MXPA97006528A - Pressed surface coated with diborure for laminate resistant to abrasion and preparation of prens surfaces - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a press plate for producing a decorative laminate from paper impregnated with resin, with alumina particles on its surface, it is coated with diborides selected from the group consisting of hafnium diboride, molybdenum diboride, diboride of tantalum, titanium diboride, tungsten diboride, vanadium diboride, or zirconium diboride or their mixtures, to make the press plate resistant to scratches. Preferred diborides are titanium and zirconium. The most preferred diboride is titanium. The color, gloss and surface appearance of the laminate pressed with the press plate coated with titanium diboride is substantially the same as the laminate pressed with the press plate before coating

Description

PRESSED SURFACE COVERED WITH DIBORURE FOR LAMINATE RESISTANT TO ABRASION AND ELABORATION OF SURFACES OF PRESSING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to coated abrasion-resistant press plates used in the production of abrasion-resistant decorative laminate, to the coating of press plates and to the lamination process with these press plates. The grit, for example, particular alumina, on the pressing surface of the abrasion-resistant decorative laminate can gratify the press plates and reduce the visual quality of the laminate after being made with the press plate. The press plates of this invention are particularly useful in the manufacture of high gloss, abrasion resistant decorative laminate. 2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of decorative laminates, the paper layers impregnated with resin are pressed against the press plates under conditions of temperature and pressure to cure the resin and bond the layers together. A high gloss press plate imparts a high gloss surface to the laminate. The textured surface imparts a textured surface to the laminate. These press plates are extremely uniform, with uniform microscopic discontinuities that are minimized. The quality of a high gloss polished press plate can be determined by the reflected images observed on its surface and by scrutinizing the images reflected by optical discrepancies. The grit on the laminate surface micro-scratches the stainless steel press plates normally used in the manufacture of the decorative laminate, thus destroying the micro-finishing of the press plate. The press plates can also be grated by means of the press plate handling equipment and by the waste of the pressing equipment or the materials used in the production of the laminate. (U.S. Patent 5,244,375, Laurence). The decorative laminate coated with melamine resin is pressed at temperatures of about 110 to 155 ° C and pressures of about 20 to 136 bar, and preferably about 51 to 102 bar. Heating to these temperatures and cooling to room temperature results in substantial expansion and contraction of the laminate and the press plate. The expansion and contraction of the laminate and the press plate will not be the same, resulting in the movement of powder or granules on the pressing surface of the laminate through the press plate. It is described in the publication No. LD3 of Standards of the National Association of Electrical Manufacturers (NEMA), that the glossy finish laminate has a core brightness of 70-100 +. Laminates with a high gloss textured finish are described as having a brightness of 21 to 40. Dark glass with a brightness of 94 + 1 degrees, measured at a 60 degree angle, is described as the NEMA Standard 3.13.2, for calibrate a brightness measurement for brightness measurements at a 60 degree angle. Uniform discontinuities in high gloss press plates that can only be seen with a microscope can impart visible surface defects to a high gloss laminate surface. Any scratch or gradation of the high gloss press plates imparts visible surface defects to the surface of the high gloss laminate and reduces the level of gloss. The powder or granules on the surface of the decorative laminate imparts abrasion resistance, a commercially desirable feature of the laminate. Vickers hardness of the lumina is described in "Tribiology: Friction and Ear of Engineering Materials", I.M. Hutchings, CRC Press, 1992, make from 1800 to 2000. A scale of useful particle sizes is from about 10 to about 75 microns. Particles of about 25 to 60 microns are preferred. Optimum abrasion resistance is obtained on a particle size scale of approximately 40 to 60 microns (United States Patent 3,798,111, Lane and others). Alumina having a maximum particle size of 9 microns is described as being effective in imparting a wear resistance surface for glossy decorative laminates. Wear resistance is defined as the resistance of a glossy laminate to the loss of gloss when the laminate surface is exposed to the abrasive effects of sliding objects. It is recognized that the resulting laminate does not meet the requirements of NEMA LD 3.01 which is considered to be resistant to abrasion. However, it is disclosed that the glossy press plates are not scratched substantially if the particle size is maintained at less than 9 microns. (U.S. Patent 4,971, 855, Lex and others). The use of a 410 stainless steel press plate hardened by nitration is described for the production of the high gloss decorative laminate. After pressing 100 sheets of high-gloss laminate with 6 and 15 micron particles, the brightness of the pressed laminate remains good to very good. The intrada press plate exposed to 6 micron particles was rejected after 234 cycles and produced laminate of acceptable quality by at least 103 other cells. Nitrated press plates exposed to 30 micron granules offered limited durability. It is described that the 410 stainless steel press plate used for nitrating had a hardness of 38 to 45 in "C" scale, Rockwell, and that the nitrated surface had a hardness of 60 to 70 on the Rockwell "C" scale.

The Vickers hardness equivalent of 410 stainless steel is about 370 to 440, based on the conversion table published in "Metals Handbook, Mechanical Testing", Vol. 8, 9th ed., ASM, 1985. The Vickers hardness equivalent of stainless steel 410 nitrate is approximately 500 to 1000, based on the conversion table published in "Metals Handbook, Mechanical Testing," Vol. 8, 9th ed., ASM, 1985. (United States Patent No. 5,244,375, Lawrence). Alumina laminate of average particle size of 35 microns on its PGA 822 coating surface, commercially available from Mead Corporation), has been pressed with high gloss press plates coated with titanium nitride. After 10 pressings, the press plates coated with titanium nitride had approximately scratches per square centimeter. A control of the 410 stainless steel press plate had approximately 500 scratches per square centimeter. The Vickers hardness of titanium nitride is described in "Tribiology: Friction and wear of Engineering Materials"., IM Hutchings, CRC Press, 1992, to be from 1200 to 2000. The control of the press plate and the press plate in which the titanium nitride was coated were cut from the same stainless steel pressing plate. The scratches were visible under a light microscope at 40X magnification. The titanium nitride was coated on the high-gloss 410 stainless steel press plates in a magnetron deposition coating system. The use of a magnetron deposition coating system to apply a titanium nitride coating is described in "Multi-Cathode Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering Systems" Srpoul, Surface and coating Technology, 49 (1991). The use of a magnetron deposition coating system to clean the surface to be coated is described in "A New Sputter Cleaning System for Metallic Substrates". Schiller et al., Thin Solid Films, 33 (1976).

Additionally, the color of the laminate pressed with the press plate coated with titanium nitride was different than the color of the laminate pressed with the control press plate. An ASTM D 2244 color difference compared to a standard of less than (+0.5)? E is considered an acceptable color that matches the standard. The ASTM D 2244 color difference between a standard and a pressed laminate with a press plate coated with titanium nitride was higher than? E. The press plate coated with titanium nitride and the laminate pressed therefrom had a bronze-colored appearance. The control press plate and the laminate pressed therefrom did not have a bronze-colored appearance. The laminate pressed with the control press plate had an ASTM D 2244 color difference when compared to the standard of less than (0.5) Iron-based cutting tools have been coated by deposition of 2 to 6 microns of titanium diboride. The sputter or deposition metallization is carried out in a beam of accelerated argon or krypton ions at 1300-1800 volts as a broad ion beam source. A titanium diboride target is arranged as a cathode. The tool is heated to approximately 200 ° C. The ionization is done by vacuum bombardment of approximately 4 to 6 milli-Torr. The titanium diboride has an extremely high Vickers micro hardness value, typically about 3600, which is not only considerably higher than other borides but also substantially higher than other carbides or nitrides. Titanium diboride is also particularly noted for its high density, for example, 88% of the theoretical density, a low resistivity of 30 micro-ohms centimeters, a high strength of 40,000 psi, and a coefficient of thermal expansion that is approximately 8.1 x 106 on a temperature scale of 20 to 800CC. (U.S. Patent No. 4,820,392 Moskowitz and others). The control conditions for coating by deposition are described in "Influence of Apparatus Geometry and Deposition Conditions on the Structure and Topography and of Thick Sputtered Coatings", (Influence of Apparatus Geometry and Deposition Conditions of Structure and Topography of Coatings Deposited Thickness) Thornton, Journal of Vaccum Science Technology, volume 11, Number 4, (July / August 1974) and "Sputterin" (Electronic Deposition) Thornton et al., Metals Handbook, Ninth Edition, American Society for Metals, Metals Park, Ohio , 44073 Volume 5, pp 412-416, (1982). Is there a need for a hard coating on the press plates, a web and other pressing surfaces that impart a color to the laminate having an ASTM D 2244 color difference compared to a standard of less than (+5)? . There is a need for a coating that can be applied to a pressing surface without changing the appearance of the finish on the pressing surface. There is a need for a pressing surface that is not scratched when used in pressed laminates coated with alumina particles of more than 10 microns and preferably greater than 25 microns. There is a particular need for a pressing surface that is not scratched when used in high gloss pressed laminates with an ASTM 2457 gloss at an angle of 60 degrees of more than 70, when the laminate surface is coated with alumina particles of 25 to 60 microns.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It has now been discovered that the color, gloss and surface appearance of the laminate made with pressed surfaces coated with diborides selected from the group consisting of hafnium diboride, molybdemo diboride, tantalum diboride, titanium diboride, tuxtene diboride, diboride Vanadium, or zirconium dibboron or mixtures thereof are substantially the same as the color and gloss of the laminate made with the pressing surfaces before the coating is applied. Preferred diborides for coating pressed laminate surfaces are titanium diboride or zirconium diboride. The most preferred diboride for coating laminate pressing surfaces is titanium diboride. It is believed that titanium diboride is more commonly used commercially to coat surfaces than other members of the diborides of this invention, because these can be coated by deposition in a magnetron deposition system at a higher deposition rate. The diboride coating of this invention can be applied to the laminate pressing surfaces to have a Vickers hardness of at least 2000, and most preferably at least 2200, sufficient for lamination pressing with 25 to 60 microns or particles of higher alumina on the pressed surface of the laminate without being scratched. A coating of about 3 microns has sufficient hardness to resist scratching by the alumina particles on the pressing surface of the laminate. The hardness of the coating can be controlled in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition by those known in the use of these systems. It has been discovered that the diboride coating of this invention can be coated on the pressing surface with sufficient adhesion strength for use in high pressure pressing laminates. A minimum bond strength of 1.6 and preferably 1.8 kilogram force (kfg) determined by the diamond scratch bonding test is believed sufficient. Diboride coatings of more than 6 microns may have lower bond strengths due to the stresses produced during coating.

The binding of the diboride coating of this invention to the pressing surface is improved by cleaning the entire length of the pressing surface before introducing the pressing surface into a magnetron deposition coating system. The bond is further improved by chemical etching of the pressing surface with the magnetron deposition coating system before applying the titanium diboride coating. Cleaning, anodic chemical attack, cathodic chemical attack, radio frequency (RF) chemical attack can be achieved by methods known to those skilled in the use of a magnetron deposition coating system. It has been discovered that a titanium layer applied directly on the pressing surface before applying the diboride coating of this invention, further increases the binding of the diboride. Improving bonding, cleaning, chemical etching and the use of an intermediate layer between coating and the substrate are known to those in the art of using magnetron deposition coating systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The high-gloss, dark high-pressure laminate was pressed with the press plates coated with titanium diboride, shown in Table 1. These press plates have been finished to impart an ASTM D 2457 gloss at an angle of 60 degrees of approximately 100 to the laminate before being coated with titanium diboride. The ASTM D 2244 color difference between a standard and the pressed laminate with the press plates coated with titanium diboride shown in Table 1 were less than (0.5)? E. The differences in brightness and color in table 1 are average of the measurements made on 10 laminates.

Table 1 Brightness and Color Difference ASTM Press Plate @ 60 ° ASTM Color Difference. ? AND 3000-1 101 0.20 3000-2 100 0.25 6000-1 101 0.35 6000-2 103 0.40 6000-3 102 0.30 6000-4 102 0.40 6000-5 103 0.45 60006 101 0.45 Additionally, the 3000-2 high-gloss press plate and the control press plate have been used in the pressing of 760 sheets of high-gloss, high-pressure laminate, with alumina particles of particle size of 35 microns. on its pressing surface. The laminate was pressed with these press plates at approximately 68 bar and 138 ° C. The pressing surface of the laminate is the commercially available coating sheet with granule of alumina of 35 microns PGA 822 of Mead. The press plate 3000-2 and the control press plate were cut from a high gloss 410 stainless steel press plate, which has been finished to impart an ASTM D 2457 brightness at an angle of 60 degrees of approximately 100 to the laminate. Press plate 3000-2 and control press plate measure approximately 12 inches along one side and 11 inches along the other side. The press plate 3000-2 was coated with approximately 5 microns of titanium diboride in a magnetron deposition coating system. The coating of titanium diboride was applied in 17 scans, applying approximately 3000 anstroms of titanium diboride per scan. The other was used as a control. The first sheet of the dark high-gloss laminate, with alumina particles of average size of 35 microns on its pressing surface, pressed with the control press plate had an ASTM D 2244 color difference compared to a standard of about (0.25)? E. The first sheet of the high gloss, dark laminate pressed with press plate 3000-2 had an ASTM D 2244 color difference compared to a standard of approximately (0.15)? E. The first sheet of the dark laminate pressed with the control press plate had an ASTM D 2457 brightness at a 60 degree angle of about 100 to the laminate. The 760 dark laminate sheets pressed with the control press plate had a brightness ASTM D 2457, at an angle of 60 degrees of less than 70. The control press plate imparted a brightness or an angle of 60 degrees from less than 90 to the dark laminate after approximately 160 sheets have been pressed. It is believed that lamination with a brightness at an angle of 60 degrees of less than 90 is not commercially acceptable as a high gloss laminate. These 760 sheets of dark laminate pressed with the press plate 3000-2 had an ASTM D 2457 brightness at an angle of 60 degrees of about 100. The press plate 3000-2 has been viewed under a microscope to look for scratches after pressing These 760 sheets of dark laminate and none have been found. The control press plate is scratched. No differences were observed in the surface appearance of the pressed laminate with the press plates shown in Table 1 and the control press plates. The titanium diboride was coated on the high gloss press plate in a coating system by magnetron deposition under a number of conditions. It is also believed that a coating of at least 3 microns is necessary to achieve a Vickers hardness of at least 2000, and that the adhesion decreases the coating thickness of 6 microns or more. The hardness and adhesion can be controlled, as is known to those skilled in the art, by the pressure and temperature under which the press plates are coated with the diborides of this invention, and the power (amperes and volts) , used when coating the diborides of this invention on the press plates. A texturized press plate coated with titanium diboride, hereinafter "press plate" 3000-3, and a control press plate have been used in the pressing of more than 450 sheets or sheets of textured laminate, dark high pressure, with alumina particles of average particle size 35 microns on its pressing surface. This laminate was pressed at approximately 68 bar and 138 ° C. The 3000-3 press plate and the control press plate were cut from a textured, 630 stainless steel press plate, which has been finished or finished to impart an ASTM D 2457 brightness at a 60 degree angle. approximately 10 to the laminate. Press plate 3000-3 and control press plate measure approximately 12 inches along each side. Press plate 3000-3 was coated with approximately 6 microns of titanium diboride in a magnetron deposition coating system. The coating of titanium diboride was applied in 20 sweeps, applying approximately 3,000 angstroms of titanium diboride per scan. The first sheet of the textured, dark laminate, pressed with the control press plate had an ASTM D 2244 color difference compared to a standard of approximately (0.22)? E. The high-gloss, dark laminate pressed with press plate 3000-3 had an ASTM D 2244 color difference compared to a standard of approximately (0.08)? E. The first sheet of this dark laminate pressed with the control press plate had an ASTM D 2457 brightness, an angle of 60 degrees, of about 9.5. The 450 sheets of this dark laminate pressed with a control press plate had an ASTM D 2457 gloss at an angle of 60 degrees of about 8. This dark laminate pressed with the press plate 3000-3 had an ASTM D 2457 gloss, at an angle of 60 degrees of about 10. No difference was observed in the surface appearance of the pressed laminate with press plate 3000-3 and the control press plate. The press plates in table 1 and press plate 3000-3 were cleaned and then treated by chemical etching under radio-frequency conditions in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition. These press plates were then coated with titanium diboride in the coating system by magnetron deposition under the following average conditions.

Cleaning - chemical cleaning clean by rubbing with ethanol, trichloroethane and acetone physical cleaning blown with nitrogen gas for 5 minutes on the press plate Conditions of Chemical Attack by Radio Frequency gaseous medium argon sweep speed (cm / min) (2.54) mTorr 10 (mA / sq.cm) .54 kV .75 Coating conditions of Titanium Diboride medium gas argon sweep speed (cm . min) 2.54 mTorr 7 (mA / sq.cm) 13 kV .3 Properties and Coating Conditions 1 mire = 10,000 units. Three high gloss press plates, measuring approximately 4 feet by 8 feet, have been made of this invention. These press plates are referred to as press plates 3-1, 3-2 and 3-3. These press plates were coated by deposition with titanium diboride under conditions of flat magnetron discharge. The press plates 3-1, 3-1 and 3-3 were treated for anodic chemical attack and then coated with titanium and titanium diboride in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition, under the following average conditions. These press plates were chemically cleaned before they were placed in the deposition coating system. The temperatures of these press plates during the etching treatment and the coating was about 149 ° C. These press plates did not warp at this temperature.

Cleaning (Press Plate 3-1, 3-2 and 3-3) chemical cleaning cleaning by rubbing with ethanol trichloroethane and acetone Coating conditions with Titanium 3-1. 3-2. 3-3 Coating Conditions in Titanium Diboride 3-1. 3-2. 3-3 Coating Properties of TiB2 / Ti 3-1. 3-2 3-3 * Coating of TiB2 separated from press plates 3-1 and 3-2 during laminate pressing ** The hardness and adhesion of press plate 3-3 has not been measured. The hardness and adhesion test destroy the surface of the press plate. The press plate 3-3 has been used in the pressing of more than 2,200 sheets of high gloss, high pressure laminate, with alumina particles of average particle size 35 microns on their pressing surfaces. The 3-3 pressing plates were observed by scratches after pressing these 1, 200 sheets of laminate and none was found. The coating of titanium diboride on press plates 3-3 and 3-3 was separated from the stainless steel substrate after pressing less than 100 sheets of laminate. A high gloss press plate coated with zirconium diboride of this invention and a control press plate have each been used in the pressing of 10 sheets of the high gloss, dark gloss laminate. This laminate had a difference color ASTM D 2244 compared to a standard of approximately (0.26)? E and a brightness ASTM D 2457, at a 60 degree angle of about 100. No difference was observed in the surface appearance of the pressed laminate with the zirconium coated press plates and the control press plates. A high gloss press plate coated with zirconium diboride of this invention has been used in the pressing of 10 sheets of the high gloss, dark gloss laminate with alumina particles of average size of micron particles on its pressing surface. This laminate was pressed at approximately 68 bar and 138 ° C. A coating sheet commercially available with 35 micron alumina granules (PGA 822 from Mead) is the pressing surface of the laminate. No scratching was observed on this pressing plate after the pressing of these 10 sheets of the laminate. The zirconium diboride press plate was cut from a high gloss 410 stainless steel press plate having an ASTM D 2457, which has been finished to impart a gloss at an angle of about 60 degrees. 100 to the laminate. Two press plaques that They measure approximately 12 inches along each side were cut from this press plate. One was coated with approximately 5 microns of zirconium diboride in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition. This press plate was treated by chemical etching under radio frequency conditions for approximately 15 minutes before the coating of titanium diboride was applied. The coating of zirconium diboride of 6 microns was applied in 15 sweeps, applying approximately 4,000 angstroms of zirconium diboride per scan in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition, under the following average conditions. Cleaning - chemical cleaning I clean by rubbing with ethanol, trichloroethane and acetone physical cleaning blown with nitrogen gas for 5 minutes on the press plate Chemical Attack Conditions by Radio Frequency - medium gas argon sweep speed (cm / min) (2.54) mTorr 10 (mA / sq.cm) .54 kV .75 Coating conditions with Zirconium diboride medium gaseous argon scanning speed (cm./min) 2.54 mTorr 7 (mA / sq.cm) 9 - kV .4 The laminate Dark has been pressed with press plates, measuring 6 inches by 6 inches (15.24 cm X 15.24 cm), coated with titanium nitride in a magnetron deposition coating system. The test results shown in Table 3 are the average results of pressing 5 sheets of laminate with each press plate.

TABLE 4 Pressed Laminate with Press Plates Coated with Titanium Nitride Control # 8 TiN # 8 Control # 9 TíN # 9 ASTM Glitter @ 60 ° 100 95 100 95 ASTM Color Difference,? E 0.30 0.75 0.35 0.90 The brightness of the pressed laminate with the press plate coated with titanium nitride was less than the brightness of the laminate pressed with the control press plate. The color of the laminate pressed with the press plate coated with titanium nitride was significantly different from the color of the pressed laminate with the uncoated control press plate. The press plates coated with titanium nitride and the pressed laminate with the press plates coated with titanium nitride had a bronze-colored appearance. The dark laminate has been pressed with press plates, measuring 15.24 cm by 15.24 cm, coated with niobium nitride in a coating system by magnetron deposition. The test results shown in Table 4 are the average results of pressing five sheets of the laminate with each press plate.

TABLE 5 Press Laminate with Press Plates Coated with Niobium Nitride High Gloss Laminate, Dark Control B3 (3uM) B5 (5uM) Gloss ASTM @ 60 ° 106 102 101 ASTM Color Difference,? E 0.09 0.65 0.85 The brightness of the pressed laminate with the press plates coated with niobium nitride was less than the brightness of the pressed laminate with the press plates before coating. The color of the laminate pressed with the press plates coated with niobium nitride was significantly different from the laminate pressed with the press plates before they were coated. The dark laminate has been pressed with dam plates, measuring 15.24 cm by 15.24 cm, coated with a diamond-shaped coating in a magnetron deposition coating system. The laminate adheres to the diamond-coated press plate and is destroyed when it is separated. Although the illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described with particularity, it will be understood that various other modifications will be apparent to and can easily be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the claims appended thereto be limited to the examples and descriptions set forth herein, but instead that the claims be construed as encompassing all aspects of the patentable novelty that resides in the present invention. , including all aspects that would be treated as equivalents thereof by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

Claims (24)

1. A flat pressing surface for producing decorative laminates from paper impregnated with resin, said pressing surface comprising: a flat surface coated with diborides selected from the group consisting of hafnium diboride, molybdenum diboride, tantalum diboride, titanium diboride , tungsten diboride, vanadium diboride, or zirconium diboride or their mixtures, in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition at a Vickers hardness of at least 2000.

2. A flat pressing surface in accordance with the claim 1, wherein the surface is coated with diborides in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition at a Vickers hardness of at least 2200.

3. A flat pressing surface according to claim 1, wherein the surface is coated with diborides selected from the group consisting of titanium diboride or zirconium diboride or mixtures thereof.

4. A flat pressing surface according to claim 1, wherein the surface is coated with titanium diboride.

A flat pressing surface according to claim 1, wherein the surface is first coated with titanium in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition and then with diborides.

6. A flat pressing surface according to claim 1, wherein the diboride coating has a thickness of at least 3 microns.

7. A flat pressing surface according to claim 1, wherein the diboride coating has a thickness of no more than 6 microns.

8. A press plate having flat press surfaces for producing decorative laminates from paper impregnated with resin, said plate press comprising: flat surfaces coated with titanium diboride in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition at a hardness Vickers of at least 2000.

9. A press plate according to claim 8, wherein the flat surfaces are coated with titanium diboride in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition at a Vickers hardness of at least 2200.

10 A press plate according to claim 8, wherein the flat surfaces are first coated with titanium in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition, and then with titanium diboride.

11. A press plate according to claim 8, wherein the coating of titanium diboride has a thickness of at least 3 microns.

12. A press plate according to claim 8, wherein the coating of titanium diboride has a thickness of not more than 6 microns.

A method for making a flat pressing surface for producing decorative laminate from paper impregnated with resin, comprising: imparting a desired finish on a flat pressing surface; remove contaminants from the flat surface; and coating the flat surface with diborides selected from the group consisting of hafnium diboride, molybdenum diboride, tantalum diboride, titanium diboride, tungsten diboride, vanadium diboride, or zirconium diboride or mixtures thereof, in a coating by magnetron deposition to a Vickers hardness of at least 2000.

A method for making a flat press surface according to claim 13, wherein the surface is coated with dibbons in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition. at a Vickers hardness of at least 2200.

A method for making a press flat surface according to claim 13, wherein the surface is coated with diborides selected from the group consisting of titanium diboride or zirconium diboride or mixtures thereof.

16. A method for making a press flat surface according to claim 13, where the surface is coated with titanium diboride.

A method for making a press flat surface according to claim 13, wherein the surface is first coated with titanium in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition and then with diborides.

18. A method for preparing a press flat surface according to claim 13, wherein the diboride coating has a thickness of at least 3 microns.

19. A method for making a press flat surface according to claim 13, wherein the diboride coating has a thickness of not more than 6 microns.

20. A method for making a press plate having flat pressing surfaces for producing decorative laminate from paper impregnated with resins, comprising: imparting a desired finish to the flat pressing surfaces; remove contaminants from flat surfaces; and coating the flat surface with titanium diboride in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition at a Vickers hardness of at least 2000.

21. A method for making a press plate according to claim 20, wherein the flat surfaces are coated with titanium diboride in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition at a Vickers hardness of at least 2200.

22. A method for making a press plate according to claim 20, wherein the flat surfaces are first coated with titanium in a flat coating system by magnetron deposition, and then with titanium diboride.

23. A method for making a press plate according to claim 20, wherein the coating of titanium diboride has a thickness of at least 3 microns.

24. A method for making a press plate according to claim 20, wherein the coating of titanium diboride has a thickness of not more than 6 microns.