Method and apparatus for coating glass

Abstract

An apparatus for depositing onto the surface of a moving ribbon of hot glass a coating formed from the reaction of at least two gaseous reactants. The apparatus includes an open-faced coating chamber in which the gaseous reactants are caused to flow in contact with the glass surface to be coated in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the glass so as to form the desired coating on the glass surface. The coating chamber opens downwardly onto, and extends across the width of, the glass surface to be coated, and has a first inlet means for providing a flow of a first gaseous reactant over the glass surface through the chamber over the width thereof, and a second inlet means constituted by an inlet channel which extends across the ceiling of the chamber over the width of the chamber for introducing a second gaseous reactant to the flow of the first gaseous reactant in the coating chamber. The ceiling of the coating chamber has a stepped configuration at the juncture of the said inlet channel and the coating chamber, so that the ceiling of the coating chamber on the upstream side of the inlet channel is at a higher level than the ceiling of the coating chamber on the downstream side of the said inlet channel. A first gas distributor conveys the first gaseous reactant from a gas supply duct to said first inlet means, and a second gas distributor conveys the second gaseous reactant from a second gas supply duct to said second inlet means. Exhaust means are located downstream of the first and second inlet means leading from the coating chamber for removal of spent gases from the coating chamber.