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:
Aug. 14, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 15, 1999
Dennis Slutsky, Providence, RI (US);
Ricky D. Lerette, Stoughton, MA (US);
American Dryer Corporation, Fall River, MA (US);
Abstract
A cleaning apparatus having a sealable pressure vessel and an agitator for agitating an article, such as clothing, in a liquid within the vessel to remove contaminants from the article. A fluid system supplies fresh liquid to the vessel and drains used liquid from the vessel to separate excess contaminated from the article, a portion of the contaminated liquid being retained by the article after this separation. One or more heating elements are activatable to vaporize the retained liquid, and a vacuum system is activatable to reduce the pressure in the sealed vessel while the heating elements are activated, such that the boiling point of the retained liquid is substantially reduced from that at atmospheric pressure. The liquid may be plain, ozonated or carbonated water, or a mixture thereof, and may be cooled by a heat exchanger before being introduced into the sealed vessel. Agitation during washing and drying is minimized for use of the apparatus as an alternative to dry cleaning.