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US 2014/0227507 A1Published application
Coating and curing apparatus and methods
AssigneeEnki Technology, Inc.
InventorsBrenor L. Brophy, Sina Maghsoodi, Patrick J. Neyman, Peter R. Gonsalves, Jeffrey G. Hirsch, Yu S. Yang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are coating apparatus including flow coating and roll-coating that may be used for uniform sol-gel coating of substrates such as glass, solar panels, windows or part of an electronic display. Also disclosed are methods for substrate preparation, flow coating and roll coating. Lastly systems and methods for skin curing sol-gel coatings deposited onto the surface of glass substrates using a high temperature air-knife are disclosed.
Claims30
A coating and curing apparatus, comprising:
- a conveyor system of a combination roll coating and curing facility, wherein the combination roll coating and curing facility comprises at least one roll coating facility followed by at least one curing facility, the at least one roll coating facility comprising a doctor roller and an application roller, and wherein the conveyor system is adapted to transport a substantially flat substrate first through the roll coating facility and afterwards through the curing facility;
- a source of a sol-gel coating for use in the combination roll coating and curing facility, the source comprising space for a reservoir of the sol-gel coating material between the doctor roller and the application roller of the roll coating facility, the reservoir in fluid communication with the doctor roller and the application roller;
- a processor that controls a process parameter of the at least one roll coating facility;
- and
- an air knife of the at least one curing facility, wherein the air knife is adapted to direct a heated air stream to a portion of the flat substrate as it is transported through the at least one curing facility,
- wherein the at least one roll coating facility is adapted to coat the substantially flat substrate with a continuous film of sol gel coating material and wherein the air knife is adapted to cure the continuous sol gel coating material while an interior of the substantially flat substrate remains at a temperature substantially lower than a temperature of air from the air knife.
3 more elements
A method of coating and curing, comprising:
- conveying a substantially flat substrate to be coated with a conveyor system through a combination roll coating and curing facility, wherein the combination roll coating and curing facility comprises at least one roll coating facility with a doctor roller, an application roller and a source of a sol gel coating in fluid communication with the doctor roller and the application roller and at least one curing facility to cure the sol-gel coating after the sol-gel coating is applied to the substantially flat substrate by the at least one roll coating facility;
- roll coating the substantially flat substrate with a continuous film of the sol gel coating material with the at least one roll coating facility;
- and
- curing the sol gel coating material on the substantially flat substrate with an air knife of the at least one curing facility, wherein the air knife is adapted to direct heated air to a portion of the substantially flat substrate as it is transported through the curing facility by the conveyor system, wherein the air knife is adapted to cure the sol gel coating material while an interior of the substantially flat substrate remains at a temperature substantially lower than a temperature of air from the air knife.
1 more element
A method of tuning the performance of a sol gel coating, comprising:
- determining a desired cure temperature profile to achieve a specific performance metric for a sol gel coating using at least one physical analysis method;
- selecting settings for an air knife curing system's operating parameters to achieve the desired temperature profiles for the sol gel coating on a substantially flat substrate;
- and
- curing the sol-gel coating on the substantially flat substrate with the air knife curing system, wherein the air knife is adapted to cure the sol gel coating while an interior of the substantially flat substrate remains at a temperature substantially lower than a temperature of air from the air knife.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.