Apparatus for coating conductors

An apparatus for providing a uniform thickness layer of a fluent coating material to a moving conductor, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing having openings through which a conductor may be advanced along a path into and then out of said housing;
• non-contacting means mounted in said housing and having openings aligned with the openings in said housing through which the conductor is moved along a portion of the path for holding the coating material and for maintaining the coating material at a level above the conductor along said portion of its path to cause the coating material to be applied to the conductor as it is moved therethough, said non-contacting means including an applicator tube which comprises:
• a container for the fluent coating material, said container including a pair of spaced side walls, each side wall having a notch formed therein, said notches being aligned with a path of travel of a conductor through the notches such that the conductor is not contacted by the surfaces of the walls which form the notches;
• and
• a cover having a plurality of slots thereacross, each said slot connecting a pair of aligned notches in said side walls and being parallel to a conductor path, each said slot and aligned notches forming an applicator opening which is sized to accommodate a range of conductor sizes and to maintain the level of the coating material in said container substantially at a predetermined level above the path of the conductor without substantially increasing the flow rate of the coating material into said container;
• die means aligned with an exit opening in said non-contacting means for removing excess coating material from the conductor to form a layer of substantially uniform thickness;
• means for partially treating the coating material;
• and
• means for advancing the conductor into said housing, through said non-contacting means and said die means and then out of said housing and through said treating means.