Liquid coating device with barometric pressure compensation
AssigneeFSI International, Inc.
InventorsJoseph W. Daggett, Daniel J. Williams, Kevin G. Kemp, Joseph W. Cayton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A liquid coating device and method for coating a coatable composition on a workpiece to form a coating, wherein a parameter indicative of barometric pressure is measured and at least one thickness-affecting process parameter is adjusted in order to compensate for the effects of variations in barometric pressure on coating thickness uniformity.
Claims24
A method of using a fluid composition to form a coating of a desired thickness on a surface of a workpiece, comprising the steps of:
- (a) positioning the workpiece inside a coating enclosure;
- (b) operatively coupling an exteriorly positioned pressure sensor to the interior of the coating enclosure via a pressure communicative conduit such that a pressure signal generated by the pressure sensor is indicative of the barometric pressure inside the coating enclosure;
- (c) adjusting a process coating parameter to a setting corresponding to the desired coating thickness to compensate for barometric pressure effects, wherein the setting is determined from information comprising the generated pressure signal;
- and
- (d) coating the fluid composition onto the workpiece surface, wherein at least a portion of the coating step occurs while the process coating parameter is at said setting.
A method of using a fluid composition to form a coating of a desired thickness on a surface of a workpiece, comprising the steps of:
- (a) positioning the workpiece inside a coating enclosure;
- (b) operatively coupling an exteriorly positioned pressure sensor to the interior of the coating enclosure via a pressure communicative conduit such that a pressure signal generated by the pressure sensor is indicative of the pressure inside the coating enclosure;
- (c) adjusting a process coating parameter to a setting corresponding to the desired coating thickness, wherein the setting is determined from information comprising the generated pressure signal;
- (d) coating the fluid composition onto the workpiece surface, wherein at least a portion of the coating step occurs while the process coating parameter is at said setting;
- and
- (e) wherein the process coating parameter is selected from the group consisting of fluid composition temperature, workpiece temperature, coating enclosure temperature, intra-station delay, acceleration of the workpiece, spin speed of the workpiece, spin duration of the workpiece, a process timing delay, and combinations thereof.
A method of using a fluid composition to form a coating of a desired thickness on a surface of a workpiece, comprising the steps of:
- (a) positioning the workpiece inside a coating enclosure;
- (b) operatively coupling an exteriorly positioned pressure sensor to the interior of the coating enclosure via a pressure communicative conduit such that a pressure signal generated by the pressure sensor is indicative of the pressure inside the coating enclosure;
- (c) adjusting a process coating parameter to a setting corresponding to the desired coating thickness, wherein the setting is determined from information comprising the generated pressure signal;
- (d) coating the fluid composition onto the workpiece surface, wherein at least a portion of the coating step occurs while the process coating parameter is at said setting;
- (e) wherein the pressure communicative conduit comprises a first end having an inlet positioned inside the coating enclosure and a second end operatively coupled to the exteriorly positioned pressure sensor;
- and
- (f) wherein the inlet of the first end comprises a structure formed to inhibit ingress of the fluid composition into the pressure communicative conduit.
A method of using a fluid composition to form a coating of a desired thickness on a surface of a workpiece, comprising the steps of:
- (a) positioning the workpiece inside a coating enclosure;
- (b) operatively coupling an exteriorly positioned pressure sensor to the interior of the coating enclosure via a pressure communicative conduit such that a pressure signal generated by the pressure sensor is indicative of the pressure inside the coating enclosure;
- (c) adjusting a process coating parameter to a setting corresponding to the desired coating thickness, wherein the setting is determined from information comprising the generated pressure signal;
- (d) coating the fluid composition onto the workpiece surface, wherein at least a portion of the coating step occurs while the process coating parameter is at said setting;
- and
- (e) wherein the process coating parameter is a process timing delay.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.