Film dryer
AssigneeBuckingham Graphics, Inc.
InventorMichael J. Ferrarell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A film dryer is provided primarily for use in the graphic arts in which relatively large sheets of film must be processed and dried. A part of input rollers is of sufficiently hard rubber as to squeegee off most of the surface moisture which drops into a drip pan where it may be emptied. Subsequent guide rollers are of short axial extent and spaced apart. Air jets are slightly warmed and blow generally toward one another and against the surface of the film, and back toward the entrance, whereby to carry moisture back into the area of the drip tray for collection. O-rings or other resilient guides are positioned over suitable supporting structure to prevent the film from wrapping up about the various rollers.
Claims5
A film dryer comprising a housing having an inlet area, including a film inlet opening, at least one pair of squeegee rollers in said inlet area and aligned with said inlet opening for receiving moisture-laden film manually fed into said dryer, a top panel of said housing terminating substantially adjacent said squeegee rollers so as not to obstruct said inlet area, said squeegee rollers being positioned one above the other and in rolling engagement with one another for squeegeeing water from film and having a total vertical height substantially equal to the sum of their diameters, a removable drip tray positioned below said squeegee rollers such that a substantial proportion of the moisture on the film is squeegeed off by the rollers and drips into the drip tray, substantially preventing further moisture from dripping interiorly of said inlet area, said housing having a film outlet opening and air distributing means disposed between said inlet opening and said outlet opening for distributing air within said housing and out through said inlet opening to dry any residual moisture from said film and carry said residual moisture in the direction of said inlet opening to exit said dryer therethrough, said inlet opening having a vertical dimension greater than the vertical height of said squeegee rollers and a horizontal dimension substantially similar to the width of said squeegee rollers to assure said exit of substantially all of said residual moisture therethrough and wherein said air distributing means comprises pairs of air distributing tubes extending from side to side of said housing and having air exit jets directed generally toward the plane of the film passing between said film conveyor rollers and angled back toward said inlet opening to carry moisture toward and out of said inlet opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.