Chemical foaming machine and mixing apparatus

A coating system for uniformly coating a web sheet with a coating compound while said web is traveling along a path comprising:

• a coating machine having a mixing apparatus including a dispenser assembly having a dispensing opening a control mechanism for controlling movement of said web and a support assembly for supporting said web during movement along said path;
• a low pressure pumping system for supplying an air-chemical mixture through a mixture supply line;
• said low pressure pumping system including a plurality of peristaltic pumps and each said pump being operated for receiving a fluid substance through a supply line and discharging said fluid substance into said mixture supply line;
• a blending foamer of said mixing apparatus having a foamer inlet for receiving said air-chemical mixture from said mixture supply line, said blending foamer transforming said fluid substances into a chemical compound having a consistency of a foam substance, and said foamer having a foamer outlet for discharging said chemical compound into a foam discharge line for piping said compound to said dispenser assembly of said coating machine;
• and
• a mixing apparatus control system integral with said coating machine control mechanism for controlling said consistency of said foam substance of said compound, wherein said system provides said coating without generally wetting said fabric.

A coating system for uniformly coating a web sheet with a coating compound while said web is traveling along a path comprising:

• a coating machine including a control mechanism, a dispenser assembly having a dispenser opening and a support assembly for supporting said web along said path;
• a component support plate for at least partially housing mechanical components of a mixing apparatus;
• a plurality of peristaltic pumps of said mixing apparatus being formed at least in part within said plate and each being operated for receiving a fluid substance through a supply line and discharging said fluid substance at a relatively low pressure into a feed line;
• a blending foamer of said mixing apparatus formed at least in part within said plate for receiving at an inlet each fluid substance and transforming said fluid substances into a chemical compound, said chemical compound having a consistency of a foam substance to be discharged at an outlet into a foam discharge line for piping said foam substance to said dispenser assembly of said coating machine;
• a control system integral with said control mechanism for controlling said consistency of said foam substance, wherein said coating system has a fast changeover from a first coating compound to a second coating compound, said changeover being realized by stopping the operation of at least one pump, changing the fluid supplied to said at least one pump and restarting said at least one pump.

A coating machine for applying a coating compound to a web sheet which travels through said machine along a path between first and second spaced sides, said coating machine including a mixing apparatus for mixing said coating compound, a coating table assembly for supporting said web and a dispenser assembly with a coating dispenser opening between said first and second sides which applies said coating compound onto said web traveling along said path, said mixing apparatus comprising:

• a component support plate associated with said coating machine for at least partially housing mechanical components of said mixing apparatus;
• a chemical pump for receiving a chemical substance from a chemical supply line and pumping said substance into a chemical feed line;
• an air pump for receiving air from an air supply line and pumping said air into an air feed line;
• a blending foamer for receiving a mixture of said air and said chemical substance and blending said mixture within said blending foamer to form said coating compound into a consistency to be discharged into a foam discharge line for transfer to said dispenser assembly of said coating machine:
• and
• at least one of said pumps and said blending foamer being formed at least in part within said component support plate.

A mixing apparatus used with a coating machine for applying a coating compound to a web of a fabric, which travels through said machine along a path between first and second spaced sides of said machine, said coating machine including a coating table assembly for supporting said web and a dispenser assembly with a coating dispenser opening between said first and second sides which applies said coating compound onto said fabric traveling along said path, and said mixing apparatus including a chemical pump for receiving a chemical substance from a chemical supply line and discharging said substance into a chemical feed line, an air pump for receiving air from an air supply line and discharging said air into an air feed line and a blending foamer for receiving a mixture of said chemical substance from said chemical feed line and said air from said air feed line and blending said mixture into said coating compound, wherein said chemical and air pumps include:

• a resilient hose for connecting a respective supply line with a respective feed line within each one of said pumps;
• a plurality of rollers carried by a rotating roller plate of each one of said pumps for sequentially collapsing said hose to provide a pumping action;
• a hydraulic pump for rotating said roller plates;
• and
• a loading assembly between said roller plates and said support plates for controlling the amount of collapsing of said hose to provide a controlled volume being discharged from said pumps for each revolution of said roller plates.

A mixing apparatus used with a coating machine for applying a coating compound to a web sheet which travels through said machine along a path between first and second spaced sides of said machine, said coating machine including a coating table assembly for supporting said web and a dispenser assembly with a coating dispenser opening between said first and second sides which applies said coating compound onto said fabric traveling along said path, and said mixing apparatus including a chemical pump for receiving a chemical substance from a chemical supply line and discharging said substance into a chemical feed line, an air pump for receiving air from an air supply line and discharging said air into an air feed line and a blending foamer for receiving a mixture of said chemical substance from said chemical feed line and said air from said air feed line and blending said mixture into said coating compound, wherein said blending foamer includes:

• a rear cover having a plurality of tabs;
• a front cover having a plurality of tabs:
• a rotor carried within said foamer and rotated by a foamer hydraulic motor connected to one of said spaced sides;
• said rotor having a first plurality of rotor tabs on one rotor surface meshing with the tabs of said rear cover at a first interface and a second plurality of rotor tabs spaced away from said first rotor surface meshing with said tabs of said front cover at a second interface;
• and
• said rotor being rotated by said hydraulic motor for providing an eccentricity to the rotational motion of said rotor, wherein said rotor tabs of said rotor reciprocate radially with respect to said tabs of both said front cover plate and said rear cover plate during rotation of the rotor for enhancing said mechanical agitation and said shearing action imparted to said coating compound.