Coating and curing apparatus and methods

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method of coating and curing, including conveying a substantially flat substrate to be coated with a conveyor system through a combination roll coating and curing facility, wherein the combination roll coating and curing facility comprises at least one roll coating facility and at least one curing facility, roll coating the substantially flat substrate with a continuous sol gel coating material with the at least one roll coating facility, and curing the sol gel coating material on the substantially flat substrate with an air knife of the at least one curing facility, wherein the air knife is adapted to direct a heated stream of air to cure the continuous sol gel coating material while an interior of the substantially flat substrate remains at a temperature substantially lower than a temperature of air from the air knife.

1 . A method of coating and curing, comprising:
 conveying a substrate to be coated with a conveyor system through a combination roll coating and curing facility, wherein the combination roll coating and curing facility comprises at least one roll coating facility and at least one curing facility;   roll coating the substrate with a sol gel coating material with the at least one roll coating facility; and   curing the sol gel coating material on the substrate with an air knife of the at least one curing facility, wherein the air knife applies a heated stream of air to cure the sol gel coating material while an interior of the substrate remains at a temperature substantially lower than a temperature of air from the air knife.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is first pre-treated by washing with water and mechanical brushes prior to coating. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is first pre-treated by gas plasma prior to coating. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is first pre-treated by exposure to a gas flame prior to coating. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is pre-heated to a temperature of between 2° C. and 80° C. prior to coating. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is coated with a wet thickness of coating material of between 4 μm and 14 μm. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a gelation of the sol-gel coating after roll coating is controlled with a heater. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a gelation of the sol-gel coating after roll coating is controlled with forced air at ambient temperature. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a solids concentration of the sol-gel coating material is controlled by adding make-up solvent. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the make-up solvent is added at a constant rate to match a steady-state rate of evaporation. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the make-up solvent is added periodically based on pre-determined intervals based on time, quantities of substrates coated, or coating material consumed. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the make-up solvent is added based on an active feedback loop wherein the solids concentration of the coating material is measured and then used to control the amount added. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the solids concentration of the coating material is measured by at least one of the following; dynamic light scattering, optical adsorption, refractive index, density, viscosity, and pH. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is heated to a temperature of between 25° C. and 200° C. after coating and prior to the air knife. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the surface of the substantially flat substrate is heated to between 150° C. to 600° C. while an interior temperature does not exceed about 100° C. to about 120° C. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sol gel coating material is continuous.