Systems and methods for coating a thin film with a viscous material, such as a liquid, a paste, or an adhesive, at a desired thickness. In such a system, two films move adjacent to one another, optionally in opposite directions, atop two rollers separated by a known gap that defines a coating thickness, with the material being transferred from one film to the other. The rollers may be maintained in their relative positions by springs and/or linear actuators and positioned using linear encoders. In alternative arrangements, the material to be coated could be low viscosity material such as a polymeric solution. Air knives may be provided near the gap to create an air flow that aids in preventing the free flow of low viscosity materials outside the bounds of the film during coating.

Liquid applicators and methods. The liquid applicators include a frame and an applicator head operably coupled to the frame and configured to support a section of an applicator fabric for operable application of a liquid to a substrate. The liquid applicators further include a fabric conveyance system that is operably coupled to the frame and includes a fabric pay-out assembly configured to supply the applicator fabric to the applicator head and a fabric take-up assembly configured to receive the applicator fabric from the applicator head. The liquid applicators further include a liquid delivery system configured to deliver the liquid to the section of the applicator fabric. The methods include delivering the liquid to the section of applicator fabric, engaging the section of applicator fabric with the substrate, and moving the section of the applicator fabric across the substrate to apply the liquid thereto.

A method for applying thin film material onto a substrate comprises: forming microdroplets of a solvent and a solute material forming the thin film material; depositing the microdroplets on an upper surface of a micro-structured mesh, wherein the microdroplets are deposited to allow coalescing into droplets extending into the micro-structured mesh; and arranging a surface of the substrate in close relation to a bottom surface of the micro-structured mesh such that a capillary force draws liquid of the droplets onto the surface of the substrate, whereby forced dynamic wetting of the surface of the substrate is provided to form a liquid film on the surface of the substrate.

A decorating machine particularly for the decoration of ceramic products, and a method for realizing a belt for decorating said ceramic products, wherein the machine comprises: a closed loop belt (3) for the transfer of a decoration (9) on a receiving surface (11) of a ceramic product; a plurality of conveyor rollers (2) about which said belt (3) is wound and moved in rotation; at least one of said conveyor rollers (2) comprises a central portion (12) and two end portions (14) opposite one another, at least one of said end portions (14) being free in rotation with respect to the other said portions (12, 14).

A decorating machine particularly for the decoration of ceramic products, and a method for realizing a belt for decorating said ceramic products, wherein the machine comprises: a closed loop belt (3) for the transfer of a decoration (9) on a receiving surface (11) of a ceramic product; a plurality of conveyor rollers (2) about which said belt (3) is wound and moved in rotation; at least one of said conveyor rollers (2) comprises a central portion (12) and two end portions (14) opposite one another, at least one of said end portions (14) being free in rotation with respect to the other said portions (12, 14).

The invention relates to a method and to a module (I) for applying a viscous medium (19), in particular an adhesive or lacquer, to a surface (16) wherein the module (I) comprises a reservoir (2) that can be fed with the viscous medium (19), wherein the outer surface (4) of the module (I) comprises an outlet region (5) for the viscous medium (19), wherein the module (I) comprises at least one nozzle channel (6) which fluidly connects the reservoir (2) to the outlet region (5), wherein a smallest diameter (dmin) of the at least one nozzle channel (6) is smaller than 0.8 mm and wherein the module (I) does not comprise any movable parts for closing the at least one nozzle channel (6).

A high-quality coating film with a uniform thickness is produced without crush of coating particles even in a case where a wet coating material that does not require a step of drying the coating material is used, while maintaining high productivity. By providing a surface layer with an optimized hardness on the surface of a roll used for supply of a mixture coating material, a high-quality coating film with a uniform thickness can be produced, even in a case where a wet coating material that does not require a step of drying the coating material is used, while maintaining high productivity.

Apparatus to make decorations on a prefabricated water-proofing bitumen-mix membrane, wherein the decorations are made by depositing solid particles, in the form of flakes, grains, sand or grit, suitable to adhere to at least one surface of said prefabricated water-proofing bitumen-mix membrane. The apparatus includes at least one transfer member provided with a support surface suitable to receive, support and transfer the solid particles toward the surface to be enhanced of the prefabricated water-proofing bitumen-mix membrane. The support surface is provided with a plurality of cavities suitable to receive the solid particles. The cavities are made inside at least one surface portion of the support surface and the surface portion, essentially reproducing the shape and sizes of at least one of the decorations.

Methods of cleaning a surface with an assembly comprise (i) delivering cleaning fluid to a first portion of a cleaning fabric and/or a first region of the surface; (ii) engaging the first region with the first portion and moving the first portion in a predefined motion; (iii) disengaging the first portion from the first region; (iv) replacing the first portion with a second portion of the cleaning fabric; (v) engaging the first region with the second portion and moving the second portion in a predefined motion; (vi) disengaging the second portion from the first region; (vii) replacing the second portion with a third portion of the cleaning fabric; (viii) moving the assembly relative to the surface and/or moving the surface relative to the assembly; and (ix) repeating steps (i)-(viii) with respect to a second region of the surface and with the third portion and a fourth portion of the cleaning fabric.

Provided is a coating apparatus including: a liquid coating section; an adjusting section which is configured to be capable of coming into contact with and/or separating from the liquid coating section, and which adjusts an amount of the liquid in the liquid coating section; and a hardware processor differentiating the contact timing between the coated medium and the liquid coating section and the contact timing between the liquid coating section and the adjusting section in a case where the coated medium is coated with the liquid.