The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 01, 1998
Filed:
Feb. 06, 1997
Mitsuo Goto, Yokohama, JP;
Kunihiko Uzawa, Machida, JP;
Masahiro Itakura, Kamiina-gun, JP;
Masamichi Hijino, Hachiohji, JP;
Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., , JP;
Abstract
The nonaqueous solvent employed in drying as a final step of cleaning is regenerated. The nonaqueous solvent is contacted with a separation fluid having low compatibility with the nonaqueous solvent and high compatibility with a hydrophilic solvent to cause the hydrophilic solvent contained in the nonaqueous solvent to be absorbed in the separation fluid, thereby regenerating the nonaqueous solvent. When the hydrophilic solvent is an alcohol, a low-molecular-weight silicone compound and demineralized water may be used as the nonaqueous solvent and the separation fluid, respectively, in which the silicone compound can be regenerated to a purity of 99.0 to 99.8% so that the silicone compound can be recycled for use in the drying.