A method of adjusting a clearance between a
nozzle and a work to a desired value in a liquid application apparatus wherein a liquid discharged from the
nozzle is applied to the work, comprises (a) a
distance measurement step of measuring, by using a non-contact distance sensor positioned in parallel with the
nozzle, a distance from the non-contact distance sensor to a
reference surface of a contact detection sensor detecting a contact of the nozzle front end with the
reference surface opposite to the nozzle front end, (b) a nozzle contacting step of making contacts with the nozzle front end and the
reference surface of the contact detection sensor to obtain a positional information of the nozzle, (c) a
distance measurement step of measuring, by the non-contact distance sensor, a distance from the non-contact distance sensor to the work before applying the liquid to the work, and (d) a step of adjusting a nozzle clearance to a desired value based on the relative positional information between the nozzle and the non-contact distance sensor determined by the
distance measurement step (a) and the nozzle contacting step (b), and the distance determined by the distance measurement step (c), thereby to enable the nozzle clearance adjustment based on accurate information of the relative position between the nozzle and the non-contact distance sensor in the nozzle clearance direction, which is less influenced by the work's windings, heaves or others.