US 7,510,596 B2Granted

Thermal processor with contaminant removal cartridge

AssigneeCarestream Health, Inc.

InventorsKent R. Struble, David J. McDaniel, John M. Nutter

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Abstract

A thermal processor includes an oven for thermally developing an imaging media which produces gaseous contaminants during development. The gaseous contaminants includes odorous portions and condensable portions which have a condensation temperature. A contaminant removal cartridge has a housing configured to couple to the oven, a heat exchanger, and a filter module. The heat exchanger receives from the oven at least a first air flow at a first temperature, wherein the first temperature is above the condensation temperature, and including gaseous contaminants. The heat exchanger cools the first air flow to a desired filtering temperature, which is below the condensation temperature, to condense and collect the condensable portion of the gaseous contaminants and form a filtering air flow. The filter module receives the filtering air flow, to collect the remaining condensed contaminants, and to absorb the odorous portion of the gaseous contaminants to form an exhaust air flow.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A thermal processor, comprising:

an oven for thermally developing an imaging media which produces gaseous contaminants during development including an odorous portion and a condensable portion which condenses at or below a condensation temperature, the oven having a dwell section and a cooling section;
and
a contaminant removal cartridge having a housing configured to selectively couple to the oven, and including within the housing:
a heat exchanger configured to receive a first air flow at a first temperature from the dwell section and a second air flow at a second temperature from the cooling section downstream of the first air flow, the first and second temperatures being above the condensation temperature and the first and second air flows including gaseous contaminants, the heat exchanger further configured to cool the first air flow to the second temperature before mixing the first and second air flows and to cool the mixed air flow to a desired filtering temperature, which is below the condensation temperature, so as to condense and collect substantially all of the condensable portion of the gaseous contaminants therefrom to form a filtering air flow;
and
a filter module configured to receive the filtering air flow, to collect substantially all remaining condensed contaminants, and to absorb substantially all of the odorous portion of the gaseous contaminants therefrom to form an exhaust air flow.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.