14 are operated during passage of the web 52 therethrough with the cylinders 22 24 and 42 44 being continuously rotated the helical grooves formed in the surfaces of the cylinders 24 and 44 u201c catch u201d portions of the coating composition 30 within the pans 28 and 46 and transfer such composition onto the surface of web 52 between the stations 12 and 14 the composition 30 on the web 52 is at least partially cured and dried by passage around heated roller 58 it will also be appreciated that the composition 30 is continuously circulated through the stations 12 and 14 by circulating assembly 20 it is preferred that the composition 30 is flowing or moving at all times moreover the flow of composition 30 is adjusted so that the amount entering each pan 28 46 through the inlets 34 a 34 d is slightly larger than the quantity of the composition which exists through the outlets 32 a 32 c thus there is an excess amount of composition 30 entering each pan as compared to the amount exiting the pan with that excess amount being approximately equal to the amount of composition 30 which is applied to the web 52 in the respective coating stations it has also been found preferable that the outlets 32 a 32 c and inlets 34 a 34 d be substantially uniformly spaced along the length of the coating cylinders 24 and 44 so as to provide a substantially even distribution of the composition 30 on the cylinders a first u201c bump u201d of coating composition 30 is applied to the web.