US 5,286,294 AGranted

Vacuum coating apparatus

AssigneeGen Gen Corporation

InventorsTadamichi Ebi, Yoshihiko Imai

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Abstract

A vacuum coating apparatus for forming a thin film evenly coated over a material to be treated as well as providing excellent productivity. The vacuum coating apparatus includes a chamber, an evacuating device, a fluid supplier, a hood, and a gas reservoir. During operation, the chamber is subjected to a partial vacuum by the evacuating device and filled with treatment fluid. At this time, air at predetermined temperature supplied from the gas reservoir is admitted into the chamber. As a result, the temperature and viscosity of the treatment fluid in the chamber become constant. The material to be treated is then fed into the chamber via an inlet port and an outlet port. An air flow caused by evacuation removes excess fluid on the material at the outlet port, resulting in evenly forming a thin coating film.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A vacuum coating apparatus comprising:

a chamber filled with a treatment liquid and provided with an inlet port and an outlet port through which a material to be treated is fed;
an evacuating device for subjecting said chamber to a partial vacuum;
a fluid supplier for supplying said treatment liquid to said chamber such that said treatment liquid is applied over a surface of the material as the material passes through said chamber;
a hood for covering said inlet port and outlet port of said chamber, said hood having an inlet and outlet opening aligned with said inlet port and outlet port of said chamber for passing said material therethrough;
a feeder for feeding said material through said inlet and outlet openings in said hood and said inlet and outlet parts of said chamber;
and
a gas reservoir having a gas temperature controller device for supplying gas at a substantially constant predetermined temperature to said hood and maintaining the viscosity of said treatment liquid substantially constant independent of a change of environmental temperature surrounding said hood wherein said vacuum in said chamber and the gas supply to said hood causes an air flow over the material such that excess liquid on said material is removed.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.