Supercritical noble gases and coloring methods
AssigneeEmpire Technology Development LLC
InventorsWilliam B. Carlson, Gregory D. Phelan, Philip A. Sullivan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A coloring system can include a noble gas, colorant, and one or more vessels configured to convert the noble gas into a supercritical fluid, and/or receive and color an article of manufacture with the noble gas in the supercritical fluid state. A coloring process can include converting a noble gas into a supercritical fluid state; dissolving, suspending, or absorbing a colorant into the supercritical noble gas, and coloring an article of manufacture with the noble gas in the supercritical fluid state. A coloring composition can include a noble gas in a supercritical fluid state, and a colorant located in the supercritical noble gas.
Claims31
A composition comprising:
- a colorant;
- a supercritical fluid consisting essentially of a noble gas having the colorant dissolved, suspended, or absorbed in the supercritical fluid;
- and
- an article of manufacture located in the supercritical fluid.
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A coloring system comprising:
- a noble gas;
- a colorant that is miscible in the noble gas when in a supercritical state;
- one or more vessels configured to:
- convert the noble gas into a supercritical fluid;
- and
- receive and color an article of manufacture with the noble gas in the supercritical fluid state having the colorant dissolved, suspended, or absorbed in the supercritical noble gas;
- and
- a separator vessel fluidly coupled to the one or more vessels and configured to decompress the supercritical noble gas to separate the noble gas from the colorant and/or colorant byproduct, wherein the separator vessel includes a gas outlet and a solids/liquids outlet.
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A coloring process comprising:
- converting a noble gas into a supercritical fluid state;
- combining a colorant with the noble gas in the supercritical fluid state within a coloring vessel;
- coloring an article of manufacture with the noble gas in the supercritical fluid state having the colorant dissolved, suspended, or absorbed in the supercritical noble gas;
- decompressing the supercritical noble gas to a gaseous state;
- and
- separating the noble gas from the colorant and/or colorant byproducts in a separator vessel.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.