Foodware with Anti-stick coating and method of making

Abstract

I, the presenter of this innovation, have experimented and researched until I found that the incorporation of Fluorine and / or Fluorine compound into PVD hard coating process can increase the ability to resist food sticking of foodware or food preparation equipment or food delivery and packaging equipment better than the hard coating Nitride, Carbide, Oxide and Carbonitride that are commonly used in various industries. It was found that any PVD process that can synthesize Nitride, Carbide, and Carbonitride coatings can add Fluorine in the form of a gas that is a compound of Fluorine as part of the coating. The result of this process is a product, namely foodware or food preparation equipment or food delivery and packaging equipment, that can resist wear more than Teflon coatings and can resist food sticking better than general PVD coatings.

Description

[0001] FOODWARE WITH ANTI-STICK COATING AND METHOD OF MAKING

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] Material Engineering and Surface Engineering to synthesize the coating and manufacturing the product.

[0004] Background of the Invention

[0005] One of the characteristics that are desired for foodware or food preparation equipment or food transportation and packaging equipment is the ability to resist food sticking, because it could facilitate cooking and cleaning to become easier.

[0006] Although Teflon is currently commonly used as a coating that can resist food sticking, but Teflon coatings have low abrasion resistance, high wear, causing high contamination with food and are a concern for those users who are concerned about health.

[0007] And to avoid the use of Teflon, there are many developers of coatings, for example, using Xerogel from the Sol-gel process as a replacement.

[0008] However, most of the coatings that are used as substitutes are having problems with the service life due to the speed of deterioration and low resistance to scratching that occur during the cooking process.

[0009] An alternative for creating a scratch-resistant, highly wear-resistant coating is to use a hard coating obtained by the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process. The coating has such high wear resistance that it can be used in end mills, grinding bits, piston rings, and machinery and engine parts that require very high wear resistance.

[0010] The approach to using PVD hard coatings has been disclosed in various patents, for example, US 5,447,803 A by Nagaoka and Kanno, which presents a method for using Titanium nitride obtained from the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and / or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) processes to coat the surface of foodware.

[0011] US 6,197,438B1 by Faulkner focuses on Chromium and Chromium Nitride, including the use of Plasma spray to create a primer layer on the surface of the foodware, and then PVD coating is applied over the plasma spray layer.

[0012] US 6,906,295 B2, US 6,942,935 B2, US 7,462,375 B2 and US 8,021,768 B2 by Ge, which emphasized the wear resistance and food sticking resistance of various types of Nitride, Carbide and Carbonitride hard coatings. However, even though the hard coating from the PVD process has a higher food sticking resistance than the metal of the foodware such as Stainless steel or copper, I, the presenter of this innovation, have the idea, that there is still a way to improve it.

[0013] Summary of the Invention

[0014] Foodware with a coating that can resist wear more than Teflon coating and can resist food sticking better than general PVD coatings.

[0015] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 shows an example of a pan and the side suitable for coating to resist food sticking.

[0017] Figure 2 shows an example of a cross-section of a pan and coating that can resist food sticking.

[0018] Figure 3 shows an example of a chopper blade.

[0019] Figure 4 shows an example of a cross-section of a blade with a food stick-resistant coating around it.

[0020] Figure 5 shows an example of a coating layer arrangement with a food stick-resistant coating applied directly to a foodware.

[0021] Figure 6 shows an example of a coating layer arrangement with a food stick-resistant coating applied to the other PVD or CVD coating applied to a foodware.

[0022] Figure 7 shows an example of a coating layer arrangement with a food stick-resistant coating applied to the other PVD or CVD coating applied to a foodware surface or a layer of surface treatment.

[0023] Figure 8 shows the coating machine, and an example of Cathodic Arc Deposition ion sources arrangement installed around it to deliver plasma into the coating chamber.

[0024] Figure 9 shows the coating machine and an example of the PVD source arrangement using Cathodic Arc Deposition with Magnetron Sputtering and Gas ion source.

[0025] Figure 10 shows the results of the egg white grilling experiment on the test plate.

[0026] Figure 11 shows the IUPAC periodic table and the arrangement of elements in different groups. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0027] I, the presenter of this innovation, have the idea, that there is still a way to improve the product by incorporating Fluorine and / or Fluorine compound into PVD hard coating process. The presence of Fluorine can reduce the Surface Energy and increase the hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of the compound, which will lead to better food sticking resistance.

[0028] As can be seen from Teflon, which has Fluorine as an important component in creating food sticking resistance.

[0029] Incorporating Fluorine into the PVD coating can be done by using Fluorine compound gases added during the synthesis of the coating.

[0030] When compared to the process of synthesizing Carbonitride and Carbide hard coatings obtained by the PVD process that are commonly found, Acetylene or Methane gas is often used as a Carbon source, and the resulting coating will also contain Hydrogen in the resulting compound.

[0031] Since Fluorine gases tend to have very high Bond Energy, they can maintain their bond and incorporate Fluorine into the compound.

[0032] For example, when comparing the Bond Energy between Carbon-Hydrogen and Carbon- Fluorine, we find that C-H has a Bond Energy of 413 kJ / Mol, while C-F has a Bond Energy of 485 kJ / Mol. If the PVD coating can maintain the C-H bond, it can also maintain the C-F bond.

[0033] For the PVD system suitable for the synthesis of Fluorine-added coatings, it is any PVD system that can create a Plasma in the system with a high enough ionization energy to synthesize the hard coating Nitride, Carbide and Carbonitride compound could have sufficient ionization energy to incorporate Fluorine from Fluorine compounds into the hard coating.

[0034] For example, DC Magnetron Sputtering, which has an ionization energy in the range of approximately 10 - 50 electron Volt (eV), and / or Cathodic Arc Deposition, which has an ionization energy in the range of approximately 20 - 200 electron Volt (eV), can both incorporate Fluorine from Fluorine compounds into the hard coating.

[0035] In addition, Gas Plasma generators such as Anode Layer Gas Ion source and / or End-Hall ion source can be used to increase the ionization energy of the PVD system to enable better synthesis of hard coatings with added Fluorine from Fluorine compounds.

[0036] For the classification of groups of Fluorine compound gases suitable for the synthesis of hard coatings, they can be classified into the following groups:

[0037] Group 1 gases include Fluorine compounds with Carbon and / or Silicon and / or Nitrogen and / or Boron and / or Hydrogen, for example, Tetrafluorom ethane (CF4) and / or Tetrafluorosilane (SiF4) and / or Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and / or Boron trifluoride (BF3) and / or Hexafluoroethane (C2F6) and / or Difluorosilane, etc.

[0038] Group 2 gases include Fluorine compounds with Carbon and Hydrogen in the Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) group, for example: Difluoromethane and / or Trifluoromethane and / or 1,1 -Difluoroethane and / or 1,1,1 -Trifluoroethane and / or 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane and / or Pentafluoroethane etc.

[0039] Group 3 gases include compounds of Fluorine with Carbon and Hydrogen and Chlorine in the Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) group, for example Di chlorofluoromethane and / or Chlorodifluoromethane and / or 1,2-Dichlorotetrafluoroethane etc.

[0040] Group 4 gases include compounds of Fluorine with Carbon and Chlorine in the Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) group, for example Trichlorofluoromethane and / or Chlorotrifluoromethane and / or Dichlorofluoromethane etc.

[0041] Group 5 gases include compounds of Fluorine with Carbon and Bromine and / or Chlorine in the Bromofluorocarbon (BFC) and / or Bromochlorofluorocarbon (BCFC) groups, for example, Bromotrifluoromethane and / or Bromochlorodifluoromethane etc.

[0042] The solid initial substances suitable for PVD process are transition metals or alloys of transition metals in groups 3 - 12 and / or elements in groups 13 or 14 of the periodic table as defined by IUPAC, classified as:

[0043] Group 1 solids include transition metals or alloys of elements from transition metals in groups 3 - 12 of the IUPAC periodic table, for example Titanium and / or Chromium and / or Molybdenum and / or Tantalum and / or Titanium-Chromium and / or Molybdenum-Copper and / or Molybdenum-Chromium-Vanadium, etc.

[0044] Group 2 solids include elements in groups 13 or 14 of the IUPAC standard periodic table, by using as single elements or combination of elements in these groups 13 or 14 and / or alloys of elements from transition metals, for example Aluminum and / or Carbon and / or Boron and / or Silicon and / or Aluminum-Chromium and / or Titanium-Boron and / or Aluminum-Silicon and / or Aluminum-Chromium-Silicon and / or Titanium- Aluminum -Vanadium and / or Molybdenum- Chromium-Aluminum-Yttrium, etc.

[0045] For the synthesis of hard coatings, the PVD process relies on introducing gases to react and form the hard coating. Commonly used gases include Nitrogen and / or Acetylene, and / or Methane, and / or Hydrocarbon gases, and / or Oxygen, and / or Bromine, and / or Silane. By introducing these gases as single gases, and / or gas mixtures, and / or gas compounds, and / or gas derivatives, it's possible to synthesize hard coatings with diverse chemical compositions and / or coating structures. Examples include, but are not limited to, metal Nitride, metal Carbide, metal Carbo- Nitride, metal Oxide, metal OxyNitride, metal Silicon Nitride, etc. , each suitable for different application purposes.

[0046] Furthermore, all these hard coatings are suitable for Fluorine incorporation to enhance their food anti-sticking properties.

[0047] In the production of products, namely, foodware or food preparation equipment or food transportation and packaging equipment, which have a coating that can resist food sticking coated on the side that contacts food according to this innovation, the coating that has a Fluorine compound synthesized by the PVD process will be coated on the side that contacts food, which is the outermost layer and directly contacts the food.

[0048] Figure 1 shows an example of a pan and the side, that is suitable for coating to resist food sticking, is the side with arrows pointing (101).

[0049] Figure 2 shows an example of a cross-section of a pan (201) and a coating (202) that can resist food sticking.

[0050] Figure 3 shows an example of a food chopper blade that can be coated with a food stickresistant coating around it.

[0051] Figure 4 shows an example of a cross-section of a blade (401) with a coating (402) that resists food sticking around it.

[0052] Foodware suitable for this process are foodware with metal surfaces, both single-metal types such as stainless steel, aluminum, copper, titanium, etc., or foodware that is metal that is stacked in multiple layers. For example, stainless steel foodware with copper core, stainless steel foodware with aluminum core, etc.

[0053] In addition, metal foodware that has been sprayed with Thermal Spray process to obtain a metal surface and / or Cermet that can conduct electricity, such as aluminum foodware coated with Chromium or copper cookware coated with Titanium Carbide Cermet, etc.

[0054] Metal foodware that has been coated with metal or composite that can conduct electricity by Electrodeposition process is also suitable for further coating with PVD process. For example, copper foodware coated with Chromium or copper cookware coated with Chromium - Silicon Carbide composite, etc.

[0055] Metal foodware that has been modified with various Surface treatment processes that can still conduct electricity can also be processed in this innovation process.

[0056] The synthesis of the coating layer that comes into contact with food can be done in a continuous process in the same coating machine, such as coating other types of hard surfaces with PVD process on the product surface first and then coating the hard surface that contains Fluorine as an ingredient later. In addition, hard coatings that contain Fluorine can also be synthesized directly on the surface of the foodware or on a conductive hard coating produced by PVD and / or CVD processes.

[0057] For example, Figure 5 shows an example of a coating layer arrangement in which a food stick-resistant coating (502) is applied directly to the body (501) of the foodware.

[0058] Figure 6 shows an example of a coating layer arrangement where a food stick-resistant coating (603) is deposited on a body of coating (602), PVD or CVD, or other surface treatment layer, is deposited on the body (601) of the foodware.

[0059] Figure 7 shows an example of a coating layer arrangement in which a food stick-resistant coating (704) is applied directly to the body (703), PVD or CVD coatings applied to other coatings (702), or layers of various surface treatments applied to the body (701) of the foodware.

[0060] To make it clearer about the product and the process of obtaining such a product, I will give the following example. The machine used in the experiment is the PVD machine model NS1 from NanoShield PVD Thailand, which can arrange various PVD sources, such as:

[0061] As shown in Figure 8, there are 5 Cathodic Arc sources (801, 802, 803, 804, 805) to deliver the material into the coating chamber. These positions can be replaced with Magnetron Sputtering or Gas ion sources as needed.

[0062] For example, in Figure 9, there are 2 Cathodic Arc sources, 901 and 905, and 2 Magnetron Sputtering, 902 and 904. In position 903, an Anode Layer Gas ion source is installed.

[0063] The process of obtaining the product is not limited to this NS 1 experimental machine, but can be applied to other PVD machines that can synthesize Nitride, Carbide and Carbonitride coatings.

[0064] Example 1

[0065] The product is a food chopper blade made of stainless steel. It is cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner and then coated in the NanoShield NS1 PVD machine, which is equipped with Cathodic Arc ion sources with my patented filters, US 10,128,091 B2, at every position, and at these Cathodic Arc ion sources, Titanium metal is also installed as a target material.

[0066] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine with Argon plasma Glow discharge cleaning by applying Bias to the workpiece directly for 15 minutes, and then pure Titanium is coated as a base metal layer until the thickness of this base metal layer is at least 150 nanometers, and then Nitrogen gas is released into the plating chamber to synthesize Titanium Nitride until the coating thickness is approximately 2 microns. Then Hexafluoroethane gas is injected and mixed with Nitrogen with a flow rate between Nitrogen :Hexafluoroethane at 1 : 1 until obtaining Titanium Carbofluoronitride (TiCFN) compound with a thickness of approximately 1 micron as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface. Example 2

[0067] The product is an egg frying pan, stainless steel material with aluminum core inside, which is cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner and then coated in a PVD machine, model NS1 of NanoShield, which is equipped with 2 Cathodic Arc ion sources with filters according to my patent, US 10, 128,091 B2, 2 DC Magnetron Sputtering sources and 1 Anode Layer Gas ion source.

[0068] At these 2 Cathodic Arc ion sources, Chromium is the target material, while at the DC Magnetron Sputtering, Titanium is installed in 2 sources.

[0069] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine by supplying Argon gas through the Anode layer Gas ion source to shoot the gas plasma to clean the surface of the workpiece for 5 minutes, and then coating pure Chromium from the Cathodic Arc as a base metal layer until the thickness of this base metal layer is at least 100 nanometers, and then Nitrogen gas is released into the plating chamber to synthesize Chromium Nitride until the thickness of the coating is approximately 3 microns, then Titanium is supplied from DC Magnetron Sputtering to synthesize the next layer of coating, Titanium Chromium Nitride with a thickness of approximately 1 micron, using the Anode Layer Gas ion source to help strengthen the Plasma in the plating room to be more concentrated. Then, Hexafluoroethane gas is released to mix with Nitrogen with a flow rate between Nitrogen: Hexafluoroethane at 1 : 1 until Titanium Chromium Carbofluoronitride (TiCrCFN) compound is approximately 1 micron thick as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0070] Example 3

[0071] The product is an iron pan for stir-frying food. The iron material with Nitriding on the surface is cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner. Then, it is coated in the PVD machine model NS1 of NanoShield, which has installed Cathodic Arc ion sources with my patented filters, US 10, 128,091 B2 in 2 positions, High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) in 2 positions, and Anode Layer Gas ion source in 1 position.

[0072] At these 2 Cathodic Arc ion sources, there is Chromium metal as the target material installed, while at High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS), there are 2 Aluminum installed.

[0073] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine by supplying Argon gas through the Anode layer Gas ion source to shoot the plasma of the gas to clean the workpiece surface for 5 minutes, and then coat pure Chromium from the Cathodic Arc as a base metal layer until the thickness of this base metal layer is at least 100 nanometers, and then release Nitrogen gas into the plating chamber to synthesize Chromium Nitride until the coating thickness is approximately 3 microns, then Aluminum is supplied from High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering and mixed with Chromium to synthesize the next coating layer as Aluminum Chromium Nitride with a thickness of approximately 2 microns, using the Anode Layer Gas ion source to help strengthen the Plasma in the plating room. Then Tetrafluorosilane gas is released to mix with Nitrogen with a flow rate between NitrogemTetrafluorosilane at 1 : 1 until the Aluminum Chromium Silicon Fluoronitride (AlCrSiFN) compound is approximately 1 micron thick as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0074] Example 4

[0075] The product is a frying pan, copper material, coated with Chromium from Thermal spray, cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner, and then coated in a PVD machine, model NS1, NanoShield, which has installed Cathodic Arc ion sources with filters according to my patent, US 10,128,091 B2, installed in every position.

[0076] And at these Cathodic Arc ion sources, there are Chromium metal as the target material installed in 3 positions and Aluminum as the target material installed in 2 positions.

[0077] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine with Argon plasma Glow discharge cleaning by applying Bias to the workpiece directly for 15 minutes, and then coating pure Chromium as a base metal layer until the thickness of this base metal layer is at least 150 nanometers, and then releasing Nitrogen gas into the plating chamber to synthesize Chromium Nitride until the thickness of the coating is approximately 3 microns, then mix Aluminum with Chromium to synthesize the next layer of coating, Aluminum Chromium Nitride with a thickness of approximately 2 microns. Then release 1,1, 1 ,2-Tetrafluoroethane gas mixed with Nitrogen with a flow rate between Nitrogen: 1, 1,1, 2-Tetrafluoroethane at 1 : 1 until obtaining Aluminum Chromium Carbofluoronitride (AlCrCFN) compound with a thickness of approximately 1 micron as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0078] Example 5

[0079] The product is a stainless steel frying pan with an aluminum core inside, coated with Chromium from the Electrodeposition process in Ionic Liquid, and cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner. Then, the coating is imported into the PVD machine, model NS1 of NanoShield, which is equipped with Cathodic Arc ion sources with my patented filters, US 10,128,091 B2, installed in every position.

[0080] And at these Cathodic Arc ion sources, there are Chromium metal as the target material installed in 3 positions and Titanium Aluminum 50 : 50 at% as the target material installed in 2 positions.

[0081] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine with Argon plasma Glow discharge cleaning by applying Bias to the workpiece directly for 15 minutes, and then coating pure Chromium as a primer layer until the thickness of this primer layer is at least 150 nanometers, and then releasing Nitrogen gas into the plating chamber to synthesize Chromium Nitride until the coating thickness is approximately 3 microns, then 50:50 at% Titanium Aluminum is supplied and mixed with Chromium to synthesize the next coating layer as Aluminum Chromium Titanium Nitride with a thickness of approximately 2 microns, then release Acetylene gas mixed with Nitrogen with a flow rate between Nitrogen: Acetylene at 1 : 1 to synthesize Aluminum Chromium Titanium Carbonitride with a thickness of approximately 1 micron, then release Tetrafluoromethane gas mixed with Nitrogen and Acetylene with a flow rate between Nitrogen: Acetylene:Tetrafluoromethane at 1 : 0.25 : 0.75 until obtaining Aluminum Chromium Titanium Carbofluoronitride (AlCrTiCFN) compound with a thickness of approximately 1 micron as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0082] Example 6

[0083] The product is a rice cooker made of stainless steel. It is cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner and then coated in a PVD machine, model NS1, by NanoShield, which is equipped with four Cathodic Arc ion sources with my patented filters, US 10,128,091 B2, and one Anode Layer Gas ion source.

[0084] These Cathodic Arc ion sources also have Chromium as the target material, installed in four places.

[0085] The product is cleaned inside the PVD machine by supplying Argon gas through the Anode layer Gas ion source to shoot the gas plasma to clean the surface of the workpiece for 10 minutes. Then, pure Chromium is coated as a base metal layer until the thickness of this base metal layer is at least 150 nanometers. Nitrogen gas is then released into the plating chamber to synthesize Chromium Nitride until the thickness of the coating is approximately 0.5 microns, then cut off the Nitrogen gas to coat the pure Chromium layer at 150 nanometers by alternating between the Chromium / Chromium Nitride layer until the total thickness is approximately 10 microns, then release Nitrogen trifluoride gas mixed with Nitrogen with a flow rate between Nitrogen :Nitrogen trifluoride at 1 :1 until the Chromium Fluoronitride (CrFN) compound is approximately 1 micron thick as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0086] Example 7

[0087] The product is an iron pan for stir-frying food. The iron material with Nitriding on the surface is cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner. Then, it is coated in the PVD machine model NS1 of NanoShield, which is equipped with 2 Cathodic Arc ion sources with my patented filters, US 10,128,091 B2, 2 High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) sources, and 1 Anode Layer Gas ion source. At these 2 Cathodic Arc ion sources, Chromium metal is the target material, while at High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS), Titanium Diboride is installed in 2 positions.

[0088] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine by supplying Argon gas through the Anode layer Gas ion source to shoot the plasma of the gas to clean the workpiece surface for 10 minutes, and then coating pure Chromium from the Cathodic Arc as a base metal layer until the thickness of this base metal layer is at least 150 nanometers, and then releasing Nitrogen gas into the plating room to synthesize Chromium Nitride until the coating thickness is approximately 150 nanometers. Then Titanium Diboride is supplied from High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering and mixed with Chromium to synthesize the next coating layer, Chromium Titanium Boronitride, with a thickness of approximately 150 nanometers, using the Anode Layer Gas ion source to help strengthen the plasma in the plating room, alternating the coating layers between Chromium Nitride / Chromium Titanium Boron Nitride until the thickness is approximately 3 microns, then cutting the Chromium to synthesize a Titanium Boron Nitride coating layer with a thickness of approximately 1 micron, then releasing the gas. Tetrafluoromethane is mixed with Nitrogen and Acetylene with a flow rate between Nitrogen:Acetylene:Tetrafluoromethane at 1 :0.5:0.5 to obtain a Titanium Boron Nitride Carbofluoronitride (AlCrTiCFN) compound approximately 1 micron thick as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0089] Example 8

[0090] The product is a stainless steel frying pan with a copper heat-conducting area at the bottom. It is cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner and then coated in a PVD machine, model NS1, by NanoShield, which is equipped with Cathodic Arc ion sources with filters according to my patent, US 10,128,091 B2, installed at every position.

[0091] And at these Cathodic Arc ion sources there is a Chromium metal as a target material installed at every position as well.

[0092] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine with Argon plasma Glow discharge cleaning by applying Bias to the workpiece directly for 15 minutes, then coated with pure Chromium as a base metal layer until the thickness of this base metal layer is at least 150 nanometers, then Nitrogen gas is released into the plating chamber to synthesize Chromium Nitride until the coating thickness is approximately 0.5 microns, then Nitrogen gas is cut off to coat a pure Chromium layer at 150 nanometers by alternating between the Chromium / Chromium Nitride layers until the total thickness is approximately 5 microns, then release Hexafluoroethane gas mixed with Nitrogen with a flow rate between Nitrogen: Hexafluoroethane at 1 : 1 until the Chromium Carbofluoronitride (CrCFN) compound is approximately 1 micron thick. Then cut off the Nitrogen gas to coat the Chromium Fluorocarbide (CrFC) layer approximately 0.5 microns thick as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0093] Example 9

[0094] The product is a frying pan, stainless steel material with copper core inside, cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner and then coated in a PVD machine, model NS1 of NanoShield, which has installed Cathodic Arc ion sources with filters according to my patent, US 10, 128,091 B2, installed in every position

[0095] And at these Cathodic Arc ion sources, Chromium metal is installed as a target material in every position.

[0096] The product will be cleaned inside the PVD machine with Argon plasma Glow discharge cleaning by directly applying Bias voltage to the workpiece for 15 minutes, then coating pure Chromium as a primer layer until the thickness of this primer layer is at least 150 nanometers, then releasing Acetylene gas together with Hexafluoroethane into the plating chamber with a flow rate between Acetylene:Hexafluoroethane at 1 : 1 until getting Chromium Fluorocarbide (CrFC) compound about 3 microns thick as the outermost layer that contacts the food surface.

[0097] The manufacturing process of this example product is not limited to the examples given. It can be modified or designed to have a variety of coating textures, depending on the needs of the product designer.

[0098] For example, for emphasizing hardness and wear resistance, Boron, Nitrogen or Carbon can be added, or if increasing the amorphous of the surface or a nanocomposite dispersoid coating structure is required, Silicon can be added, etc., all of which is possible according to the needs of experts in this field.

[0099] For testing the ability to resist food sticking, I would like to give the following experimental examples:

[0100] A sample plate, polished stainless steel, a flat plate with a width of 75 mm, length of 150 mm, and thickness of 1.5 mm, was coated with a PVD process to synthesize various compounds on the outermost surface as follows

[0101] Aluminum Chromium Nitride (AlCrN)

[0102] Aluminum Chromium Carbonitride (AlCrCN)

[0103] Aluminum Chromium Carbofluoronitride (AlCrCFN)

[0104] The sample plate was dropped with 1.5 ml egg white and distributed in 6 different positions. Then, it was heated until the egg was cooked. The egg white on the uncoated stainless steel sheet was used as a comparison. During heating, it was found that the sheets with the coating were cooked faster and more evenly than the uncoated stainless steel sheet. The sheets with the coating took about the same amount of time to cook the egg.

[0105] When the egg was removed from the test sheets, it was found that AlCrCFN had the best resistance to food sticking, followed by AlCrN and AlCrCN. The latter pair had equally good resistance to food sticking. The uncoated stainless steel had the worst resistance to food sticking.

[0106] For cleaning the test sheets to remove residual stains, it was in the same direction. That is, AlCrCFN was the easiest to remove food stains, followed by AlCrN and AlCrCN. The uncoated stainless steel had the hardest resistance to food stains. A brief summary of the experimental results can be seen in Figure 10.

[0107] Best Mode of Invention

[0108] As described in the Detailed Description of the Invention.

Claims

1. Claims1. A foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, comprising of a stick-resistant coating on the side that contacts food, with the following product components: a metal body that has a side or part that must contact food with metal while cooking, transporting or packaging food, the coating synthesized by the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process applied to the food-contact side of the product, with a Fluorine compound as an element that enhances the ability to resist food sticking, coated on the side that contacts food, the said coating is synthesized from transition metals or alloy elements from transition metals combined with Nitrogen and / or Carbon and / or Oxygen and / or Silicon and / or Boron, with Fluorine added as a component, by obtaining Fluorine in the coating layer, which is derived from gases containing Fluorine as a mixture of compounds such as Boron-Fluorine and / or Carbon- Fluorine and / or Nitrogen-Fluorine and / or Silicon-Fluorine.

2. The foodware article with the method of making the product according to claim 1 by using a Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process capable of synthesizing a coating in the Nitride, Carbide and / or CarboNitride groups of transition metals or alloy transition metal elements in groups 3 - 12 and / or elements in groups 13 or 14 of the periodic table as defined by IUPAC, by adding a gas containing Fluorine as a compound, such as Boron-Fluorine and / or Carbon-Fluorine and / or Nitrogen-Fluorine and / or Oxygen-Fluorine and / or Silicon-Fluorine into the coating layer that comes into contact with food.

3. The foodware article with the method of making the product according to claim 2 using a Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process capable of synthesizing a coating in the Nitride, Carbide and / or Carbonitride groups, both with and without inert gas, whereas inert gas refers to the element in group 18 of the periodic table as defined by IUPAC, for example, but not limited to Neon and / or Argon and / or Xenon etc., including a combination of these inert gases and / or a mixture of inert gases and reactive gases in the process, for example, Argon-Nitrogen and / or Argon-Nitrogen-Acethylene and / or Argon-Nitrogen-TetraFluoromethane and / or Argon-Xenon- Nitrogen-Tetrafluorom ethane, etc.

4. The foodware article with the method of making the product according to claims 2 and 3, using the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process, which can synthesize coatings in the Nitride, Carbide, and / or Carbonitride groups by using machinery or equipment in the following categories:Cathodic Arc, both Direct Current (DC) and / or Pulsed DC and / or Alternate Current (AC), including those equipped with filters (Filtered Arc) and without particle filters, etc.,Magnetron Sputtering, both Direct Current (DC) and / or High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) and / or Dual-Mag and / or Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering, etc., this includes a comparable system capable of synthesizing coatings in the Nitride, Carbide and / or CarboNitride can also be used, for example, but not limited to Anodic Vacuum Arc and / or Activated Reactive Evaporation and / or Hollow Cathode Discharge etc.

5. The foodware article with the method of making the product according to claims 2, 3 and 4, whereas the Gas ion source device is introduced into the manufacturing process, for example, an Anode Layer Gas ion source and / or an End-Hall ion source and / or a Helicon Plasma source, etc., is installed.

6. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging device, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas a food stickresistant coating is applied directly to the surface of the product.

7. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas the food stick-resistant coating is applied to the food-contact side, and is coated on the PVD and / or other CVD coatings that are applied to the surface of the product.

8. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas the food stick-resistant coating is applied to the food-contact side, and is coated on the PVD and / or CVD coatings that are applied to other coatings and / or layers of surface treatments that are applied to the surface of the product.

9. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas the food stick-resistant coating is coated on the side that contacts food and is coated on the coating obtained by the Thermal Spray process that is coated on the surface of the product.

10. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas the foodstick-resistant coating is coated on the side that contacts food, and is coated on the coating obtained by the Electrodeposition process that is coated on the surface of the product.

11. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas the food stick-resistant coating is coated to the food-contact side, and is coated to a surface layer obtained by the nitriding and / or carburizing and / or nitrocarburizing processes on the surface of the product.

12. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas a food stick-resistant coating is coated to the food-contact side, and is coated to other coatings and / or layers of other surface treatments on the surface of the product.

13. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas the coating base and / or initial substance is a transition metal or an alloy of a group of elements from the transition metals, for example, Titanium and / or Chromium and / or Molybdenum and / or Tantalum and / or Titanium-Chromium and / or Molybdenum-Copper and / or Molybdenum-Chromium- Vanadium, etc., and the transition metals according to this claim refers to a group of metals as defined by the IUPAC, namely groups 3 - 12 in the periodic table, and the alloys cited as examples are also diverse, can be many others and not limited to those mentioned.

14. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment, and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas the coating as a base material and / or initial substance is an element in group 13 or 14 of the IUPAC periodic table, by using it as a single element or a combination of elements in group 13 or 14, and / or an alloy of elements of a transition metal group, e.g., Aluminum and / or Carbon and / or Boron and / or Silicon and / or Aluminum-Chromium and / or Titanium-Boron and / or Aluminum-Silicon and / or Aluminum-Chromium-Silicon and / or Titanium -Aluminum -Vanadium and / or Molybdenum- Chromium-Aluminum-Yttrium, etc., and such alloys as examples can be many others, not limited to those mentioned.

15. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas an initial substance is a gas of Fluorine compounds as follows: a compound of Fluorine with Carbon and / or Silicon and / or Nitrogen and / or Boron and / or Hydrogen, for example, Tetrafluoromethane (CF4) and / or Tetrafluorosilane (SiF4) and / or Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and / or Boron trifluoride (BF3) and / or Hexafluoroethane (C2F6) and / orDifluorosilane (SiH2F2), etc., and the compounds mentioned as examples can be many others, not limited to those mentioned.

16. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas an initial substance is a gas of Fluorine compounds as follows:Fluorine compounds with Carbon and Hydrogen in the Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) group, for example, Difluoromethane and / or Trifluoromethane and / or 1,1 -Difluoroethane and / or 1,1,1 -Trifluoroethane and / or 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane and / or Pentafluoroethane, etc., and the compounds mentioned as examples can be many others and are not limited to those mentioned.

17. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas an initial substance is a gas of Fluorine compounds as follows:Fluorine compounds with Carbon and Hydrogen and Chlorine in the Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) group, for example: Dichlorofluoromethane and / or Chlorodifluoromethane and / or 1,2-Dichlorotetrafluoroethane, etc., and the compounds mentioned as examples can be many others and not limited to those mentioned.

18. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas an initial substance is a gas of Fluorine compounds as follows:Fluorine compounds with Carbon and Chlorine in the Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) group, for example Trichlorofluoromethane and / or Chlorotrifluoromethane and / or Dichlorofluoromethane, etc., and the compounds mentioned as examples can be many others and are not limited to those mentioned here.

19. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, whereas an initial substance is a gas of Fluorine compounds as follows:Fluorine compounds with Carbon and Bromine and / or Chlorine in the Bromofluorocarbon (BFC) and / or Bromochlorofluorocarbon (BCFC) group, for example Bromotrifluoromethane and / or Bromochlorodifluoromethane, etc. The compounds mentioned as examples can be many others and are not limited to those mentioned here.

20. The foodware article or food preparation equipment or food transport and packaging equipment and the method of making the product according to claims 1 and 2, which involves introducing gas as an additive and / or initial substance into the PVD coating process for synthesizing and / or modifying the coating layer with stick-resistant properties, and the gases are as follows: gases of Hydrocarbon, Bromine, Chlorine, Fluorine, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Silane whether as a single gas, mixture of gases and / or as compounds of these gases and / or gas derivatives of these gases in a gaseous state.

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