Strand coating device and method
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorWilliam K. Leonard
Life of this patent
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Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorWilliam K. Leonard
Estimating the term…
Continuous void-free uniform coatings are formed on filamentous articles by applying a voided or otherwise substantially uneven coating to at least some of the exposed portion of a filamentous article or to a rotating substrate. The filamentous article or substrate is passed through an improvement station containing a plurality of coating-wetted rolls that contact and re-contact the wet coating at different positions along the length of the filamentous article or rotating substrate, wherein the periods of the rolls improve the uniformity of the coating. For coatings applied to a rotating substrate, the uniform wet coating is transferred to the filamentous article. The final coating can be very thin, very uniform and completely or substantially void-free. The coating improvement can be quickly and easily obtained using low cost equipment.
A device comprising a coating station having a non-uniform applicator that directly or indirectly applies a substantially uneven coating to at least some of the exposed portion of a filamentous article such that along a 1 meter length of the article the coating has voids or low spots whose minimum thickness is less than one-half the average coating thickness along that length, and an improvement station comprising two or more rotating rolls that periodically contact and re-contact the wet coating at different positions along the length of the filamentous article, wherein the number or periods of the rolls improve the uniformity of the coating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.