High speed process for coating substrates

Claim 1

A high-speed process for coating the surface of a substrate with an adherent film comprising the following steps: (a) providing a vacuum chamber containing: i) a movable support, ii) a vapor outlet of a vaporizer mounted adjacent to an upstream portion of said support, iii) curing means mounted adjacent to a downstream portion of said support, and, iv) means for maintaining said support at a temperature below that of said vaporizer; (b) placing said substrate in thermal contact with said movable support in a manner permitting the surface of said substrate to move sequentially past said vapor outlet and said curing means; (c) evacuating gas from said chamber until the pressure within said chamber is less than about 1 X 10⁻² Torr; (d) selecting a curable component having an average of about two or more olefinic groups per molecule, an average molecular weight between 150 and 1000, and a vapor pressure in the range of 1 X 10⁻⁶ to 1 X 10⁻¹ Torr at standard temperature and pressure; (e) metering a quantity of said curable component into an inlet portion of said vaporizer; (f) vaporizing said component within said vaporizer; (g) moving said support at a speed sufficient to pass said substrate relative to said vapor outlet and said curing means at a rate between about 1 cm/sec and 1000 cm/sec; (h) condensing a film of said component on the surface of said substrate, said film having a thickness of less than 4 microns; and (i) activating said curing means whereby a adherent film is formed on said substrate surface.