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US 2001/0032584 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for applying a coating material to sheets
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorJohannes A. Ritter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for applying pressure sensitive adhesive to a substrate, in which the adhesive is deposited on a transfer surface, such as a circulating transfer belt, dried, and subsequently transferred to a plurality of overlapping sheets. The sheets are preferably coated with a primer or a low adhesion backsize, or both, prior to application of the adhesive.
Claims14
An apparatus for applying a coating material to a plurality of sheets as the sheets are conveyed past the apparatus, comprising:
- (a) means for overlapping a plurality of sheets to form overlapped sheets, such that a first minor portion of each sheet overlies a portion of a first adjacent sheet, and a second minor portion of each sheet underlies a portion of a second adjacent sheet wherein the first and second portions of each sheet are opposed portions of the sheet;
- (b) a coating station comprising (i) means for receiving adhesive coating material from a supply of such material, (ii) means for at least partially drying the adhesive coating material on the receiving means and (iii) means for transferring the adhesive coating material from the receiving means to at least a portion of a first major surface of the overlapped sheets as the sheets are conveyed past the coating station to form adhesive coated sheets;
- and
- (c) means for collecting the adhesive coated sheets involving rearrangement of the overlapped coated sheets into a stacked pad of sheets.
1 more element
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) a sheet dispensing station for dispensing a plurality of sheets in an overlapping configuration such that a first longitudinal end of each sheet overlies a portion of a first adjacent sheet and a second longitudinal end of each sheet underlies a portion of a second adjacent sheet so as to form a longitudinally continuous array of overlapped sheets;
- (b) a first coating station effective for continuously applying an at least partially dried adhesive coating material to at least a portion of a first major surface of the overlapped sheets as the sheets move through the coating station, and
- (c) a sheet stacking station for collecting, alligning and stacking the coated sheets into pads.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.