Vacuum-coating system, and method for coating a strip-type material
AssigneeSMS group GmbH
InventorsLutz Kümmel, Thomas Daube
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and a vacuum-coating system (10) for coating a strip-shaped material (11), in particular made of metal, are disclosed. Thereby, the strip-shaped material (11) is moved over a conveying section (12) in a transport direction (T) and vacuum-coated within a coating chamber (14) in which a vacuum is applied. When viewed in the transport direction (T) of the strip-shaped material (11), at least one trimming shear (38) is arranged upstream of the coating chamber (14), with which the strip-shaped material (11) is trimmed at at least one strip edge, preferably at both strip edges, in order to produce a constant width for the strip-shaped material (11) over its longitudinal extension.
Claims9
A vacuum-coating system for coating a strip-shaped metal material, comprising:
- a conveying section with transport rollers, on which the strip-shaped metal material moves in a transport direction, the transport rollers being configured to convey the strip-shaped metal material with a width of the strip being horizontally arranged;
- a coating chamber in which a vacuum is generated, the coating chamber having an inlet area with an inlet air lock and an outlet area with an outlet air lock through which the strip-shaped metal material passes in the transport direction from an environment into and out of the vacuum;
- and
- a trimming shear arranged in the environment upstream of the coating chamber, the trimming shear being configured to trim the strip-shaped metal material at at least one strip edge to produce a constant width of the strip-shaped metal material corresponding to a width of the inlet air lock and the outlet air lock;
- and
- a strip position control device arranged upstream of the trimming shear, the strip position control device being configured to align the strip-shaped metal material with respect to a center of the conveying section.
A system for galvanizing a steel strip, comprising:
- a first coiling device arranged at an inlet of the system, the first coiling device being configured to unwind the steel strip from a coil;
- a skin pass mill arranged downstream of the first coiling device, the skin pass mill being configured to balance or compensate flatness defects of the steel strip;
- a trimming shear arranged downstream of the skin pass mill, the trimming shear being configured to cut off a left strip edge and a right strip edge of the steel strip such that the steel strip has a constant width downstream of the trimming shear;
- a coating chamber in which a vacuum is generated arranged downstream of the trimming shear, the coating chamber having
- an inlet area with an inlet air lock through which the steel strip passes from an environment into the vacuum, and
- an outlet area with an outlet air lock through which the steel strip passes from the vacuum into the environment,
- the coating chamber being configured to apply a zinc layer to the steel strip by physical vapor deposition;
- and
- a second coiling device arranged downstream of the coating chamber for rewinding the coated steel strip into a coil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.