Apparatus for detergent-solvent degreasing

Claim 1

CONTINUOUS SOLVENT CLEANING APPARATUS INCLUDING, IN COMBINATION, A CONTAINER FOR LIQUID SOLVENT, ENCLOSURE MEANS COMPRISING A DOWNWARDLY OPENING STRUCTURE HAVING CLOSED SIDE WALLS AND A CLOSED TOP WALL, SAID SIDE WALLS EXTENDING WITHIN SAID CONTAINER TO A LEVEL BELOW THAT OF THE NORMAL LIQUID LEVEL THEREOF, A PAIR OF OPPOSED SIDEWALLS THEREOF BEING SPACED APART FROM THE ADJACENT WALL STRUCTURE OF SAID CONTAINER, CONTINUOUS CONVEYOR MEANS ADAPTED TO CONVEY A PLURALITY OF WORK OBJECTS DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID CONTAINER, UNDER A FIRST OPPOSED SIDEWALL, THEN UPWARDLY INTO SAID ENCLOSURE, THEN DOWNWARDLY UNDER THE SECOND OPPOSED SIDEWALL, AND FINALLY UPWARDLY OUT OF SAID CONTAINER, SPRAYING MEANS FOR LIQUID SOLVENT MOUNTED WITHIN SAID ENCLOSURE AND ADAPTED TO IMPINGE SPRAYED LIQUID SOLVENT THROUGH A ZONE TRAVERSED BY SAID CONVEYOR MEANS WITHIN SAID ENCLOSURE, A FIRST VERTICAL PARTITION MEANS WITHIN SAID CONTAINER; SAID FIRST PARTITION MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO DIVIDE SAID CONTAINER INTO A FIRST AND SECOND LIQUID SUMP WHEREBY SAID FIRST SUMP SURROUNDS THE PATH OF SAID CONVEYOR MEANS UNDER SAID FIRST SIDEWALL AND UPWARDLY INTO SAID ENCLOSURE, AND SAID SECOND SUMP SURROUNDS THE PATH OF SAID CONVEYOR MEANS DOWNWARDLY UNDER SAID SECOND SIDEWALL AND UPWARDLY OUT OF SAID CONTAINER, A SECOND VERTICAL PARTITION MEANS WITHIN SAID CONTAINER HAVING A HEIGHT LESS THAN THAT OF SAID FIRST VERTICAL PARTITION MEANS, SAID SECOND PARTITION MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO DIVIDE SAID FIRST LIQUID SUMP INTO A SETTLING SECTION AND A CLEAR SECTION, SOLVENT COLLECTING MEANS POSITIONED WITHIN SAID ENCLOSURE AND ADAPTED TO COLLECT THE LIQUID SOLVENT SPRAY WHICH FALLS BY GRAVITY AFTER IMPINGEMENT UPON SAID WORK OBJECTS, AND FURTHER ADAPTED TO DIRECT SAID COLLECTED SOLVENT INTO SAID SETTLING SECTION, AND A LIQUID PUMPING SYSTEM ADAPTED TO WITHDRAW LIQUID SOLVENT FROM SAID CLEAR SECTION AND TO PUMP SAID LIQUID SOLVENT THROUGH SAID SPRAYING MEANS.