Apparatus for cleaning a linear object in a solvent medium

Claim 1

An apparatus for cleaning a continuous, long, linear object in a solvent medium, comprising a tubular guide open at its ends for guiding the long, linear object, means for drawing the object inside said tubular guide along an imposed trajectory in the form of a continuous curve, said tubular guide being provided, adjacent one end thereof, with inlet means for clean solvent medium and, adjacent its other end, with outlet means for dirty solvent medium, so that the solvent medium circulates through the tubular guide in contact with the long, linear object and in the opposite direction to the direction of movement of the object through the tubular guide, and means for subjecting the solvent medium to ultrasound, further comprising a vat including a cleaning compartment and a distillation compartment, each containing solvent medium and laterally separated from each other by a dividing partition having an overflow sill and an opening for providing vapors of the solvent medium with access to said cleaning compartment, with said distillation compartment including heating means and said cleaning compartment projecting upward above the upper portion of said distillation compartment and having at each end thereof condenser coils for condensing vapors of the solvent medium, with inlet and outlet ramps for said object placed upon said condenser coils, wherein said tubular guide is partly immersed in the solvent medium in said cleaning compartment such that its ends are located above the surface of said solvent medium and under said condenser coils.

Claim 2

An apparatus for cleaning a continuous, long, linear object in a solvent medium, comprising a tubular guide open at its ends for guiding the long, linear object, means for drawing the object inside said tubular guide along an imposed trajectory in the form of a continuous curve, said tubular guide being provided, adjacent one end thereof, with inlet means for clean solvent medium and, adjacent its other end, with outlet means for dirty solvent medium, so that the solvent medium circulates through the tubular guide in contact with the long, linear object and in the opposite direction to the direction of movement of the object through the tubular guide, and means for subjecting the solvent medium to ultrasound, further comprising a vat including a cleaning compartment and a distillation compartment, each containing solvent medium and laterally separated from each other by a dividing partition having an overflow sill and an opening for providing vapors of the solvent medium with access to said cleaning compartment, with said distillation compartment including heating means and said cleaning compartment projecting upward above the upper portion of said distillation compartment and having at each end thereof condenser coils for condensing vapors of the solvent medium, with inlet and outlet ramps for said object placed upon said condenser coils, wherein said tubular guide is partly immersed in the solvent medium in said cleaning compartment such that its ends are located above the surface of said solvent medium and under said condenser coils.