The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 14, 2006
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2003
George E. Sakoske, Washington, PA (US);
Martin Baumann, Bad Vilbel, DE;
George E. Sakoske, Washington, PA (US);
Martin Baumann, Bad Vilbel, DE;
Ferro Corporation, Cleveland, OH (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of forming a glass article having a transparent hydrophobic surface during a glass-forming operation. In accordance with the method, a plurality of solid particles of inorganic material having an average diameter of less than about 400 nm are applied to a surface of the glass article when the glass article is at a temperature within the range of from about 700° C. to about 1200° C. The inorganic particles fuse to the surface of the glass article to form the transparent hydrophobic surface. Optionally, a fluorosilane agent can be applied to the transparent hydrophobic surface to further increase its hydrophobicity. The transparent hydrophobic surface has a nano-structured texture, which makes the surface of the glass article very hydrophobic and easy to clean. In addition, application of the transparent hydrophobic surface to the glass article does not adversely affect the optical clarity of the glass article and it helps reduce the amount of incident light reflected from the surface of the glass article.