Method of making coated articles and coated articles made thereby

1. A method of making a laminated article, comprising:

forming a functional coating over at least a portion of a first major surface of a substrate, wherein the functional coating comprises a multilayer coating comprising at least one infrared reflective metal film with multiple metal oxide films;

forming a protective coating over at least a portion of the functional coating, wherein the protective coating consists of a single layer consisting of a mixture of silica and alumina having at least 80 wt. % silica, wherein the protective coating has a thickness in the range of 300 Å to 5 microns, and wherein the functional coating and the protective coating define a coating stack;

providing a second substrate; and

providing a polymeric material between the protective coating and the second substrate, wherein the protective coating has a refractive index in the range of ±0.2 with respect to the refractive index of the polymeric material.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the functional coating has an emissivity in the range of greater than 0 to 0.1.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the protective coating increases the emissivity of the coating stack to be at least 0.3.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the protective coating has a refractive index within the range of ±0.1 with respect to the refractive index of the polymeric material.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the protective coating is of non-uniform thickness.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first and second substrates comprise glass, the functional coating comprises a solar control coating, the polymeric material comprises polyvinyl butyral, and the protective coating has a refractive index in the range of 1.5±0.1.

7. A method of making a laminated article, comprising:

forming a functional coating over at least a portion of a first major surface of a substrate, wherein the functional coating comprises a multilayer coating comprising at least one infrared reflective metal film with multiple metal oxide films;

forming a protective coating over at least a portion of the functional coating to form a coating stack, wherein the protective coating is a multilayer coating consisting of a first layer formed over the functional coating and a second layer formed over the first layer, wherein the first layer is selected from the group consisting of alumina, silica, and a mixture of alumina and silica, and the second layer consists of a mixture of alumina and silica, wherein the first layer includes at least 50 wt. % alumina and the second layer includes at least 50 wt. % silica, and wherein the protective coating has a thickness in the range of 300 Å to 5 microns;

providing a second substrate; and

positioning a polymeric material between the first and second substrates, with the protective coating having a refractive index substantially the same as the refractive index of the polymeric material.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the first layer comprises at least 60 wt. % alumina.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the first layer has a thickness in the range of 50 Å to 1 micron.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 70 wt. % silica.

11. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the second layer has a thickness in the range of 50 Å to 2,000 Å.

12. A method of making a coated article, comprising:

forming a functional coating over at least a portion of a substrate, wherein the functional coating comprises a multilayer coating comprising at least one infrared reflective metal film with multiple metal oxide films; and

forming a protective coating consisting of a single layer consisting of a mixture of silica and alumina over at least a portion of the functional coating, wherein the functional coating and the protective coating define a coating stack, and wherein the protective coating has a thickness in the range of 300 Å to 5 microns, and wherein the protective coating comprises at least 80 wt. % silica.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12 , further including:

providing a polymeric material over at least a portion of the protective coating, wherein the protective coating has a refractive index that is substantially the same as the refractive index of the polymeric material.

14. The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the functional coating has an emissivity of 0.1 or less.

15. The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the protective coating has a refractive index within ±0.2 of the refractive index of the polymeric material.

16. The article as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the protective coating has a non-uniform thickness.

17. A method of making a coated article, comprising:

forming a functional coating over at least a portion of the substrate, wherein a functional coating comprises a multilayer coating comprising at least one infrared reflective metal film with multiple metal oxide layers; and

forming a multilayer protective coating consisting of a first layer formed over the functional coating and a second layer formed over at least a portion of the first layer, wherein the first layer is selected from the group consisting of alumina, silica, and a mixture of alumina and silica, and the second layer consists of a mixture of alumina and silica, wherein the first layer includes at least 50 wt. % alumina and the second layer includes at least 50 wt. % silica, wherein the functional coating and the protective coating define a coating stack, and wherein the protective coating has a thickness in the range of 300 Åto 5 microns.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17 , further including:

providing a polymeric material over at least a portion of the protective coating, wherein the protective coating has a refractive index that is substantially the same as the refractive index of the polymeric material.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the first layer comprises at least 60 wt. % alumina.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the first layer has a thickness in the range of 50 Å to 1 micron.

21. The method as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 70 wt. % silica.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the second layer has a thickness in the range of 50 Å to 2,000 Å.

23. The method as claimed in claim 17 , further including:

positioning a second substrate over the first substrate with the functional coating located between the substrates; and

heating the substrates to bend the substrates to a desired shape.