Linear curtain spray applicator

Claim 1

In a method of coating a planar surface of an article wherein the surface is coated by displacing the article in a downstream direction along an article movement path lying in a generally horizontal plane with the surface to be coated facing upwardly; applying a liquid rinsing medium to the surface of the article to rinse the surface by directing the rinsing medium downwardly to the surface as a plurality of atomized, conical sprays substantially aligned with and spaced from one another across the article movement path; and applying a liquid coating medium to the rinsed surface of the article to coat the surface; the improvement which comprises: directing adjacent sprays of said plurality of sprays of rinsing medium toward the surface of the article such that the adjacent portion of the outer periphery of each of the adjacent sprays at the surface of the article is at the centroid of the next adjacent spray and such that the spray closest each marginal edge of the article surface overlies that edge; while adjusting and maintaining the sprays of rinsing medium to be of substantially equal force such that a peripheral portion of each spray is substantially aligned with a like peripheral portion of each other spray along a common line extending across the article movement path; and wherein the interactions of the adjacent sprays of rinsing medium provide a substantially linear spray front of substantially uniform rinse medium thickness across the surface of the article prior to the application of the coating medium to it.