Claims
- 1. An apparatus for plasma treating a textile substrate, the apparatus comprising:
- a housing having entry and exit positions, plasma generating and plasma target sides opposite to each other with a substrate receiving channel extending therebetween, and air locks at the entry and exit positions for maintaining vacuum under operating conditions;
- a cathode plasma generator comprising a plurality of hollow cathodes mounted on the plasma generating side; and
- a plurality of focusing arrays opposite to the plasma generator to focus the plasma across the channel and across a surface of the substrate as it passes through the channel.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plasma focusing arrays are located on the plasma target side.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plasma focusing arrays are magnetic.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the focusing arrays comprise an electromagnetic field generator.
- 5. An apparatus for modifying at least one surface characteristic of a textile substrate, the apparatus comprising:
- a housing having entry and exit positions, a plasma generating side, a plasma target side opposite to the plasma generating side, a channel extending therebetween for passing the substrate between the sides of the housing and air locks at the entry and exit positions for maintaining vacuum under operating conditions;
- a plasma generator comprising a plurality of hollow cathodes mounted on the plasma generating side;
- a plurality of focusing arrays opposite to the plasma generator to focus the plasma across the surface of the substrate to be treated as it passes through the channel; and
- means for coating the plasma treated substrate.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the coating means comprises a coating solution bath through which the substrate passes.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the coating means comprises a capillary drip system including:
- a coating solution reservoir;
- a delivery manifold in communication with the reservoir; and
- a plurality of capillary tips for delivering the solution from the manifold to the substrate.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the coating means further comprises:
- a roller having a plurality of grooves, equal in number to the plurality of capillary tips for positioning substrate beneath one of the plurality of capillary tips.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising means for curing the coating.
Parent Case Info
This application claims benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/084,768 filed May 8, 1998.
US Referenced Citations (57)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0062491 |
Oct 1982 |
EPX |