Patent ID: 7562647

Claim:
An inlet valve for use in an internal combustion engine, comprising: a valve stem; a valve head connected to the valve stem, the valve head comprising, a valve head body comprising a metallic material; and a cladding comprised of a hard cladding material that is harder than the metallic material covering a portion of the valve head body, at least a portion of the surface of the cladding forming a valve seat, wherein the cladding and the metallic material abut one another, thereby forming a cladding-body interface; and a protective coating bonded to the valve head and overlapping the cladding-body interface, the protective coating differing from both the metallic material of the valve head body and the hard cladding material of the cladding so that the protective coating, metallic material, and hard cladding material comprise three different materials disposed in three different regions.