Article of manufacture having at least in part the surface appearance of brass with a ceramic barrier coating

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 1.
An article of manufacture having at least in part the surface appearance of brass including a first substrate layer; a second layer of Zr/C/N; and a third layer which is a nitride, carbide or oxide of Zr, Ti, Si, Al or Hf, said second layer having a thickness of between 200 and 1,000 nanometers.
2.
The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said third layer is selected from the group of ZrO.
sub.
2 ; TiN; TiO.
sub.
2 ; SiO.
sub.
2 ; Al.
sub.
2 O.
sub.
3 ; AlN; or HfN.
3.
The article of manufacture of claim 2 wherein said third layer is ZrO.
sub.
2.
4.
The article of manufacture of claim 2 wherein said third layer is TiN.
5.
The article of manufacture of claim 2 wherein said third layer is TiO.
sub.
2.
6.
The article of manufacture of claim 2 wherein said third layer is SiO.
sub.
2.
7.
The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said second layer has a thickness of on the order of about 300 nanometers.
8.
The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said third layer has a thickness of from 2 to 10 nanometers.
9.
The article of manufacture of claim 1 including a fourth layer of ZrCN.
10.
The article of manufacture of claim 9 wherein said third layer is TiN.
11.
The article of manufacture of claim 10 wherein said second layer has a thickness of on the order of about 250 nanometers; said third layer has a thickness of from 10 to 30 nanometers; and said fourth layer has a thickness of on the order of about 10 nanometers.
12.
The article of manufacture of claim 1 wherein said first substrate layer is formed of Cu/Ni/Cr.




Description:
THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to ceramic coatings for hardware products, primarily plumbing products, but also other hardware products in which it is desirable to have a brass appearing finish.
Specifically, brass appearing products such as faucets, faucet spouts, shower heads, door knobs, lock sets and the like are popular