Patent ID: 6272770
Filing Date: 2001-08-14
Classification: D06F

Abstract:
An article cleaning apparatus comprising:a pressure vessel having an opening for introducing the article into said vessel, and a door member for closing and sealing said opening to provide a wash chamber maintainable at a pressure other than atmospheric pressure;agitation means for agitating the article in contact with a liquid while said article and said liquid are contained in said vessel to cause said liquid to remove contaminants from said article;drain means for draining from said vessel said contaminated liquid to separate excess liquid from said article, said article retaining a portion of said liquid after said excess liquid separation;heating means activatable to directly heat said retained liquid to separate it from said article by vaporization at the boiling point of said liquid; and,vacuum means for reducing the pressure in said vessel while it is sealed and said heating means is activated, said pressure reduction causing the boiling point at which said liquid vaporizes to be reduced from its boiling point at atmospheric pressure.