COATING APPARATUS

摘要

Apparatus is described for coating of three dimensional objects such as glass jars or bottles, during a continuous manufacturing process, by Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD). The objects pass through tunnel having one or more vertical arrays of nozzles located in the sidewalls. The nozzles deliver CVD precursors and, being independently variable, allow for variation of the precursor concentration along the height of the object. Thus, the thickness of the resultant coating may be so varied. Preferred embodiments include corresponding exhaust arrays, aligned with the nozzles and one or more air curtains which isolate the interior of the tunnel from the external environment.

主权项

1. Apparatus for coating three dimensional glass articles comprising:
a tunnel, having a top and first and second sidewalls, suitable for arranging on a conveyor belt which transports the articles through said tunnel, characterized by: a linear array of nozzles, arranged on the first side wall to deliver in concert a substantially continuous jet of gas, which jet traverses the path of articles conveyed through the tunnel; at least one exhaust aperture arranged on the second sidewall and means for applying a negative pressure to the exhaust aperture, each exhaust aperture being aligned with a nozzle or array of nozzles such that gas delivered by the nozzles exits the tunnel via the exhaust aperture after traversing the path of the articles.