Claims
- 1. Apparatus for applying a graded coating to a flexible sheet of interlayer material comprising a loading and unloading chamber, a coating chamber, a narrow connecting chamber, a carriage, means for moving said carriage between said loading and unloading chamber and said coating chamber, a vacuum platen pivotally mounted on said carriage and normally occupying a position of rest thereon in a substantially horizontal position, means to apply a vacuum to said vacuum platen to support said flexible sheet thereagainst, means for pivoting said vacuum platen at said coating chamber between an oblique position and a substantially horizontal position, a platen mask supported in an oblique position to be engaged by said sheet supported by said vacuum platen when the latter occupies said oblique position at said coating chamber, electrostatic spray means for applying a highly charged spray composition of finely divided dye particles in a volatile liquid vehicle through said platen mask toward an elongated area of said sheet to be coated,
- means to return said vacuum platen to its position of rest in a substantially horizontal position of support on said carriage at said coating chamber after said spray composition is applied, and
- means to return said carriage to said loading and unloading chamber with said vacuum platen supported in said horizontal orientation, whereby an operator may remove said coated flexible sheet and replace the latter with another flexible sheet for coating.
- 2. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said vacuum platen comprises a smooth upper apertured wall having an array of apertures whose diameter does not exceed the thickness of said flexible sheet.
- 3. Apparatus as in claim 1, for use in coating flexible sheets of trapezoidal outline, further comprising a frame-like gasket member fixed to the peripheral portion of said upper apertured wall and having an outer periphery that conforms to the outer periphery of said vacuum plenum and an inner periphery of trapezoidal outline that is similar to but slightly larger than the outline of said flexible sheet.
- 4. Apparatus as in claim 1, further including means for moving said electrostatic spray means in a to and fro motion past positions facing an opening in said platen mask and control means to coordinate the application of said electrostatic spray through said platen mask with the relative position of said electrostatic spray means relative to said platen mask as said spray means moves relative to said platen mask.
- 5. Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein said electrostatic spray means comprises a plurality of electrostatic spray guns and control means is provided to coordinate said application of said electrostatic spray from each of said electrostatic spray guns individually as each spray gun moves past said platen mask.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a division of application Ser. No. 898,589, filed Apr. 21, 1978.
This invention is related to the invention disclosed and claimed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 868,013 to Dennis Postupack, filed on Jan. 9, 1978 for Method of Forming Graded Shade Band on Substrate, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,284, issued Feb. 6, 1978. The application that matured into the aforesaid patent is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 694,500, filed June 10, 1976, now abandoned, which, in turn, is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 594,162, filed July 8, 1975, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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898589 |
Apr 1978 |
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