Patent ID: 9611577
Date: 2017-04-04
CPC Classifications: D06F

Claim:
1. A method for cleaning fabric articles, said method comprising the steps of: washing the fabric articles with a cleaning solvent in a rotatable drum having opposite axial ends and a wall; and drying the washed fabric articles in the drum, said drying step including the steps of rotating the drum at a spin speed for a spin period of time such that the fabric articles move toward the wall of the drum so as to cause removal from the fabric articles of at least a portion of the cleaning solvent remaining in the fabric articles and so as to form an unobstructed pathway extending between the axial ends of the drum; and providing a heated gas into the drum from an inlet located adjacent one of the ends of the drum during the spin period, the heated gas being injected into the drum from the inlet in a vertical direction and being directed by a deflector in a horizontal direction along a longitudinal axis of the drum such that the heated gas flows from the one of the ends of the drum through the pathway toward the other of the ends of the drum, at least some of the heated gas flowing directly to the other of the ends through the pathway such that the heated gas is distributed along the entire length of the drum, the heated gas flowing radially outwardly from an interior of the drum to an exterior of the drum through the fabric articles so as to cause at least another portion of the cleaning solvent remaining in the fabric articles to evaporate and be removed therefrom.