Dehydration process
AssigneeInternationale Octrooi Maatschappij "Octropa" B.V.
InventorsFrancis John Judge, Joseph Morriss Stubbs
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Abstract
Traditionally flowers are dried for decorative purposes by being left immersed in a bed of fine sand. The sand holds the flower in a constant conformation and prevents damage such as the crinkling of petals during dehydration. The invention provides a process in which the labor-intensive operation of covering the flower manually with the sand is avoided. The sand is fluidized by means of a gentle current of air rising therethrough, enabling the flower to be simply immersed in the sand without damage or change in conformation. Fluidization is stopped, and the flower is instantly locked in place by the sand ready for dehydration. After dehydration, the flower can be removed from the sand easily by re-fluidizing the sand.
Claims9
A process for the dehydration of a delicate object such as plant material, which process involves the steps of:
- a. inducing relative motion between particles in a bed of dry particulate material selected from fine sand, silica gel and ion exchange resins;
- b. immersing said delicate object in said bed while maintaining said relative motion at least in a zone which encompasses said delicate object;
- and
- c. causing said relative motion to cease, so causing said particulate material to hold said delicate object in a constant conformation while dehydration of said delicate object is effected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.