Fabric washing system
AssigneeAlbany International Corp.
InventorsJoseph A. Bolton, Olavi A. Huhtala
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for cleaning and drying porous fabrics such as tufted carpet are disclosed. A porous fabric is first wetted and then passed over a slotted vacuum pipe. A backup plate is positioned opposite the slot, and the fabric passes between the slot and plate. Air is forced to flow in an indirect route into the slot to maximize cleaning and drying. The gap between the slot and backup plate is adjustable to enable the system to handle fabrics or carpets of varying thickness.
Claims19
A system adapted for cleaning and drying porous fabrics, comprising:
- means for passing a porous fabric having a face side and a back side in a downstream direction and at an appropriate speed;
- means for applying liquid to said fabric;
- means for applying suction to the face side of said fabric positioned downstream from said means for applying liquid;
- backup means positioned opposite said means for applying suction such that said fabric will pass in a gap between said backup means and said means for applying suction;
- and
- said means for applying suction including a vacuum slot defined by a stepped structure including a slot entrance surface and a slot exit surface over which a fabric may pass, said slot exit surface having a greater height than said slot entrance surface.
A method for cleaning and drying a porous fabric such as carpet comprising the steps of:
- wetting a fabric;
- passing said fabric through a gap between a vacuum source and backup means positioned opposite said source, said backup means preventing the flow of air directly through said fabric and causing it to flow in an indirect route into said vacuum source;
- and
- arranging said vacuum source and said backup means such that air flows substantially only in one direction through said fabric and gap into said vacuum source.
A device for extracting liquid from a porous fabric comprising:
- a vacuum source, said source including a vacuum slot defined by a stepped structure including a slot entrance surface and a slot exit surface over which a fabric may pass, said slot exit surface having a greater height than said slot entrance surface;
- and
- backup means positioned opposite said vacuum source such that said fabric must pass through a gap between said vacuum source and said backup means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.