Coating Device For Traveling Webs

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a coating device for application of coating material to the surface of a web or a flexible substrate. The coating device contains a pressurized channel where a flowing stream of the coating liquid first comes into contact with the substrate. The coating liquid enters the channel at the upstream side and wets the substrate as it flows in the same direction as the substrate. A doctor element is positioned at the downstream side of the channel where the excess coating in the channel follows the contour of the boundary formed by the doctor element and leaves the channel. The geometry of the streamlined boundaries of the coating device eliminate the formation of recirculating eddies or vortices. The elimination of vortices eliminates flow instability due to centrifugal forces and removes harmful pressure fluctuations which could result in coat-weight nonuniformities. The elimination of recirculating eddies or vortices also removes the possibility of entrapping air pockets or air bubbles in the core of the vortices which could reach the blade gap and could result in coat-weight nonuniformities and wet streaks.