US3708889A

US3708889A - Apparatus for bleaching furniture

Info

Publication number: US3708889A
Application number: US00101487A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Baymiller
Original assignee: Armstrong Cork Co
Current assignee: Armstrong World Industries Inc
Priority date: 1970-12-28
Filing date: 1970-12-28
Publication date: 1973-01-09
Anticipated expiration: 1990-01-09

Abstract

A method and apparatus is utilized for bleaching furniture through the use of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. The furniture to be bleached is placed on a conveyer which passes through an air lock structure into an ammonia chamber. Ammonia is delivered to the ammonia chamber and causes the bleaching of the furniture. The bleached furniture component is removed from the ammonia chamber through an air lock structure.

Description

United States Patent Baymiller 3,708,889 Jan. 9, 1973 APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING FURNITURE Inventor: John W. Baymlller, Lancaster, Pa.

Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa.

Dec. 28, 1970 Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

US. Cl. ..34/83, 34/218, 34/242 Int. Cl. ..B27k 5/02, F26b 19/00 Field of Search ..34/32, 72, 83, 218, 242;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1956 steigerwaldui ..ll8/49X 5/1960 Skarin Primary Examiner-Frederick L. Matteson Assistant Examiner-l-1arry B. Ramey Attorney-Clifford B. Price ABSTRACT A method and apparatus is utilized for bleaching furniture through the use of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. The furniture to be bleached is placed on a conveyer which passes through an air lock structure into an ammonia chamber. Ammonia is delivered to the ammonia chamber and causes the bleaching of the furniture. The bleached furniture component is removed from the ammonia chamber through an air lock structure.

1 Claim, 1 Drawing Figure PAIENTEDJMI 9 I975 3. 708,889

-. INVENTOR JOHN W- BAYMILLER ATTORNEY APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING FURNITURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention is directed to a bleaching apparatus and, more particularly, to a apparatus for bleaching furniture by means of hot ammonia gas acting as a catalyst on the hydrogen peroxide.

2. Description of the Prior Art Ammonia has been used in the past as a bleaching catalyst. However, it is not normal practice in the fumiture industry to use ammonia for bleaching due to the inherent hazards in the use of ammonia.

The use of air locks for the purpose of transmitting an item from one area to another so as to isolate the two areas is a feature which is old in a number of arts.

However, the prior art lacks the specific teaching of the novel combination of elements which now permit the utilization of ammonia for bleaching of furniture components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention herein is a apparatus for the hydrogen peroxide and ammonia treatment of wood components for furniture to bleach the same. A conveyer structure moves in a circular pathway from outside of the ammonia treating unit to the inside of the ammonia treating unit. Furniture components are loaded on a carrier carried by the conveyer structure. The carrier and furniture component passes through one vapor-tight door structure into a vapor-tight chamber which is an air lock. The carrier and furniture component then passes into the ammonia chamber where ammonia will cause the bleaching of the furniture which has been coated with hydrogen peroxide. The ammonia may be placed in the ammonia chamber in the form of aqueous ammonia or vaporized dry ammonia gas. After the prescribed time for bleaching has occurred, the fumiture component then passes out of the ammonia chamber into a second air lock, and from the second air lock back to the original starting position where the bleached component is removed from the carrier and a new component is placed on the carrier for bleaching.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The drawing is a schematic view of the apparatus for carrying out the invention herein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The bleaching apparatus comprises an oval conveyor structure 2 which is used to transport the furniture component through the bleaching apparatus. A carrier structure 4 is mounted on the conveyor structure, and this carrier will carry the furniture component 6 which is to be bleached by the hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. The conveyor structure is intermittent in operation and may be any conventional type of intermittent conveyor structure. A furniture component is loaded onto the conveyor at position A. Operation of the conveyor carries the carrier 4 and furniture component 6 into the air lock B. The air lock B has an entrance door 8 and an exit door 10. The doors are conventional vapor-tight door structures and open on a prescribed sequence of operation. When door 10 is closed, door 8 will open and permit the carrier and furniture component to move into the airlock B. Due to the presence of some residual ammonia gas in air lock B, an exhaust system 12 is located adjacent door 8 so that the opening of door 8 does not necessarily mean that ammonia gas can escape out into the area A. The exhaust system 12 tends to pull the ammonia gas from the vicinity of the door 8 so that there is actually a flow of air from area A to B rather than from area B to A. Once the carrier and furniture component are within air lock B, the door 8 is closed.

Only after door 8 is closed can door 10 open. Door 10 is opened and the carrier and furniture component may now move into the ammonia bleaching chamber C. Once the carrier and furniture component are within the chamber C, the door 10 will close. It is through the opening of door 10 that some ammonia gas can move into area B, and that is why the exhaust system 12 must be utilized to prevent this ammonia from escaping out into area A. The furniture component stays in the ammonia treating area C the required period of time. When this period is done, door 14 opens, and the carrier and bleached furniture component may now move into air lock D. When door 14 is opened, door 16 is closed. Once the carrier and furniture component are in air lock D, door 14 will close. In the meanwhile, another carrier and furniture component has entered the ammonia chamber C from air lock B. With the door 14 closed, door 16 can now be opened to permit-the carrier and bleached furniture component to move back out to area A. At this point, the carrier will be offloaded and a new unbleached furniture component placed thereupon. An exhaust system 18 is used in a manner like exhaust system 12 to prevent escape of ammonia gas from air lock D into area A.

The

door structures

8, 10, 14 and 16 are vapor-tight and are similar to those set forth in US. Pat. No. 3,363,324 or any other like type structures. Particular success has been secured with corrugated metal doors which operate like conventional garage doors. The conveyor structure is a simple intermittent conveyor structure which need only have a flat surface upon which furniture components may be positioned for movement into the ammonia chamber C. The door structures are coordinated in their operation so that areas B and D may function as air locks.

The ammonia being supplied to the ammonia bleaching area C may be in the form of dry gaseous ammonia. The ammonia is supplied in liquid form and is passed through a vaporizer which is nothing more than a steam-heated jacketed tube. The liquid ammonia is converted to a'gas, and the gas is fed through appropriate pressure reducing and control structures so that the required amount of dry gaseous ammonia is supplied to the chamber C by passageway 22. When dry gaseous ammonia is utilized, the chamber is heated to l-200 F. by a separate heat source and the ammonia concentration is 3-5 percent.

It is also possible to use aqueous ammonia. Aqueous ammonia is stored without pressure. It is pumped to a spray distributor structure 20 where the ammonia in liquid form is sprayed out into the passageway 22. Incoming heated air passes along the passageway 22 by the distributing head 20 and propels the atomized ammonia spray into chamber C. The temperature within the chamber is maintained at l80200 F., and the ammonia concentration is 3-5 percent. The furniture componentis kept in the chamber C for 3 to 5 minutes when dry gaseous ammonia is utilized and for 3 to 5 minutes when aqueous ammonia is utilized under the above conditions.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for bleaching furniture components comprising an intermittently operated conveyor structure means which is capable of conveying furniture components through an endless pathway, a first air lock means having an entrance door and an exit door, said door structures being so constructed and arranged that only one door may be opened at a time, said conveyor structure means conveying furniture components through the open entrance door into the first air lock means, said conveyor structure means then conveying the furniture components through the exit door once the entrance door is closed, said conveyor structure means carrying the furniture component through the exit door into an ammonia treating chamber wherein a spray distributor means is provided to inject aqueous ammonia into the ammonia chamber, a secondair lock means at the exit of the ammonia treatment chamber,

said second air lock means having an entrance door