EP0191615A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material
Assignee: Entek Manufacturing LLC
•
Filing: 1986-02-10
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2006-02-10
Abstract
Abstract For removing processing oil from thin sheets (40) of microporous plastic material a tank (14) has a liquid zone in its bottom portion which is divided into several sub-tanks (16) having decreasing depths extending across the tank. Heating coils (20) in each sub-tank (16) vaporize the solvent to form a cleaning zone, containing vaporized solvent, above the liquid zone, and condensing coils (74) located at the top of the tank condense the vaporised solvent and deposit it into the deepest sub-tank which also is supplied fresh make-up solvent when required. A series of rollers (22, 70) feeds the sheet material (40) through the tank, from the side having the shallowest sub-tank toward the side having the deepest sub-tank, while repeatedly passing it between the cleaning zone where solvent is condensed on it to clean it, and the condensing zone where it is cooled to a temperature below the temperature of the vaporous solvent. Precondensing coils (78) located medially in the tank between each pass of the material (40) as it extends between the condensing zone and the cleaning zone and vice versa, define the extent of the cleaning zone and direct condensed solvent onto the material to wash it. Soiled solvent is removed from the shallowest sub-tank and evaporatively separated ! from the oil carried in it and reintroduced into the tank as vapor. After the oil has been removed from the material (40) the solvent is displaced by pressurized steam which is directed onto the material and the steam then is removed from the material by passing it through a heater.
Inventors
- 👤 Peter E. Johnson
- 👤 James Young
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 06:58
CPC Classifications
B; B08; B08B; B08B3/00; B08B3/04; B08B3/08; C; C23; C23G; C23G5/00; C23G5/02; C23G5/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material comprising: (a) providing a degreasing tank having liquid solvent located in a liquid zone defined in the lower portion thereof; (b) heating said solvent in said liquid zone to vaporize a portion thereof and provide a cleaning zone above said liquid zone which contains saturated vaporous solvent; (c) condensing said solvent with a cooling device in a condensing zone defined in said tank above said cleaning zone; and (d) passing the sheet through said tank in a manner such that it cyclically passes between said cleaning zone and said condensing zone.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material comprising: (a) providing a degreasing tank having liquid solvent located in a liquid zone defined in the lower portion thereof; (b) heating said solvent in said liquid zone to vaporize a portion thereof and provide a cleaning zone above said liquid zone which contains saturated vaporous solvent; (c) condensing said solvent with a cooling device in a condensing zone defined in said tank above said cleaning zone; and (d) passing the sheet through said tank in a manner such that it cyclically passes between said cleaning zone and said condensing zone.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 including the step of passing the material into said liquid zone each time it passes into said cleaning zone.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the rate at which the sheet passes between said cleaning zone and said condensing zone is such that the sheet remains in the condensing zone until it has cooled to a temperature which is significantly below the temperature of the solvent vapor, and it remains in the cleaning zone until its temperature approaches the temperature of the solvent vapor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 1 including the step of directing solvent condensed in said condensing zone onto the sheet when it is in said cleaning zone.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 1 including the step of recycling said solvent when it becomes contaminated with soil removed from the material by removing said soil from said solvent.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
137 words
Apparatus for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material comprising: (a) a degreasing tank; (b) liquid solvent sufficient to fill only a predetermined liquid portion of said tank; (c) heating means in said liquid portion of said tank for heating said liquid solvent and forming a cleaning zone containing vaporized solvent above said liquid portion; (d) condensing means located in said tank for causing said vaporized solvent to condense in a condensing zone which is located above said cleaning zone; and (e) material handling means for placing the material alternately into said condensing zone until it is cooled substantially below the temperature of said vaporized solvent and then into said cleaning zone until it has been warmed to approximately the temperature of said vaporized solvent a predetermined number of times while passing the material through said tank.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
137 words
Apparatus for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material comprising: (a) a degreasing tank; (b) liquid solvent sufficient to fill only a predetermined liquid portion of said tank; (c) heating means in said liquid portion of said tank for heating said liquid solvent and forming a cleaning zone containing vaporized solvent above said liquid portion; (d) condensing means located in said tank for causing said vaporized solvent to condense in a condensing zone which is located above said cleaning zone; and (e) material handling means for placing the material alternately into said condensing zone until it is cooled substantially below the temperature of said vaporized solvent and then into said cleaning zone until it has been warmed to approximately the temperature of said vaporized solvent a predetermined number of times while passing the material through said tank.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 6 including precondensing means located in said cleaning zone for condensing a selected portion of said solvent therein.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 7 including spray means for collecting the solvent condensed by said precondensing means and directing it onto said sheet while it is passing through said cleaning zone.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
67 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said liquid portion of said tank is divided into a plurality of sub-tanks having exceedingly greater ratios of solvent to grease moving toward the direction in which the material enters said tank, including inlet means for introducing fresh solvent into the sub-tank having the least contaminated solvent and outlet means for removing solvent from the sub-tank having the most contaminated solvent.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said sub-tanks have increasingly greater depth moving from said exit means toward said inlet means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
ll. The apparatus of claim 6 including means for collecting the solvent condensed by said condensing means and returning it to the sub-tank having the least contaminated solvent.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
73 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said material handling means comprises a first set of rollers located in said tank within said condensing zone and a second set of rollers located in said tank immediately above said liquid portion, said rollers being arranged such that the material will alternately pass over a roller in the first set and then under a roller in the second set as the material passes through said tank.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
71 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said material handling means comprises a first set of rollers located in said tank within said condensing zone and a second set of rollers located in said tank within said liquid portion, said rollers being arranged such that the material will alternately pass over a roller in the first set and then under a roller in the second set as it passes through said tank.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of either claims 12 or 13 including support means insertable into said tank from above for carrying said second set of rollers.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus of claim 14 including lifting means for raising said support means such that the rollers in said second set are positioned above the rollers in said first set for inserting material therebetween when loading the apparatus.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
46 words
A system for removing oil from a sheet of thin microporous material containing a high percentage of processing oil in pores formed therein, said system comprising the apparatus of claim 6 and means for removing solvent from the sheet after the oil has been removed therfrom.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 16 wherein said means for removing the solvent comprises means for directing steam onto the sheet so as to displace the solvent with said steam.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 17 including drying means for displacing said steam with heated air.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 17 including means for separating the displaced solvent and steam and returning the solvent portion to said tank through said inlet means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 16 including means for separating oil and solvent which is removed from said tank through said outlet means and returning the solvent portion to said tank.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 20 including means for reusing said oil for producing additional quantities of the material.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.