It is known to apply films such as vinyl or plastisized synthetic sheets to cupboard doors for decorative and protective purposes and as an alternative to a painted surface. The application of such films is preferred in some circumstances over the application of paint, because painting can be prohibitively time consuming and cost inefficient particularly during medium to large scale production runs of finished doors. More importantly however, film application generally provides a high quality, more aesthetically pleasing surface finish to the door and can also provide a more durable protective outer surface, ie having less propensity to chip, compared to that of paint. Further, vinyl or other like films can be produced in a range of colours and patterns for direct application to a door.

Cupboard doors are generally constructed in fibreboard, such as MDF (medium density fibreboard) and it is known to apply films to such doors. In the past, apparatus for applying films has required the application of extremely high pressure through a membrane or mat to force the film into sealing contact with the surface of the door. The extreme high pressure is principal required to ensure that the film is satisfactory attached to every surface of the door, in particular decorative cavities, recesses or grooves or the like, which deviate inwardly from the planar surface of the door. Such cavities are commonly provided in cupboard doors to improve the aesthetic appearance of the door but the existence of those cavities increases the difficulty of the film application. The difficulty in applying film to such doors relates to the manner in which the film can be brought into contact with the cavity surface. In known machinery which employs a membrane to press the film into the cavity, the difficulty increases as the depth of the cavity increases. In some cases, even under

extreme pressing pressure, it is not possible for the film to be properly attached to the surface of the cavity.

A further difficulty with the application of a film to a door which includes decorative cavities, is with the formation of air pockets within those cavities when the film is pressed against the surface thereof. If only a small air pocket is formed, then the action of pressure against the film can compress the air for more complete application of the film, but as the air pocket is compressed, the pressure of the air within the pocket increases, thus resisting further compression and therefore invariably, at least a small part of the film remains detached from the cavity surface.

The above difficulty was overcome by the machine that is disclosed in applicant's Australian patent 675627. In that machine, a vacuum was applied below the film and air was drawn through the cupboard door so that as the film was drawn into engagement with the outer surface of the door, air trapped within any decorative cavities was removed therefrom by drawing that air through the door. That machine met with widespread acceptance throughout the market, however a drawback associated therewith, was that only doors made of a porous material could be by the machinery, because of the need to draw air through the door. Thus, non-porous materials such as plastics or very hard woods were not suitable for treatment by that machine.

A further drawback with the above described machinery, concerned doors that already had a non-porous laminate applied to the rear surface thereof. For such doors, it was necessary to form openings in the rear surface in order to enable air to be drawn through the board. The requirement to produce holes in the rear surface of the board prior to initiating the laminating process detracted from the operation of the machine.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine and a process for applying a film to an object, which overcomes one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art. It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine and process for applying film to an object of a non-porous nature. It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine and process for applying a film to an object without the use of a membrane.

According to the present invention there is provided a machine for applying a sheet-like film to the surface of an object, said machine including a deck and a hood which are movable relative to one another from a loading position in which an object to which the film is to be applied can be placed on the deck, to an operative position for application of the film on said object, said hood including heating means to heat the film and said deck and said hood being sealingly engaged in said operative position to define a vacuum chamber therebetween, in use, the film for application to said object being positioned to overlie said object and to separate said chamber into upper and lower sub- chambers above and below the film, said machine being operable to generate substantially equal vacuum in each of said sub-chambers and to release the vacuum generated in said upper sub-chamber to cause said film to be pressed into engagement with said object under the influence of the greater pressure in said upper sub-chamber.

The present invention further provides a method of applying a sheet-like film to the surface of an object, said method including supporting the object on a deck, overlying said object with a said film, generating a vacuum above and below said film, heating said film, and at a predetermined time, releasing the vacuum above said film to cause said film to be pressed into engagement with said object under the influence of the greater pressure in said upper sub- chamber.

A machine according to the invention is advantageous, because it does not employ a membrane to press the film into engagement with the object. This enables the machine to be of considerably reduced bulk compared to known membrane presses, and to require considerably less pressure generation.

Known membrane presses can weigh in excess of 20 tonne and be subject to 250-300 tonne of pressure, such that their operation is very expensive.

Advantageously, the invention overcomes problems associated with known membrane presses because the air that might otherwise promote the formation of air pockets within cavities in the door, is substantially removed by generation of the vacuum in the lower sub-chamber. Thus, when the vacuum is released in the upper sub-chamber and the film engages the surface of the door, the film

is pushed into the cavities and against the surface thereof by the pressure in the upper sub-chamber, without obstruction or resistance from air remaining in the cavities. Clearly, not all air can be removed from the lower sub-chamber because that would require a perfect vacuum, but removal of a substantial portion of the air has been found by the inventor to be sufficient to achieve highly satisfactory results. Known membrane presses attempt to overcome the existence of trapped air by forcing the air into the board being covered. They do this by the massive pressure referred to above. However, the invention removes the air that might otherwise become trapped and so the problem is avoided.

In a preferred arrangement, the vacuum chamber is evacuated in each sub-chamber to a value approaching a perfect vacuum. That vacuum may be in the order of 96-98 KPa In this arrangement, substantially the majority of air is removed from each sub-chamber but the film remains virtually unaffected by the negative pressure, because the same pressure exists both above and below it. However, upon reaching the desired vacuum pressure, the vacuum in the upper sub-chamber is released, preferably suddenly and without affecting the existence of the vacuum in the lower sub-chamber so that the film is immediately drawn toward the supporting surface of the deck and thus into engagement with any objects placed thereon.

The deck and the hood can be relative movable in any suitable manner, but the invention includes a unique shuttle arrangement in which the deck slides in a horizontal plane between the loading and operative positions.

In this arrangement, the machine is extremely compact in height. Thus, in the loading position, the deck is displaced from the hood horizontal to expose the supporting surface of the deck on which the objects to be coated are supported.

Advantageously, the deck can be displaced so as to be accessed from each side and end thereof (assuming the deck to be rectangular or square), although in the preferred arrangement access is available from both sides and one end, with the other end remaining adjacent the hood in the loading position. In practice, access to the deck need only be available on the two sides, given that

the width of the deck will not normally be too great to prevent an average sized worker from full access to the entire surface area of the deck.

The arrangement of the deck sliding relative to the hood, or vice versa, overcomes the bulkiness of prior art machinery. The press machines of the prior art previously described require a large and secure overhead structure to support the press arrangement when it is being forced under high load against the deck on which the objects are placed, and when the press is lifted away from the deck. The arrangement of the invention is also more compact than applicant's previous machine, which used a hood that pivoted between open and closed positions. The hood itself was quiet bulky and required hydraulic lifters to move between the two positions. Importantly, the lifting arrangement was required to be extremely secure because workers would lean underneath the raised hood to place objects for coating on the deck. Regardiess of how secure the hood was made in the open position, it was found nevertheless to be disconcerting to workers to have to place themselves under the hood when loading the deck.

Sliding movement of the deck is preferably facilitated by mounting the deck or alternatively, the supporting surface of the deck, on casters or wheels that run in or on suitable tracks. Mounting of the deck preferably limits movement thereof laterally of the direction in which it moves between the loading and operative positions, which is preferably linear movement. Thus, the deck may be mounted on wheels which run in a channel that prevents such lateral movement, or suitable guides may be employed for the same purpose.

Movement of the deck relative to the hood can be achieved in any suitable manner and in one preferred arrangement, a chain drive is employed.

In this arrangement, a chain is fixed in a loop to either end of the deck and that chain extends about a toothed wheel. The toothed wheel is fitted on a drive shaft and rotation of the drive shaft results in movement of the deck. Reverse rotation of the drive shaft causes movement of the deck in the reverse direction.

The drive shaft likewise may be driven by a chain drive connected to an electric motor. Other arrangements however are clearly possible and are within the scope of the present invention.

Alternatively, the deck may be manually moveable, but this is preferred only in smaller machines given that the weight of the deck can be considerable. In one arrangement, the bulk of the deck is fixed to or forms part of the structure of the machine and only the supporting surface of the deck is movable, such as on casters or wheels as described above. This arrangement reduces considerably the weight of the moveable part of the deck, so facilitating ease of manual operation.

The above arrangement also facilitates the use of a pair of supporting surfaces, which are displaceable in different directions, so that one supporting surface may be disposed in the operative position while the other is disposed in the loading position. Thus, a coating operation may take place on one of the supporting surfaces at the same time doors are being loaded onto the other of the supporting surfaces. Advantageously, this promotes more efficient use of the machine.

Movement of the deck into the operative position may also include such movement that causes the deck and the hood to seal. Thus, in one embodiment of the invention, the deck moves relative to the hood from the loading position to the operative position in a horizontal plane. In that operative position, lifting means are employed to lift the deck to engage the hood. The lifting means may comprise one or more hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, or alternatively a cam mechanism may be employed. Alternatively the hood may be lowered into engagement with the deck under its own weight, or under a positive influence. This relative movement need only be sufficient to result in a gentle seal between the deck and the hood. That is, it is not necessary for the deck to engage the hood under significant load. Once the seal is achieved and vacuum is applied, the vacuum progressively pulls the deck into more firm sealing engagement with the hood.

As described above, the deck can move relative to the hood which is stationary, or alternatively, the hood may be movable and the deck stationary. either arrangement is possible.

In the operative position of the machine, the deck is sealingly engaged with the hood, and in a preferred arrangement, each of the deck and hood

include a peripheral seal of a rubber or synthetic rubber or other suitable resilient-sealing material. Upon suitable movement of the deck relative to the hood, the respective seals engage and the chamber formed between the deck and the hood can be evacuated by suitable means to produce the required vacuum.

In operation of the machine and in the operative position thereof, a film extends over the support surface of the deck and to ensure separation of the vacuum chamber into two distinct sub-chambers, the film is sandwiched between the sealing surfaces of the deck and the hood. The existence of the film between the sealing surfaces cannot be such as to disturb the integrity of the seal, but with proper choice of sealing material that is unlikely to occur. In particular, the film will typically be very thin and flexible and thus will adapt to the surfaces of the seals of the deck and the hood.

It will be appreciated that it is a simple manner in the loading position of the deck to lay a sheet of film over the deck. To maintain the film in place during movement of the deck from the loading to the operative position, clamping means may be employed to engage and hold the film relative to the deck. Such clamping means may be fixed to the deck, or may be separable therefrom.

The upper and lower sub-chambers preferably are of substantially the same volume so that exhaust of air from each sub-chamber can be carried out at the same rate and maintain the vacuum in each sub-chamber substantially constant. Small variations in the volume of each sub-chamber will generally be unavoidable, because the film is flexible and will lay differently for each coating operation. However, such variations do not adversely affect the performance of the invention. If necessary, control means may be employed that monitor the vacuum level in each sub-chamber to ensure these remain substantially the same.

Prior to removal of the vacuum in the lower sub-chamber, the film may be floated above the object or objects to be coated by slight variations in the relative vacuums in the upper and lower sub-chambers. A light beam may be employed to monitor the upward float of the film, such that the relative vacuums

are adjusted each time the film cuts the beam so that the film floats downward, whereafter the relative vacuums are readjusted so that the film will float upward.

The arrangement can be such as to make the film flat up and down very slowly throughout a small amplitude.

In one preferred form of the invention, a plate extends across a lower portion of the upper sub-chamber and during operation of the machine, the film is brought into engagement with the underneath surface of that plate, while the film is heated and the vacuum is generated. For this, the vacuum in the upper sub-chamber is slightly greater than that in the lower sub-chamber to maintain the film in position against the plate. The difference in vacuum can be in the order of 2 or 3 Kpa.

The plate can be arranged to completely close the upper sub-chamber and in this arrangement, openings through the plate are provided to allow the vacuum in the upper sub-chamber to act through the plate and on the film. It is preferred the openings are small so that the film is prevented from pulling through them and in one preferred arrangement a plate measuring approximately 1.2 m x 3 m included approximately 2000 pin-hole openings.

The plate preferably is stainless steel although other materials particularly metals could also be used.

Any suitable means may be employed for generating the required vacuum. In a preferred embodiment, a pump is employed to evacuate air from a tank which in turn is in separate communication with the hood and the deck.

Suitable valves can be employed to control the communication between the hood and the tank, so that the rate of evacuation from the vacuum chamber can be controlled.

The deck preferably includes a sealed chamber below the supporting surface on which objects to be coated are placed. That chamber is in communication with the vacuum generating means, preferably by way of a flexible conduit that remains connected to the deck when the deck is displaced from the hood. Alternatively, the vacuum generating means may only connect to the deck when the hood and deck are in the operative position. The vacuum generating means draws air from the chamber below the supporting surface

and to create a vacuum in the chamber above the supporting surface, ie between the deck and the hood, there must be communication between the chamber of the deck and the vacuum chamber formed in the operative position.

That communication can be achieved in any suitable manner and in a preferred arrangement, the supporting surface includes one or more openings extending therethrough. In a particularly preferred arrangement, the supporting surface includes a plurality of small openings spaced throughout the supporting surface to ensure an even exhaust of air from within the lower sub-chamber of the vacuum chamber.

Exhaust of air from the upper sub-chamber can also be achieved in any suitable manner and in a preferred arrangement, one or more openings in a side wall of the hood communicate with the vacuum generating means. Each opening may be formed in a channel member that extends to a conduit connected to the vacuum generating means. Flow through the conduit may be controlled by suitable valve means to limit the exhaust of air from the upper sub-chamber. However the provision of valve means is preferred more to facilitate release of the vacuum in the upper sub-chamber during the coating operation. In one preferred arrangement the valve means includes a ball valve which is controlled by a solenoid arrangement, or alternatively by hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, or by other suitable means. The ball valve enables immediate and sudden disconnection of the upper sub-chamber from the vacuum generating means when required and simultaneous connection to atmosphere to exhaust the vacuum. In this arrangement the vacuum is exhausted through the same openings that are used to exhaust air from within the upper sub-chamber to create the vacuum. Other arrangements to exhaust the vacuum may be equally applicable and are within the scope of the invention.

The invention will normally require the application of heat to the film prior to the vacuum in the upper chamber being released. Heat is normally required to increase the flexibility of the film so that it can more readiiy adapt to the surface of the object being coated. Heat may be applied to the film prior to the creation of vacuum in the vacuum chamber but more preferably, heat is applied

simultaneously as vacuum generation takes place. Such a simultaneous arrangement reduces the cycle time of the coating process. Heat may be applied in any suitable manner and in one arrangement, a bank of infra-red heaters is located in the hood, directly above the film when the hood and deck are in the operative position. The use of infra-red heat is advantageous, because such heat is not absorbed by aluminium, and as such, an aluminium decksupporting surface can be employed that does not heat up during the laminating cycle. The advantage here is that workers who load objects onto the supporting surface are not exposed to hot surfaces that may be dangerous.

Other parts of the machine may need to be shielded from the heaters, particularly as the heaters continue to heat when the deck is displaced from the hood thereby exposing machine components below the deck to the heat. In a machine of a preferred configuration, the vacuum generating means and the means for displacing the deck relative to the hood are all located beneath the deck in the operative position and would be exposed to heat from the heaters in the loading position if they were not shielded. The shield may be in the form of sheet metal or other heat absorbing material. The use of infra-red heaters is furthermore advantageous because more conventional heaters, such as electric radiator heaters, rely on conduction of heat through the medium of the surrounding environment, which normally is air. However, such conduction does not take place in a vacuum, because the medium for conduction is removed. Infra-red heaters do not rely on conduction through air and therefore are appropriate for use in the present invention.

The attached drawings show an example embodiment of the invention of the foregoing kind. The particularity of those drawings and the associated description does not supersede the generality of the preceding broad description of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a membrane-less coating machine according to the invention. The view is highly schematic but is illustrative of the machine, while the following figures will more specifically describe actual components of the machine.

In Figure 1 a machine 10 is shown and the machine includes a deck 11 and a hood 12. The deck 11 is movable on wheels 13 rolling on a track 14.

The track can be in the form of a channel, in which the wheels 13 are guided, or in the alternative, a further set of wheels may be provided to run on the inside edge of the track 14, rotating about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the wheels 13.

The deck 11 is rectangular and includes side and end walls 15,16 and a supporting surface 17. The supporting surface is the surface on which objects may be placed for coating within the machine 10.

The hood 12 is fixed relative to the deck 11 and is supported in an elevated position relative to the deck 11 by supporting struts 18. A skirt 19 extends about the base of the machine 10.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 1, the machine 10 is in a loading position, in which the deck 11 is displaced horizontally from the hood 12 for loading of objects to be coated on the supporting surface 17. Clear access to the supporting surface 17 is provided about each side 15 and the distal end 16 of the deck 11. When the objects to be coated are loaded on to the supporting surface 17, a sheet of film is placed over the deck 11, extending at least slightly over the top edge 20 of the deck 11. The deck 11 can be moved to an operative coating position by movement thereof in the direction A. In that position, a vacuum as hereinafter described can be generated for adhering the film to the surface of objects supported on the surface 17.

Figure 2 is a side schematic view of the machine 10 of Figure 1. In this figure, cupboard doors 21 have been placed on supporting elements 22 which rest on the supporting surface 17 and which can be in the form of wooden blocks. It is to be noted that the peripheral edge of the supporting elements 22 is located in-board of the corresponding edge of the doors 21 and this facilitates complete lamination of a film against the peripheral edges of the doors 21. If the doors 21 were not elevated from the surface 17 as shown, it is more difficult to obtain complete engagement with the peripheral edge due to the proximity of that edge next to the supporting surface 17.

In Figure 2, a film 23 has also been extended across the deck 11 and it can be seen that the film extends slightly beyond the ends 16 of the deck 11.

The top surface 20 (see Figure 1) of the deck 11 is formed with a resilient rubber seal 24 completely thereabout and it is over this seal 24 that the film rests. Clamps may be applied to securely fix the film over this edge and the clamps may be permanently fixed to the deck or may be removable therefrom.

Also shown in Figure 2 is the hood 12 which is elevated above the deck 11. Like the deck 11, the hood 12 includes downwardly extending end walls 25 and side walls 26 (see Figure 1). The end and side walls 25,26 include a downwardly depending edge to which a seal 27 is fixed. The seal 27 can also be a rubber material.

Figure 3 illustrates the machine 10 when the deck 11 has been moved to underlie the hood 12. The mechanism for moving the hood 12 will be explained later in relation to Figure 7. In the position of the deck 11 and the hood 12 shown in Figure 3, it is to be noted that a gap G exists between the seals 24,25 and it is a requirement that this gap be taken up to engage the deck 11 and hood 12 together to form a vacuum in the chamber that exists between them.

Thus, relative vertical movement between the deck 11 and the hood 12 is required and in the embodiment shown, this is completed by way of a plurality of pneumatic lifters one of which is shown at 28 in Figure 3. In practice, 3 or 4 or these lifters are spaced along the length of each side of the deck 11.

Figure 4 is a partial view of the machine 10 and shows the deck 11 in the operative position relative to the hood 12. In that position, the deck 11 has been raised vertically so that the seal 24 engages the seal 26 (with the film 23 sandwiched therebetween). In this operative position, a vacuum can be created in the chamber formed between the deck 11 and the hood 12 and this chamber is divided into a pair of sub-chambers by the film 23, namely upper sub-chamber 29 and lower sub-chamber 30. These sub-chambers are distinct and separate vacuum can be formed in both. In the process of the invention, a single vacuum pump draws air through a vacuum tank which is separately connected to each of sub-chambers 29 and 30. Figure 5 illustrates this arrangement in which the vacuum pump is shown at 31 and the vacuum tank is

shown at 32. Alternatively separate vacuum pumps may be employed for separate vacuum generation in each sub-chamber.

The vacuum is generated in the lower sub-chamber 30 by exhausting air from a lower chamber 33 which underlies the supporting surface 17 of the deck 11. The chamber 33, communicates with the lower sub-chamber 30 by way of a plurality of small openings extending through the supporting surface 17 and these openings are shown in Figure 1. Each opening preferably has a diameter of about 2 mm and for a deck measuring 1.2 m x 3 m, preferably about 200 openings are provided.

Vacuum is pulled through the hood 12 by a series of openings in the side wall of the hood and those openings are shown in Figure 6, which is an internal view of the hood, with the deck 11 in the position shown in Figure 1. The openings 34 are formed in a channel 35 which communicates through a conduit connected thereto (not shown) with the vacuum tank 32.

In the above described arrangement, the vacuum can be applied to each of the sub-chambers 29 and 30 independently, so that the existence of the film as a divider does not affect vacuum generation. Equally, the film within the vacuum chamber is not affected by the generation of vacuum, because the vacuum on either side thereof, ie within each sub-chamber 29 and 30, can be generated at substantially the same rate and these remain at substantially equal value.

It is to be noted that when a vacuum is generated in sub-chambers 29 and 30, the deck 11 and hood 12 are drawn into more complete engagement, such that the seal between those components is more secure. Thus, as the vacuum increases, the security of the seal between the deck 11 and the hood 12 is increased.

When the deck 11 is moved into the position shown in Figure 3, the film 23 is heated by way of a plurality of infra-red heaters 36. These heaters are located within the hood 12 and during operation of the machine 10, the heaters remain permanently activated. Thus, as soon as the deck 11 moves into an underlying position relative to the hood 12, heating of the film 23 and for that matter, any doors 21 located on the deck 11 below the hood 12, are heated. A

sensor fixed in the supported surface 17 of the deck 11 can monitor the temperature of the film. The film 23 continues to be heated when the deck 11 is raised by the lifters 28 into the position shown in Figure 4, as well as during the period of operation when the vacuum is being generated in the sub- chambers 29 and 30.

When the film has reached a predetermined temperature, the laminating step is ready to be performed. At that point, a valve is switched to interrupt the vacuum connection to the vacuum chamber 29, and to place the vacuum chamber 29 to connection with atmosphere. As such, atmospheric air rushes into the sub-chamber 29 and forces the film 23 into engagement with the outer surface of the doors 21. The film is also caused to wrap about the side edges of the doors 21 and as an indication of the shape of the film 23 after release of the vacuum in the sub-chamber 29, a dot outline 37 is shown in Figure 4.

The vacuum in the sub-chamber 30 is held for a predetermined time to ensure complete engagement of the film 23 with the doors 21. After this predetermined time, the vacuum in the sub-chamber 30 is released, such that both sub-chambers 29 and 30 are now at atmospheric pressure. The pneumatic lifters 28 then move the deck 11 downwardly to the position shown in Figure 3, and the deck 11 can be displaced horizontal to the position shown in Figure 2. In that position, the clamps can be released from the film 23 and the film cut away from each individual door 21. This operation may be performed on the support surface 17 of the deck 11 or the doors 21 may be lifted with the film 23 to an adjacent area to permit re-loading of the deck 11 with a new arrange of doors 21 and a new sheet of film 23.

Cooling means may be employed to cool the film that has been applied to the doors, and in the embodiment shown a cool air curtain can be blown onto the film during movement of the deck 11 to the unloading position, from adjacent the end wall 25 of the hood 12. The curtain could alternatively be employed elsewhere, or other cooling means could be employed.

In accordance with known technology, an adhesive is used to firmly adhere the film to the outer surface of the doors 21. The adhesive may either

be applied to the underneath surface of the film 23 or to the outer surface of the door 21, or to both. Preferably, the adhesive is heat activated and rapid curing.

Figure 7 illustrates an end of the machine 10 and shows the arrangement by which the deck 11 is displaced relative to the hood 12. In this figure an electric drive motor 38 is connected by a belt or chain drive 39 to drive a shaft 40 which includes two drive sprockets 41 about which a chain which is connected at either end of the deck 11 is driven. Thus, drive of the motor 38 in one direction causes the deck 11 to move towards and under the hood 12.

The machine 10 can include various safety devices as would normally be employed in such a machine. For example, a mechanical brake could be employed to abruptly stop the deck 11 from moving, if a light beam extending across the opening beneath the hood was cut, such as by the operator's hand.

Various other safety devices would be well known to persons skilled in this art.

The following example illustrates a typical operation of a membrane machine according to the embodiment just described.

The film employed is known in the art as a plastic foil, which can for example come in thicknesses of 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.7 mm. The example film was 0.4 mm thick. A plurality of doors was loaded onto the supporting surface of the deck, on wooden elevators that sat inwardly of the periphery of the doors.

Each door was pre-coated with an adhesive on the outer surface thereof. The film was placed over the supporting surface of the deck of the machine and was clamped about the edges thereof. The deck was then moved into position beneath the hood and raised into engagement with the hood. The film was then left to preheat under the heaters which had been set at between 190°C to 200°C. When the film was sensed to have a temperature of 60°C, the vacuum generation commenced. When the vacuum reached about 96 Kpa to 98 Kpa and the film was at about 90°C, the vacuum in the upper sub-chamber was released and the film was pushed into engagement with the doors on the supporting surface of the deck by the atmospheric pressure. The deck remained in that position for approximately 50-60 seconds, after which it was lowered and moved out from underneath the hood. The vacuum in the lower sub-chamber was maintained during this movement. When the deck reached

the unloading position, the vacuum in the lower sub-chamber was released and the film was severed between adjacent doors and the doors removed for finishing. The total cycle time was approximately 120 seconds.

The membrane-less coating machine of the invention is highly compact, simple and convenient to load and highly effective in complete attachment of a film to the surface of an object, regardless of whether that object includes decorative cavities or not.

The invention described herein is susceptible to variations, modifications and/or additions other than those specifically described and it is to be understood that the invention includes all such variations, modifications and/or additions which fall within the spirit and scope of the above description.