Continuous hot melt adhesive applicator

A method of continuously applying a coating of hot melt adhesive on a substrate with an adhesive dispensing applicator including an adhesive control valve connected to a manifold having a plurality of adhesive passageways connected to a plurality of generally aligned dispensing nozzles by way of a plurality of needle valves which respectively control the flow of adhesive to said plurality of dispensing nozzles, each needle valve including a valve stem extending into said manifold and including a portion thereof which is adjustable relative to a valve seat located in the adhesive passageways of said manifold and formed as part of said manifold for controlling the flow of adhesive to a nozzle, the method comprising the steps of:

• opening said control valve to allow molten adhesive to flow into said fluid paths,
• adjusting said needle valves to establish a predetermined flow rate of adhesive through each respective nozzle and a resulting predetermined adhesive coating pattern on said substrate, and
• moving said substrate and said dispensing applicator with respect to each other while said control valve is opened so as to coat said substrate with adhesive discharged from said nozzles.