Strip Substrate Cooling Device With Columnar Plastic Layer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coating processes for band-shaped substrates in vacuum chambers face challenges with irreversible deformation due to overheating, particularly in plastic films, metal, and glass substrates, where insufficient cooling leads to wrinkles and inadequate heat transfer, especially when multiple coating stations are involved.
Innovation Solution
A cooling device with a plastic edge layer featuring a columnar structure, which acts as microscopic adhesive elements, enhances contact between the substrate and the cooling device, eliminating the need for intermediate heat-conducting media and reducing substrate folding, by utilizing electrostatic interactions to attract the substrate, thus improving cooling efficiency and preventing deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional coating apparatus with a single coating unit is used, then the structure is simple, but the productivity is low and coating uniformity is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The coating apparatus is divided into multiple independent coating units (first coating unit, second coating unit, etc.) that can operate simultaneously. Each coating unit has its own coating device and can be controlled independently, allowing parallel processing of the substrate to increase productivity while maintaining coating quality through distributed coating actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-point coating approach to a multi-point distributed coating approach. By arranging multiple coating units at different positions along the substrate path, the system achieves simultaneous coating at multiple locations, effectively adding a spatial dimension to the coating process and thereby increasing throughput.
2Manufacturing precision
If a conventional coating apparatus with a single coating unit is used, then the structure is simple, but the coating uniformity is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The coating apparatus is divided into multiple independent coating units (first coating unit, second coating unit, etc.) that can operate simultaneously. Each coating unit has its own coating device and can be controlled independently, allowing parallel processing of the substrate to increase productivity while maintaining coating quality through distributed coating actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device receives feedback signals from sensors that detect coating conditions at different positions along the substrate. Based on this feedback, the control device independently adjusts the operation of each coating unit to maintain uniform coating thickness and quality throughout the entire substrate, compensating for variations in substrate tension, positioning, or coating material flow.
3Reliability
If the substrate is moved through a conventional single-unit coating apparatus, then the process is simple, but coating defects occur due to substrate tension variations
Solution Approach 1:
The coating apparatus is divided into multiple independent coating units (first coating unit, second coating unit, etc.) that can operate simultaneously. Each coating unit has its own coating device and can be controlled independently, allowing parallel processing of the substrate to increase productivity while maintaining coating quality through distributed coating actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device receives feedback signals from sensors that detect coating conditions at different positions along the substrate. Based on this feedback, the control device independently adjusts the operation of each coating unit to maintain uniform coating thickness and quality throughout the entire substrate, compensating for variations in substrate tension, positioning, or coating material flow.
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 provides effective cooling and reduced wrinkle formation across multiple coating stations for various substrates, including plastic, metal, and glass, ensuring consistent and improved heat transfer without disrupting the vacuum chamber atmosphere.
Implementation Method 1
a coating device (32) that applies the coating material to the substrate
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus for coating a strip-shaped substrate, comprising a coating device and a cooling device with at least one surface region that is at least partially contacted by the strip-shaped substrate at the time of coating. In this case, an outer layer of the surface region of the cooling device consists of a plastic that has a columnar structure, wherein the columns of the columnar structure are formed with a column height in the range of 50 µm to 500 µm and with a column cross section in the range of 300 μm2 to 10 000 μm2.