Curtain coating

Curtain coating is suitable for all materials such as wood and wood derivatives, glass, cork, plastic materials, fibre cement, leather, cardboard, metal, etc. Curtain coaters work panels with flat or slightly raised surfaces.

Curtain coating is based on a highly effective technology, mainly used by manufacturers of flat cabinet doors, parquet manufacturers, manufacturers of panels of various materials and door manufacturers.

Curtain coating is one of the best performing technologies in terms of finish quality. It also ensures remarkable advantages in terms of both flexibility and productivity. In curtain coating, all types of paint in the whole available colour range can be used.

The quality of curtain coating is subjective, as is the case with spray and roller coating technologies. However, opacity, gloss, and degree of application can all be rated.

Thanks to digital technologies, today every step of the coating process can be monitored in terms of product quantity applied by each individual machine. Normally, curtain coaters are installed both at the end of finishing lines and as primer application machines, therefore, the applied quantities may vary according to the type of substrate to be processed. Additionally, consumption of cleaning solvents should also be factored in, in an efficiency-boosting perspective.

Curtain coating is particularly suitable for painting flat cabinet doors, parquet flooring, flat doors and also for coating panels made of wood and wood derivatives, glass, cork, plastic materials, fibre cement, leather, cardboard and metal.

All types of paint can be used for curtain coating: water-based, polyurethane and UV, clear or pigmented, matt, semi-gloss or glossy paints.

To date, the most commonly used types as both primers and finishes applied with curtain coaters are high quality polyurethane paints and UV paints. For parquet coating, paints containing aluminium dioxide, corundum or glass microspheres can be applied, to achieve high surface abrasion strength.

In curtain coating, viscosity values can be kept under control with dedicated equipment, in order to ensure greater paint stability.
In most cases, weight checks are performed in a traditional way.

Curtain coaters may have a different number of coating heads (one-head coaters and two-head coaters), depending on the products to be applied. For example, if two-component polyester products are used, two coating heads are always required for “wet on wet” application.

There are also Matic model long-bench curtain coater versions, suitable for preparing packs of panels and designed for working in line with vertical ovens. These curtain coaters have three independent speeds: loading, coating and unloading.

A curtain coater is a machine that is added to a finishing line as the last coating machine, although in very specific cases, it can be used for primer application. Like in all coating lines, depending on the types of material to be processed, conveyors, sanding machines, brushing machines for cleaning purposes and drying ovens (based on different technology depending on the type of coating product used) are also needed.   

Curtain coaters are the highest output coating machines, with speed ranging from 60 to 100 metres/min. To further increase productivity, the efficiency of all the other machines making up the painting line, including ovens, should be maximised.

Curtain coaters are highly flexible, both in terms of product quantity to be applied, and in terms of application options and different positioning along the coating line.