Beveled edge metered bead extrusion coating apparatus

A metered bead extrusion coating apparatus for coating a fluid onto the surface of a web supported by a backing member comprising:

• a wetdown die;
• a drawdown die, the wetdown die being the first die in the direction of web travel while the drawdown die is the last die in the direction of web travel, the wetdown die and the drawdown die being spaced apart to define an extrusion slot therebetween, the slot having an axis extending therethrough which intersects the backing member, the slot terminating in a mouth such that fluid emanating therefrom forms a metered bead which bridges the gap between the mouth of the slot and the surface of the web;
• the drawdown die having a beveled surface thereon, the beveled surface defining an obtuse angle with respect to the axis of the slot, the beveled surface being defined between a first edge adjacent to the mouth of the slot and a second edge, the shortest distance between the first edge and a reference line extending perpendicularly to the axis of the slot erected at the point on the axis where the axis intersects the backing member being greater than the shortest distance between the second edge and the reference line.