Non-aqueous washing apparatus and method
First Claim
1. In a method for laundering fabrics, the steps of:
- disposing a fabric load in a wash container;
delivering a wash liquor to said wash chamber, said wash liquor comprising a substantially non-reactive, non-aqueous, non-oleophilic, apolar working fluid and at least one washing additive;
applying mechanical energy to provide relative movement between said fabric load and said wash liquor for a time sufficient to provide fabric cleaning;
removing said wash liquor from said fabric load;
contacting the fabric load with a liquid extraction solvent that is miscible with the working fluid; and
removing the liquid extraction solvent and wash liquor from the fabric load;
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods for washing fabric loads without water or using water only as a co-solvent are disclosed. One method of non-aqueous clothes washing includes the steps of disposing clothing in a wash container, delivering a wash liquor to the fabric load, the wash liquor comprising a substantially non-reactive, non-aqueous, non-oleophilic, apolar working fluid and at least one washing additive, applying mechanical energy to the clothing and wash liquor for a sufficient amount of time to provide fabric cleaning and, thereafter, substantially removing the wash liquor from the fabric load. The working fluid may be selected from the group consisting of perfluorocarbons, hydrofluoroethers, fluorinated hydrocarbons and fluoroinerts.
45 Citations
55 Claims
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1. In a method for laundering fabrics, the steps of:
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disposing a fabric load in a wash container;
delivering a wash liquor to said wash chamber, said wash liquor comprising a substantially non-reactive, non-aqueous, non-oleophilic, apolar working fluid and at least one washing additive;
applying mechanical energy to provide relative movement between said fabric load and said wash liquor for a time sufficient to provide fabric cleaning;
removing said wash liquor from said fabric load;
contacting the fabric load with a liquid extraction solvent that is miscible with the working fluid; and
removing the liquid extraction solvent and wash liquor from the fabric load;
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of washing and drying a fabric load comprising the steps of:
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disposing a fabric load in a wash container;
delivering a wash liquor to the fabric load, said wash liquor comprising at least one washing additive and a working fluid having the following properties;
a KB value of less than 30;
a solubility in water of less than 10%; and
beingsubstantially non-reactive with fabrics in the fabric load;
applying mechanical energy to provide relative movement between said fabric load and said wash liquor for a time sufficient to provide fabric cleaning; and
removing said wash liquor from fabric load. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for laundering fabrics, comprising the steps of:
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depositing a fabric load in a wash container delivering a wash liquor to the fabric load, said wash liquor comprising at least one washing additive and a working fluid having the following properties;
a KB value of less than 30;
a solubility in water of less than 10%; and
which is substantially non-reactive with the fabrics in a fabric load;
applying mechanical energy to provide relative movement between said fabric load and said wash liquor;
removing said wash liquor from said fabric load;
delivering a hydrophilic solvent to the fabric load; and
removing the wash liquor and hydrophilic solvent from the fabric load. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of laundering fabrics comprising the steps of:
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disposing a fabric load in a wash container delivering a wash liquor to the fabric load, said wash liquor comprising at least one washing additive, a co-solvent and a working fluid having the following properties;
a KB value of less than 30;
a solubility in water of less than 10%; and
beingsubstantially non-reactive with the fabrics. applying mechanical energy to provide relative movement between said fabric load and said wash liquor for a time sufficient to provide fabric cleaning; and
removing said wash liquor from said fabric load. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method for laundering fabric comprising the steps of:
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disposing the fabric in a wash container;
rotating the container to cause the fabric to rest against the walls of the wash container;
delivering a wash liquor to the fabric load while resting against the walls of said wash container, said wash liquor comprising at least one washing additive and a working fluid having the following properties;
a KB value of less than 30;
a solubility in water of less than 10%; and
being substantially non-reactive with fabrics in the fabric load.collecting the wash liquor and contaminants therein from the fabrics;
recirculating the collected mixture to the fabrics;
delivering additional working fluid to the wash container;
applying mechanical energy to provide relative movement between said fabric load and said wash liquor for a time sufficient to provide fabric cleaning; and
removing the wash liquor from the fabric load. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification