Review of foam applications and research since 1980s Foam types Stable foam -mainly used in gap coating

or screen coating e.g. back coating, black out, laminating, flocking etc. Appearance: cream like ,half life above 5 hours Semi-stable foam -mainly used to a certain penetration surface coating Appearance: Shampoo foam like , half life around 30 minutes Unstable foam -Used for deeply penetrated chemical application Appearance: Beer foam like, half life less than 6 minutes Notes Half life means the time it will take for half of the total weight foam collapse into liquid Conventional foam application mainly use blade coating or screen printing use stable foam

Advantages of foam coating Reduce weight and economize yarn consumption of the substrate Insulation against heat and cold Sound-deafening Shock-absorbing (packaging material) Handle effects Very good embossing properties

 Water vapor permeability Reduce coating strokes Comparison stable foam coating / paste coating foam coating with foam coating untreated fabric knife-over-roller calendered fine coating doctor knife

Conventional foam coating use aerated coating paste to coat onto fabrics by blade or screen

- Soft handle -Less adhesion - Low specific gravity, therefore less penetration into -Difficult to have high solid add-on the fabric, - High technical knowledge - Coating of open fabrics possible, necessary Conventional paste or foam coating methods Knife over air Blade selective, must be sharp Solid add on 5-50 g/m2 Fabric selective , cannot operate on coarse structure fabrics

Knife over roller Suitable for paste and foam coating, Solid add on 25-250 g/m 2 Coating thickness rely on blade and fabric gap

Screen coating Solid add on 5-120 g/m2 Only suitable for water based coating foam or paste Can do foam finishing for its higher penetration

Can do color coating

Blade types Conventional method to control application of foam/paste by options of blades and angle of the blade

Other foam application methods

Why semi/un-stable foam is not used from 1980s Reasons Foam collapse all the time affect foam concentration esp. semi-stable and unstable foam. Even the collapsing time is in seconds, collapsed foams chemical concentration is much high than fresh foam. Results Unevenness across the width and tailing Problems must be solved to use semi/un-stable foam Foam must collapse the same across the whole width. Foam must collapse the same to the fabric from start to end. Conventional foam application control Holland method Holland Method: Two pipes with outlet holes inside screen for mixing fresh and collapsed foamsSince foam is not linear collapsing ,fresh foam and collapsed foam mixing do not give the same chemical concentration across the width.

Suitable for stable and nearly semi-stable foam ,but still have strips ( dyestuff indicator in foam)

Conventional foam application controlMoving pipe method Moving pipe method: Foam pipe moving across the fabric width before coating blade Foam rolls collapsed and fresh as pipe moves leading to chemicals concentration variation across the width.

Suitable for stable foam ,but in case of semi/un-stable foam it has zig-zag unevenness

Conventional foam application controlEnglish divided pipe control method By dividing the main foam inlet pipe into 3 pipes ,control the pipe valves to control foam flow across the width Still have stripes since foam is always fresh in the middle( less chemical concentration) less fresh near the sides(high chemical concentration) whatever adjustment of the pipe valves

Suitable for stable foam ,but in case of semi/un-stable foam shade is always lighter in the middle than edges

Conventional foam application control German multi divided pipe method Main pipe is divided into two , then each divided into two again..,50%/50% dividing is very difficult to control. Foam near outlet pipe exits are fresher (chemical concentration is low) .

Suitable for stable foam ,but for semi/un-stable foam applicated foam layer has divided strips

Conventional foam application controlUS parabolic box method Foam goes through a parabolic box with a parabolic plate in the middle, then pressed out through a slot. Foam collapse the same across the fabric width , leads to an even application of foam across the width.

Distances of foam moving from inlet to slot are all equal

Suitable for stable and unstable foam , even application if dyestuff put into chemical as an indicator.

Disadvantage: Parabolic box have large space to fill and drain leading to difficulty in cleaning and slow response of production lines. Fabric width is limited to parabolic box width, will have high chemical concentration at edges if fabric is narrower than box width.