Modular Fluid Coating System Eliminates Setup and Speeds Switch to Slot Die Coating

Published: October 28, 2009

A complete slot die coating station with all components from idler roll to backing roll is now available for renting by manufacturers in Asia, enabling them to eliminate hours of setup in switching from roll to slot die coating as they carry out product and process development with slot dies in their own plants.

Called the Modular Coating System (MCS), the coating station is built by Extrusion Dies Industries (EDI) in the US and has been available only in North America. Recently, however, EDI shipped an MCS unit to its subsidiary EDI Precision Dies (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (EDI China), and it has already been employed by China-based manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries.

The MCS rolls into place on nearly any commercial coating line, enabling operators of coating systems to switch readily from and back to conventional processes like roll coating. Included in the system are an Ultracoat adjustable-lip slot die coating head, a fluid-delivery system, an adjustable support for positioning the die lip with respect to the web, idler rolls, and a precision backing roll. These components are unitized within a steel frame whose crossbars maintain straightness during operation and adjustment. The coating station is mounted on casters.

Ultracoat dies have a flexible lip, whose adjustability is the key to controlling the lip gap profile and thus the coat weight. This is an important advantage in applying slurries such as those used for coating flexible battery or photovoltaic components, since slurry viscosity changes over the course of a production run and the die needs to be adjusted accordingly.