US2039963A - Apparatus for the distillation of dry cleaning liquid - Google Patents

Description

May 5, 1936. A. .JONES A 2,039,963

APPARATUS FR THE DISTILLATON OF' DRY CLEANING LIQUID Filed March 30, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l RMX.

NVENTOH 5j JX/ May 5, IgE@ l A, JONES z APPARATUS FOR THE DISTILLATION OF DRY CLEANING LIQUID 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 3o, 1934 dei man sys Patented May 5, 1936 PATE NT oFFlCE APPARATUS FOR THE DIS'IILLATION OF DRY CLEANING LIQUID Alfred Jones, London, England, assigner to W. M.

. Still &'. Sons Limited, London, England Application March so, 1934, Serin No. 718,159 In Great Britain `August 11, 1933 2 Claims.

This invention relates to dry cleaning apparatus in which clothes or other articles to be cleaned are washed with benzine or other cleansing liquid which is recoveredby vdistillation and condensation for reuse.

Dry cleaning apparatus is known in which a still receives dirty liquid from a washing chamber and the sludge or residual liquid from this still is discharged from time to time into an auxiliary still, the -distilled vapours from both the main and the auxiliary still being led to a common condenser whence the condensate is returned to the apparatus for reuse.

When sludge or dirty residual liquid is heated suiiiciently to evaporate the volatile constituents in reasonable time, it is found that almost invariably it froths to such an extent that froth is carried out of the still with the vapour and, if this frothy vapour is condensed and returned for reuse as cleansing liquid, contamination of the cleansing liquid results.

Objects of the present invention are to provide improved means for withdrawing from the system dirty distillation residues and for heating up the used liquid before it is distilled.

According to the present invention dirty distillation residues are withdrawn from a main.I still and discharged into a supplementary still through a pipe connecting the bottom of the main still to the top of the supplementary still the said pipe also serving to condense the vapour distilled from the liquid in the supplementary still and return the distillate to the main still. The main still is connected with a chamber which receives the used cleansing liquid from the cleaning chamber and in which, before passing to the main still, it is preheated by hot circulation water from the condenser of the main still, with or without the aid of water of condensation from the stills when the latter are steam heated. The preheating vessel is preferably tted with a removable strainer for intercepting buttons and other small objects and has its top connected to the bottom of the main still by a pipe through which the preheated cleansing liquid overflows as additional used cleaning liquid is discharged into the preheating vessel from the cleaning chamber.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 shows the apparatus mainly in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation at right angles to Fig. l showing the cleaning chamber and basket and the preheating vessel.

The apparatus comprises a standard or frame a having fixed to its upper part the end cover b of the cleaning chamber which is constituted by a cylindrical vessel c bolted to the said end cover and having, at its opposite end, an upwardly inclined inlet passage d closed by a door e preferably hinged at its edge el and carrying, on an inwardly extending bracket e2, a closure e3 for 5 an aperture in the end of a clothes-containing basket f which is secured to a driving spindle y extending through a stullng box h in the xed end cover b and mounted in roller bearings in the standard or frame a. The door-carried 10 closure e3 prevents the clothes escaping from the basket during its oscillation into the chamber c.

A pinion i on the spindle gears with a toothed rack Ic'actuated by a crank l driven through worm gear from an electric motor m. To avoid shock 15 it is preferred to interpose in the connection between the crank and the toothed portion of the rack a spring buffer arrangement comprising a telescopic joint with springs n.

Beneath the chamber cis a liquid straining and 20 heating vessel o which is formed with a neck o1 that has a lateral connection o2 with the bottom of the chamber c; this connection is provided with a cock or valve o3 and may be formed with a coupling piece to enable .the vessel to be de- 25 tached. The mouth of the neck is closed by a screw cap o4 having linked to it a short length of tube o5 which rests on a shoulder in the neck and projects downwardly. Attached to the tube is a gauze pocket or strainer o6 which retains 3o buttons and so on entering with the cleansing liquid and can be easily withdrawn for emptying. The entering liquid is directed to the bottom of the vessel o by a tube o-rl (Fig. 2). Within the vessel o is a coil p for circulation of water of con- 35 densation led from the steam heated main still q through the pipe q1; and the lower part of the vessel is jacketed and heated by water led from the condenser r through the pipe r3. Towards the top, the vessel o has an outlet pipe s con- 40 nected to the still q, the upper part of which is connected by a pipe t to the elevated condenser r which consists of coils arranged within a water tank an-d discharging into a cleansing liquid storage tank u which is in Valve-controlled connection through the pipe u with the .chamber c.

To avoid the necessity of frequently opening up the still q to remove dirty residue, it is so connected with a supplementary still z that the dirty residue can be withdrawn from the bottom of the still q and delivered into the still z, the ultimate residue being drawn olf through a cock 21; in the example, a pipe q2 extends from the bottom of the still q and is connected to the top of the still z through a condensing coiled pipe z2 and through 55 Y a hand operated pump w.

The still is heated by steam piping z3 arranged in the bottom of the still and connected to the coil q3 arranged in the main still. With this arrangement, the distilled vapour condenses in the pipe z2 and the distillate flows back through the pipe q2 to the still q thus avoiding froth, due to heating of dirty liquid, beingcarried away with the vapour into the condenser r and thence to the storage tank u which would result in contamination of the liquid to be used for cleaning. Residue accumulating in the still q can be pumped at am; time into the still z, whilst, when steam is shut 01T from the still z, condensation of vapour therein will cause a reduction of pressure and any residue in still q will be sucked up the pipe z2 into the still z ready for future distillation.

What I claim is:- 1. In an apparatus of the character described, cleansing liquid recovery means comprising; a main still for distilling dirty cleansing liquid, a condenser, a connection between said still and condenser through which the distillate can pass, a supplementary still, between the main still and the supplementary still,` a, pump adapted to withdraw the residue from the main still and deliver it into the supplementary still and an open connection between the bottom of the main still and the top of the supplementary still, said open connection serving as a condensing device for distilled vapour fromY the supplementary still and as a return for the condensate to the main still and to permit residual liquid in. the main still passing into the supplementary still when th heating of the latter is stopped.

2. In an apparatus of the character described;v a main still for distilling dirty cleansing liquid, a

` pipe connected to said main still and adapted to permit passage of residue from said main still inito said supplementary still upon. diminution of pressure in the latter and also to permit condensate from the: supplementary still to gravitate into the. main still.

ALFRED JONES'.

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