US1740716A - Dry-cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 24, 1929. A. TRAUBE DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed May 18, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR HER 7H4"! TRAUBE' ATTORNEY Dec. 24, 1929. TRAUBE DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed May 18. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VJINVENTOR HBRHH/JM .TRAuBE;

BY r-C5 w ATTORNEY am; D... 241929 f j 1,740,716

UNI E STATES PATENT orrlca TRA'UBE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T FABRIC DRY GLEANIlN'G IAGHINERY CO. INC 01: BROOKLYN, NEW YORK DRY-CLEANING APPARATUS Application filed May 18, 1928. Serial No. 278,653.

This invention relates to dry-cleaning apis formed with supporting feet 92, 93 and a paratus of the type described in the specificasight gage 94 is provided on the end of the tion of my United States Patent Number lower part 82 in order that therlevel of the 1,291,266 dated January 14, 1919. solvent in the lower part of the casing may be 6 One object of this invention is to provide readily ascertained. In the upper-part of improved means for spraying the solvent the casing a vacuum gage 95 is provided. upon the material carried in the rotor or The rotor above referred to comprises two drum. hollow ends or headers 96, 97 connected with A further object is to provide improved each other by a circumferential series of lon- 10 means for drying the material. 4 gitudinal tubes 98 and blades 99 arranged al- Further objects will be apparent from the ternately. The header 96| consists of two particular description of the complete appadiscs 100, 101, and a spacing ring 102 welded ratus and from the appended claims. together to form a steam space, and the ends .The present invention consists in the novel of the tubes are expanded into holes provided 1 construction and arrangement of parts herein the disc 101 and thus supply steam to said inafter described, illustrated in the accomsteam space. Secured on the outer face of the panying drawings and particularly pointed disc 100 by means of a flange 103 15 a hollow out in the appended claims, it being undertrunnion 104 which communicates with the stood that various changes in the form and said steam space through a central hole 106 m 1 20 details of construction may be made without the said .disc 100. Fitted between the dlscs departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of 100, 101 are two radial plates or baflies 106, the advantages of my invention. 107 extending from close proximity to the In the drawings: Fig. 1 isa front elevation said hole 105 to a point near the rmg 102 and of the dry-cleaning machine with part of the being curved from such point to meet the casing and part of the rotor shown in section; curvature of the ring 102, and ad acent to the Fig. 2 is a view at right angles to Fig. 1, with inner ends of the said bafiies 1s a cup-shaped the casing and a portion of the rotor shown baflie 108 the arrangement of these baflies 106, in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is 107, 108 being such that, as the rotor rotates a central sectional view of one end of the slowly in either direction, any condensed rotor; Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on the steam will be raised by the baflies 106 or 107 line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged and will be directed to the opening 105 by the detail view showing a portion of the rotor in bafiie 108 so that accumulatlon oiwater 1n the isometric projection. header 96 1s avoided. llhe header 97 has a The casing of the machine consists of an hollowtrunmon' 109 simllar to the trunmon 35 upper part 81 and a lower part 82 forming a 104 and the headers 96 and 97 are s milar exhorizontal closed cylinder with longitudinal cept that the header 97 is not provided with connecting flanges 83 secured together by bafiles 106, 107, 108. Therotor is carried bebolts 84. Inthe front of the upper part of tween the ends of the casing 81, 82 by means the casing an opening 85 is. closed by a door 86 of bearing bushes 110, 111 having roller bearhinged along its upper edge at 87 and engagings 112 and the outer end of the trunnion ing upon a packing or flexible seat 88 in order 104 is mounted 1n a bearing in a bracket 113 to secure an air tight joint when secured in secured on the end of the lower part 82 of-the the closed position by means of bolts 89 pivcasing, while the outer end pf the trunnion oted to the casing at and engaging slots or 109 is mounted in a bearing 1n a bracket 114 recesses in the edge of the door. An overhead which is secured on the opposite end of the spray pipe 35 has a series of branch pipes 91 said part 82. The steam pipe 44 supplleS communicating with the interior of the casing steam to the hollow trunnion 109 and has a and arranged in a straight line directly above pressure gage 115 thereon, and the exhaust and parallel to the axisof the rotor hereinsteam from the trunnion 1041s led oil by after described. The lower part of the casing means of a plpe connection 116. Completely 1 encircling the series of tubes 98 and blades 99 are two bands 117, 118 and between these bands a number of tubes and blades are cut away to provide an opening for the introduction and withdrawal of the clothing or other material to be cleaned, and two additional bands 119, 120 extend around the rotor from edge to edge of such opening." Two doors 121, 122 are hinged to the bands 117, 118 and have handles 119, 120 by means of which they may be swung outwards when they are in proper alignment with the opening 85 in the casing. I11 order to retain the said doors 121, 122 in the closed position against centrifugal force when the rotor isrotating each door is provided .with means for engaging hooks 123 on the ends of the bands 119, 120. These means consist of a pair of slide bars 124 each I provided with a shackle 125 to engage a hook 123 and nut and screw means 128 for drawing the two slide bars towards each other in order to hold the door securely in position. Each slide bar 124 has a guide slot 126 engaging a pin 127 fixed to the door to serve as guides for the door fastening means. 0

The blades 99 are secured in place by welding to the headers 96 and 97 and to the bands 117, 118,119 and 120; and at intervals in the length of the rotor; plates or blocks 129 are provided, these parts 129 being slotted to receive the blades 99 and being welded to the said blades 99 and to the tubes 98 so that a rigid structure is provided. The blades 99 .are radially disposed and while serving to strengthen and brace the rotor structure they are alsoadapted to serve as deflecting vanes to receive the solvent spray from the overhead spray pipes and direct sam'e inwardly to the material contained in the rotor.-

Between the bracket 113 and the bearing ring 110, the trunnion 104 has secured thereon a pulley 130 to which motion may be transmitted by means of a belt 131 for the purpose of rotating the rotor at high speed to extract moisture from the materialin the rotbr. For the purpose of rotating the rotor at low speed-in both directionsas in the cleaning and the drying operations a large diameter I gear wheel 132 is secured on the trunnion 109,

between the bearing ring 111 and the bracket 114 and is driven from a small diameter wheel 133 through the medium of an idler pinion 134, mounted freely upon a shaft 135 and having a shift lever 136 by means of which-it may be moved in an axial direction into or out of mesh with the gears 132, 133.

The gear wheel 133 is secured on a shaft 137 which is driven by a pulley 138 to which motion is imparted by a driving belt 139 from any suitable source of power and through the medium of suitable reversing meansnot shownwhereb v the rotor may be caused to rotate in either direction. The shafts 135 and 137 are mounted between bosses 140, 141 on the upper part 81 of the casing and bosses 142, 143 on an extension 114.

In the operation of this apparatus the clothing or other material to be cleaned is placed in the rotor and the doors of the rotor and of the casing are then closed and secured and after the proper manipulation of the appropriate valves solvent is supplied through the overhead supply pipe 35 and the inlet pipes 91 by the creation of a vacuum within the machine, and as the rotor is slowly rotated by gear 132 first in one direction and then in the other the solvent is sprayed to the interior of 144 of the bracket the rotor, being directed to all parts of the material as the rotor rotates and the vanes or blades- 99 deflect the spray inwardly to the interior of the rotor. In oertain cases the solvent may be retained for a time in the machine so that the material may be rotated in a solvent bath having a level at approximately one third of the height of the casing. After the completion of this cleaning operation a further supply of solvent may be provided to rinse the'material and the solvent drains from the machine through outlet 40 and valve 41, while the vacuum in the machine is still maintained, and in order to extract the moisture from the material the rotor is then rotated at high speed by the pulley 130 and belt 131 and all vapors are drawn oif through the pipe line 37. After this extracting operation steam is supplied through the steam line 44 and passes through the tubes 98 to the trunnion 104 and to the exhaust pipe 116, and while the tubes are thus heated by the steam passing therethrough the rotor is again rotated slowly first in one direction and then in the other by means of the gear 132'. WVhen unloading the machine after the completion of the process as outlined above all pipe connections to the machine are closed except the valve 44 which is opened to destroy the Vacuum in the machine and thus permit opening of the door 86 in the casing.

Although the above description and the accompanying drawing describe and illustrate a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the details of this disclosure, for, in the practical application of my invention, many changes may be made in form, construfition and operation, as circumstances may require or experience may suggest, without departing from the spirit of this invention within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing, hollow-walled means in the said casing for carrying the material to be cleaned, and means for spraying a cleaning solvent from the upper part of the machine on to the said material.

2. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing, rotary-hollow-walled means in the casing for carrying the material to be cleaned, a series -to said spray pipes.

4. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing, a hollow-walled rotor mounted in the casmg and carrying the materlal to be cleaned, a

, series of spray pipes arranged in a line parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotor, and means for supplying solvent to the said spray pipes to spray the material to be cleaned.

5. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing, a rotor comprising a circular series of tubes mounted in the machine and carrying the material to be cleaned, and means for spraying solvent upon the material in the rotor.

6. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing. arotor mounted in the machine and carrying the material to be cleaned, means for heating the walls. of the rotor to dry the material carried thereby, a row of spray pipes in the upper part of the casing for spraying solvent upon the said material, and means for conducting solvent to said spray pipes.

7. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing, a rotor comprising tubes for the passage of heating medium and trunnions for the supply and exhaust of such medium, means for supplying solvent to the machine to clean material carried in the rotor, and means for rotating the rotor.

8. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing, a rotor comprising an annular series of tubes mounted to rotate within the casing about a horizontal axis, a series of overhead spray pipes in the top of the casing arranged in a line parallel to the axis of the rotor, means for supplying solvent to the spray pipes to spray the material carried in the rotor and meansfor rotating the rotor to ensure proper spraying of the material.

9. 11143, dry-cleaning apparatus, a casing, a rotor mounted to rotate within the casing about a horizontal axis, a row of overhead spray pipes in the top of the casing arranged in a straight line parallel to the axis of the rotor, means for conducting solvent to the spray pipes, means for rotating the rotor at low speed, means for deflecting the spray to the interior of the rotor, and means for heating the walls of the rotor to dry material carried therein.

10. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a machine casing, a series of spray pipes for the supply of solvent in the top of the casing, and a rotor for carrying the material to be cleaned comprising a pair of end headers, a series of parallel tubes connecting said headers and forming the side walls of the rotor, and apair of hollow trunnions mounted on theend headers and carried in the end walls of the machine.

11. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a machine casing, means for spraying solvent into the interior of the casing, and a rotor for carrying the material to be cleaned comprising end plates, a circumferential series of parallel tubes, a series of parallel blades interposed between the tubes to direct the spray of solvent inwardly to the material in the interior of the rotor, and end trunnions for supporting the rotor in the end walls of the machine. 12. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a machine casing, overhead sprayv pipes for the supply of solvent to the interior of the machine, and

a rotor for carrying the material to be cleaned comprising hollow end members, a circular series of tubes connecting the end members, vanes interposed between the tubes to defiect the sprays of solvent to the material in the said rotor, end bearings for the support of the rotor, and means for conducting heating medium through the hollow end members to dry the material in the rotor after the completion of the-spraying operation.

13. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a machine using, a series of overhead spray pipes arranged in a straight line in the top of the machine, and a rotor mounted With its axis parallel to the line of spray pipes and comprising hollow end discs, a hollow trunnion projecting from each of the end discs, 2.

circular series of tubes connecting the end discs and forming a cylindrical wall for the rotor, vanes interposed between the said tubes and also connecting the said end discs, intermediate bands encircling the tubes and vanes,

and hinged doors in the said cylindrical wall.

14. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a machine casing, means for spraying solvent into the casing, and a rotor for carrying the material to be cleaned comprising hollow end discs, a series of connecting tubes, means for conducting steam to one of the said discs and from the second disc to exhaust, and means for facilitating the discharge of condensed steam from the second disc.

15. In a dry-cleaning apparatus, a machine casing, means for spraying solvent into the casing, and a rotor for carrying the material to be cleaned comprising hollow end discs, hollow connecting means between the said discs, a hollow trunnion on each disc, means for conducting steam through the said trunnions, and baflles located in one of the said discs for raising condensed steam to the level of the adjacent trunnion.

v ABRAHAM TRAUBE.

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