US 12,330,183 B2
Roll coating using metered coating roll including deformable layers
Kevin T. Reddy, Minneapolis, MN (US); Scott L. Ciliske, St. Paul, MN (US); Shawn C. Dodds, St. Paul, MN (US); Mikhail L. Pekurovsky, Bloomington, MN (US); Kara A. Meyers, Oakdale, MN (US); James N. Dobbs, Woodbury, MN (US); Samad Javid, Woodbury, MN (US); Robert B. Secor, Stillwater, MN (US); Joseph B. Farley, New Brighton, MN (US); Ronald P. Swanson, Woodbury, MN (US); Tyler J. Rattray, Woodbury, MN (US); Ann M. Gilman, Bayport, MN (US); Angela S. McLean, Woodbury, MN (US); Thomas A. Mahler, Osceola, WI (US); Yugeun P. Yang, North St. Paul, MN (US); and Paul J. Cordes, Lake Elmo, MN (US)
Assigned to 3M Innovative Properties Company, St. Paul, MN (US)
Appl. No. 18/259,222
Filed by 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY, St. Paul, MN (US)
PCT Filed Dec. 21, 2021, PCT No. PCT/IB2021/062101
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 23, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/144692, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 7, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/132,141, filed on Dec. 30, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0050973 A1, Feb. 15, 2024
Int. Cl. B05C 1/16 (2006.01); B05C 1/08 (2006.01); B05D 1/40 (2006.01)
CPC B05C 1/165 (2013.01) [B05C 1/0808 (2013.01); B05C 1/083 (2013.01); B05C 1/0834 (2013.01); B05D 1/40 (2013.01)] 5 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of coating a patterned structure on a substrate, the method comprising:
providing a coating roll having a deformable inner layer with a surface thereof covered by a deformable outer layer, the inner layer being softer than the outer layer;
providing a back-up roll engaging the coating roll to form a nip therebetween;
providing a substrate to enter the nip and wrap around the back-up roll, the substrate comprising a patterned surface structure on a major surface facing the coating roll, the patterned surface structure including an array of structures having peaks projecting from a base plane of the substrate and troughs formed between the adjacent structures;
metering a coating material on the coating roll to be transferred to the major surface of the substrate at the nip, wherein metering the coating material comprises
providing a reverse metering roll to engage with the coating roll, the reverse metering roll and the coating roll spinning in the same direction, and
controlling an engagement depth between the coating roll and the reverse metering roll to adjust a coating weight of the coating material on the patterned surface structure;
transferring a coating material from the coating roll to the substrate at the nip to form a coating pattern covering the peaks of the patterned surface structure of the substrate, and
controlling an engagement depth between the coating roll and the back-up roll to control the conformability of the coating material to the peaks of the array of structures.