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:
May. 04, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 29, 1997
Bartholomeus Verlinden, Tongeren, BE;
Patrick Van den Bergen, Hove, BE;
Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Mortsel, BE;
Abstract
The apparatus comprises a housing (10) defining a treatment vessel (12.sup.2) having entrance and exit openings (16, 20) defining a sheet material path (22) therethrough. The lower opening (20) is closed by a pair of path-defining rollers (28, 26) biased into contact with each other to form a nip (28) through which the sheet material path (22) extends. The housing (10) includes a collecting chamber (50) positioned to collect treatment liquid which in use falls from the treatment vessel (12.sup.2) through one or both of the openings. The collecting chamber (50) is a closed chamber (50) and means (52) are provided to return treatment liquid from the collecting chamber (50) to the treatment vessel (12.sup.2). The construction has the advantage that the wastage of treatment liquid is reduced without requiring the use of complicated and costly sealing devices.