Ppg Industries, Inc.

Charles W Dorn, Jr

William P Cathers

This invention relates to apparatus for handling a flexible sheet of interlayer material while forming a colored shade band on an elongated area thereof comprising applying a dye composition by electrostatic spraying against an elongated area of a surface of a flexible sheet of non-conductive interlayer material such as polyurethane or plasticized polyvinyl butyral. A flexible sheet to be coated is mounted on a support carriage at a loading and unloading chamber in a horizontal support plane. The carriage is transferred a finite distance to a coating chamber into alignment with carriage tilting means, which engages the carriage, preferably at its geometric center, to tilt the latter into an oblique plane at said coating chamber aligned with an obliquely disposed platen mask. Electrostatic spray means disposed to one side of said platen mask supplies an electrostatic spray of a dye composition through said platen mask to the elongated area of said flexible sheet. The tilting means pivots the carriage back to a horizontal plane and the carriage is returned to the loading and unloading station, where the coated flexible sheet is removed and another sheet mounted for treatment. The flexible sheet so coated is useful as an interlayer in shaded, bent laminated safety glass windshields.

Apparatus for handling flexible sheet while applying graded shade band

A frame has (1) a pair of parallel arms normal to a third arm with each arm having a rotating L-shaped member for orienting a sheet and (2) a plurality of cups through which a vacuum is drawn to secure the oriented sheet to the frame and through which fluid is moved under pressure to bias the sheet away from the frame.

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Charles W Dorn, Jr