JPH0117718B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating vapors of liquids used in dry cleaning machines during the deodorization stage.

In particular, the device of the invention is intended to treat deodorizing air, which is blown over cleaned and dried clothes to remove residual traces of solvent from these clothes.

Dry cleaning machines undergo an operating cycle consisting of four main stages: a. cleaning b. spinning (splnning) c. drying d. deodorization.

The drying stage c is completed and during the deodorizing stage ambient air is blown over the garment to remove any remaining traces of cleaning solvent from the garment.

In prior art dry cleaning machines, the deodorizing air that passes over and through the cleaned clothes contains a significant amount of cleaning solvent vapor, and this air is exhausted to the atmosphere through a flue. .

Of course, the exhaust air has the two disadvantages of polluting the atmosphere and leading to significant amounts of solvent, most often perchlorethylene, which are wasted uneconomically.

Furthermore, venting contaminated solvent vapors to the atmosphere allows dry cleaning machines to be mounted only in locations where it is possible to install flues intended to vent such vapors to the outside world.

The apparatus of the present invention is designed and configured to cooperate with dry cleaning machines to treat thermally deodorized air and remove solvent vapors therefrom.

The device of the invention essentially comprises a combination of a housing, an inlet, a filter, a condensing battery and its cooling device, and a tank for receiving the recovered solvent.

The hot air coming out of the cleaning machine after the deodorization stage through a suitable tube provided in the outlet valve is admitted into the device of the invention through an inlet and is forced to flow over the condensing battery cooled by a cooling device to cool this air. The solvent vapor carried by is condensed and the liquid solvent is collected in a tank, thus recovering the solvent.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The device of the present invention includes a housing 10, an internal support frame 11, a filter 12, a condensing battery 13,
It has a cooling device 14, a collection tank 15, an outlet pipe 16 and a valve 18 on the pipe 16.

The filter 12 is attached to the upper part of the frame 11 passing through the partition wall 19 immediately below the inlet hole 20, and above the condensing chamber 21 to which the condensing battery 13 is attached. The condensing chamber 21 is bounded by a top horizontal wall 22 and an inclined wall 23 (FIG. 2), a side wall 24 and two lower walls 25 forming a hopper.

A cooling device 14 for the condensing battery 13 is received in the lower part of the housing 10 and is connected to the battery by a tube 26.

The hole 27 of the lower hopper 25 of the chamber 21 has a discharge pipe 28 projecting downward into the collection tank 15.
is provided, the tank having an outlet pipe 16 controlled by a valve 18.

The discharge part 29 is formed in the upper part of the housing 10 on the back side of the inlet hole part 20 part.

The device operates as follows: during the deodorization phase of a cooperating dry cleaning machine, the hot air discharged through the appropriately opened exhaust valve of the machine is admitted into the device through the inlet hole 20.

The hot air, still charged with perchlorethylene vapor, is blown through filter 12 and passes through passage 30 into condensation chamber 21, as indicated by arrow F1, and then flows upwardly, as indicated by arrow F2.

While flowing upward, the air comes into contact with the surface of the condensing battery 13, which is kept cool by the cooling device 14. The perchlorethylene vapor contained in the air therefore condenses on these surfaces of the condensing battery 13 and collects as a liquid in the bottom of the chamber 21 and then passes through the hole 27 and the pipe 28 to the collection tank. Fall in 15.

The air, thus cooled and free of perchlorethylene vapor, flows upwards again as indicated by arrow F3, exits the device through the exhaust 29 and enters the dry cleaning machine through the suitably opened inlet valve of the dry cleaning machine. It is put back into the cleaning machine. Inside the cleaning machine, this air is heated and blown again over the cleaned garment, removing traces of solvent also contained therein from the garment as vapor. This hot air is then reintroduced into the apparatus of the invention and the cycle is repeated.

The closed circulation between the dry cleaning machine and the device is repeated for a period of time sufficient to remove any residual traces of solvent from the garment.

The solvent condensed in chamber 21 and collected in tank 15 is then recovered through pipe 16 and valve 18.

As indicated above, the present invention provides savings through the acquisition of perchlorethylene by recovering amounts of perchlorethylene that would otherwise be wasted and eliminates the requirement for expensive flue conductors in dry cleaning machines. It would be obvious to provide a simple and reliable device of commensurate cost, which allows for two savings: savings in installation.
As mentioned above, the latter feature allows the dry cleaning machine to be installed in locations that were previously not possible because flue installations were not possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the device of the invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along a plane perpendicular to the plane of FIG. In the figure, 10 is a housing, 12 is a filter, 13 is a condensing battery, and 1
4 is a cooling device, and 15 is a collection tank.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A dry cleaning machine having an outlet valve and an inlet valve operated during the deodorizing stage to treat the deodorizing air passing through the cleaned clothes to remove solvent vapors carried by the air from the air. A device for completely removing the vapor and recovering the vapor as a liquid in combination with the dry cleaning machine, comprising a housing 10, an internal support frame 11 provided in the housing 10 above a cooling device 14, and an internal support. A filter 12 provided at the top inside the frame 11,
A solvent vapor condensing battery 13 provided below the filter 12 within the internal support frame 11, a condensing chamber 21 provided below the vapor condensing battery 13 within the internal supporting frame 11, and the condensing chamber battery 13 and a cooling device 14 located below the internal support frame 11 and a collection tank 15 located below the condensing chamber 21, and further mounted just above the filter 12 and connected to the dryer. It has an inlet 20 connected to the outlet valve of the cleaning machine and an outlet pipe 16 connected to the inlet valve 18 of the dry cleaning machine so that the odor still contained in the cleaned clothes during the entire deodorization stage The device operates as a closed circuit with the dry cleaning machine until residual traces of solvent are removed from the air used during the deodorization stage. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collection tank has a collection pipe controlled by a valve allowing reuse of the collected solvent.