Patent ID: 7275400
Filing Date: 2007-10-02
Classification: B01J,C10G,C11D,D06F,D06L,D06M,F26B

Abstract:
1. A fabric treating apparatus comprising i) a fabric article treatment chamber for receiving fabric articles to be treated, said treatment chamber comprising a lipophilic cleaning fluid-pervious peripheral wall and a spray for introducing lipophilic cleaning fluid into said chamber; an outer chamber housing said fabric article treatment chamber, said outer chamber receiving lipophilic cleaning fluid from said treatment chamber, said outer chamber comprising an exit port through which said lipophilic cleaning fluid flows at a rate such that the amount of said fluid in said treatment chamber does not exceed the absorptive capacity of the fabric articles therein; ii) a first container for storing and supplying a lipophilic cleaning fluid comprising a lipophilic fluid; iii) a second container for water or another cleaning adjunct wherein said second container is removably attached to the apparatus; iv) a two fluid extrusion nozzle for forming an emulsion or microemulsion composition comprising said lipophilic cleaning fluid and said water or another cleaning adjunct in situ immediately prior to evenly distributing the lipophilic cleaning solution on said fabric articles; and a recovery system for removing contaminants from the lipophilic cleaning fluid; wherein the first container is removably attached to the apparatus and the recovery system is selected from the group consisting of a molecular sieve filtration system, an electrostatic fluid filtration system, membrane evaporation system, ultrafiltration system, and combinations thereof; and wherein when a fabric article to be treated is present in the chamber and the lipophilic cleaning fluid is introduced into the chamber, the chamber retains an amount of lipophilic fluid up to the absorptive capacity of the fabric article contained therein.