Apparatus for treating materials in the form of continuous lengths

An apparatus for treating coated or uncoated materials made of natural or synthetic polymers to improve the quality thereof in which a web of the material in the form of a continuous length is subjected to a plurality of successive processing steps including a cooling step in which the material is cooled by means of a liquefied gas forming a cooling medium at an extremely low temperature, said apparatus comprising:

• means for conveying said web successively through a plurality of processing stations including a cooling station;
• at least one blast nozzle head at said cooling station spanning the width of said web and opening toward said web at least on one side thereof, said blast nozzle head having a central inlet and walls diverging toward a wide outlet side confronting said web, said walls defining a chamber diverging toward said web;
• a plurality of blast nozzles spaced across said web in said blast nozzle head and spanning a mouth of said chamber and trained upon said web for directing said cooling medium thereagainst as said web passes said head, said cooling medium being distributed to said nozzles by said chamber;
• a source of said cooling medium connected to said head for delivering said medium to said chamber and said nozzles, said source having a suction side;
• and
• an extractor head juxtaposed with the opposite side of said web, the said cooling station for drawing cooling medium traversing said web away from the latter, said extractor head being connected to said suction side of said source.