Abstract

Coating process technology is used to produce a wide variety of products, such as surface coatings to protect houses, bridges, and automobiles; packaging materials to store food; adhesives for use in labels; photographic films; optical and magnetic media for audio and visual use data storage; glossy paper for magazines; and printing plates. The coating machine, which produces the coated web, has several steps. The web is unwound and transported through the coater, then a coating applicator applies the coating which is then solidified, and finally the web is rewound. The coating machine can also contain devices to modify the surface properties, to clean the web, to measure coating weight, and to laminate a second web to the structure.

Many of the commercially available coating applicators are described, including units for simultaneous multilayer application, for discrete coating, and for patch coating. While convection drying is emphasized, brief descriptions of conduction and infrared heating, as well as of uv and electron-beam curing, are given.