Patent ID: 7678198

Claim:
A coater for depositing thin films onto generally-opposed major surfaces of a sheet-like substrate in a single pass of the substrate through the coater, the sheet-like substrate being a sheet of glass having a top edge and a bottom edge, the coater having a substrate transport system adapted for supporting the substrate in a vertical-offset configuration wherein the substrate is offset from vertical by an acute angle greater than about 5 degrees, the transport system defining a path of substrate travel extending through the coater, the transport system being adapted for conveying the substrate along the path of substrate travel while maintaining the substrate in said vertical-offset configuration, the transport system including a side support for supporting a rear surface that is one of the major surfaces of the substrate, the side support having a plurality of wheels adapted to roll directly against the rear major surface of the substrate when the substrate is conveyed along the path of substrate travel, at least a portion of a wheel positioned to roll directly against the rear major surface of the substrate proximate its top edge to support the substrate in the vertical-offset configuration, the side support bounding a passage through which coating material passes when such coating material is deposited onto the substrate's rear major surface, wherein said passage is between at least two of said wheels and the transport system includes a bottom conveyor adapted for receiving the bottom edge of the substrate, wherein the substrate when positioned on the transport system and maintained in the vertical-offset configuration has its bottom edge supported by the bottom conveyor and its rear major surface supported by the side support, the coater including at least one coating apparatus on each of two sides of the path of substrate travel, the coating apparatuses being adapted for depositing coatings onto both of the generally-opposed major surfaces of the substrate in a single pass of the substrate along the path of substrate travel.