US3103112A

US3103112A - Fabric cleaning and drying machine

Info

Publication number: US3103112A
Application number: US142835A
Authority: US
Inventors: Curtis E Behrens; Emmett H Geibel
Original assignee: Borg Warner Corp
Current assignee: Borg Warner Corp
Priority date: 1961-10-04
Filing date: 1961-10-04
Publication date: 1963-09-10
Anticipated expiration: 1980-09-10

Description

Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENS ETAI.

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed oct. 4, 1961.

Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRr-:Ns ETAL. 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 4, 1961 17 Sheets-Sheet 2 /97 f7! fgt) o o /Ts o \\\\,\f o o 209 96 o i \I \l #7a l l n I l /75 o @M l BF f7@ 200 210 206 fg@ 205 "W 35p? EL" j 212 2611 267 1 'L BP 173 /U jaa, /l

Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENs ETAL 3,103,112

NABRIG CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 4, 1961A and Caritas' E ekrem SPt 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENs ETAL. 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE Filea oct. 4, 1961 17 Sheets-Sheet 4 u my .Nh\| ...NJ W w ,A A mi Qui l@ WE1@ 1 a e ma. W%\ MN\. .Qk\. f /l j ,1 a mi j mw .r N J w, f6 ATN@ nu.

Sept. l0, 1963 c.E.B1-:HRENS ETAL 3,103,112

v FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE- Filed Oct. 4, 1961 17 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENS x-:TAL 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 4, 1961 17 Sheets-Sheet 6 Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRr-:Ns ETAL 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Oct. 4, 1961 y w w 9 2 A .y A d I w 5 A/l. I v2 2 m a l 3 2 T\v Sept. 1o, `1963 C. E. BEHRENS ETAL FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Oct. 4, 1961 l u g.. NQ

INVENTOR" mmeff H zel and Sept. 10, 1963 C. E. BEHRENS ETAL FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Oct. 4, 1961 INVENTOR mme-H fzlbel and muy Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENS ETAL v 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 4, 1961 17 Sheets-Sheet 10 INVENTORS: mmeff Gea'el nmz urZzz's f e/zfefzs Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENS ETAL 3,103,112

FABRIC cLEANxNG AND DRYING MACHINE v 17 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed Oct. 4, 1961 NWN NVENTORS: mmeH 'eL'e and Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEI-RENS ETAL 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed Oct. 4, 1961 Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENS ETAL FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE:

Filed oct. 4, 1961 17 Sheets-Sheet 313 INVENTORS: Imwfj'ea'el and (ur-Z515 E 25e/ferai Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENS ETAL 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE.

Filed om. 4, 1961 17 sheets-sheet 14 INVENTORS.' fmmezzfff Geiel and CL/J efa rens Sept. 10, 1963 c. E.BEHRENs ETAL 3,103,112 l FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed ont. 4, 1961 17 sheets-sheet 15 LLL INV EN TORS Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRl-:Ns .'-z-rAl 3,103,112

FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE aaasrsn Hure-R uur e sua-wrekvAL r/Mff? sw. #2

INV EN TOR5.'

Sept. 10, 1963 c. E. BEHRENS ETAL FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE Filed 0G12. 4, 1961 00L DOWN MIN. J0

1'7 Sheets-Sheet 17 TlMER C'NTACTJ CL 0.550 AND COMPONENT fNEFG/ZED. LE/VD-D D T/MER CONTACTJ CLOSED BUT COMPONENT N07 EN''G/ZE. E TIMER CONTACTS MAY 5 OPEN 0%? (0550- mmef Geiel and furz's e/reras United States Patent O FABRIC CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE Curtis E. Behrens and Emmett H. Geibel, Effingham, lll.,

assigner-s to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois, and llames D. Robbins, Spring Lake, Mich.

Filed Oct. 4, 1961, Ser. No. 142,835 11 Claims. (Cl. 68-18) This invention relates to fabric-cleaning and drying machines, such as dry-cleaning machines, and more particularly to a fluid control arrangement yfor such machines.

In conventional fabric-cleaning and drying machines, fabrics are cleaned in a uid, 'the lluid is then drained, the air in the machines is heated and circulated through the fabrics to dry the fabrics, and vapors produced in the drying operation may be condensed into fluid form by cooling liquid or refrigeration and removed `from the machine. Valve arrangements for control-ling `admission of cleaning fluid to the machine, draining of the soiled fluid from the machine, and removal of the vapor-condensate fluid have heretofore been a plurality of valves controlling the ilow of these lluids to and from the machines through conduits individual to the respective valves and each valve being selectively operable to provide or prevent llow through its :associated conduit without controlling fluid flow through the other valve-controlled flow conduits, thus requiring a considerable number of conduits for insuring the proper iluid control in the operation of the machine.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved Huid control arrangement for fabric-cleaning and dryin g machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new yand improved duid control arrangement for fabric-cleaning and drying machines and having a common fluid passage for the admission of cleaning lluid to the machine, draining cleaning fluid from the machine and removing condensate lluid from the machine and valves respectively controlling the flow of the fluids into and from the passage and thereby the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved fluid control arrangement for fabric-cleaning and dryi-ng machines and in which the cleaning fluid admitted to the machine `and drained `from the machine, and the condensate tluid is removed from the machine by gravity flow of the uids through ia common uid passage, fluid ow from and to the machine being controlled by valves operable in a predetermined sequence of operations of the machine.

A `further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved fluid control arrangement for fabric-cleaning and drying machines, las above described, in which the various fluids are diverted into and from the common fluid passage connected to the machine by open-ing `and closing of the valves respectively controlling the cleaning tluid admission, cleaning fluid drainage, and condensate fluid removal.

A further object of the invention is to provide ia new and improved iiuid control arrangement for a dry cleaning machine utilizing solvent and in which the clean solvent is admitted to the machine from Ia reservoir, soiled solvent drained from the machine to a filter, and solvent ,and water condensate is removed from the machine for return to -a water and `solvent separator, through a common passage, the solvent flow into and from the passage being controlled `by a valve assembly `including a condensate control valve functioning to divert the ilow of the water and solvent condensate -into the separator in the event the solvent drain valve should remain open during the drying operation.

3,103,112 Patented Sept. 10, 1963 ICC These and other objects yand advantages of the invention Will yappear more clearly from the following specication in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the dry cleaning system embodying rthe invention, including two combination cleaning `and drying machines;

FIG. 2 is la top plan View of the system illustrating the iluid supply arrangement and including `a filter;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic rear view of the system, certain parts of the system being shown in changed position from that of FIGS. 1-3 to more clearly illustrate `a feature thereof;

FIG. 4A is la sectional view of a portion of the iluid supply system land also showing details of a uid level device;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional View of one of the machines shown in FIG. 1, said section being taken on line 5 5 of FIG. l, .and illustrating interior parts of the machine including a Huid-containing receptacle, a fabric-receiving basket, and an air-circulating fan, and means for rotatably mounting the basket 'and fan on the receptacle;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational View of the machine shown in FIG. 5, illustrating the drive mechanism for :basket and fan rotation and including a trans-mission providing different speeds of rotation of the basket;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the receptacle, basket and fan and mounting means therefor of FIG. 5, said section being taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8, is a greatly enlarged sectional view of the basket and fan mounting means shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, said section being taken on line 3 8 of FIG. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 9 is a sectional View of the transmission shown in FIG. 6, said section being taken `on linev 9 -9 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9A is a front elevation of the electric drive motor unit including drive pulleys and clutch, said view being taken on line 9A-9A of FIG. 6 and being partly in Section to more clearly illustrate the structure thereof;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the lower half of the machine including -a cleaning duid storage tank, said view partly being in sect-ion to more clearly illustrate the structure thereof;

FIG. 11 is a .top plan view `of the fluid storage tank, taken online 11-11 of FIG. 10';

FIG. 12 is an end View, partly in section, or" the fluid storage tank;

FIG. 13 is la fragmentary top plan View of the control valve arrange-ment :mounted on the top of the fluid storage tank;

FIG. 13A is `a view illustrating 'an air-venting vacuumbreaker valve shown in FIG. 13; s

FIG. 14 is a side elevation yof one yof the control valves, taken on line 14-14 of FIG. 15

FIG. 15 is 4an end view partly in section, of the valve of FIG. 14, said view being taken on line 15--15 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a 4fragmentary sectional view of thev valve of FIGS. 14 and 15, said `section being taken on line 16-16 of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is la diagrammatic view of the control valve arrangement shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 18 is a sectional View of `a separating device for different fluids, said section being taken on line Iii-13 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 19 is 'a side elevational view of the filter shown in FIG. 2, said View 'being partly in section to illustrate the lter tube land screen assemblies;

'p nel FIG. 20 is a .top view of the filter shown in FIG. 19, said view being partly in Asection to illustrate the tube and screen assemblies;

FIG. 21 is a greatly enlarged vertical sectional view of one of the filter tube and screen assemblies shown in FIGS. 19 and 20;

FIG. 22 is a horizontal sectional view `of the filter, said section being taken on line 22-Z2 of FIG. l9,.looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 23 is a greatly enlarged vertical sectional view tof one `of the tube and screen assemblies of the iilter, and illustrating a fluid-filtering agent'coating and accumulation of soil and lint particles, forming-a iilm on the coating, during iiltering'of the cleaning iiuid;

FIG. 24 is ia view of the tube and screen assembly of the iilter, similar to FIG. 23 but illustrating the coating yand lm breaking away from the screen during a backvvash operation.

FIGS. 25 and 26 are vertical sectional views of one of the two identical air shutters, in the form off poppet valves, shown in FIG. 6 and provided for removal of cleaning liuid fumes from and about the machine at the conclusion of theV drying cycle of the dry cleaning machine, FIG. 25 illustrating the lclosed position of the valve and FIG. 26 illustrating the 'open position of the valve;

FIG. 27 is a rear view of a portion of the door and the door-mounting front panel of the machine shown in FIG. 6 and illustrating the door-locking mechanism and control means therefor;

FIG. 27A is a horizontal section view of a switch- Iactuating arrangement associated 'with the door lock mechanism controls, said section @being taken on line 27A- 27A of FIG. 27;

FIG. 28 is a horizontal sectional view of the doorlocking mechanism of FIG. 27, said section being taken on line 28-28 of FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical control arrangement of the dry cleaning machine of FIGS. -28, inclusive, and including sequentially-controlled cam-operated switches;

FIG. 30 is a cam sequenceV chart illustrating the cleaning and drying cycles of the dry cleaning machine of FIGS. 5-28, inclusive.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. l, 2, 3, and 4 illustrate an improved dry cleaning arrangement particularly, but not necessarily, adapted for 1a plurality of combination fabric-cleaning and drying machines, two of which are shown and generally identified as I and II.

The cleaning fluid supply system utilized with the machines has been designed to provide a constant flow of clean, iiltered cleaning fluid or solvent, such as perchlorethylene, to each machine during the fabric-cleaning cycle, each machine having an overflow arrangement to expel the soiled solvent from the machine to a solvent storage base tank of the machine `for flow of the solvent to a pump and then to a lter for removing soil and other impurities `from the solvent and for recirculation of the cleaned solvent. The filtered solvent is supplied to each machine by a manifold providing a metered quantity of cleaning solvent to each machine with a proper solvent level or height being constantly maintained in the machines by the location of the solvent overflow pipe in the machine. This 'feature is important as each machine includes -a fabric-containing basket rotatable about a horizontal axis and designed to permit the fabric to be picked up from the solvent, lifted above the solvent and dropped back a maximum distance into the solvent to provide the best flushing action of the solvent through the fabric and greater dispersion and elimination of the soil from the fabric.

Prior to describing Ithe fluid supply system, reference is made to FIGS. 1 to 4, inclusive, illustrating machines I and II. As each of these machines are identical in construction and operation, it is believed the description of one of the machines (machine I) will be 'adequate to an understanding of each machine structure and operation. Identical structural parts of machine II are designated with the sante numeral as machine I but with the suiiix a. The structure of machine I is illustrated in FIGS. 5-17, and 25-28, inclusive, and referring iirst to FIGS. 5 and 6, the machine comprises a cabinet 10 receiving a cleaning iiuidcontaining receptacle in the form of an imperforate cylindrical casing or tub '11 having a front wall 12 and a rear wall 13. The tub 11 is supported by a suspension system of the inverted pendulum type generally indicated at A mounted on a base structure B, the suspension system A comprising pivots C and D attaching the tub to the base structure B for operating movement of the tub, the pivots C and D being directly below the center line of the tub and being connected to the bottom of the tub by a pair of front and rear brackets, one of which is shown at E. Control springs (not shown) can be located on opposite sides of the tub, and these springs, in conjunction with an hydraulic damper assembly are effective to control the tub movement during rotation of a cylindrical fabric-containing basket or drum 18 at high speed with an unbalanced load of fabric, such as clothes, in the basket. The ,suspension system arrangement of the tub is more particularly shown and described in U.S. Patent 2,978,892 issued April 1l, 1961. The front wall 12 of the tub 11 is provided with an access opening 14 and a corresponding opening 15 is in the cabinet 10. A flexible corrugated gasket 16- extends between and connects the annular portions of the front walls o-f Ithe tub and cabinet defining two openings, and the cabinet is provided with a door 17 to close the opening in the tub.

The basket or drum 18 is disposed in the tube 11 for the reception of fabric to be cleaned and dried and the basket is supported by means of a spider 19, forming a portion of the rear wall of the drum, on a sleeve shaft 20 rotatably mounted on the rear Wall 13V of the tub 11 for rotation of the drum 18. A pulley 21, iixedly secured to the shaft 20, is adapted to be rotated by a belt 22 in driven rela/tion to a driving pulley 23 connected to the driven shaft of a two-speed transmission T driven by an electric motor M. Brifely described, the two-speed transmission is controlled by clutches, one of which is self-energizing and the other clutch is solenoid-controlled to provide low speed for slow notation of the basket or high speed for rapidly'rotating or spinning the basket. When the solenoid is deenergized, its clutch is ineffective and power flow is through the self-energizing clutch to provide low speed to tumble the basket during a portion of a cleaning operation and during the drying operation, and when the sole-- noid is energized, its clutch is operative and the self-energizing clutch becomes inoperative, so that the transmission is conditioned lto provide a relatively high speed toA rotate the basket, for example, during the extraction of' the cleaning fluid from the fabric.

More particularly, and referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the tub 11 has the radially inner edge of its rear wall 13- connected to two

annular support housings

24, 24 by screws 25, fthe

housings

24, 24 having radially inner ends overlapping and confining therebetween an outer race 26.` of a ball bearing assembly, with the inner race 27 xed. to the sleeve shaft 20 for rotatably supporting the shaft 20. The front end of the shaft 20 is connected to a hub of the basket provided by the radially inner edge of the rear wall of the basket and two retaining

rings

28, 28 connected by screws 29 so that notation of the shaft 20, by pulley 21 keyed as at 30 to the rear end of the shaft, will rotate the basket.

A blower fan 32 is supported for rotation by the sleeve shaft 20 including a shaft 63 extending through and mounted on needle bearings between the shafts, the front end of the shaft 33 being connected to the hub 34 of the fan 32 by la bolt 35 .threaded into the hub and engaging the shaft 33. The rearward end of the shaft 33 extends outwardly of the shaft 20 and receives the hub 36 of a pulley 37 for rotating the fan independently of the basket,

the pulley hub 36 being connected to the shaft 33 by a bolt 38 threaded into the hub and engaging the shaft 313.

The basket and fan shaft mounting assemblies also comprise grease seals and thrust washers as clearly evident from an inspection of FIG. 8

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 6 and 9 for the structure and operation of the drive mechanism including the transmission T, the transmission comprises an input sleeve shaft 4t) having a pulley 41 connected by a belt 42 to a pulley 43 driven by the electric motor M, The shaft 40 has an input pinion I44 meshing with a gear 45 iixed to a countershaft 46. A gear 47 is rotatably supported on the countershaft 46 and may be coupled to the countershaft for rotation therewith by a self-energizing clutch spring 48 of well known type, surnounding the countershaft between

gears

45 and 47. The countershaft gear 47 meshes with a gear 49 fixed to the output shaft Sil. A clutch spring 51 surrounds the input shaft 40 and is positioned between the gear 49 and pinion 44, the clutch spring having a tab 52 at one end of its helically wound coil engageable with a plunger 53 `actuated by a solenoid 54.

ln operation, the basket may be slowly rotated to tumble the fabric in the cleaning fluid in the tub. As the solenoid is deenergized, its plunger 53 engages the tab 52 of the clutch spring 5:1 to prevent operation of the clutch spring 51 to couple the gear 49 and spring 51, and the hub of the gear 49 turns freely within the clutch spring 51. Power flow from the motor is transmitted to the pulley 41 and thereby input shaft 48 and input pinion 44. Pinion 44 rotates gear 45 on the countershaft and gear 49, keyed to the output shaft 50, to drive pulley 23 :to rotate the basket at slow speed.

During the fluid-extraction period of the cleaning cycle, the basket rotates rapidly to centrifuge the fluid from the fabric. For this purpose, the solenoid 54 is energized to remove its plunger 53 yfrom `the tab 52 of the clutch spring 51 so that power flow will be from the input shaft 48, input pinion 44, and, as the clutch spring 51 is effective at this time to couple the input pinion 44 and `gear 49, gear 49 will be rotated to drive the output shaft 5t) to rotate the basket at high speed. It will be apparent, due to the sizes of the input pinion 44 and gears 45, 47, `and 49, Ithat the vgear 49 will drive the gear 47 at such high speed that the clutch spring 48 will yoverrun to prevent power iiow through the countershaft and gear 45 to the gear 44.

Referring to FIG. 5, the cylindrical wall of the basket 18 is preforated having a plurality of openings 55 therein. The basket front wall is provided with an opening 56 spaced from the access opening in the front wall 12 of the tub 11. An annular ring 57 is suitably attached to the front wall 12 of the tub 1v1, a second annular ring 58 is attached to the ring S7 and spaced therefrom by pins or rivets 59. The rear `wall of the basket 18 is provided with a pocket P formed by the legs of the spider 19 merging with the cylindrical portion of the basket extending about the rotational axis of the basket, the pocket P having a plurality of openings 68 defined by the legs of the spider 19. The front of the basket 18 has a cylindrical flange 61 defining the opening 56, and the front wall 12 of the casing 11 has a pair of bearing rollers 62 secured thereto to support the front of the basket.

Air circulating means, in the form of the suction type blower fan 32, is rotatably mounted in a pocket P in the rear wall of the basket 18. The fan 32 has a plurality of curved blades and, as previously described, is driven by a belt and pulley arrangement, the pulley being indicated at 37 and the belt being indica-ted at 63 to be driven by the pulley 64 of the electric motor M. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 49A, operation of the fan is controlled by a clutch generally indicated at 65 and including a clutch spring, surrounding the motor drive shaft 66 and located within a housing 67, the spring having an end tab 68 seated within a recess in the housing, and the housing having au outwardly projecting finger 69 engageable with the end of a plunger 70 of a solenoid 71 so that, when the solenoid is energized to move its plunger from the spring tab 68, the clutch spring is eiective to couple the pulley 64 to the drive shaft 66 to effect drive ofthe pulley, and thereby the fan, by the motor. The solenoid 71 is mounted on a bracket 72 xed to the motor casing which is mounted on a plate secured to the tub, as shown in FIG. 6. The solenoid is energized to effect rotation of the fan during the drying operation.

In FIGS, 5 and 6, an annular heater assembly 73 is Iixedly secured to the front wall 12 of the tub 11 and includes an aluminum body having embedded annular Calrod type heating coils 74 and 75 suitably connected to a supply of electric current controllable to energize one or the other, or both, heating coils of the heater assembly during the drying operation of the machine. During this drying operation, the basket is rotated slowly to tumble the fabric and the fan is eifective to cause the heated air to circulate and flow between the tub and basket and around the basket and through the perforations in the basket to dry the clothes in the basket. The heated air is then drawn through a perforated plate 76 and lint screen S by the fan and through the pocket P of the basket and through the openings 60 deiined by the spokes of the basket rear wall spider 19 and into the space between the basket and the rear wall 13 of the tub to be recirculated in the machine. As it is contemplated the machine will be used with a dry cleaning solvent, such a perchlorethylene, vaporizable during the drying operation, a condenser, generally indica-ted at 77, is positioned adjacent the lower portion of the wall 13 of the tub 11 for condensation of the solvent vapors produced by the drying operation. More particularly, the condenser 77 comprises a plate of arcuate configuration and having upper and lower

connected passages

78 and 79 with the upper passage 78 being connected to a water inlet hose 8i), the

passages

78 and 79 of the condenser conducting the water to a hose 81 leading to a drain exteriorly of the machine. As seen in FIG. 5, the condenser is mounted on the inside of the rear wall 13 of the casing 11 by `securing means 82. The hose 80 extends to a valve CV controlled by a solenoid CS which, when energized, opens the valve to permit cold Water to enter `and flow through the hose into and through the condenser into the hose 81.

Referring now to FIGS. l and 6, the drum 11 has the upper portion of its rear wall provided with air shutters in the form of air inlet and exhaust poppe-t valves, generally indicated at 83 and 84, operative to permit air to enter the tub r11 through valve 83 so that all solvent vapors may be iiushed and discharged from the machine through the valve 84 at the end 4of the drying cycle of the machine to be carried away by a Ventilating system. The Ventilating system includes an air intake opening in wall 13 of the tub 11, through which ow of air into the machine is controlled by valve 83, the air entering and mixing with the solvent vapors and the mixture then being discharged through the Valve 84 into.` an air duct 85 and plenum duct 86 and through an exhaust duct 87 into the atmosphere exterior of the building. The duct 86 has a blower 88, including an electric motor 89 and a fan 90, for causing air iiow into and through the machine and into the Ventilating system ducts. During operation ot the blower fan, any vapor-laden air about the machine is also `drawn through a scavenger duct 91 extending upwardly into `the duct 86 for exhaust by the -blower fan.

The

poppet Valves

83 and 84 are identical and, for this reason, a `description of the structure and operation of `only one of these valves (valve 84) will be made. The valve 84 is shown in detail in FIGS. 6, 25 and 26. This valve comprises valve body 109 having a plate portion 110 with an annular flange 111 fitting Within an opening in the tub rear Wall 13 and providing a seat for a iiexible seal 112 to prevent air flow between the three spaced

Claims

5. IN A FABRIC-CLEANING AND DRYING MACHINE, A CLEANING FLUID-RECEIVING CONTAINER; A FABRIC-RECEIVING BASKET ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID CONTAINER; FIRST CONDUIT MEANS FOR SUPPLYING CLEANING FLUID TO SAID CONTAINER TO CLEAN THE FABRIC IN SAID BASKET; SECOND CONDUIT MEANS FOR DRAINING SOILED CLEANING FLUID FROM SAID CONTAINER; MEANS FOR CIRCULATING HEATED AIR IN SAID CONTAINED TO DRY THE FABRIC; MEANS FOR CONDENSING VAPORS IN SAID CONTAINER DURING FABRIC-DRYING; THIRD CONDUIT MEANS FOR FLOW OF CONDENSATE FROM THE CONTAINER; AND FOURTH CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD CONDUIT MEANS AND PROVIDING A COMMON PASSAGE FOR CLEANING FLUID SUPPLIED TO AND DRAINED FROM SAID CONTAINER, AND FOR CONDENSATE FLOWING FROM SAID CONTAINER.