having an exposed surface;
• and,
• b) coating said strip with a corrosion-resistant coating by passing said strip through a molten bath of said corrosion-resistant alloy such that the residence time of said strip is sufficient to deposit a layer of said corrosion-resistant alloy onto the exposed surface of said metal strip and forming an intermetallic interface comprising an interface alloy constituting a heat created mixture of said given metal and said corrosion-resistant alloy, said corrosion-resistant alloy comprising a majority of tin and a metal additive, said metal additive selected from the group consisting of a metal stabilizer, a coloring agent, a corrosion-resistant agent and mixtures thereof.

A method of producing a coated metal strip having a corrosive-resistant alloy comprising the steps of:

• a) selecting a metal strip formed of stainless steel and having a thickness of up to about 0.20 inch;
• b) unrolling said stainless steel strip from a coil of said stainless steel strip;
• c) hot dip coating said stainless steel strip with a corrosive-resistant alloy by continuously passing said stainless steel strip in a longitudinal direction at a speed through a molten bath having a temperature of at least about 449.degree. F., said speed of said stainless steel strip controlled such that said stainless steel strip has a residence time in said molten bath is about 0.08 to about 10 minutes to deposit a substantially uninterrupted layer of said corrosion-resistant alloy having a substantially uniform thickness of about 0.001 to about 0.05 inch onto the exposed surface of said stainless steel strip and forming an intermetallic interface comprising an interface alloy constituting a heat created mixture of said stainless steel strip and said corrosion-resistant alloy and having a thickness of about 1 to about 10 microns, said corrosion-resistant alloy comprising over 90 weight percent tin.

A method of producing a coated metal strip having a corrosion-resistant alloy comprising the steps of:

• a) selecting a metal strip formed of stainless steel and having a thickness of up to about 0.2 inch;
• b) unrolling said stainless steel strip from a coil of said stainless steel strip at a speed rate of up to 400 ft/min.;
• c) coating said stainless steel strip with a corrosion-resistant alloy to deposit a substantially uninterrupted layer of said corrosion-resistant alloy having a substantially uniform thickness of up to about 0.05 inch and forming a heat created intermetallic interface comprising an interface alloy which includes iron, chromium and tin and has a thickness of up to about 10 microns, said corrosion-resistant alloy comprising over 90 weight percent tin and a metal additive selected from the group consisting of at least an effective amount of metal stabilizer for inhibiting crystallization of said tin, at least an effective amount of corrosion-resistant agent for enhancing the corrosion-resistant properties of said corrosion-resistant alloy, at least an effective amount of coloring agent for reducing the reflectivity of said corrosion-resistant coating and mixtures thereof.