Apparatus for and a method of metallising a length of material.

摘要

Apparatus for metallisng a web W comprises a vacuum chamber 1 housing an aluminium vapour source 2 adjacent a driven water cooled process drum 5. During metallising oxygen is fed to the chamber through an inlet 7 controlled by a needle valve whilst the web is drawn over the surface of the drum in order to produce a desired surface appearance or other optical effect on the web. The appearance or optical effect can be varied by varying the position at which oxygen is introduced to the chamber.