GB915647A - Drying apparatus for air permeable material - Google Patents

Abstract

915,647. Drying clothes. WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION. June 29, 1961 [Sept. 29, 1960], No. 23615/61. Class 34 (2). A drying apparatus for air permeable material such as fabric comprises a casing having a drum rotatably mounted therein provided with a perforate cylindrical wall in contact with which a suction nozzle is positioned for applying a suction to the wall, means for applying suction to the nozzle and means for rotating the drum to enable it to tumble the material therein, the drying apparatus separating moisture or cleaning fluid from the material by passage through the perforate wall and suction nozzle. A dry cleaning or domestic laundry machine comprises a rotary drum 26, Fig. 2, within a casing 14 of a cabinet 10, and a suction nozzle having an end 64 resiliently mounted against a perforated, central cylindrical portion 32 of the drum wall to separate cleaning fluid or moisture from the clothes in the drum as it rotates by passages through the perforated wall and suction nozzle. The fluid or moisture from the drum enters into a closed fluid flow circuit comprising a first series of conduits 65, 69, 76, Fig. 1, which connect the nozzle to the inlet 74 of a vacuum pump 73, a second series of conduits 78, 79 connecting the outlet 75 of the pump by a twoway valve 77 either to a drain (not shown) or the casing 14 respectively, and a third conduit 71 connecting a separator 70, which also is mounted between the conduits 69 and 76, to the casing. The separator both separates fluff &c. in a filter 119 from the circulating fluid and acts as a liquid trap, only the gaseous medium passing through the conduit 76 to the pump, while the liquid flows through conduit 71 to the casing. Electrical heating elements 102, 103 are mounted in grooves 104 in the casing and extend substantially around the entire circumference of the drum to act both as water heaters in the wash cycle and to vaporize moisture during drying, which heaters are disconnected by solenoids actuated by thermostats in a housing 66 in the conduit 65 when the temperature of the fluid leaving the drum exceeds a predetermined value. Water is introduced into the drum by a solenoid-controlled pipe 145 through an opening 109 having a hinged flap 110 and ambient air also enters the casing and drum therethrough at a predetermined suction within the drum. Tumbling is achieved within the drum by arcuate ribs 100 which have the intermediate portion of minimum height located substantially over the centre line of the nozzle 62 to minimize the spacing between the perforated section 32 and fabrics bridging the baffles and so minimize loss of vacuum beneath the baffles by the nozzle.