Claims
- 1. A method of applying on only one surface of a moving web at least one layer of fluid coating material having a substantially uniform crossweb thickness comprising:
- metering a controlled amount of coating material; and
- coating the web, wherein the coating step comprises:
- applying the metered amount of coating material onto at least a portion of only one surface of the web;
- acoustically exciting, as part of the coating step and using an energy generator, the coating material to improve the uniformity of coating material as it is applied, the line of initial contact between the coating material and the web from the surface opposite to the surface on which the coating material is applied by applying acoustic energy to the back surface of the web and through the web without any substantial air gap between the back surface of the web and the energy generator at a substantially uniform acoustic intensity while the coating is fluid and before any substantial drying of the coating occurs; and
- selecting the acoustic intensity in combination with the properties of the coating material to create a coated web having a substantially uniform crossweb thickness perpendicular to the direction of movement of the web.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the exciting step comprises applying acoustic energy to at least part of a region of the coated web extending fifteen cm on either side of the line of initial contact between the coating material and the web.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the exciting step comprises supporting and maintaining substantial contact with the back surface of the moving web.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the exciting step comprises exciting at ultrasonic levels.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the exciting step generates acoustic waves having substantially uniform amplitude and frequency.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the exciting step comprises generating acoustic waves at an angle with the web ranging from perpendicular to the plane of the web to parallel to the plane of the web.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the applying step comprises applying the metered amount of coating material as a continuous layer on the web.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the applying step comprises applying the metered amount of coating material onto a plurality of portions of only one surface of the web wherein the coated portions are discontinuous from each other in both the downweb and crossweb directions, and wherein the exciting step creates a coated web having a plurality of coated portions having a substantially uniform and equal crossweb thickness perpendicular to the direction of movement of the web.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the acoustically exciting step comprises contacting the web with an acoustic energy generator.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the acoustically exciting step comprises contacting the web with a non-gas energy transmissive coupling medium and applying the acoustic energy to the energy transmissive coupling medium.
- 11. A method of applying on only one surface of a moving web at least one layer of fluid coating material having a substantially uniform crossweb thickness comprising:
- metering a controlled amount of coating material; and
- coating the web, wherein the coating step comprises:
- applying the metered amount of coating material onto at least a portion of only one surface of the web;
- smoothing the applied coating material downweb of the applying location using a smoothing structure;
- acoustically exciting, as part of the coating step an using an energy generator, the coating material as it is applied, at least one of the line of initial contact between the coating material and the web, the line of final contact between the smoothing structure and the coating, and any point between the lines of initial and final contact from the surface opposite to the surface on which the coating material is applied by applying acoustic energy to the back surface of the web and through the web without any substantial air gap between the back surface of the web and the energy generator at a substantially uniform acoustic intensity while the coating is fluid and before any substantial drying of the coating occurs; and
- selecting the acoustic intensity in combination with the properties of the coating material to create a coated web having a substantially uniform crossweb thickness perpendicular to the direction of movement of the web.
- 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the exciting step comprises applying acoustic energy to at least part of a region of the web extending from fifteen cm upweb of the line of initial contact between the coating material and the web to fifteen cm downweb of the downweb smoothing structure.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/928,620 filed Aug. 10, 1992,issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,193 on Nov. 16,1993 which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/775,436, filed Oct. 15, 1991, now abandoned.
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Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
928620 |
Aug 1992 |
|
Parent |
775436 |
Oct 1991 |
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