US 6,006,387 A · Cold water ozone disinfection

Abstract

The invention includes a method of reducing the microbial population on a textile in a washing machine. The washing machine has an outer shell for containing fluids and an internal assembly for containing textiles. The method includes introducing a wash liquor into the internal assembly, thus contacting the textile with the wash liquor and wetting the textile. The wash liquor is then removed from the internal assembly and the outer shell at a first point. At a second point, a combination of ozone gas, oxygen and/or oxygen enriched air is mixed into the wash liquor being removed from the outer shell to form an ozonated wash liquor. This ozonated wash liquor is re-introduced into the outer shell and internal assembly thus contacting the textile with the ozonated wash liquor for a period of time.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A method of reducing the microbial content on a dyed textile to inactivate or limit the growth potential believed to be thereon without significantly altering or removing the dye, said method comprising:

contacting the dyed textile with a wash liquor at a temperature of about 50.degree. F. to about 140.degree. F., said wash liquor comprising an admixture of aqueous solution and surfactant, thus wetting the textile;
combining a gaseous mixture of ozone gas, air and/or oxygen and/or oxygen enriched air with the wash liquor to form an ozonated wash liquor containing from about 0.01 ppm to about 50 ppm ozone;
and re-contacting said ozonated wash liquor with the dyed textile for a period of time of about 3 minutes to about 60 minutes thus inactivating any microbes present on said dyed textile without decreasing the dyed textile's color intensity significantly.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Cold water ozone disinfection

Life of this patent

Cold water ozone disinfection

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims6