MX2008000026A - Faux stainless steel and method of making - Google Patents

Abstract

A faux stainless steel sheet material (20) preferably formed of a carbon sheet steel core coated with a metal zinc alloy, which may include zinc-aluminium with or without other minor elements or zinc-nickel compositions. The coating is polished in a polishing apparatus (10) comprising a series of conventional two or four roll poslishing heads (36, 46, 72, 74) each of which utilizes a polishing belt (38, 48) of a predetermined grit mesh and size, beld speed, belt oscilations transverse to the sheet steel conveyed direction, at predetermined conveyance rate of the sheet steel and load pressure on the belt. The polishing heads ( 36, 46, 72, 74) scratch the coating to a partial depth of the coating a portion of which remains after polishing. The scratches mimic polished stainless steel finishes which may include matte to bright silver blue and genei-ally mimic a#4 stainless steel finish. Fourpolishing examples and four samples polished according to the examples are disclosed.

Description

IMITATION OF STAINLESS STEEL AND METHOD TO CREATE IT This application claims the benefit of the application Series No. 60 / 697,344 filed on July 7, 2005 and is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. This invention relates to the provision of a non-stainless steel substrate having the appearance of stainless steel and a method for forming it. Currently stainless steel for architectural applications, medical equipment, equipment for the food industry, sanitary equipment and so on is widely used. Such finishes for household appliances, etc., such as refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, ovens and the like are becoming popular and their use is also spreading. One type of finish is a relatively low cost plastic laminate that simulates stainless steel for use in household appliances. The problem with stainless steel material for such uses is its relatively higher cost. Currently the carbon steel sheet is finished to protect it from corrosion. Carbon sheet steel can also be coated with a commercially available metal coating to protect it from corrosion. Such carbon steel coatings may include 80% zinc and 20% aluminum as provided by American Nic eloid Company (AN), 40-48% zinc, 51-58% aluminum, 1-2% silicon, 0.1-1% 'iron and < 1% titanium provided by the International Steel Group (ISG) and 70-90% zinc and 10-30% nickel provided by Material Sciences Corp. (MSC). These coatings are applied to the base metal by hot dip or electroplated. The coatings vary from approximately 0.018 mm to 0.038 mm in thickness on each side of the sheet. The metal coating is then finished with a transparent coating. The transparent coating is a polymer and protects the finish of the coating. The transparent coating is a polymer and protects the coated finish. This coated sheet material is less expensive than the stainless steel sheet but does not have the same high quality appearance and appearance of the stainless steel. The present invention addresses the problem of providing a carbon steel material or other base, preferably metal, whether or not steel having a metallic finish and the appearance and view of stainless steel, but not the cost. Applicants do not know of any product other than stainless steel that is made of metal and has the appearance and view of stainless steel. Said finished metal product which is not stainless steel could provide lower cost, but provides a quality appearance to various consumer items such as appliances and It could also have extensive architectural applications among others, for example. The Patent of E.U.A. No. 5,049,443 to Kuszaj others, discloses a composite material of multiple layers of steel. This is described as a finished product made of carbon steel or enameled stainless steel that has high impact, delamination and resistance to thermal shock. The composite material is formed of carbon steel or stainless steel and therefore does not solve the problem observed earlier when stainless steel is used. He . Carbon steel or stainless steel has a finished side of a reinforced plastic cover layer bonded directly to the steel using silane to form a laminated structure. This patent is not directed to the provision of a substitute for the more expensive stainless steel material and can in fact use said material in its structure. The Patent of E.U.A. No. 6,770,384, Chen, discloses an article coated with a decorative and protective multilayer coating that has the appearance of stainless steel. The coating comprises a cover layer of polymeric base on the surface of the article and vapor deposited at a relatively low pressure in the polymeric layer. A protective and decorative color layer comprises the reaction products of refractory metal or refractory metal alloy, nitrogen and oxygen wherein the nitrogen and oxygen content of the reaction products are each from about 4 to about 32 atomic percent at the nitrogen content being at least 3 atomic percent. The Patent of E.U.A. No. 6,440,582 to McDevitt et al. Discloses a coating composition for a steel product and coating method. The coated products are plates and sheets using an aluminum-zinc coating alloy to improve performance in stress-flexed oxide stains, improve the appearance of coated surface when brushing and coating ability of the coated product. The patent describes the brushing of the coating to simulate a brushed stainless steel and brushed aluminum appearance. The Publication -of E.U.A. No. 2005/0040138 by Sato et al., Describes a surface finishing process for stainless steel where beautiful, bright and milky white surfaces are obtained for chrome 13 steel containing high carbon and stainless steel cutting free that contains high sulfur content. The surface is first descaled and then immersed in treatment solutions. This process therefore increases the amount of stainless steel but does not provide a substitute material that looks like stainless steel but does not have its cost.

The Patent of E.U.A. No. 6,203,403, to Odstrcil et al., Discloses a method for polishing laminated pressed plates of stainless steel to produce a surface with high non-directional brightness. This patent is not relevant to the problem of providing a low cost material that appears to have a stainless steel finish. A polished stainless steel imitation foil according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a laminated material; a metal coating on a surface of the laminated material; and a polished finish of abrasive gravel on the external surface of the metal cladding, said finish simulates polished stainless steel. In a preferred embodiment, the coating is a * metal alloy. In a further embodiment, the steel sheet is a metal that is not stainless steel and preferably is a carbon steel. In a further embodiment, the coating comprises a zinc alloy having a composition on the scale of from about 40% to about 90% by weight of zinc with one of aluminum or nickel on the scale of 20 to 58% by weight of aluminum and from 10-30% by weight of nickel. In a further embodiment, the coating comprises an alloy selected from the group consisting of one of 1) about 80% zinc and about 20% aluminum weight, 2) about 40-48% zinc by weight, about 51-58% aluminum by weight, about 1-2% by weight silicon weight, approximately 0.1-1% by weight of iron and < of about 1% by weight of titanium or 3) of about 70-90% by weight of zinc and about 10-30% by weight of nickel. Preferably, the coating has a surface roughness in the range of 8-48 Ra, scratches having a scale length of about 3.18 mm to about 9.5 mm, and a reflectivity of about 38 to 360 gloss units. In a further embodiment, the coating surface has a reflectivity at one of the scales of approximately 38-48 gloss units, 120-130 gloss units and 355-360 gloss units where one brightness unit is the ratio of light reflected specularly to the total reflected light where the specularly reflected light is one in which the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. Preferably, the surface has scratches having lengths on one of the scales from about 6.35 mm to about 9.5 mm, from about 9.5 mm to about 12.7 mm, from about 3.18 mm to 4.76 mm, and from about 4.76 mm to about of 6.35 mm.

In a further embodiment, the coating has a thickness of about 0.0051 m to about 0.0254 mm. In a further embodiment the coating finish has the appearance of a # 4 polished stainless steel finish comprising 120-150 mesh where the term "mesh" refers to a band gravel value. A method for producing an imitation stainless steel sheet according to one aspect of the present invention comprises coating a laminated material, preferably carbon steel, or other material, metal or non-metal, with a metal, preferably a zinc alloy. aluminum or a zinc-nickel alloy and then polishing the metal alloy coating with an abrasive gravel to mimic a stainless steel finish and, preferably, the coating of the coated sheet material. A clear protective coating such as a polymer or the like can be applied. They are still described. other modalities IN THE DRAWING Figures la and Ib together form a schematic diagram of a polishing line of a coil to coil polishing apparatus for polishing the rolled sheet metal polished, Fig. Ib being a continuation of Fig. la in regions I-I; Figure is a fragmentary sectional elevation view of a carbon steel sheet with a metal coating before polishing; Figure Id is a fragmentary sectional elevation view of a coated carbon steel sheet finished with clear coating after polishing; Figure 2 is a more detailed elevation view of a representative polishing head using a polished two-roll configuration employed in the polishing line of Figures la and Ib; and Figure 3 is a more detailed elevation view of a representative polishing head using a four-roll polishing configuration employed in the polishing line of Figs. la and Ib; Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a contact roller used in the apparatus of Fig. La and Ib; and Figures 5a and 5b are useful graphs to explain certain principles of the present invention. Figures 6-16 are graphs showing the total and specular reflectance of polished stainless steel and the coated surfaces of samples 1-4 before and after polishing; Figures 17-24 are sectional side elevation views of microphotographs of several samples with respective coatings on a carbon steel substrate showing coating thicknesses taken at 500x and showing the coatings before and after polishing according to the present invention; Figures 25-29 are photomicrographs at a 50x magnification of the coated surfaces of samples 1-4 before and after polishing (Figs 25-27 and 28A) according to one embodiment of the present invention and a reference sample stainless steel (Figs 28 and 29); Figures 30- and 31 are photomicrographs at a 500x magnification before polishing the coated surface of sample 1; Figure 32 is a microphotograph of the coated surface of the sample 1 before polishing and a graph of the overall elemental spectrum of the surface in the designated rectangular area of the photomicrograph; Figures 33-35 are microphotographs at a 500x magnification of the coated surface of sample 1 before polishing and an elementary spectrum plot of said surface in the designated area of each microphotograph shown by the arrow including a graph showing the different compositions of the coatings in the respective locations; Figures 36-37 are photomicrographs at a 3000x magnification of the coated surface of sample 1 before polishing and an elementary-spectral plot of said surface in the designated area of each microphotograph shown by the arrow including a graph showing the different coating compositions in those locations; Figure 38 are two photomicrographs taken with an ET detector and a BSE detector at a 500x magnification of the coated surface of the sample 2 before polishing; Figures 39-42 are microphotographs at a 500x magnification of the coated surface of the sample 2 before polishing and a graph of the elemental spectrum of the surface in the designated area of each microphotograph shown by the arrow including a graph showing the composition of the coating in said location; Figure 43 is a microphotograph at a 3000x magnification of the coated surface of sample 2 before polishing and an elementary spectrum plot of said surface in the designated area of the microphotograph shown by the arrow including a graph showing the composition of the coating in said location; Figure 44 are two microphotographs taken with an ET detector and a BSE detector at a 500x magnification of the coated surface of the sample 3 before polishing; Figure 45 is a microphotograph of the coated surface of the sample 3 before polishing and an overall elementary spectrum plot on said surface in the designated rectangular area of the photomicrograph and a graph showing the composition of the coating in said area; Figures 46 and 47 are graphs showing the total reflectance of the coated surfaces of a reference stainless steel sample and the four samples 1-4 before and after polishing according to one embodiment of the present invention: Figures 48 and 49 are graphs showing specular reflectance of the coated surfaces of a reference stainless steel sample and the four samples 1-4 before and after polishing according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 50 is a graph showing total reflectance at a wavelength of 550 nm versus no. of scratches per centimeter after polishing the four samples and the stainless steel reference sample and for sample 2 before polishing according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 51 is a graph showing the specular reflectance versus no. of scratches by centimeter after polishing the four samples and the stainless steel reference sample; Figure 52 is a graph showing the surface roughness and vs. number of scratches per centimeter after the four samples after polishing and the stainless steel reference sample. Figure 53 is a graph showing total reflectance at 550 nm against surface roughness after polishing of the four samples and the stainless steel reference sample; Figures 54-56 are graphs showing the brightness of the four samples and the reference sample measured respectively at 20, 60 and 85 degrees in relation to the surface of the samples; and Figures 57-58 are graphs showing L vs. Surface roughness and vs. number of scratches per centimeter respectively of the four samples after polishing and of the SS reference sample. Definitions: DP - After polishing Band - A commercially available polyester reinforcement to which gravel adheres. The size (width) of the band is not a factor for polishing metals. Deflector roller - a steel roller directly below and supporting the steel sheet being processed. AP - Before Polishing.

Color - The subjective visual appearance of the finish by the composition of a metal base coating on a substrate and possibly to a lesser extent by a clear coating applied on the base coat. Coolant - a water-soluble liquid applied to the band in the polishing area. It may have a minor effect on the color of the finish. The coolant reduces the friction of the belt completely covered with abrasive gravel, adds lubrication and contributes to a reflective, glossy surface. Finishing - The final condition of a surface after the last production phase. A thicker finish generally means a grayish, matt appearance on stainless steel can be produced by a more aggressive gravel such as aluminum oxide or zirconium compared to silicon carbide. An aggressive finish, that is, thicker, may appear to have a more "wild" silver gray appearance due to its thicker condition and a less aggressive finish produced by smaller gravel, eg, silicon carbide, may appear to have a darker finish with softer satin. A more uniform surface will be more reflective than a thicker surface. Finish # 1 to # 5 - A conventional finish applied to stainless steel (SS) accepted as a broad standard in the industry.

Finish # 3 - Intermediate 100 mesh used where a semi-finished polished surface is sufficient as additional finishing operations after fabrication. Finish # 4 - Mesh 120-150 applied to a preconditioned sheet using abrasive belts and lubricating oils. A uniform commercial finish widely used in food processing equipment, dietetic and pharmaceutical, or in any way a uniform sanitary appearance is desired. Architectural quality sheets are produced from suitable starting material with knowledge of end-use details. Finish # 6 - This is an opaque satin finish that has reflectivity below # 4. It is produced by Tampico # 4 brushed finished sheets in a medium of abrasive particles and oil. It is used when matt opaque finishes are necessary. Finish # 7 - This has a high degree of reflectivity, produced with fine abrasives to gravel 320 then using a heavy lubricant or a brightener to give a semi-mirror finish without removing the scratches from the gravel. It is mainly used for ornamental or ornamental architectural purposes or special industrial applications where a very fine finish is required. Finish # 8 - This is the most reflective of the AISI / ASM finishes. It is obtained by polishing with abrasives Successfully finer and brightening extensively with very fine polishing roughness. The surface is essentially free of gravel scratches from preliminary grinding. This finish is used more widely for architectural applications, press plate mirrors and reflectors. Finishing specifications - Standard finishes provided by ASM / AISA specifications available at www. ssina. com. Finish Standard 3A - 150-240 gravel finish. Sanitary Finish # 3 - Gravel finish of 80-100, RA > / = 1,015 microns Finish Sanitary # 4 - 100-120 gravel finish, RA > / = 0.63 mieras Pharmaceutical Finish # 7 - Glossy Finish (mirror-like) Pharmaceutical Finish # 8 - Gloss Finish (mirror-like) Gravel - Particles, an abrasive particulate material usually made of silicon, aluminum oxide or zirconium, applied to a polishing substrate such as a conventional abrasive polishing band. Expressed in terms of numbers, eg, 80/120/150/180/220 and so on. The smaller the number the larger the size of the grain of the particles and the thicker it is thicker It is the superficial roughness. An 80 mesh is thicker than 120 mesh. Representative gravels include silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, and zirconium. Silicon carbide was preferred for the present invention since it is disassembled during use and is not very aggressive and is used for standard finishing and polishing. Aluminum oxide is used for grinding and light finishing in some cases. Zirconium is used for coarse grinding and removal of material. Aluminum oxide is used for light grinding and finishing in some cases. Zirconium is used for heavy grinding and removal of material. The suppliers of said gravel include the following companies: 3M, Norton, Hermes, VSM and Sancap. Head pressure - Pressure load - Pressure of the polishing band on the sheet metal being polished. Measured in terms of% load amperage in the belt drive motor. While the amperage is higher, the higher the pressure, the more material will be removed. The majority of the motors to load of 20% and stainless steel of polishing to load of approximately 75%. Head speed - The speed of the belt driven in the head by a drive roller. Lightness L - Visual perception of the relative color and / or whiteness of a metallic finish in a gray scale from black (0) to white (100).

Mesh - band gravel, eg, 120-150 gravel • for silicon carbide gravel. Mieras - Medium Square Root divided between 0.028 0 to one miera (one miera x 0.028 = RMS, for its acronym in English). Polishing - Provides an exterior surface finish to metal that changes its appearance by scratching the surface of the metal with fine gravel to provide an aesthetically uniform and finished flattering appearance to the exterior surface. Polishing head - A set of two or four rollers around which a polishing band is driven. In a two-roller head, one roller is driven by a motor, is used to track the web and is the driver of the web, and the other is a contact roller that is driven and which engages the grinding band. RA or RA - Arithmetic average of surface roughness. See Fig. 5a. The average roughness is the arithmetic average height of the rough irregularities measured from a midline within a sample length L. This parameter can be commonly referred to as "the finish". N Ra = 1? Yi where Yi is the value of the profile deviations of N I = 1 the average line on a evaluation length, it is not a sample length for ANSI. Rq - RMS - Square Root Mean surface roughness. See Fig. 5b. This is more sensitive to occasional peaks and valleys, creating a more valuable complement to Ra. While Ra is the arithmetic average, Rq is the geometric average height of the roughness component of measured irregularities of the midline with the sampling length L. Rq is the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of profile deviations (Yi) of the midline. N Rq = (S? I2) 12 where Yi is the value of the profile deviations of N I = 1 the average line over an evaluation length, it is not a sample length for ANSI. Scratch - A linear print, that is, a slot, on a surface that has a depth, length, width and orientation relative to a substrate length. It is not important, by itself, to define a finish, which is best determined by surface roughness RA or Rq as defined herein and as it is produced by and manifests itself in a striped arrangement. Diffuse Reflection - The angle of incidence of light differs from the angle of reflection.

Specular reflection - The reflection of light where the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. SS - Stainless Steel Surface Finishing Roughness - Measured in RMS (medium square root) or Ra (average surface roughness). RMS is approximately 11% higher than Ra and is normally used as a final finishing measure instead of reflectivity to provide a quantified measurement of the surface condition. The appearance of the surface finish to an observer is subjective and seems to correlate with the roughness of the surface to ensure repeatability. Total reflectance - combined specular and diffuse reflection. In Figures la and Ib, the polishing apparatus 10 is generally conventional using individual apparatuses that are conventional in the metal polishing technique using commercially available polishing webs having associated gravel. However, this does not support the fact that the combination. of polishing bands and corresponding mesh, band pressure, speed, gravel, time and depth of polishing and related polishing factors described below are novel. The apparatus 10 comprises a plurality of polishing machines aligned in a linear arrangement.

However, it is known that each polishing apparatus comprising one or more polishing heads, even if otherwise identical from the same manufacturer, produces a uniquely slightly different finish for a given set of variable factors. However, these factors can be adjusted in each apparatus to produce substantially the same finish. These variables that exhibit the last influence on the finish include the type of polishing head, two or four rollers, band size, that is, its width, the oscillation parameters of the band and the type of refrigerant. Each of the polishing machines in the apparatus 10 cooperates with each of the previous and subsequent machines in a linear sequence to produce the finished product. This sequence polishes the substrate material of coated metallic steel sheet. This material has a conventional gauge and width, as used to finish the exterior surfaces of most appliances such as refrigerators, ovens, washers and dryers, dishwashers and others or in architectural applications to provide the appearance of SS. Such apparatuses or applications fabricated with conventional SS sheet metal exteriors are relatively more expensive and popular. It is thought that the provision of imitation SS that is less expensive than the SS In fact, the cost of related devices can be significantly reduced and these devices become available to a larger portion with less affluent population. This is possible for a population that has less financial resources available for the purchase of such devices. In Figs. and Ib, the steel sheet 20 is supplied with a coil 12 located in the coil supply and unwinding station 14. While the coils are described as the shape of the sheet-material, it can be supplied in other forms, v.gr ., discrete sheets. Said sheets, which are not preferred for the present polishing invention, can be tackly welded together during processing to form a continuous sheet. Also the rolled sheets finally, after polishing, are cut into discrete sheets (not shown) according to a particular implementation. Other coils 12 'of carbon steel sheet material expect to be polished as replacements for coils 12 in an array 16 in the holder 19 when the polishing of the coil 12 is completed. The coils 12, 12' are stacked in the 19. The station 14 comprises a conventional double-cone uncoiler 18, which unwinds the sheet steel 20 of the reel 12. A conventional arrangement is provided (not shown) which moves a new reel 12 'in the unwinding 18 at station 14 when the current roller 12 is processed is emptied of the steel sheet. The steel sheet 20 is pulled through the remainder of the apparatus 10 by a winding station at the outer end of the polishing apparatus 10. The difference between the apparatus 10 and a conventional stainless steel polishing system is that in a conventional system, the polishing operation is carried out on the base metal sheet metal that removes the base material from the sheet steel. There is no coating on this sheet metal, and therefore the amount of material removed by polishing is not critical. In the present apparatus, the base carbon steel substrate carrying a metal coating is not touched by the polishing heads, which only polish the coating at a fraction of the coating thickness. The liner has a limited thickness t, Fig. 1, which is preferably from about 0.01778 mm to about 0.00381 mm thick. Therefore, the removal of a fractional portion of the coating during polishing is much more critical than for polishing the conventional SS that does not have such a coating and a base metal much thicker than said coating. In FIG. 1, the unpolished coated steel sheet 20 has a core 22 of carbon steel conventional and has a thickness ti as used in the apparatuses as noted above and other applications, such as architectural elements, automotive and aircraft components and so on. Coated steel sheets are preferably used in interior applications that are not subjected to severe weather conditions. The illustrative thickness ti, FIG. 1, of the carbon steel sheet core 22 is approximately 0.4826 mm or approximately 0.762 mm. A transparent coating 30, Fig. Id, is also preferably employed to protect the polished coating finish on the surface 26"of the coating 24. The core 22 has a metallic zinc alloy coating 24 on all its exterior surfaces including the primary surface core 26"and the lower core surface 28. Illustrative coating alloy compositions are shown in Table 1. The coating can be applied by electroplating, dipping in heater or other known deposit processes not critical to the present invention. These processes are given by way of example and not limitation. Other coating compositions can be derived by someone with ordinary experience. The importance of the composition is that while it is not made of stainless steel, it provides the appearance of stainless steel when polished as described herein.

TABLE 1 METAL ALLOY COATING COMPOSITIONS RECEIVING IMITATION FINISH IN POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL While the above coatings are described as metal alloys, non-alloy metals can also be used as a substrate coating. For example, zinc and other metals can be used as a coating without forming alloys of the metal. The coating can be deposited by electroplating or by another known deposit technique. One of ordinary skill using the techniques and principles described herein can empirically develop the imitation finish of stainless steel with said coating metals. The coating surface 26, FIG. 1, on the carbon steel surface of primary base metal 26 is polished to a depth having a value, for example in this embodiment, of not more than about 0.00762 mm to about 0.0127. mm so that a portion of the coating 24. The polished surface 26 ', Fig. 1d, has the appearance of SS. The polishing operation to remove said minimum amount of coating is critical so that the core carbon steel core 22 is not exposed by leaving a residual amount of coating 24. This coating is still required to exhibit scratches in minutes that mimic the polished SS Said SS can be polished to remove the base material at a depth much greater than the polish of the coating 24 to the depth d, Fig. Le. The polished coating 24 provides the appearance of imitation stainless steel finish to the surface 26 'and thus to the steel sheet 20. In Fig. 1d, a transparent protective coating 30 is applied on both sides of the metal coating. 24. The transparent protective coating is not part of the present invention. The transparent coating, which may have different compositions, is proprietary to several customers of the assignee of the present invention receiving the finished steel sheet product. The transparent coating is applied by them to the polished sheet material. In Fig. 1, downstream of the unwinder 18 there is an inlet feed table 32 including a narrow inlet roller 33 and an inlet side guide 35. Current under the guide 35 is a welded table 34 to perform the welding operations on the sheet material as deemed necessary. For example, the end edge of a sheet being processed is welded in a manner adhered to the leading edge of the next sheet of coil to be polished. Current below the welded board is a first polishing head 36. This head 36 can include an abrasive polishing band 38, said band includes an appropriate bonded abrasive mesh and which can be used to polish the surface of the underside 40 of the sheet coated steel 20, FIG. 1, in a lower surface polishing step. However, in the present embodiment band 38 is not placed or used. The underside of the steel sheet 20 is preferably not polished in this implementation. In Figure Ib, downstream there is a second lower polishing band 44 (not used in the current process) and the band 38 is identical. The lower steel surface 20 may optionally have an imitation finish SS finish if desired. Same as surface 26", Fig. 1. In the alternative, if for some reason the initial top surface finish becomes defective during processing, the bottom surface can then be finished as a faux-finish stainless steel finish. Ib, the apparatus 10 includes a first imitation polishing head of SS 46 having a band of abrasive polishing 48. The head 46 has a configuration of two representative head rollers 46. The head 46 comprises an upper drive roller 50 and a smaller diameter lower driven roller 52, referred to as a contact roller in this technique, the which together drive the band filled with gravel 48. The roller 52, which is representative of other contact rollers used in the apparatus 10, is shown in Fig. 4. The roller 52 is made of rubber, and has the parameters observed in FIG. the following Table 2. The soil in the Table is the dimension L, the groove is the groove g in Fig. 4, the angle of the grooves to a circumferential direction is a and the depth of the groove g is the dimension dg. The durometer is the hardness of the material and is important in the final finishing parameter affected by the roller. The importance of the groove g, its depth dg, its angle a and the width of the ground L between the grooves, the diameter of the roller and its durometer is as follows. The contact roller 52 is important in the finishing process. The contact roller serves the purpose of causing the belt to work as if it were rigid and the abrasive particles in the belt act as a group of sharp cutting teeth. It is an instrument that performs narrow and precision tolerances on thin carbon steel and possible coated sheets. Also, others Parameters of the finishing process can influence the finishing process performed by the abrasive bands, there may be a non-optimal contact roller design for any given application. However, a discussion of the causes and effects provides guidelines for selecting the contact roller parameters as appropriate for the processing of the coated steel sheet to one embodiment of the present invention. Some of the aspects involved are, if the process is wet as in the present modality, or dry. The rate of material removal, tolerance and finishing requirements also play a part in the specification of contact roller parameters. In a wet process, the type of fluid soluble in oil or water, ie, the coolant and the chemical additives are beneficial to insure against deterioration and softening of the roller in use. The contact rollers need to balance dynamically in the. Use RPM to ensure minimum vibration or other undesirable results on an unbalanced roller. Roller hardness is commonly measured by indentation type gauges that are calibrated on the "A" scale (ASTM D2240 and MIL-T-45186). The scale of this scale is from 0 to 100, with lower numbers (50 and less) indicating a relatively smooth condition and higher numbers (more than 50) indicating a relatively hard roller. Durometer tolerance is normally +/- 5. Soft durometers are used when removal of material is not the main concern. Said rolls will conform to the tapered sheet material or fill without separation and are also used to generate fine finishes. The harder durometers are used for the removal of heavy material and therefore are not suitable for the present process, which is directed to the removal of a minimum amount of coating to polish the coating to desired finish. The ratio of ground to slot is important to minimize and avoid tapping between them. These relationships should exceed 1: 1 to minimize such problems. The slots are preferably used to minimize contamination, ie, oil, dirt, etc. If the roller face becomes contaminated, objectionable marking and scratching of the roller surface (the ground areas) may occur with the use of fine gravel strips. The grooves should preferably be formed with a radius at the root to provide more support for the individual plots in order to avoid fatigue and subsequent premature breaking of the terrain areas. The roller slot angle, Fig. 4, has a possible scale from 0 to 90 °, but such a large scale is not used The preferred scale of the angle a is between a value minimum of approximately 8 ° and a practical maximum angle of approximately 60 °. The value of 8o provides a better finish that is polished with the 60 ° angle and is less aggressive. However, in the present process the slot has a preferred angle of 45 °. The 60 ° value of the maximum aggressive abrasion that results in a poor finish when it is acceptable and is not used with the present process for obvious reasons. Any value less than 8 °, eg, 0 ° is not useful because separation or scratching occurs in the finish. More than 60 °, for example 90 °, is not useful because it results in excessive pounding, clicking, vibration, and premature product destruction. Values between 0 ° and 8 ° increase separation or scratching so that the finish is undesirable or values between 60 ° and 90 ° result in increased pounding, clicking, vibration as the value approaches 90 °. For the present process, the roller slot angle is preferred at about 45 °. Since the need for brand-free finishes is increased as in the present embodiment, the angle of the grooves, which forms jagged edges, decreases. No grooves or jagged edges are used in which the polishing is primarily done and the generation of fine finishes is desired using soft 25-50 durometer contact rollers, and where material removal is minimal. As a result, to finish a coating as described herein a durometer 50 contact roller is used. The contact rollers can be urethane as well as rubber compounds. A rubber compound is preferred for the contact rollers for the present apparatus 10. The hardness may vary from 25 Shore A durometer (very soft) to 95 Shore A durometer (very hard). The preferred durometer in the present process is Shore A 50. The preferred gravel is silicon particles. The contact roller among other factors in the process were further described in Table 2 below. The web 48, like all the polishing bands used in the polishing heads of the apparatus 10, has a width normal to the pattern figure of approximately 1.32 m while the substrate of the steel sheet 20 has a width of approximately or less of 1,219 m. Directly below the lower roller 52 and below the steel sheet 20 being processed there is a support deflector roller 54. The relative vertical position of the roller 54 is adjusted by a crank (not shown) to apply the pressure to the roller 52 , the band 48 and the steel sheet 20 between the two rollers during the polishing. The head pressure is measured as a function of the load amperes extracted by the head drive motor. See Table 2 for illustrative pressures in the examples shown. The roller supports 54 the steel sheet 20 as they are transported through the station 46 as well as pressure is applied. The abrasive belt 56, preferably filled with silicon gravel, but could also be gravel from another material, is driven by the roller 50 via the engine (not shown). In addition, an oscillation mechanism (not shown) oscillates, by a pivoting action, the upper drive roller 50 to move the web 48 on the drive and belt drive roller 52. The web 48 moves in a normal direction to the feed direction 58 of the steel sheet 20 inside and outside the extraction sheet perpendicular to the extraction sheet. The upper roller 50 oscillates so as to be reciprocal to the band 48 in the normal directions to the directions 58 preferably from about 1.27 cm to about 2.54 cm. This movement transfers the transverse oscillation range of motion to the band 48 passing around the driven contact roller 52 from about 1.27 cm to about 2.54 cm in the normal direction to the direction 58. Therefore as the steel sheet Coated 20 is pulled in the direction 58, the band 48 oscillates in a normal direction as the contact region of its steel sheet 20 in the previous amplitude. The values of gravel size, band speed, contact roller pressure, regime of steel material feed determine the finishing characteristics in the coating 24 by producing the surface 26"in cooperation with the downstream steps described below and in Table 2. However, the variables that have the greatest effect on the finish are The type of band (gravel) and head pressure Too much pressure or a very aggressive band can be easily polished through the lining The lighter gauge sheet material is operated through the apparatus at a higher rate than the other gauges This heat accumulates in the polishing process, which can envelop the steel sheet, inducing central warping or edge waves, the coolant can avoid this action, but the permanence of the coating in the band can put the removal at risk This result is much more prevalent when operating without a coolant.The end result can be achieved by trial and error. rror within the experience of experts in this field. When the finished appearance is convenient, it is possible to operate the thicker and thinner gauges at the same speed through the apparatus by careful attention to the parameters. The widths of band for the steel sheet with width of 121.92 cm or smaller can be 132.08 cm.

Polishing can occur with 152.4 cm wide sheet steel using a 157.48 cm wide band. The length of a band is a function of the number of rollers in a head. A band usually has a seam S diagonally across the bandwidth. This stitching S, Fig. 4, represented by a dotted line, is not parallel and is a maximum amount of the contact roller slots g to discard the damage of the band during operation. The faster the line speed, that is, the speed at which the steel sheet 20 is pulled by the absorption rewinder 98, the longer the lines, that is, the longer the section of the sheet steel that is in contact with the gravel as it passes underneath the contact roller. The faster the head speed the shorter the stripes. The faster the oscillations of the band, the shorter the stripes. The oscillations provide the stripes of limited length. Otherwise, without the oscillations, the stripes could be continuous and not convenient. An adjustment apparatus (not shown) on the head 46, which is conventional as is the head 46 in general, adjusts the vertical position of the lower support roller 54 towards and away from the steel sheet 20. This applies the pressure of the steel sheet 20 of transported substrate against the band 48 at the position of the contact roller 52. The lower support roller 54 is referred to herein as a "deflector roller". The amount of pressure on the band 48 is measured by the current amperage value extracted by the drive motor of the roller 50 (not shown). In the same context, the so-called deflector roller 72 on the head 60, Fig. 3, fits vertically towards and away from the steel sheet 20 to move the steel sheet towards and away from the band 70. This adjusts the pressure of the band 70 in the steel sheet 20. The amperage of current drawn by the driving motors for rollers correlates with the pressure. Generally, a correlation table can be used to correlate the drive motor amperage to the web pressure on the transported substrate being polished, the steel sheet 20. In Fig. 3, a four-roll head is shown. (not shown in Figures la and Ib) which can be used in place of the two-roll head 46 of Fig. 2, and which can be used in certain processes of the invention as described later in Table 2. This table shows a set of examples provided for illustration and not limitation of the process of the invention. For example, different polishing lines with different polishing heads can be established according to a particular coating of different coating compositions in Table 1.

These polishing heads can be set up with different factors as discussed below in relation to Tables 2 and 3. One group of polishing heads can be used for one finish and one coating and another group of polishing heads can be used for finishing different in a different second coating and so on. In Fig. 3, the polishing head 60 comprises four rollers 62, 64, 66, and 68. The rollers 62, 64, and 66 preferably have the same size and the roller 68, the contact roller, is somewhat smaller in diameter. The polishing belt 70 is driven by the drive roller 64 whose amperage is a measure of the pressure in the contact roller 68. The roller 62 is a traction roller and rotates reciprocally with the web 70 on the roller 62 in a direction normal to the feed direction 58 'of the steel sheet 20' which is polished in this mode. Roller 66 is the same. The amplitude of the osations induced by the roller 62 in the band 70 which is brought into contact with the steel sheet 20 'is approximately the same as that described above for the head 46, but may differ in other processes by providing an imitation finish SS to a metal coating on the carbon steel (or other substrate which may be a non-metal or another metal) according to a given implementation and as shown in Table 2.

• A support roller 72, the deflector roller, is below the steel sheet 20 'being transported and under and aligned with the roller 68 to apply pressure to the transported steel sheet 20 against the roller 68. An adjustment apparatus , a crank (not shown) adjusts the vertical position of the deflection roller 72 to apply pressure against the steel sheet 20 'and the band via the vertically aligned contact roller 68 of the head 60. Not shown in Figures 2 and 3, is a speed adjustment control that may not be present on all heads to establish the speed of the drive rollers 50 and 64 and hence the speed of the grinding bands 56 (Fig. 2) and 70 (Fig. 3). The amplitude and frequency of the osations of the rollers 50 and 62 of the heads 46 and 60, respectively, is also established by the controls (not shown) and said controls are conventional. The band 70 therefore osates on the osation scale of the web 56, Fig. 2, as described above and as detailed in Table 2. In the figures, there is shown a refrigerant supply apparatus that supplies refrigerant to the previous band, in and after polishing. The delivery apparatus is conventional as supplied by the manufacturer of this machine. The coolant exceeds the polishing region between the strip and the 20 steel sheet.

Coolant can be Castrol Syntilo 9730, a product of the Castrol company for a synthetic cutting fluid as used in the art for cutting metal. The fluid comprises 2, 2 ', 2"-nitrilotris ethanol (10-15% by weight), 1-propanol, 2-amino-2-ethylborax (5-10% by weight) and 1,2-ethanediamine (0.1-). 1% by weight.) An alternative refrigerant can be 4278 Chemtoll, a product of the Chemtool company.This is a synthetic metal cutting fluid comprising 2,2 ', 2"-nitrilotris ethanol (10-15% by weight). , hexanoic acid, 3,5,5-trimethyl (5-10% by weight) and ethanol, 2-amino (1-5% by weight). The apparatus 10, Figs. la and Ib, are shown only with the two-roll polishing heads of Fig. 2 as an example for a polishing process. However, as shown in Table 2, - four roller polishing heads can also be used. Some of the polishing heads described in Figures la and Ib are not in use in the present finishing process, but may be used in the future or for other different processes, not described herein, employing the principles of the present invention . In Fig. Ib, the additional two polishing heads 72 and 74, identical to the head 46, are current under the head 46. An additional head 76, different from the heads 46, 72 and 74 (not used in the present modality) is current under the head 72. The head 76 has a relatively small drive roller 78 and a top diameter contact roller 80. Immediately below the head 76 there is a conventional hot water rinse station 82. This station is followed by a drying station '84 to dry the. steel sheet 20 which is being processed and followed • downstream by a narrow exit roll 86. This is followed by an outlet trimming cutting station 88 and associated discard cart 90. Then on the line there is a guide optional edge 92 and a rotating roller 94 deflecting from the steel sheet 20 to provide tension in the steel sheet 20 and output feed table 96. These are followed by a rewinder 98 for rewinding the processed steel sheet 20. , a coil carriage 100 for receiving the polished steel coil 20 and a paper unwinding unit 102. The paper of the unit 102 is culled with the finished steel sheet 20 to protect the polished finished surface. The polished finish surface after being protected by a clear coating as noted above and not applied by the apparatus 10. The transparent coating protects the finish of the polished metal coating from scratches, scrapes, fingerprints and so on. The polished coating finish is more critical than a standard SS finish. If the standard SS finish is not acceptable, the sheet material can operate through the polishing operation against the finish that is being applied to the thicker base SS metal. In the present novel process the finish is applied to a relatively thin coating. If the finish is not acceptable, not enough coating material will be left to redo the finishing process that requires another coating to be applied, which is very expensive and rejects the purpose of providing a low cost imitation SS finish. In this case, the back side of the non-polishing steel sheet can be used to provide a second opportunity to polish the same coil. In an alternative, a four roller head process using the four roller head 60, Fig. 3, can replace the polishing heads 46, 72 and 74, Fig. Ib. The parameters for the process of four alternative illustrative roller heads are given in the following Table 2 TABLE 2 (EXAMPLES) Processing Parameters for Different Coatings and Different Polishing Heads * head manufacturer Characteristics of metallic sheet surface finishes Surface roughness - measured with a profilometer and measures roughness average (Ra or RA). A reading of 45 or more can be considered rough and any smaller reading is considered uniform. While it is inferior, the most uniform reading is the finish.

Stripe length - This is the average length of the stripe polished on the surface by an abrasive band. This is usually measured manually. Color - a subjective description of the color of the finish. Reflectivity - This measurement is not normally used for polished finishes because these finishes are generally not reflective (as in mirror finishes), but are more muted. The reflectivity is measured for the previous examples in order to help quantify the finishes. A reflectometer instrument measures the reflectivity in units of brightness (units of brightness reflected in the instrument by the surface in question). A reading of 500 units of brightness or more may be considered reflective where any value less than 500 units of brightness could be called off, a glass mirror measures 1000 units of brightness. The correlation of reflectivity to line lengths or line orientation is not known but is measured in certain samples corresponding to the examples given herein. The length of stripes or scratch orientation is intended herein to quantify only the mechanical finish characteristics associated with the desired faux finish of coated stainless steel. See Table 3 below for finishing characteristics factors.

TABLE 3 Parameters that affect the final finishing characteristics 1. - Surface roughness (RA) - Type of band, bench gravel, contact roller and head pressure 2.- Stripe length - Line speed, head speed and oscillation of the band 3.- Color - coolant, type band and gravel band 4.- Reflectivity - type of band, band gravel, contact roller, head pressure and coolant The following Table 4 illustrates a comparison of the four imitation finishes of the examples of Table 2 above using the quantitative values of Table 3 to provide approximate values.

TABLE 4 The preferred finish applied to the coating is referred to in this art as a # 4 stainless steel finish. The finish may be different and be provided with the industry standard finishes # 3, # 4, # 6, # 7 and # 8 for which the ASM / AISI specifications are written. See the introductory portion for additional explanations of these finishes and also to the finishes described in the Special Finishes Designer's Manual for Stainless Steel named on the network site noted in the introductory portion. This document illustrates a wide variety of finishes that can be applied to stainless steel without taking into account the standard finishes described above. To polish the coating, all of the following preferred factors contribute to the finish view. It should also be understood that the final appearance or view is provided by the transparent coating.

Drive roller See Table 2 for ranges of headband general application RPM Defect size of Finish of 8-120 and pea gravel with aggressive removal is gravel 24-60 Regimen of 18.29 - 30.48 m per minute feeding Bands Three sides higher Pressure load 75 to 85 amps In the following description four samples were described which were generally produced according to examples 1-4 compared to a conventional stainless steel sample, all pretending to simulate a # 4 stainless steel polished finish. Samples 1-4 were produced in accordance with the respective examples 1-4 and then they were tested and evaluated for the different parameters shown in Figs. 6-58, whose figures explain themselves and several of which are explained later.

Optical Properties Method - Reflectivity All spectra were acquired in a visible Lambda 950 ultraviolet spectrophotometer from Perkin Elmer equipped with an RSA ASSY model 60MM integration sphere from Lab Sphere. The spectra were acquired from 320 to 860 nm and self-corrected to a reference standard provided with the sphere by the manufacturer. Two sample mounting configurations are available with the dial. The spectra were acquired with the samples mounted in a normal way to the incident radiation, which allows the collection of diffuse reflectance and with samples mounted at a small angle outside the norm for the collection of diffuse and specular reflectance. The specular reflectance was determined by the difference between these spectra.

Results The total and specular reflectivity was obtained for the stainless steel sample polished by reference and for samples coated 1-4 before and after polishing. The results are presented in the different figures discussed below. Figure 6 is a graph of the total and specular reflectance for the stainless steel sample (SS) with polished # 4 finish and compares with the metal coatings in samples 1-4 with the sample of SS used as a reference.

Coatings of samples 3 and 4 The same coating process was applied to samples 3 and 4 and therefore it is thought that they should be similar in composition and structure. The reflectance of sample 4, before polishing, is shown in Figure 7. Both total and specular reflectances are lower compared to polished stainless steel, approximately 30% less. After polishing, Figure 8, the reflectance of the coating of sample 4 is increased and is identical to the total reflectance of the stainless steel sample. The specular reflectance is lower for SS and sample 4 and is practically flat, ie uniformly low reflection across the spectrum for sample 4. The reflectance of sample 3 before polishing is shown in Figure 9. The total reflectances and specular are inferior compared to the polished stainless steel sample. After polishing, Fig. 10, the total reflectance of the coating of sample 3 is increased from about 30% to about 70% and is substantially identical to the total reflectance of the reference sample of stainless steel with reflectance is slightly higher than insignificant way. The specular reflectance of the sample is similar in value to stainless steel, but it is practically flat, which may be an indication that it is closest to the white color. The azole observation made in the examples discussed above can be attributed to the fact that the sample has an increased reflectance in the blue, ie shorter, wavelength part of the spectrum. The comparison of the coatings of samples 3 and 4 have a substantially identical total reflectance with a slight negligible difference, but the specular reflectance is less than about 10% for the coating of sample 4. The reflectance of the coating of sample 2 before of the polishing is shown in Figure 13. The total reflectance is higher and the specular reflectance is lower compared to the polished stainless steel reference sample. After polishing, Fig. 14, the total reflectance of the coating of sample 2 is increased and is higher compared to the total reflectance of the stainless steel reference sample. The specular reflectance of sample 2 is substantially lower and is practically flat, i.e., uniformly low reflection throughout the spectrum. • The reflectance of the coating of sample 1 before polishing is shown in Figure 15. The total reflectance is higher in the short wavelength scale and lower to the larger wavelength scale. It is the same for the specular component. The coating is intrinsically "whiter" compared to stainless steel. This is not surprising due to the fact that the coating contains aluminum. Aluminum has very good reflectance on the shorter wavelength scale. After polishing, Fig. 16, the total and specular reflectance are lower compared to the total reflectance of the stainless steel sample and follow the pattern of the reflectances for the stainless steel sample, but approximately 10-15% lower.

Color and Brightness The color characteristics, L (luminosity), a, b, CIÉ (white) and yellow (ASTM 313) were determined using a. Sphere Spectrophotometer SP68 X-Rite with double optical beam system. (a = Red-green axis, positive values are red tints, negative values are green tints, 0 is • neutral; b = yellow-blue axis, positive values are yellow tints, negative values are blue tints, 0 is neutral). The samples were placed under the white window of the spectrophotometer and three readings were taken and averaged. The unit was calibr before each using a reflection standard.

Results The results of the color study on the four co samples and the stainless steel reference sample after polishing are shown in Table 5. As can be seen from the same, and as shown below, there is a correlation between the data in Table 5 and the spectrum data. For example, "whiteness" / "yellow" is closer between the stainless steel reference sample and sample 1. The spectrum curves of sample 1 conform to the stainless steel curves. The reflectance values are lower similar to the lower brightness value. The total reflectivity for the coating of samples 2, 3 and 4 after polishing and also the brightness are higher than the stainless steel sample. The "whiteness" of this coating is superior, that is, they reflect more uniformly over the entire wavelength scale. The brightness is lower, because the specular reflection values are considerably lower compared to the stainless steel sample.

TABLE 5 REFLECTANCE / BRIGHTNESS A Gardner micro-Tri-Gloss Meter was used to determine Reflectance / Brightness. The measurements were carried out in three different angles and the average of the three tests was determined (See Figures 54-56). The light was directed on the surface of the test specimen at a defined angle relative to the sample surface and the reflected light was photoelectrically measured. The unit was calibr before each use using a normal calibration.

TABLE 6 (See Figs 54-56 where the angle is the angle in relation to the surface being observed) (% refers to the maximum amount) Surface Roughness A Federal Pocket III profilometer was used for this test. The average of these four tests was determined.

TABLE 7 Observe in Fig. 52, surface roughness versus no. of stripes, that the sample of SS had a significant number of more stripes by 2.54 centimeters than samples 1-4, 1800 vs. The scale of approximy 1050 to 1300 lines by 2.54 cm for the samples and except for sample 2, the surface roughness of the samples is compared with that of SS. Therefore, the number of dashes per 2.54 cm does not correldirectly to the SS simulation by the samples.

Coating Thickness Coating thickness was determined by measuring the cross section of the coating using an optical microscope. The average of 30 measurements was calcul.

The microphotographs are these cross sections are shown in Figures 17 through 24.

Coating thickness, millimeters TABLE 8 Master = 1-BP 1-AP 2-BP 2-AP 3-BP 3-flP-BP 4-ñP Msdia 0.021 0.012 0.019 0.017 0.008 0.005 0.007 0.005 Standard deviation 0.005 0.001 0.381 μ 0.002 1.283 μl.Ollμ 0.94μ 1.626μ As is evident, the polishing operation was removed approximy 50% of the coating.

Surface Characterization The surfaces of the samples were characterized using an optical electron scanning microscopy. The grind marks were counted using a stereoscope at a 50X magnification. The optical images of the coating surface before (dp) and after (ap) of the polishing are shown in microphotographs 25 to 29. The coatings of samples 1, 2, 3 and 4 have the structure and morphology substantially different. The coatings of samples 1 and 2 have different relatively thick dendritic structures. The coatings in samples 3 and 4 have a fine grain structure. Therefore the thickness or fineness of the Microstructures do not correldirectly to the simulation of the SS sample finish. Very fine lines were also observed under the optical microscope examination for sample coatings 1, 3 and 4. More likely this is a result of some kind of microcracking. For sample 2, the coating lines are clearly a result of grinding, intentionally or not. All grind marks are parallel to each other. The density of stripes by 2.54 cm and the calculated width of the stripes is presented in the following Table 9.TABLE 9 (Marking marks per cm) Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and composition of rev stimientp The SEM images are presented in figures 30 to 45. The coatings in -the different samples have a substantially different structure and morphology as treated before. The coatings in samples 1 and 2 have a relatively thick dendritic structure. The coatings in samples 3 and 4 have a fine grain structure.

The coating in sample 1 consists of approximately 25% aluminum and 75% Zn. The interdendritic areas are rich in zinc. The coating has two main phases in its microstructure. A phase is the dendritic phase rich in primary aluminum that starts to develop initially during solidification. The other is a region rich in zinc interdendritic that is formed when the concentration of zinc in the solidification liquid reaches a high level, because the zinc has a lower melting point compared to the composition rich in aluminum and zinc and will solidify First. Some magnesium was found among the grains. This is possibly a contamination of a rinsing process if water was used at any stage of treatment not known to the inventors herein since the coating process was commercially provided by others. The interdendritic areas of the coating of sample 2 are rich in a melting point of zinc and aluminum with complete absence of Si in these areas. In the composition of the intradendritic areas (within the grain) it is approximately 53% Al, 40% Zn and 7% Si. The coating has two main phases in its microstructure. A phase is the dendritic phase mainly rich in aluminum that starts to develop initially during solidification. The other phase is a region rich in zinc interdendritic that is formed when the concentration of zinc in the solidification liquid reaches a high level, because the zinc has a lower melting point compared to aluminum and the zinc rich composition solidifies first. Sample 2 has very clear milled marks approximately 20 microns wide. The surface appears to have been corroded prior to final polishing (the inventors hereof were not directly involved in the production of such coatings). Samples 3 and 4 have an uneven fine grain structure, contain approximately 88% Zn, 10.8% Ni, and 1.25% Fe. This coating was produced by an electrogalvanization process. This process gave a more homogeneous chemical coating with some porosity.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE COATINGS AND THE EFFECT THAT THE DIFFERENCES MAY HAVE ON THE FINAL PRODUCT The coatings in samples 1 and 2 appear to be produced by similar processes. These processes give a coating with non-homogeneous chemistry in a micro-scale. This lack of homogeneity is considered to be advantageous to provide galvanic protection.

The coatings in samples 1 and 2 contain substantial amount of aluminum. This makes them inherently whiter compared to the coatings of samples 3 and 4 of stainless steel. Nickel also has a bleaching effect on zinc, but not as much as aluminum. The coatings of samples 3 and 4 are substantially more chemically homogeneous compared to the coatings of samples 1 and 2. The absence of aluminum and the presence of nickel is believed responsible for making them more spectrally close to stainless steel. Considering the possibility of becoming darker with time, it is thought that the homogeneous coatings of samples 3 and 4 are more resistant to changing appearance over time. The reflectance and appearance depend, as shown below, on the intrinsic reflectance that is affected by the composition and morphology of the coating as well as the density of polishing marks. See Table 10 and Figure 51. The reason for a lower specular reflectance of the coating of the sample 4 with higher density of scratch marks per linear cm compared with the coating of the sample 3 with the same composition (See Fig. 51) is thought. ).

Chemical Composition of Substrates Method The composition of the substrate material of the samples was determined using an optical emission spectrometer.

TABLE 10 Sample Composition 1 - AP (before polishing) Corresponds to Degree 1005 TABLE 11 Sample Composition 2 - AP (before polishing) Corresponds to Grade 1010 TABLE 12 Sample Composition 3 - AP (before polishing) Corresponds to Grade 1008 Chemical Analysis Performed by Optical Emission by SPO 2.02, Revision 1 TABLE 13 Sample Composition 4 - AP (before polishing) Corresponds to Grade 1008 Microhardness Method The microhardness was measured using a Microcdure Tester. LECO LM700 Knopp indenter with applied load of 10 gf was used. The average of at least 10 indentations was determined. Results The values in Table 14 represent microhardness of the coating before polishing for each of the four substrates. The coatings are very soft, which is normal for these coatings. The microhardness is around 40 KH. The higher value of the hardness for sample 2 resulted from the important number of grinding stripes already present before the polishing that caused the hardness of the coating work.

TABLE 14 Comparison between stainless steel and the four sample coatings Correlation The correlation between reflectance and coating characteristics. Figure 46 compares the total reflectance before polishing (bpt) for the coatings in the four samples and in the polished stainless steel. Figure 47 compares the total reflection of the coatings before polishing (apt) for the four samples. Figure 48 compares the specular reflection of the four coatings and the polished stainless steel before polishing) (bpt). Figure 49 compares the specular reflection of the four coatings and the stainless steel after polishing (aps). Except for the specular reflectance, gloss 9 of sample 3, the specular reflectance of the coatings is lower compared to polished steel. All except sample 1 have a "whiter" reflectance, that is, flatter. Figure 50 shows the correlation between the number of stripes and the total reflectance at 550 nm after polishing. It seems that for coatings, total reflection decreases in the number of starches.

In Figure 51, to some degree, the total reflection also decreases with the number of stripes with respect to the specular reflection. The intrinsic composition is thought to play a role. Figure 52 shows that there is some correlation between the number of stripes and the surface roughness. Figure 53 appears to provide a correlation between surface roughness and total reflectance. The exception is the coating of sample 2 with relatively high aluminum content. Figures 54, 55 and 56 show that the brightness at the respective 20 degrees, 60 degrees and 85 degrees correlates with the surface roughness. Figure 57 shows luminosity L against surface roughness after polishing and Fig. 58 shows luminosity L against the number of stripes per cm after polishing. Figure 58 shows luminosity L against the number of stripes per cm after polishing. It will happen that modifications can be made to the modalities described by someone with ordinary experience. The described modalities are given by way of example and not limitation. For example, illustrative descriptions herein are the processes for reproducing a # 4 finish using various alloy composition coatings in a core of carbon steel sheet. By way of further example, the metal coating can be applied to a non-metal substrate such as plastic, or other relatively rigid sheet material. For example, a foil sheet metal and other foil material will bond to a substrate that is a non-foil. The alloy coating to receive the imitation SS finish was deposited on the foil sheet and other foil material. The SS finish can then be applied to the deposited metal alloy coating. further, Abrasive processes, not shown or specifically described herein but using the apparatus described in the present apparatus or the like, may be used to provide imitation finishes of standard or non-standard SS. These processes can be developed empirically by someone with ordinary experience without undue experimentation. It is understood that the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims appended hereto.

Claims (36)

1. - An imitation polished stainless steel sheet comprising: a sheet material; a metallic coating on a surface of the sheet material; and a polished abrasive gravel finish on the outer surface of the metallic coating, the finish of which simulates polished stainless steel.

2. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the metal coating is an alloy.

3. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material is a non-stainless steel metal.

4. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material is carbon steel.

5. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the coating comprises a zinc alloy.

6. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the coating comprises a zinc alloy having a composition in a scale of about 40% to about 90% by weight of zinc and one of aluminum and nickel, in the range of 20% to 58% by weight in aluminum and 10-30% by weight of nickel.

7. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the coating comprises an alloy selected from the group consisting of one of 1) about 80% zinc and about 20% aluminum by weight, 2) about 40-48% by weight of zinc, about 51-58% by weight of aluminum, about 1-2% by weight of silicone, about 0.1-1% by weight of iron and about < 1% by weight of titanium or 3) about 70-90% by weight of zinc and about 10-30% by weight of nickel.

8. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the polished coating has a surface roughness on a scale of 8-48 Ra, the stripes having a length in the scale of about 3.18 mm at approximately 9.5 mm, and a reflectivity of approximately 38 to 360 units of brightness.

9. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the polished surface has a reflectivity in one of the ranges of approximately 38-48 gloss units, 120-130 gloss units and 355-360 units of brightness where one unit of brightness is the ratio of light specularly reflected to the total reflected light where the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

10. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the polished surface has stripes having lengths in one of the ranges from about 6.35 mm to about 9.5 mm, from about 9.5 mm to about 12.7 mm, from about 3.18 mm to 4.76 mm and from about 4.76 mm to about 6.35 mm

11. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the coating has a roughness of polished surface Ra in the scale of approximately 20.32 x 10"8 to 121.92 x 10 ~ 8 m

12. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the coating has a thickness of about 0.0051 mm to about 0. 0254 mm.

13. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the finish of the coating has the appearance of a polished stainless steel finish comprising 120-150 mesh where the term mesh refers to a value of gravel band.

14. The imitation of stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the finish of the coating has a plurality of stripes having a Length in the scale from approximately 3.18 mm to around 9.5 mm.

15. A method for producing a stainless steel sheet comprising coating a sheet material with a metal and then polishing the metal coating with an abrasive chip to simulate a stainless steel finish.

16. The method according to claim 15, where the coating is an alloy.

17. The method according to any of claims 15 or 16, wherein the sheet material is metal.

18. The method according to any of claims 15 or 16, wherein the sheet material is steel.

19. The method according to any of claims 15 or 16, wherein the sheet material is carbon steel.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the sheet material is a non-metal.

21. The method according to any of claims 15 or 16, wherein the coating step comprises coating the sheet material with an alloy selected from the group consisting of 1) about 80% zinc and about 20% by weight aluminum, 2) about 40-48% by weight of zinc, about 51-58% by weight of aluminum, about 1-2% by weight of silicone, about 0.1-1% by weight of iron and about < 1% by weight of titanium or 3) about 70-90% zinc and about 10-30% by weight of nickel.

22. The method according to any of claims 15 or 16, wherein the coating step comprises coating the sheet material with a zinc alloy having a composition on the scale of about 40% to about 90% by weight. weight of zinc and one of aluminum and nickel on the scale of 20 to 58% aluminum and 10-30% by weight of nickel.

23. The method according to any of claims 15 or 16, wherein the coating step comprises depositing the coating on the sheet material to a thickness of about 0.01778 mm to about 0.0381 mm and then polishing the coating at a thickness of about 0.0051'mm to about 0.0254 mm.

24. The method for producing an imitation stainless steel sheet according to claim 15, wherein the sheet of material is a carbon steel sheet and the coating comprises an aluminum-zinc or aluminum-nickel alloy and the polishing step polishes the alloy with at least one abrasive gravel band.

25. - The method according to claim 15, wherein the polishing step polishes the coating to simulate a standard stainless steel finish.

26. The method according to claim 15, wherein the method includes transporting the steel sheet material coupled with at least one abrasive gravel band at a transported speed in the range of about 24.4 m / min. At around 45.75 m / min.

27. The method according to claim 15, including sequentially polishing the sheet material of the coating with a plurality of two-roll rotating polishing heads to drive a corresponding plurality of sequentially positioned abrasive grit bands, the rolls of the Two-roller heads rotating on a scale of approximately 900 to around 1860 RPM.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the sequential polishing polishes the sheet material with at least two said two roller heads.

29. The method according to claim 15, wherein the method includes sequentially polishing the coating of sheet material with a plurality of the four rollers rotating polishing heads to drive a corresponding plurality of sequentially positioned polishing abrasive grit bands. , the rollers The four-roller heads rotate on a scale of approximately 1140 to around 1893 RPM.

30. The method according to claim 29, comprising polishing the steel sheet material with three of said four roller heads. The method according to any of claims 27 and 29, which includes applying a current with measurement amperage% head pressure load on a scale of about 55% to about 60% on each head. 32. The method according to any of claims 27 and 29, which includes applying a current with measurement amperage% head pressure load on a scale of about 60% to about 70% in each head. 33.- The method according to any of claims 27 and 29, which includes transversally oscillating at least one of the rollers of each head. 34.- The method according to any of claims 27 and 29, which includes transversally oscillating at least one of the rollers of each head. 35.- The imitation of polished stainless steel sheet according to claim 1, which includes a Clear coating over the gravel polish finish on the outer surface of the metal coating. 36. The method according to claim 15, which includes a transparent coating on the polished metal coating.