EP2331729A1

EP2331729A1 - Sanitary object

Info

Publication number: EP2331729A1
Application number: EP09778326A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Axel Rost
Original assignee: Grohe AG
Current assignee: Grohe AG
Priority date: 2008-09-10
Filing date: 2009-09-04
Publication date: 2011-06-15
Also published as: DE102008046673A1; WO2010028778A1; US20110165435A1; CN102149850A

Abstract

In a method for manufacturing composite bodies by applying a firmly adhering layer to substrates composed of plastic (1c) or metal, particularly stainless steel (1e), brass (1b), aluminum (1a), or zinc (1d), it is provided that a layer composed of carbon (5) is deposited on the substrate by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and a hard material layer (6) is deposited on the carbon layer (5) by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD).

Description

Sanitary object

The invention relates to a sanitary object with a composite body according to the preamble of patent claim 1 and a method for the production thereof according to claim 8.

The invention relates to composites and coatings of commodities such as sanitary fittings and installation products, showerheads, spouts or rosettes and cover plates, which must be resistant to corrosion, friction and chemical stress on the one hand and on the other hand should have a decorative surface with a predetermined color. Numerous methods for applying decorative layers are known from the prior art. In addition to wet-chemical methods such as galvanic processes, methods such as PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition), CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) and painting methods and combinations thereof are known, by means of which layers with certain colors can be deposited on the objects. Furthermore, it is known to use by means of physical methods (PVD) such as arc (arc), sputtering, electron beam evaporation or laser beam evaporation method hard material and wear protection layers for the compensation of surfaces and, for example, for the production of cutting tools. The properties of the layers are determined by the deposition technology and the process control. Furthermore, the layer properties are defined by the chemical composition. Especially by the are and sputter technology most different layer structures and compositions can be achieved due to the possible target compositions and choice of reaction gases. From EP 1 033 416 A1 it is known, for example, to produce on a substrate at least one anticorrosion layer and an outer layer of zirconium, nitrogen, carbon and / or hafnium by means of PVD coating, wherein the outer layer forms a passive layer under the action of air or water ,

Furthermore, it is known from DE 100 05 614 A1 to produce an article with specific layer sequences by means of PVD technology, wherein the layers consist alternately of carbon and carbide. The carbide layers in turn consist of a carbide of at least one element in the form of a metal and / or silicon and / or boron. The uppermost layer of the layer sequence consists of carbon, which has predominantly sp ₃ bonds and a layer thickness of about 500 nm.

US Pat. No. 5,543,210 A discloses a ceramic substrate with a diamond layer and a cover layer of chromium carbide, chromium nitride or chromium carbonitride for the production of cutting tools.

The invention has for its object to provide a method by which a coating with low wear, but relatively high hardness can be produced on almost any sanitary objects, as well as sanitary articles with such a coating to provide.

The object is achieved by a sanitary article having a composite body with the features of patent claim 1 and a method for producing sanitary articles according to claim 8. Advantageous developments are the subject of dependent claims.

The invention provides a sanitary article comprising a composite body of a substrate and a coating, wherein the substrate is made of plastic or metal, in particular brass, aluminum, zinc or stainless steel, and the coating of a layer of carbon and a cover layer by means of a PVD Process is produced on the carbon layer, consists. Coating is understood to mean the application of a firmly adhering layer of shapeless material to a workpiece. Layer and substrate form a composite of different materials. The layer performs the contact function, such as protection against chemical or corrosive attack and against Tribobeanspruchung, influences the rubbing behavior or optical or decorative purposes, while the substrate assumes the supporting function, its properties of the specific stress can be adjusted regardless of the contact behavior. By applying multiple layers, further property advantages are achieved. In the present case, the arrangement of the carbon layer and subsequent PVD cover layer on the surface of the composite body results in greater hardnesses than could have been achieved by applying the PVD cover layer alone. The hardness values represent a direct comparative measure for the abrasive wear resistance of a material or body. It is clear that the wear resistance of the composite body is increased by the application of the carbon layer, despite its arrangement below the PVD cover layer, which serves as a decorative surface layer.

The carbon layer is provided as amorphous carbon with any sp ² -sp ³ hybridization ratios. For these layers, the term "diamond-like carbon" or "DLC" (diamond like coating or diamond like carbon) is used.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the composite body of the sanitary article is provided with a cover layer as a hard material layer of titanium, tantalum, molybdenum and tungsten or a compound of titanium, tantalum, molybdenum and tungsten with carbon, nitrogen, boron or silicon or combinations thereof.

Alternatively, the cover layer (6) can also be made of zirconium, chromium, hafnium, vanadium or niobium or a compound of zirconium, chromium, Hafnium, vanadium or niobium with carbon, nitrogen, boron or silicon or combinations thereof may be provided.

A development of the invention provides that a metallic layer or layer sequence is arranged as intermediate layer between substrate and carbon layer.

As the metallic layer on the substrate, for example, copper or nickel is provided. The layer sequence is essentially dependent on the type of substrate. Another metallic layer may be nickel or / and chromium. Depending on the desired degree of gloss, galvanic layer sequences of copper, nickel and, subsequently, chrome are also possible.

For brass substrates, the intermediate layers consist of a first layer of nickel and a subsequent layer of chromium. In the case of a substrate made of aluminum, first a copper layer, then a nickel layer and finally a chromium layer are arranged. Depending on the desired surface, the layer thicknesses can vary. Since the first layer also serves to level the surface structure of the substrate, it has at least a layer thickness of 15 μm. The subsequent layers of copper or nickel are also provided with a layer thickness of at least 10 microns. In the nickel layers, the desired surface finish is already influenced by the choice of nickel, depending on whether a bright nickel or matt nickel layer is arranged. The final decorative cover layer has at least a layer thickness of 0.2 μm.

Furthermore, the invention provides a method for producing composite bodies by applying a firmly adhering layer to substrates made of plastic or metal, in particular stainless steel, brass, aluminum or zinc, in which a layer of carbon on the substrate by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and On the carbon layer, a cover layer is deposited by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD). To apply the carbon layer, the substrate is placed in a vacuum chamber of a chemical vapor deposition reactor and the air is pumped out of the chamber. Subsequently, the carbon layer is deposited by one of the following conventional methods: direct ion beam deposition, double ion deposition, glow discharge, RF plasma, DC plasma or microwave plasma deposition from a carbon-containing gas or a carbon-containing vapor also containing hydrogen, nitrogen-containing gases , Oxygen-containing gases and / or inert gas may be mixed. Furthermore, methods such as electron beam evaporation, ion-assisted evaporation, ion beam sputtering or ion-assisted sputtering from a solid carbon target or combinations of the mentioned methods are possible.

A development of the invention provides that at least one metallic layer is applied to the substrate before the carbon layer is applied. These can be applied by means of a wet-chemical or galvanic process.

The coating is particularly suitable for items subject to frequent chemical stress or friction or a combination of both loads. Therefore, it is advantageous to produce sanitary items such as sanitary fittings and parts thereof, installation elements, showers, spouts, escutcheons, cover plates, pressure plates and / or actuators according to the erfindugnsgemäßen method.

Furthermore, it is also possible to produce said objects free of nickel or chromium (VI) compounds by eliminating these metallic intermediate layers. For such objects whose substrate consists for example of brass, a copper layer is applied galvanically to level the surface and to produce a certain degree of gloss. The fact that the hardness of the copper layer is low compared to nickel and chromium is insignificant. The desired surface properties are then achieved by the application and combination of DLC and topcoat. Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and will be described in more detail below. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate like layers. It shows in the drawing the

Figure 1 shows a cross section through the layer structure of an article according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a cross section through the layer structure of a second article according to the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a cross section through the layer structure of a third article according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a cross section through the layer structure of a fourth article according to the invention;

5 shows a cross section through the layer structure of a fifth article according to the invention.

The article shown in Figure 1 comprises a base material Ia of aluminum. On the base material Ia, a copper layer 2 with a layer thickness of preferably 20 μm was then deposited in a galvanic process. By means of further galvanic process steps, a nickel layer 3 was deposited with a layer thickness of preferably 15 microns. Subsequently, a chromium layer 4 was applied with a thickness of preferably 0.3 microns. Subsequent to the metallic layers 2, 3, 4, a diamond-like or amorphous carbon layer (DLC) 5 was deposited in the CVD process with a layer thickness of preferably 1 μm. The carbon layer has a largely flat structure. The hardness of this layer, which was deposited by means of hexane as the reaction gas, is approximately 3000 Vickers hardness (HV).

Subsequently, to achieve a chrome finish, a topcoat of chromium, chromium carbide or chromium carbonitride by PVD process applied. The layer thickness of a PVD layer 6 in this case is preferably 0.2 μm. In determining the hardness at the surface of the finished composite body, a value could be measured that was significantly higher than the hardness of the PVD layer 6 alone. The increase in the hardness value from the combination of the layers 5 and 6 compared to the PVD layer 6 taken by itself was about 30 percent. The article shown in Figure 2 has a base material Ib of brass. On the base material, a nickel layer 3 with a layer thickness of preferably 15 .mu.m and then a chromium layer 4 with a thickness of preferably 0.3 .mu.m was deposited in a galvanic process. Following the metallic layers 3, 4, first a diamond-like or amorphous carbon layer 5 was applied in the CVD process with a layer thickness of preferably 1 μm and finally a cover layer 6 with a layer thickness of preferably 0.2 μm.

The article shown in Figure 3 has a base material Ic made of plastic, preferably ABS. On the base material Ic, a copper layer 2 with a layer thickness of preferably 20 μm was subsequently deposited in a galvanic process. By means of further galvanic process steps, a nickel layer 3 having a layer thickness of preferably 15 .mu.m and then a chromium layer 4 having a thickness of preferably 0.3 to 0.4 .mu.m was applied. The following carbon and cover layer corresponds to the structure of the layers 5 and 6 of the composite body of Figure 1 and Figure 2.

The article shown in FIG. 4 has a base material Id made of die-cast zinc. On the base material Id, a copper layer 2 with a layer thickness of preferably 20 μm was deposited in a galvanic process. By means of further galvanic process steps, a nickel layer 3 having a layer thickness of preferably 20 μm and a chromium layer 4 having a thickness of preferably 0.3 to 0.4 μm were applied. The following carbon and cover layer corresponds to the structure of the layers 5 and 6 of the composite body of Figures 1 to 3. The article shown in Figure 5 has a base material Ie made of stainless steel. Directly on the base material Ie, a diamond-like or amorphous carbon layer 5 was deposited in the CVD process with a layer thickness of preferably 1 μm. The final surface layer in turn consists of a chromium layer or hard material layer with a layer thickness of preferably 0.2 .mu.m, which was produced by PVD process.

Applicant's investigations have shown that the properties of the DLC layer, which are characterized by high resistance to corrosion, scratching and wear, are retained even after the application of the PVD layer. Thus, the coloring of the articles following the DLC layer can be designed without significantly affecting the desired hardness and abrasion resistance requirements.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

Ia substrate, aluminum

Ib substrate, brass

Ic substrate, plastic

Id Substrate, zinc (zinc casting)

Ie substrate, stainless steel

2 copper

3 nickel chrome

5 carbon (DLC)

6 cover layer / PVD layer

Claims

claims

1. Sanitary article comprising a composite body of a substrate and a coating substantially comprising: a substrate (Ia, Ib, Ic, Id, Ie) consisting of plastic or metal, in particular brass, aluminum, zinc or stainless steel, a coating of

- - a layer of carbon (5)

- - And a cover layer (6) by PVD method on the

Carbon layer (5) is produced.

2. Sanitary article with a composite body according to claim 1, characterized in that is provided as the carbon layer (5) amorphous carbon with any sp ² sp ³ hybridization ratios.

3. Sanitary article with a composite body according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cover layer (6) as a hard material layer of titanium, tantalum, molybdenum or tungsten or a compound of titanium, tantalum, molybdenum or tungsten with carbon,

Nitrogen, boron or silicon or combinations thereof is provided.

4. sanitary article with a composite body according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cover layer (6) made of zirconium, chromium, hafnium, vanadium or niobium or a compound of zirconium, chromium, hafnium, vanadium or niobium with carbon, nitrogen, boron or silicon or combinations thereof is provided.

5. Composite body according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that as intermediate layer between substrate (Ia, Ib, Ic, Id, Ie) and carbon layer (5) a metallic layer or layer sequence (2, 3, 4) is arranged.

6. A composite body according to claim 5, characterized in that a metallic layer (2, 3) made of copper or nickel is provided.

7. A composite body according to claim 5, characterized in that a metallic layer sequence of copper (2) and nickel (3) is provided, wherein the copper layer is disposed adjacent to the substrate.

8. Composite body according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that a further metallic layer of chromium (4) is provided.

9. A method for producing sanitary articles with composite bodies by applying a firmly adhering layer on substrates (Ia, Ib, Ic, Id, Ie) made of plastic (Ic) or metal, in particular stainless steel (Ie), brass (Ib), aluminum (Ia ) or zinc (Id), characterized in that on the substrate (Ia, Ib, Ic, Id, Ie) a layer of carbon (5) by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and on the carbon layer (5) by means of a cover layer (6) physical vapor deposition (PVD) is deposited.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that before applying the carbon layer (5) at least one metallic layer (2, 3, 4) on the substrate (Ia, Ib, Ic, Id) is applied.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the metallic layer or layer sequence (2, 3, 4) is applied by means of a wet-chemical or galvanic process.

12. The method according to claim 10 or claim 11, characterized in that the metallic layer or metallic layers of copper (2) and / or nickel (3) are provided.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that a further metallic layer of chromium (4) is provided.