Slot-die coating method and apparatus

A slot-die coating apparatus for manufacturing a patterned coating layer (3) on a substrate (1) comprises a substrate carrier (6), a coating device, a sensor facility (70) and a controller (80). The substrate carrier (6) is arranged on a support for providing the substrate (1). The coating device comprises a head-side unit and a support-side unit (50, 55; 52 resp.) that are mutually movable with respect to each other by a motor (52, 56). The head-side unit comprises a translator part (52) and a slot-die coating head (2). The support-side unit (55) comprises a stator part (56) of the motor. The controller (80) controls the motor (52) to position the slot-die coating head at a desired distance (Ds). The support-side unit (55) has a mass that is at least equal to the mass of the head-side unit (50), and the support-side unit (55) is flexibly coupled to the support (60).