Patent ID: 7805857

Claim:
In a dual-purpose rotatable cooling and drying apparatus of the type comprising a rotatable cylinder wherein air, steam, and water supplied from sources external of the cooling and drying cylinder are selectively introducible into and removable from a space defined inside the cylinder, the cylinder having associated therewith at least one rotary joint and at least one hollow journal, the improvement comprising: a first tubular member that extends through the hollow journal; a second tubular member that extends through the first tubular member; a first flow path through which the water is selectively introducible into the cylinder space, the first flow path defined between an outer periphery of the second tubular member and an inner periphery of the first tubular member; a second, separate flow path through which either of the air or the steam are selectively introducible into the cylinder space, the second flow path defined between an outer periphery of the first tubular member and an inner periphery of the hollow journal; a third flow path through which steam condensate and water is selectively removable from the cooling and drying cylinder space, the third flow path defined within the second tubular member; wherein the apparatus is characterized by a cooling mode, in which the water and air are selectively introducible into the cylinder space through the first and second flow paths, respectively, and a drying mode, wherein the steam is selectively introducible into the cylinder space through the second flow path; and wherein the first flow path, the second flow path, and the third flow path are defined through the same rotary joint associated with the rotatable cooling and drying cylinder.