US3094860A - Rotary drum apparatus for the processing of articles - Google Patents

Description

S Sheets-Sheet 1 F. H. FERRAH ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR lTHE! PROCESSING OF' ARTICLES June 25, 1963 l Filed `June 4, 1959 F. H. FERRAH June- 25, 1963 ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR THE PROCESSING OF ARTICLES Filed June 4, 1959 3 Sheets-Shea?I 2 Il." I

F. H. FERRAH June 25, -1963 ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR THE PROCESSING OE ARTICLES 5 Sheets-Sheet .3

Filed June 4,- 1959 ulm;

United States Patent O 3,094,860 ROTARY DRUM APPARATUS FOR THE PROCESS- ING DF ARTICLES Frederick Hamilton Ferrah, Sunderland, England, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Baker Perkins Limited,

Peterborough, England Filed June 4, 1959, Ser. No. 818,209 4 Claims. (Cl. 68-210) This invention provides apparatus for the processing of articles, particularly for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing, comprising a drum mounted for rotation, on a substantially horizontal axis, one end .of the drum being formed by an open frusto-conical portion, and y the interior of at least the frusto-conical portion of the drum being provided with a plurality of thin, plate-like or laminar helicoidal vanes or ribs set at a suitable pitch and so ldirected that, upon reversal of the direction of rotation of the drum from that in which it normally rotates during the processing of articles therein, the vanes or ribs displace the articles towards and through the open frusto-conical end yof the drum.

The vanes may be so formed that any transverse section is in a radial plane of the Adrum or is inclined to such plane so that the free edges of the vanes trail with respect to the fixed edges when the ldrum is in reverse rotation, and they may if desired be extended at least partly along the interior surface of a cylindrical portion forming the said one end of the drum. Assuming that the drum is intended to be rotatable normally in the clockwise direction as seen from its frustoconical end, the pitch of the blades is left-handed, so that they tend to displace articles of clothing that are tumbling within the drum towands the base of the drum during said normal rotation and towards the opening when the rotation is reversed.

The cylindrical portion of the .drum may further have in' its peripheral wall a multiplicity of small apertures, and means for blowing air inwardly through said apertures from a fixed surrounding casing, after a solvent used for cleaning the clothes has been evacuated into and from said casing, and the direction of rotation has been reversed. Such air, in addition to loosening the folds lof the clothing from one another and from the vanes, has the effect of assisting the displacement of the clothing towards the `open end.

'Ilhe invention further provides apparatus for the processing of articles, particularly for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing, comprising a drum as aforesaid, enclosed within a casing which preferably has a substantially coaxial frusto-conical end, means for supplying solvent or other processing liquid into the drum, means Vfor discharging the liquid from the casing after passage of the liquid through the apertures in the drum into the casing, and means for passing air or other carrier ,gas into the casing and extracting said air or gas, after passage thereof through the apertures into the drum, from the open :truste-conical end of the drum. Said means for passing air may comprise a `fan in a closed ducting circuit.

Apparatus for processing articles as aforesaid may have disposed coaxially with the drum a tumbler barrel preferably provided with internal vanes and having two circular .openings in its transverse ends, one of said apertures being adjacent the open frusto-conical end of the drum with an intervening laterally displaceable damper. There may Ibe a multiplicity of small apertures in the peripheral wall of the tumbler barrel, and a casing surrounding said barrel, which casing forms part of said closed circuit for air. Y

The foregoing and other features of the invention will be better understood from the following description, by

way of example, of an apparatus for the .dry cleaning of `secured to the himno-conical portion 12.

Vshaft 31 extends and supporting bearings 6 3,094,860 Patented June 25, 1963 clothing, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a drum for treatment of the articles with solvent, and associated parts.

FIG. 2 is an end elevation, in the direction of arrow II of FIG. 1, with one half of an end cover removed, and

FIG. 3 is a vertical diametrical section of a drying barrel and associated parts.

In the apparatus as a whole, the two assemblies shown in FIGS. l and 3 are jointed together as will be described so that a drum 1 of FIG. l and a barrel 2 of FIG. 3 are coaxially disposed.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. l, the drum 1 comprises a cylindrical portion 11 and a truste-conical portion 12. The cylindrical wall 13 of the portion 11 has a multiplicity of perforations 14 suitably distributed and is supported at one of its ends by an annular, flat, transverse base ring 15 which in turn is secured coaxially to a hollow trunnion 16 by which the drum 1 is supported for rotation. 'Ihe trunnion 16 has an annular track 17 which is engaged Iby the peripheral surfaces of a set of three freely rotatable wheels 18 mounted on horizontal spindles 19, two of the wheels 18 being disposed below the trunnion 16 for supporting its weight and the Weight of the drum 1 (and its contents when in use) and the third wheel being located above the trunnion. The engagement of the wheels 18 in the track 17 also serves to constrain the trunnion and the drum against axial movement. Further, the outer part of the trunnion 16 has a cylindrical surface 20 which is engaged by the peripheral surfaces of another set of three freely rotatable wheels 21 mounted on spindles 22, two of the wheels 21 being :disposed above the axis of the trunnion 16 to oppose the weight of the drum 1 (and its contents when in use) under the cantilever effect of the trunnion bearing upon the lower pair of the wheels 18.

'Ilhe spindles 19 and 22 are mounted in bushes 23 vertical end walls 24 and 25 of a drive housing 2-6. In FIG. 2 half of the outer end wall 25 is .omitted to show the 1disposition of the supporting wheels 18 and 21. Between the tvvo sets of wheels 18 and 21 there is secured to a iiange 27 on the trunnion 16 an annular chain ring 28 driven by a chain 29l (FIG. 2) from a pinion 30 secured to a drive shaft 31 which is rotatable through a coupling 32 and a variable speed gear box 33 by a reversible electrical motor (not shown).

According to a feature of the invention, the drum 1 is provided with a series of `helical vanes 34 which extend from the base ring 15 to the open discharge end of the One of these vanes vis shown in FIG. l but it will be understood that the drum may have any suitable number of such vanes, for example, two or three or more, equiangularly distributed about its interior. Each of the vanes 34 has a small depth relation to the radius of the drum, with a smooth or rounded free inner edge 36 and a round end 37 at the opening 3S, so as to avoid damage to articles of clothing tumbled within the rotating drum. The vane 34 is so arranged that any transverse section is in a radial plane, as can be seen at the point 38 where the vane is shown ,edge-on. The inner end 39 is secured to the base ring 15.

The `drum 1 is enclosed within a casing 3 which is supported upon a solvent storage tank 4 by the inner end wall 24 of the drive housing 26 and by a bracket 5, the parts 5 and 24 having apertures through which the drive for said shaft. The casing 3 has cylindrical and truste-conical parts 7 and 3 which respectively surround the corresponding parts 11 and 12 of the drum 1.' The open smaller end 9 of lthe conical part 8 is secured to a member 10 which serves in part to secure `the casing 3 to the casing of a drying tumbler barrel as will hereinafter be described and in part as a support for a solvent condenser 40 which is also partly supported on the top of the casing 3; said condenser performs no function in the cleaning and drying of clothing as will be described, being used for the regeneration of solvent in conjunction Awith a solvent evaporator 58 upon which the tumbler barrel casing is supported.

A solvent supply piper 41 is disposed to feed solvent into the open end 35 of the drum 1, the solvent being supplied, through a pump (not shown) from the tank 4. The casing 3 has at its lower part a solvent receiving chamber 42 which is connected through a valve 43 (FIG. 2) and a return pipe 44 with the tank 4, so that solvent issuing through the perforations 1'4 in the portion 11 of the drum is returned to the tank 4, and filtered, and a constant circulation of solvent through the articles of clothing-under treatment in the drum 1 can be maintained.

The tumbler barrel 2 (FIG. 3) is enclosed within a casing 57 supported upon said solvent evaporator 58. The evaporator is connected by a member 60 with a tank `61, for another processing liquid, which is united with the solvent tank 4. The tank 61 may for example serve to contain a liquid for lthe reproofng of waterproof clothing after cleaning thereof with solvent from the tank 4. The casing 57 is also attached to the .support member of the conical portion 8 of the drum casing 3. At the center of the casing 57 is an annular ring 63 which registers with the outer end of a bell member 64 secured about the opening 9 in the member 10 of the drum 1, and between the radially extending anges of -the member 63 of the 4barrel 2 and member 64 of the ydrum 1 is mounted a frame for a circular damper 65 associated with the drum 1 (but shown in situ in both FIGS. l and 2) which is displaceable from the position in which it lcuts off communication between the drum 1 and the bar- `rel 2 to an open position.

The casing 57 of the barrel 2 has, as shown in FIG. 3, au upward extension 67 in which is located an air cooler 68. An air blower 72 driven by an electric motor 73 is mounted on the top-of the casing 57, its discharge branch 75 being connected into the upward extension 67.

Extending from the side of the upwardly extending box 67 is an air duct 78 which communicates with a tangential inlet 79 to the casing 3 of the drum 1. Adjacent the connection 80 of said duct to the box 67 there is provided a damper 81 which is automatically operable by electrical relay means associated in known vmanner with controlrmeans (not shown) for determining the drum driving motor direction.

-In the Loperation of the apparatus as above described, a quantity -of articles of clothing to be dry cleaned are fed into the cylindrical portion 11 of the drum 1 through 'the hollowtrunnion 16, the outer end 82 of which may thereafter be closed by a suitable cover indicated at 100. The drum llis then set in motion in the clockwise direction as seen from the open end of its conical portion `1'2. (arrow A) so that the helical vanes 34 serve to displace the articles of clothing into the perforated portion 11 of the drum or maintain the articles in said portion While they are being tumbled therein. At the same time solvent is fed into the drum 1 through the pipe 41 from the tank 4 and, the valve `43 being open, returns to the tank 4, is ltered and then recirculated. Eventually, the circulation of solvent is discontinued, and the ydrum is rotated at a higher speed for solvent extraction.

On completion of the cleaning operation, the damper '65 (sh-own duplicated -in FIGS. 1 and 3) is opened and the dr-um drivingmotor reversed to drive the drum 1 in the anti-clockwise direction, the damper 81 being simultaneously opened. Under the reverse rotation of the drum the vanes 34 serve to displace the articles of clothing therein through the opening 35 into the tumbler barrel 2. and at the same time the blower motor 73 is energised to cause an air circulation, by virtue of the automatic opening of the damper 81, from the blower 72 through the box 67, air cooler 68, air lduct 78 to the inlet 79 of the casing 3, and then through the perforations 14 in the wall 13 `to the interior of the drum 1 and out through the opening 35 to Athe tumbler barrel 2, through the perforations 46 in the Wall 45 thereof, and then through the casing 57 to the inlet 74 of the blower. This air circulation assists the displacement of the articles of clothing from the drum 1 into the barrel 2, its action, together with 4that of lthe vanes 34, serving to prevent the articles from becoming tangled into a rnass.

After completion of the transfer of the clothing from the drum 1 into the barrel 2, the damper 65 is movable to its closed position, whereupon the ydirection of the drum driving motor is returned to normal, and the damper 811 is also closed. A further quantity of clothing can then be fed into the drum 1 and treated as above described. At the same time, the tumbler barrel 2 is independently rotatable for elfecting nal extraction of solvent from the clothing therein and drying of this clothing. As soon as the drying operation has been completed, the dried clothing can be removed from the barrel 2 by way of an opening 101 on the `side remote from the drum 1, a suitable cover indicated at 102 serving to close the opening 101 during the drying operation. After the removal of the clothing from the barrel the further batch which has been under treatment in the drum 1 can then be displaced from said drum into the bar-rel 2 as above described so that la continuous two stage treatment of cleaning and drying may be carried out. This has the evident advantage that in a single machine cleaning and solvent extraction of one batch and drying of another batch may be effected simultaneously, but independently.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing comprising, in combina-tion, a drum mounted for reversible rotation on a lfixed, substantially horizontal axis and supported by a single end, said drum having a cylindrical portion with Ia transverse annular wall at one end thereof and a hollow trunnion which serves for the entry into the drum of articles to be cleaned therein and is externally engaged Vby rotary supporting means and driving means for the drum, the -other end of the drum having a conjoint open-ended lfrusto-conical portion, the interior of at least said frusto-conical portion being provided with a pluarlity of helicoidal laminar vanes set at a suitable pitch and so directed that, upon reversal of the direction of rotation of the drum from that in which it normally rotates during the cleaning articles of clothing therein, the vanes ydisplace `said articles towards and .through the .open end of said Afrustoconical portion.

2. Apparatus for the dry cleaning of articles of clothing comprising, in combination, a drum mounted tor reversible rotation on -a fixed, substantially horizontal axis and supported by a single end, said drum having a cylindrical portion with ,a transverse annular wall at one end thereof and a hollow, externally cylindrical trunnion which serves for the entry into the .drum of articles to be cleaned therein, said trunnion being externally engaged by two longitudinally spaced sets of at least three freely rotatable supporting rollers and by driving means for the drum, the other end of the drum having a conjoint -open-ended ltruste-conical portion, the interior of at least said frusto-conical portion being provided with a plurality of helicoidal laminar vanes set at a suitable pitch and so directed that, upon reversal Iof the direction of rotation of the `drunr from that in which it normally rotates during the cleaning of articles of clothing therein, the vanes displace said articles towards and through the open end of said frusto-conical portion.

3. Apparatus for the processing of textile articles, particularly for the ydry cleaning of articles of clothing, cornprising a drum mounted for reversible rotation on a substantially horizontal taxis, one end of said drum being formed by an open-ended frusto-conical portion, the other end of said drum being cylindrical, and the interior of at least said frusto-conical portion being provided with a plurality of helicoidal vanes set at a suitable pitch and so directed that, upon reversal of .the direction of rotation of the drum from that in which it normally rotates during the processing of articles therein, the vanes displace the articles towards and through -the open frusto-conical end of lthe drum, said cylindrical end being mounted `on a hollow trunnion which serves for the entry into the drum `of articles to be processed therein, the drum having in the peripheral Iwall of its cylindrical portion a multiplicity of small apertures, and a casing enclosing said drum, in combination with a perforated tumbler bar-rel disposed coaxially with the drum, said barrel having two circular openings in its transverse ends, one of said end openings being adjacent the open lfrusto-conical end of the drum, a laterally displaceable damper interposed between said adjacent ends, and a casing surrounding said barrel, said rapparatus incorporating means -f-or supplying a processing liquid into the drum, means for discharging the liquid from the drum casing after passage of the liquid through the apertures in the drum into the drum casing, and means for passing a carrier gas into the drum References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,057,526 Horton Oct. 13, 1936 2,075,010 Angelus et al. Mar. 30, 1937 2,171,409 Smith Aug. 29, 1939 2,255,028 Long Sept. 2, 1941 2,573,103 Kling Oct. 30, 1951 2,842,002 Stegman July 8, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 76,725 Germany Aug. 9, 1894 467,594 Great Britain June 21, 1937

Claims (1)

1. APPARATUS FOR THE DRY CLEANING OF ARTICLES OF CLOTHING COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A DRUM MOUNTED FOR REVERSIBLE ROTATION ON A FIXED, SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS AND SUPPORTED BY A SINGLE END, SAID DRUM HAVING A CYLINDRICAL PORTION WITH A TRANSVERSE ANNULAR WALL AT ONE END THEREOF AND A HOLLOW TRUNNION WHICH SERVES FOR THE ENTRY INTO THE DRUM OF ARTICLES TO BE CLEANED THEREIN AND IS EXTERNALLY ENGAGED BY ROTARY SUPPORTING MEANS AND DRIVING MEANS FOR THE DRUM, THE OTHER END OF THE DRUM HAVING A CONJOINT OPEN-ENDED FRUSTO-CONICAL PORTION, THE INTERIOR OF AT LEAST SAID FRUSTO-CONICAL PORTION BEING PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF HELICOIDAL LAMINAR VANES SET AT A SUITABLE PITCH AND SO DIRECTED THAT, UPON REVERSAL OF THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF THE DRUM FROM THAT IN WHICH IT NORMALLY ROTATES DURING THE CLEANING ARTICLES OF CLOTHING THEREIN, THE VANES DISPLACE SAID ARTICLES TOWARDS AND THROUGH THE OPEN END OF SAID FRUSTOCONICAL PORTION.

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