Coating process and apparatus

A process for coating a moving substrate of indefinite length comprising conveying the substrate in a close-coupled enclosure or series of interconnected close-coupled enclosures past a coating applicator and to a dryer or curing station while supplying the enclosure or series of enclosures with one or more streams of conditioned gas flowing at a rate sufficient to reduce materially the particle count in a close-coupled enclosure, and flowing a stream of conditioned gas at a rate sufficient to reduce a close-coupled enclosure particle count by 75% or more.

A process for coating a moving substrate of indefinite length comprising conveying the substrate in a close-coupled enclosure or series of interconnected close-coupled enclosures past a coating applicator and to a dryer or curing station while supplying the enclosure or series of enclosures with one or more streams of conditioned gas flowing at a rate sufficient to reduce materially the particle count in a close-coupled enclosure, wherein the total of the average headspace and average footspace in a close-coupled enclosure is 10 cm or less.

A process for coating a moving substrate of indefinite length comprising:

• unwinding a web substrate;
• and
• conveying the substrate in a close-coupled enclosure or series of interconnected close-coupled enclosures past a coating applicator and to a dryer or curing station while supplying the enclosure or series of enclosures with one or more streams of conditioned gas flowing at a rate sufficient to cause a material change in a physical property of interest for the atmosphere in a close-coupled enclosure.

A process for coating a moving substrate of indefinite length comprising conveying the substrate in a close-coupled enclosure or series of interconnected close-coupled enclosures past a coating applicator and to a dryer or curing station while supplying the enclosure or series of enclosures with one or more streams of conditioned gas flowing at a rate sufficient to cause a material change in a physical property of interest for the atmosphere in a close-coupled enclosure, wherein the total of the average headspace and average footspace in a close-coupled enclosure is 10 cm or less.

An apparatus for coating a moving substrate of indefinite length comprising an unwind reel, coating applicator, dryer or curing station, and web-handling equipment for conveying the substrate from the unwind reel past the coating applicator and through the dryer or curing station, the substrate being enveloped from at least the coating applicator to the dryer or curing station in a close-coupled enclosure or series of close-coupled enclosures supplied with one or more steams of conditioned gas flowing at a rate sufficient to cause a material change in a physical property of interest for the atmosphere in a close-coupled enclosure.

An apparatus for coating a moving substrate of indefinite length comprising a coating applicator, dryer or curing station and substrate-handling equipment for conveying the substrate past the coating applicator and through the dryer or curing station, the substrate being enveloped from at least the coating applicator to the dryer or curing station in a close-coupled enclosure or series of close-coupled enclosures supplied with one or more streams of conditioned gas flowing at a rate sufficient to cause a material change in a physical property of interest for the atmosphere in a close-coupled enclosure, wherein the total of the average headspace and average footspace in a close-coupled enclosure is 10 cm or less.