Coating Head Separator for Slurry Recycling and Thickness Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coating methods, particularly die coating, face challenges with uneven thickness and residual slurry issues due to uncontrolled pulling and viscous forces, leading to convex starting and ending patterns, waste, and inability to achieve varied shapes.
Innovation Solution
A coating apparatus with a built-up coating head featuring a discharging concave, feed-back concave, and a separator, utilizing a slurry pushing mechanism and controlling valve to guide slurry back to the feed-back pipe, allowing adjustable thickness and precise pattern formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If die coating is used for continuous coating, then coating continuity is improved, but uneven thickness and residual slurry issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The coating head is divided into distinct functional zones: a discharging concave for outward slurry flow and a feed-back concave for returning slurry to the feed-back pipe. A separator structure divides these two concavities, enabling independent control of slurry discharge and recycling paths to prevent residual slurry accumulation and ensure uniform coating thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The feed-back concave and feed-back pipe create a feedback mechanism where residual slurry in the coating head is automatically returned to the container for recycling. This feedback loop eliminates the harmful effect of uncontrolled residual slurry and ensures consistent coating quality throughout the continuous coating process.
2Device complexity
If coating head structure is simplified, then device complexity is reduced, but inability to achieve varied pattern shapes
Solution Approach 1:
The coating head incorporates movable components including a movable coating head that can adjust its position and orientation, and a adjustable pad that can change the coating width. These dynamic elements enable the system to achieve various pattern shapes (rectangular, sheet form, strip form, grating form, etc.) while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
3Quantity of substance
If slurry pushing force is increased, then coating thickness is increased, but residual slurry drops to substrate causing waste
Solution Approach 1:
The separator structure extracts and separates residual slurry from the main coating flow path. By directing residual slurry into the feed-back concave and subsequently into the feed-back pipe, the system removes this wasted material from the coating process, preventing it from dropping onto the substrate and causing loss.
4Ease of operation
If coating head is positioned horizontally, then ease of operation is improved, but gravity causes uneven thickness distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The coating head employs asymmetric geometry with a discharging concave and a feed-back concave positioned at different locations and orientations. This asymmetric design allows the system to maintain horizontal positioning for ease of operation while using gravity effectively to control slurry flow direction, ensuring uniform thickness distribution across the coated surface.
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
Ensures even coating with complete slurry recycling, preventing residual slurry from dropping and allowing for various pattern shapes, reducing waste and improving substrate quality.
Implementation Method 1
a slurry pushing means 202 connecting with the container 201 through a discharging pipe 204
Implementation Method 2
the slurry in the coating slit is guiding toward the feed-back pipe... the slurry is absolutely not drop out
Implementation Method 3
the internal pressure of the feed-back concave 2052 is smaller than that of the discharging concave 2051
Implementation Method 4
a separator 2054 provided between the feed-back concave 2052 and the discharging concave 2051
Implementation Method 5
the coating slurry is coated on the substrate 220 only through the path... the slurry is equally distributed and fulfilled within the discharging pipe 204, the coating head 205 and the feed-back pipe 207
Data Source
AI summary
The invention discloses a coating apparatus for coating slurry on a substrate. The coating apparatus comprises: a container for storing the slurry; a slurry pushing means connecting with the container through a discharging pipe; a coating head connecting with the slurry pushing means through another discharging pipe and connecting with the container through a feed-back pipe, and a controlling valve provided within the feed-back pipe. The coating head comprises: a coating slit; a discharging concave; a feed-back concave; a separator provided between the feed-back concave and the discharging concave; and an extending concave for correspondingly covering and matching with the discharging concave and the feed-back concave. The discharging concave and the feed-back concave are respectively provided with a discharging aperture and a feed-back aperture for respectively connecting with the discharging pipe and the feed-back pipe.