Patent ID: 8795779

Claim:
A method of treating an article, comprising: providing a chamber that is at least partially open to surrounding air to allow a free flow of air through the chamber, the chamber having a support surface therein; supporting an article to be treated on the support surface within the chamber; maintaining a flow of air through the chamber and around the article supported on the support surface; treating the article by selectively exposing part or all of the article to a composition comprising a coating solution of a fluorocarbon in a fluorinated solvent, the treating causing a coating of the fluorocarbon to be formed on the article and producing solvent vapor within the chamber; exhausting the solvent vapor from the chamber by moving the solvent vapor from within the chamber through an exhaust manifold and exhaust duct that are in fluid communication with the chamber, to a solvent recovery system, the moving being effected by an air pump configured to draw air and the solvent vapor through the exhaust manifold and exhaust duct and into the solvent recovery system, wherein the support surface is provided with at least one opening and the vapor produced during the treating of the article is drawn down through the at least one opening in the support surface and around the article to a vapor condensing area of the solvent recovery system; and recovering the solvent vapor in the solvent recovery system by chilling the solvent vapor with a chiller to condense the solvent vapor into fluorinated solvent in liquid form.