Coating Apparatus With Recessed Roller For Residue-Free Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing continuous coating systems for discrete, flat substrates face the issue of coating material residue on the film between substrates, leading to incomplete polymerization and rendering the film unusable for subsequent coating processes.
Innovation Solution
A device featuring a flexible coating belt with a rotatable applicator roller having a recessed groove, allowing for precise coating gaps, ensuring that the coating material is transferred to the substrates without residue on the belt, and utilizing UV radiation for curing in the absence of air, enabling multiple reuse of the coating strip.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a continuous coating belt is used to apply coating material to substrates, then coating efficiency and productivity are improved, but coating material residue accumulates on the belt between substrates causing the belt to become unusable
Solution Approach 1:
The coating belt is divided into multiple independently controllable sections or zones. Each section can be adjusted in speed and coating application independently, allowing the belt to be segmented into coating zones and transfer zones. This segmentation enables precise control of coating material distribution and facilitates complete transfer at specific sections while preventing accumulation in others.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating belt system incorporates dynamic speed adjustment capabilities where different sections of the belt can operate at different velocities. The belt speed is dynamically synchronized with substrate transport speed and coating material application rate, allowing optimal control of coating transfer. This dynamic adjustment ensures complete coating transfer to substrates while preventing residue accumulation on the belt.
2Manufacturing precision
If the coating belt moves at the same speed as substrates to ensure uniform coating, then coating uniformity is improved, but coating material cannot be released in the gap between substrates
Solution Approach 1:
Different sections of the coating belt are assigned different functional characteristics. The coating application zones maintain synchronized speed with substrates for uniform coating, while the transfer zones positioned at substrate gaps introduce localized speed variations or coating material density changes that enable complete material release precisely where needed without affecting overall coating uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating belt system incorporates periodic variations in speed or coating material application that are synchronized with the periodic passage of substrates. These periodic adjustments create optimal conditions for complete coating transfer at the moment substrates pass through the transfer zone, ensuring no residue remains on the belt while maintaining uniform coating on the substrates themselves.
3Productivity
If UV radiation is applied through the coating belt to cure the coating, then curing efficiency is improved, but the belt must be radiation-permeable limiting material choices
Solution Approach 1:
The coating belt is designed with multi-functional properties: it serves as both the coating application medium and the UV radiation transmission window. The belt material is specifically selected to be transparent to UV radiation while maintaining mechanical properties suitable for coating application. This universal design allows the same belt structure to fulfill multiple functions without requiring separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating belt is implemented as a thin, flexible film structure that inherently allows UV radiation penetration. The thin-film design provides sufficient UV transparency for efficient curing while maintaining the flexibility and mechanical strength needed for continuous operation. The thin film structure balances the conflicting requirements of mechanical durability and radiation transparency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution allows for the complete transfer of coating material to the substrates, preventing residue on the belt and enabling the coating strip to be reused over 100 times without surface defects, while ensuring efficient curing and maintaining the three-dimensional structure of the coating.
Implementation Method 1
a rotatable applicator roller (11) which is designed to transfer coating material to one side, for example the back side, of the flexible coating belt (20)
Implementation Method 2
the flexible coating belt (20) is moved in the same direction as the substrates and preferably at the same speed as them... transfer coating material onto an upper side of the flat substrates
Implementation Method 3
utilizing UV radiation for curing in the absence of air
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 2b
AI summary
The application relates to an apparatus (10) for the continuous coating of discrete, flat substrates (30), the apparatus comprising a flexible coating band (20) which is designed in order to transfer coating material to an upper side of the flat substrate; means (2-la, b) for moving the flexible coating band; transport means (33) in order to move the flat substrate; at least one rotatable application roller (11) which is designed in order to transfer coating material to the flexible coating band, and means (12, 13, 16) for supplying coating material to the rotatable application roller. The surface of the application roller (11) is provided with at least one recess (14) which is designed in such a manner that, when coating material is transferred from the roller (11) to the band (20), a corresponding coating gap which is substantially free from coating material is produced on the coating band.