Apparatus used in the treatment of a continuous strip of metal and

Abstract

An apparatus used in the treatment of a sheet of metal without the aid of conventional sprays and flooding nozzles normally used in the application of the metal treating liquid and support rollers and squeeze used for contacting and guiding the sheet of metal through successive baths of the metal treating liquid and preventing the carryover of liquid between the treatment tanks of the apparatus. In the apparatus, a sheet of metal is guided in a horizontal pathway between successive treatment tanks or units having horizontally elongated chambers with two rows of oppositely disposed and horizontally aligned nozzles between which the sheet of metal travels on a liquid bed that is created by the nozzles which are designed to direct streams of liquid, under pressure, against the traveling metal sheet at angles that are substantially less than 90.degree. relative to the plane in which the metal sheet travels. A unique liquid seal and conventional blowoff device are utilized at each opening through which the traveling metal sheet enters and exits the various chambers, as a means of maintaining the liquid within the chamber and preventing it from being carried away by the traveling metal sheet into an adjacent chamber where the appearance of such liquid may have a deleterious affect upon the process being carried out in that particular chamber. The individual units are also free of brushes and other such devices which are normally used to aid in the cleaning of the sheet of metal.