JPH03502903A - Flow coating method and equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Flow coating method and equipment All locations ■Public corporation The present invention relates to flow coating of continuously moving supports. In particular, but not exclusively However, the present invention provides an improved method for producing photographic materials such as photographic film and paper. The present invention relates to a flow coating method and apparatus.

Ω background everywhere In flow-coating type application equipment, the moving support is a free-falling curtain of coating liquid. coated by impinging it onto a moving support to form a layer on the support. It will be done. One device is described in Hughes U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,947, Therein, a multi-layered composite material comprising several separate layers is formed on a sliding hopper and impingement onto the moving support to form a layer thereon. US patent 3 ．． 508.947 specifically discusses the manufacture of multilayer photographic materials such as photographic film and paper. It's clear.

Particularly in the flow coating process used to produce multilayer photographic materials, the quality of the application depends on the It is largely determined by the properties of the body curtain. A laminar flow of liquid is caused by a sliding hopper. and that a laminar liquid curtain is created from the liquid. That is important. Prevents lateral shrinkage due to surface tension of falling curtains In order to It is known that there is no such thing.

Generally, the line guide is a stationary, solid member that directs the application liquid to the curtain. attached to a sliding hopper used to supply the It extends downward from the point where it enters the cane state. Moisture with falling curtain edge line guide Moisture contact must be maintained throughout the length of the line guide to avoid tearing the curtain. There should be no wet contact of the edge of the curtain with the line guide due to the fall of the curtain liquid and the line guide. Due to the viscous drag between the edges of the coating on the support material, uneven coating results. Curtain By making the coating wider than the support material, a more even coating is formed on the support material. can be However, if the curtain extends beyond the edge of the support When the coating liquid wets the green of the support and the coating has not gelled, the back side of the support There is a serious risk of spillage. The liquid coating the back side of the support carries the support In order to clean the downstream rollers, it is transmitted to the rollers and gelled in the dryer. It is necessary to finish the coating work early.

Curtain edge guides ensure that the moving supporting material is (a) coated up to the edge, (b) or (c) the curtain is placed on one side of the support edge. or can be configured to extend beyond both.

When it is desired that the curtain be wider than the support material to which it is applied, the edge band liquid It may be advantageous to use The liquid used in the edge band is applied onto the support material. contains all of the expensive ingredients used as photographic materials. There's no need to. In addition, green band liquid is collected into the green band liquid supply for reuse. and can be recycled. Traditionally, the edge band is 10 cm wide. It can be up to 100 ml. Also note that the thickness of each green band area of the curtain slightly larger than the thickness of the rest of the curtain, which allows the tear in the curtain to guide the line. Deliver an amount of edge band liquid to increase the stability of the curtain to prevent It is advantageous to do so. Flow coating methods using such edge band liquid techniques are described in 19 U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,906, issued April 26, 1977, and It is disclosed in the November issue of Nori-・-° Su Roller, 17553, where The edge band liquid supplies curtains with a liquid edge band of desired width and thickness. The lateral edge of the sliding hopper surface adjacent to the application liquid flowing down the sliding surface. When a curtain that is wider than the upwardly guiding support impinges on the support, the support will move from edge to edge. applied to. The curtain naturally separates at the edge of the support, allowing the edge band to concentrate liquid. The part of the curtain outward from the edge of the support that may include It enters and collects and falls inside. The applicator roller should be It must be narrower than the support to avoid contamination. As a result, the application The applicator roller should not be replaced when the width of the support being applied changes considerably, as it often does. It is a time consuming and disadvantageous task.

Low-left cut holes on the edges of the film support to increase the effective maximum thickness of the support. It is customary to embossing with eel 0 edge increased thickness of light-sensitive photographic materials from higher localized winding pressures, otherwise the higher localized The increased winding pressure will occur as a result of minute changes in the thickness of the support material, high humidity The inherent tackiness of photocoating makes it difficult to unwind the support during finishing operations. Therefore, it is desirable to avoid applying the coating composition to the low left area. One way to achieve this is to give the curtain a width that is less than the width of the supports. Is Rukoto. For this reason, the technique of providing an uncoated edge is the edge lorefaction of the support material. It becomes very effective in conjunction with cutting. Keep the knurled appendix area without coating One prior art attempt to do so is to place a line guide behind the edge of the support. It was. However, this creates a bead along the edges of the application adjacent to both edges of the support. It is known that this occurs. Support material edges including beads were completely evenly coated Must be trimmed to provide support. However, it is costly Any excessively thick bead of application fluid should be removed from the application and support prior to unnecessary trimming operations. The entrainment of air bubbles between the material and the material may adversely affect the application along the edges. Ru. Additionally, there is contamination of the conveying rollers on the downstream side.

Cut and remove the falling curtain before it hits the moving support. - deflects the cut edges of the ten away from the area to be applied, thereby Reduce the width of the curtain impinging onto the support so that it is less than the width of the support. It is desirable to make it smaller.

A known technique for achieving this purpose is to coat the edges of the curtain with Use a curtain barrier placed between the fabric hopper and the web that would otherwise - The edge portion of the ten will fall onto the edge of the support which should be left uncoated. , one method and apparatus for doing this was published in the United States on March 3, 1987. It is disclosed in Patent No. 4,559,896. Prior to this Disclosure 3, the curtain Attempts to use cutting devices and devices that deflect fluid at the edge of the curtain have The curtain edge guiding means used generates a heavy edge band of fluid, which results in It failed because it adhered as a corresponding thickened edge of the resulting application. US Patent 4, 559,896, a second lower curtain edge cutting device is connected to the first curtain edge cutting device as disclosed in US Pat. to eliminate heavy curtain edge beads caused by higher curtain cutting equipment. used for

The bottom of the car everywhere! Struts that move the uniform coating while leaving the marginal parts of the supports uncoated It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for pre-coating which can be applied to materials. It is true.

The purpose, according to the invention, is to move the support along a path and to move the support - 1. Shape a free-falling curtin whose width is greater than the width of the application formed in 1. and a blade that cuts the edge of the curtain and displaces it laterally. a cutting device is provided to cut the support material at the point where the composition impinges on the support material, J-. and rinsing the support with a liquid, including placing the blade in a plane approximately parallel to the plane. 74, including a method of painting. The blade is on the upstream side of the curtain. of the support, extending through the curtain, and extending from the support downstream of the curtain. placed outside of. Further, according to the present invention, the purge liquid is directed upwardly toward the blade. The material of the curtain that is passed over the surface and enters the blade is conveyed to the outside of the support. By means of the method, the width of the application applied to the support can be precisely controlled and There are no beads generated at the edges of the application on the backing material. Outside the desired edge of application on the web The liquid in the curtain is directed to the outside of the support by the purge liquid flowing over the blade. It can be carried laterally and discharged from its external location.

For seedling purposes, the velocity of the purge liquid should be on the same order of magnitude as the velocity of the support material along its path. The speed is Advantageously, the purge liquid is laminar. In one embodiment, the support The material has a speed ranging from 150 cm per second to 1000 cm per second, and flashing The gumming liquid has a velocity of approximately 500 cm per second.

Advantageously, the free-falling curtain is guided at its edges with line guides and flushing The liquid is forced down the line guide and the curtain is in contact with the flushing liquid.

In some embodiments, the edges of the curtain are made from a liquid other than the coating liquid. implementation Examples have the advantage that application liquid, which may contain expensive materials, is not wasted.

The wire guide can be a hollow tube and can terminate above the plane of the cutting device. Wear. The liquid flows down through the hollow wire guide so that it actually forms an extension of the tube. The material cut from the curtain can then be used as an extension part In. Such a shorter guide is advantageous with regard to the operation of the application device.

The invention also provides an apparatus for flow coating a support material with at least one layer of a coating liquid. It is in. The device includes a carrier including an applicator roller for moving the support material along the path. Including steps. A hopper means for depositing at least one layer of coating liquid on a freely falling carton. The curtain blocks the path of the support material and extends in a direction transverse to the path. It is set up like this. The curtain is wider than the desired width of the application formed on the support material stomach. The device further includes curtain cutting means for blocking and deflecting the edges of the curtain. Included in According to the invention, the curtain cutting means is such that the composition impinges onto the support material. By the way, blades that include blades arranged in a plane approximately parallel to the plane of the support The do is placed on the path upstream of the plane of the force-ten and passes through the plane of the curtain. and is located downstream of the plane of the curtain and outside the path of the support. Support material on the upper face of the blade to carry the cut-off material of the curtain outside the path of the Means are provided for passing a purge liquid.

The invention also provides apparatus for performing other method steps in various embodiments of the invention. provide.

Some of the advantages of the flow coating method and apparatus according to the invention are summarized as follows.

Excess curtain liquid over that required for application on the support will be absorbed by the falling curtain. of the photographic composition over the entire width of the coating, including the edges of the coating. Provides uniform coating thickness of layers, thereby increasing dryer efficiency and reducing product waste can be

The width of application can be optimized according to desired product requirements. Sides not coated Edges can be made more efficiently, thereby reducing wastage resulting from unused support material. Reduce considerably.

Applying a width smaller than the width of the support will prevent the low-left edges from holding the applied material. make things possible. Also, the ability to coat a width smaller than the width of the support material This prevents the application liquid from reaching the underside of the support. is a sink wider than the support where the falling curtain impinging onto the support is applied. It happens due to painting technique. Undried coating liquid on the underside of the support material can be removed by drying the coated support material. This has a negative impact on downstream transport equipment.

In the prior art, where the curtain is wider than the support, the width of the application is smaller than the width of the support. A roller is desirable to avoid coating onto the coating roller surface. For this reason, different Frequent replacement of the applicator roller is necessary to adapt to the specific width of the support material. According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, all coatings are performed within the support material. This allows the use of support rollers of universal width.

Concave skin tan single star theory Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a sliding hopper type flow coating station according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view, FIG. 2 shows that a curtain according to the prior art falls onto a support and extends laterally beyond the support. of the edge roll left support on the applicator roller extending to and in contact with the solid edge guide. It is a partial cross-sectional cutaway view of the edge part, 3 is a simplified perspective view of a curtain cutting device according to the invention, and FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective view of a curtain cutting device according to the invention; 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along vA5-5 in FIG. , FIG. 6 is a diagram similar to that of FIG. 2, but showing a curtain cutting device according to an embodiment of the invention. is a diagram containing, and FIG. 7 is a diagram similar to that of FIG. 6, but of another embodiment of the invention.

Hattori Omega Shouchiboussho The invention, embodied in the known flow coating machine of the sliding hopper type shown in FIG. explained. The coating liquid is delivered laterally into the sliding hopper 10 and exits through the outlet slot 1 2 and each deposited in a layer on its respective inclined surface 14. Under the action of zero gravity, the individual layers flow down the surface 14, on top of each other, and It flows to the coating edge 16, where a free-falling composite curtain 18 is formed.

Sliding hoppers range from 10 centimeters (few inches) to 2 meters (few feet) It can have any desired width, such as up to Traversing the path of the moving support 20 The free-falling composite curtain 18 extends approximately 5 cm in typical conditions. falling over a height ranging from approximately 40 centimeters from the impingement onto a continuously advancing support 20 to form a composite of layers. Preferably, The curtain 18 impinges on the support 20 where the support wraps around the applicator roller 22. Towed. The application roller 22 is a conveying means for moving the support material along the path. form part of. When the support material is applied completely, i.e. over its entire width, the application roller The width of the roller is chosen to be slightly smaller than the width of the support guided around it. can be done. The application roller 22 is mounted on a motor (not shown) and is preferably is driven by it.

Layers of photographic coating liquids can be coated onto a variety of supports. typically , photographic supports can be polymeric films, wood fiber webs, paper, metal sheets and adhesive, antistatic properties of the support material, including foils and glass and ceramic support elements. , dimensional properties, abrasion, hardness, functionality, antihalation properties and/or other properties. One or more impregnated layers may be provided to improve the immersion. Support material in the form of discontinuous sheets , or can be applied in continuous form as in the usual case.

The freely falling liquid curtain 18 is separated by two vertical line guides 24 and 24'. The line guide allows the curtain to fall freely before impacting on the support 20. It acts to hold and stabilize the curtain that is being lowered. Figure 1 shows 1 of the curtain guide system. Two types are shown in which the line guides 24 and 24' are applied to moving supports. The support material 2 is placed on the outside of the edge of the support material 20 so that the curtain 18 is coated with the support material 2 0, in which case the support is completely applied over its entire width. So In such cases, irregularities in the edge of the curtain are adjacent to the line guide and support material 2 Outside the effective width of 0. Application liquid that falls past the edge of the support is not practical. If so, store it for reuse. 28. 28.

Referring now to FIG. Free-falling curtain stability for one day in the area of line guide 24.24' One known method for maintaining stability is to apply a low viscosity liquid to the outer surface of the solid edge guide 24. It is to send out. FIG. 2 shows a portion of the edge of a typical free-fall curtain 18. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the flushing liquid 30 and in contact with the flushing liquid 30. Solid edge guides 24 are shown flushed with edge band liquid 32 and these Liquid is shown being dispensed into a reservoir 28 leading to a drain (not shown). has been done. Liquid from the curtain flows to the support 20 at the edge of the support at 34. It can be seen that the back side of is wetted and also covers the low left area 26. support The liquid coating the back side of the material 20 transfers to subsequent conveying rollers and eventually reaches the downstream conveying roller. necessitates stopping the coating operation to clean the roller. To the top of area 2G with low left The applied application is due to the sticky nature of gelatin and the high winding pressure associated with low left. This causes problems in machining.

In order to avoid the disadvantages of the known devices, according to the invention the falling curtain 18 A curtain cutting device 40, 40' is provided on each side H, respectively. Each device 40.4 0'' includes plate '42, in plan view each blade 42 is a moving support member. With the blade at an acute angle with the edge of the curtain, the blade rests on the support at the upstream side of the curtain. placed, extending through the plane of the curtain and outside the support on the downstream side of the curtain. The arrow line 41 of the arranged figure 0 indicates the moving direction of the support member 20, and each blade 42 having an upper surface disposed in a plane approximately parallel to the plane of the support 20, where the car The ten 18 impinges upon it and in this example the support is pulled around the applicator roller 22. , that plane of the support is tangential to the applicator roller. In this example, the block The blade is made of plate material, actually stainless steel or titanium.

The liquid forming the curtain 18 falls from the coating edge 16 of the sliding hopper 10. starts its free fall by and just above where it hits the support 20. cut at each edge. The curtains are separated by 42.42” blades. , so that the central part of the cut curtain impinges on the support, and the edge 48 It remains uncoated. The laterally outer portions of the cut curtain 18 are adjacent Line guide 24. is drawn towards 24° so that all of the edge band liquid 32 collects. 28.28°flows into the middle.

3 and 4 show a curtain cutting device 40'. Curtain cutting device 40” protrudes includes a blade 42'', a housing 44, and a purge liquid supply connection 46. If either liquid supply connection 46 is can be used depending on what is being done. The curtain cutting device 40 cuts the curtain. It is structurally the same as the cutting device 40°, but is a mirror image of it, so it have the desired relationship with the edges of the curtain, i.e. form an acute angle, and and can be outside the support on the downstream side of the curtain.

At least the top surface of each blade 42.42°, preferably both surfaces are purged with liquid, preferably water, through a slot 50 disposed in contact with the Cough Thront preferably spans the entire width of the blade where it exits the housing extending over The curtain liquid impinging on the blade 42.42 The force of the purge liquid supplied to the top of the door collects it to 28 or 28゛. Each is biased. Preferably, the bottom surfaces of blades 42 and 42' are also coated with curtain fluid. Purify with liquid to minimize the tendency of solids from the body to dry on the edge of the blade. Died. The tendency of the bottom purge is to surround the edge of the blade. Purge liquid The height of each slot is preferably 0 to meet the required volume and speed requirements of the body. ．． It ranges from 0.006 centimeters to 0.025 centimeters.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a preferred curtain cutting device for cutting falling curtains. The location and arrangement of the second blades 42 and 42' are shown in detail. Blades 42 and 4 that of blades 42 and 42° where each of the 2° exits from the slot 50; The width of each is preferably slightly larger than the width of the outer portion of the blade. Preferably , the width gradually narrows from the slot to the point of collision of the curtain with the blade . Outside the impact location on the blade, the width of the blade is essentially uniform. Each blur This slight narrowing of the blade helps ensure that the purge liquid wraps around the edge of the blade. do.

Each blade 42,42' is arranged at an acute angle φ with respect to the direction of movement of the support and its flat The surface is supported to deflect the edge of the falling curtain that collides with the blade. A plane tangential to the application roller 22 at the line of impact of the curtain on the material parallel to. The purge liquid was tilted at the same angle φ with respect to the direction of movement of the support material. direction along the surface of each blade 42 and 42'' of the curtain. Flush the edges away from the edge of the support into 28 or 28° respectively. to The length and width of each blade and its angle with respect to the direction of support movement are correlated. variables, and their selection depends on the rate of purge liquid delivered to the blade surface. It can be understood that it also depends on the amount and quantity. Blade 42 or 42゛ To provide an uncoated edge of the desired width on the support and to control the lateral displacement of the support. It should be as broad as necessary to make it possible. moving supports lateral displacements are very difficult to eliminate even with the most sophisticated support guide systems. be. The width of the blade is preferably from 0.3 cm to 3. 0 cm angle of the axis of the blade with respect to the direction of the moving support φ should be in the range from 5" to 60", preferably from 20" to 40". I can do it. Blade length “L” (see Figure 4) is for curtain liquid and purge should be sufficient to allow the collection of liquid for It has been found to be satisfactory when the Should be in centimeters. The velocity of the purge liquid across the blade surface is preferably at a velocity of the same order of magnitude as the velocity of the support along its path; The speed of 0. It can be from 5 to 1.5 times. Advantageously, a purge liquid The flow of the body is N flow. Thus, for example, if the supporting material speed is between 200 and 650 c/s ll, the velocity of the purge liquid along the blade is preferably about 5 per second. 00cm. Purge liquid velocity ranging from 200 to 800 centimeters per second per centimeter of the width of the slot 50 per second. The width of slot 50 can be about 2 to 10 cubic centimeters, preferably 5 to 7 cubic centimeters per second.

FIG. A low viscosity flushing liquid that flows to a point where it terminates below the height of the blade 42. shows. Edge band liquid 32 to increase curtain stability and reduce wastage The curtain edges are supplied.

When using edge band liquid, the thickness of the curtin at its edges, and therefore the edge band liquid The flow rate is slightly larger than the thickness and flow rate in the central part of the curtain, which makes the line Increases the stability of the curtain at and adjacent to the guide, thus preventing curtain breakage. Place a sufficient amount of rim band on the edge of the hopper to avoid liquid slippage. It may be advantageous to provide information to Curtain edge band liquid width & thickness Relatively large amounts of edge band liquid are required, typically 1 liter or more per minute. There are 8 methods that can be understood as being able to Good results when the viscosity of the band liquid approximates the viscosity of the liquid in the central part of the curtain get. A gelatin solution of suitable concentration with added wetting agents is suitable.

A well-regulated and well-defined layering of the composition coating 54 on the inside edge of the support 20 Cutting blades 42 and 42 above the support at the impact location to obtain the area It is important that the height of . This height should be less than about 0.4 cm, preferably about It was found to be 0.15 cm. Curtain cutting device 40.4 Since the 0' blade is spaced close to the support, it necessarily parallel to the support 20 moving on the applicator roller 22 at the location of impact of the roller.

cut by blade 42.42'' and located adjacent to line guide 24.24'' The edges of the falling curtain 54 tend to naturally bend toward the line guide. There is and accumulates the flow of flushing liquid 30 and edge band liquid 32 to 2 days. make it easier. of the purge liquid on the surface of the blade 42 protruding from the slot 50. With the aid of the flow, it ensures an uncoated edge on the knurling area 26 .

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the invention in which each line guide 56 is made from a hollow tube. ing. Flushing liquid is supplied through a hollow tube from a source not shown.

Each line guide 56 terminates a short distance above its associated cutting blade 42. Ru. The liquid flowing out of the line guide stretches and stabilizes the edge area of the falling curtain. This creates a liquid extension that merges with the flushing liquid 30 so as to form a fluid extension. shorter line plan The use of the inner 56 is that the sliding hopper is moved to the application position and the cutting device 4° is fixed. Which makes it possible to avoid mechanical interference. The hollow tube has a diameter of about 0.035-0.　 having an inner diameter of 240 centimeters and an outer diameter of about 0.075 to 0.300 , the end of the wire guide when the fluid flow rate was 10 to 200 cubic centimeters per minute. It has been found that the liquid flowing from the wire acts as an effective extension of the wire guide. 4) If these conditions are not met, the jet emitted from the wire guide will cut the liquid. If the edge is disassembled before completing its neck-in towards the axis of the line guide -4 direction, resulting in uneven and pulsating disintegration of the cut i22 edge of the curtain and application Curtains can contaminate the equipment in the immediate vicinity including the edges of the rollers and supports give rise to sex.

A curtain cutting blade according to the preferred embodiment described above is used to separate the curtains. When used, all of the curtain liquid impinging onto the blade is removed by the purge liquid. It is known that it can be oriented in -1 direction. Cuts attached to the support The width of the cut curtain section is determined by the width of the blade and the width of the blade with respect to the edge of the support. It can be reduced by changing the position. Moving at the collision site To allow for lateral displacement of the supports (often referred to as "rolling"), the blades The preferred location is between its axis located just above the edge of the support on the applicator roller and including the intersection with the curtain's collision line on the surface of the curtain. At this point, the support material is applied. The width of the no edge is equal to half the blade dimension along the curtain collision line, and this width Some changes from Depends on the amount. If the blade is tangent to the applicator roller at the point of impact, roughly parallel and spaced only 0.15 cm above the applicator roller If the edge bead of coating that may form on the support is not to exceed 20%, and before the film is wound up at the end of the flow coating machine. It has been found that it is easily dried.

Additionally, flushing liquid 30, edge band liquid 32, fluid edge guide extension 57, and The purge liquid discharged from the slot 50 of the curtain cutter is preferably all is 0. It is a low viscosity liquid with a viscosity of 5-10 centipoise.

FIG.5 international search report m1yR@ll8M1^-@llclllaMNoρCT/us8910311 3 International v4 Blue Report. Engineering/US 89/. 3.13

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method of pouring a support material with a liquid, the method comprising: (a) moving the support material along a path; b) forming a free-falling curtain of said coating composition; a coating film in which the composition impinges on the moving support layer and a curtain is formed on the support material; c) have a width larger than the desired width of the curtain; and c) cut the edges of the curtain and A cutting device is provided having a blade for displacement in a direction, the blade being displaceable in the direction of the support material. Place it in a plane approximately parallel to the plane of the support at the point of upward impact, so that the blade is located above the support on the upstream side of the curtain, extending through the curtain, and extending beyond the curtain. located downstream of the support and outside the support; d) A curtain that passes the barge liquid over the upward facing surface of the blade and enters the blade. A flow coating method consisting of the steps of: transporting the coating material to the outside of the support; 2. The velocity of the purge liquid on the blade is 0.5 to 0.5 of the velocity along its path of the support material. A method according to claim 1, within the range of 1.5 times. 3. The velocity of the purge liquid on the blade approximates the velocity of the support material along its path. A method according to claim 2. 4. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the barge liquid flow is laminar. 5. the support material has a speed in the range from 150 cm per second to 1000 cm per second; 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the barge liquid has a velocity of about 500 cm per second. 6. Guide the curtain with the edge guide at its edge and flow the brushing liquid into the edge guide. and the curtain is in contact with a brushing liquid. The method described in any one of the above. 7. From claim 1, comprising forming the edge of the curtain from a liquid other than the coating liquid. 6. The method described in any one of paragraphs up to 6. 8. the edge guide is a hollow tube that terminates above the plane of the blade of the cutting device; The liquid flows down the hollow tube to essentially form an extension of the tube, thereby closing the catheter. Claim 6 or Claim 6 comprising a step in which the section cut from the main body is directed towards an extension section. 8. A method as claimed in claim 7 when dependent on. 9. Claims 1 to 8, wherein the barge liquid is passed across the downward facing surface of the blade. The method described in any one of the paragraphs. 10. Apparatus for flow coating a support material with at least one layer of a coating liquid, the apparatus comprising: , b) a conveying means that includes an application roller and moves the support material along the path; and b) application. at least one layer of liquid blocking said path and extending transversely to said path; hopper means for forming a free-falling curtain, the curtain supporting hopper means wider than the desired width of the coating to be formed on the material; c) A curtain cutting means for blocking the edge of the curtain and deflecting the flow, placed in a plane approximately parallel to the plane of the support where the composition impinges on the support. a blade that is positioned upstream of the plane of the curtain and above the path; extending through the plane of the curtain and extending along the length of the support downstream of the plane of the curtain. d) curtain cutting means placed outside the path; and d) supporting the cut off material of the curtain. To pass barge liquid over the upper surface of the blade to convey it out of the material path. A sink painting station comprising means for and. 11. Said means for passing the verging liquid over the upper surface of the blade includes a bar on the blade. imparting a velocity to the dielectric liquid within the range of 0.5 to 1.5 times the velocity along its path through the support material. 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the device is adapted to be able to 12. Said means for passing verge liquid over the upper surface of the blade includes a layer of verge liquid; 12. Apparatus according to claim 11, adapted to produce a flow on the blade. 13. Claim 10, 11 or 12, further comprising means for guiding the edge of the curtain. equipment. 14. the guide means at each edge of the curtain are hollow and the path of the support terminating above the plane of the device, said device directing liquid to flow down through said hollow guiding means the liquid exiting each hollow guide means substantially flowing through the guide means. forming an extension of the step, which allows the cut application liquid to escape from the hollow guide means; 14. The device of claim 13 necking into a liquid. 15. Claims including means for passing barge liquid across the lower surface of the blade. 15. Apparatus according to any one of paragraphs 10 to 14.