| abstract |
An apparatus for coating a moving substrate which provides means for directing a coating composition vapor toward a substrate surface and moving portions of the vapor in opposite directions. The apparatus of the present invention may have the exhaust means on either side of the vapor directing means spaced at different distances from the vapor directing means, or the exhaust means may be spaced equally from the vapor directing means, but at different distances from the substrate surface. In another embodiment, the apparatus comprises the means to alter the flow volume of the vapor directing means and the two exhaust means such that the flow volume of the first and second exhaust means are not equal, such as by the exhaust means having openings of unequal surface area, wherein the exhaust means may be spaced equally or unequally from the vapor directing means at the same or different distances from the substrate surface. In another embodiment, the apparatus further comprises a structural element bridging the space between the vapor directing means and the exhaust means, which may be spaced equally or unequally from the vapor directing means, and at the same or different distances from the substrate surface. |