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. 12, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 21, 1998
Joseph Leslie Banyasz, Richmond, VA (US);
Aubry T Burton, Richmond, VA (US);
John M Campbell, Chesterfield, VA (US);
Woontung Geoffrey Chan, Chesterfield, VA (US);
Mary Ellen Counts, Richmond, VA (US);
William James Crowe, Chester, VA (US);
Jay A Fournier, Richmond, VA (US);
Patrick H Hayes, Chester, VA (US);
Willie Gray Houck, Jr, Richmond, VA (US);
Robert E Lee, III, Richmond, VA (US);
Donald Bruce Losee, Richmond, VA (US);
John B Paine, III, Midlothian, VA (US);
Robert L Ripley, Midlothian, VA (US);
Charles Edwin Thomas, Jr, Richmond, VA (US);
Philip Morris Incorporated, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A cleaning unit used to clean condensates formed during use of a component of a smoking system. The component can be a heating fixture having a cigarette receiving section and a plurality of longitudinally extending circumferentially spaced apart heating elements located within a can which accumulates the condensates. During a cleaning operation, the heating fixture is fitted within a cavity in the cleaning unit such that the cigarette receiving end of the heating fixture engages an O-ring and the terminal base portion abuts against an indented stop in an interior sidewall of a removable portion of the housing. The cleaning unit includes a water inlet connected to a source of pressurized water such as a faucet and a spray member extends into the cigarette receiving section to spray jets of water against the interior of the can. The housing can include a main flow passage which supplies pressurized water to the spray member and one or more bypass passages whereby water used to clean the heating fixture can exit the housing through one outlet and water which bypasses the heating fixture can exit the housing through other outlets. The housing can include a pulsating mechanism to pulsate jets of pressurized water against the interior of the heating fixture.