Claims
- 1. An apparatus for treating a fabric article comprising:a) a collapsible or expandable container that is made from a material that defines an interior void space having an open volume of between about 0.75 m3 and about 0.05 m3, and an opening; b) an ultrasonic nebulizer operatively associated with the container to maintain a relative humidity within the interior void space of the container; c) an air circulation device operatively associated with the container to circulate at least a portion of air within the interior void space of the container; d) optionally, a vent operatively associated with the air circulation device such that at least a portion of the air circulating the interior void space of the container is vented to exterior of the container; and e) optionally, a filter being located in close proximity to the air circulating device or covering at least a portion of the air circulating device.
- 2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said air circulation device comprises a fan.
- 3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said ultrasonic nebulizer comprising a housing, said housing being divided into at least two compartments by a membrane, said membrane comprising a flexible film, such that at least one compartment is liquid and vapor tight, said nebulizer further comprising a built-in heating means and at least one piezoelectric vibrating cell for ultrasonic wave generation located in said liquid and vapor tight compartment and encapsulated by a liquid or gel protective medium, a high-frequency generator for exciting said at least one piezoelectric vibrating cell, wherein said liquid or gel medium is heated by said built-in heating means to a temperature of at least 30° C.
- 4. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said liquid or gel medium encapsulating said at least one piezoelectric vibrating cell is a demineralized water-based medium.
- 5. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said membrane has a thickness of less then 200 μm.
- 6. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said membrane has a thickness of about 10 μm.
- 7. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said ultrasonic nebulizer has an output of at least 5 g/min.
- 8. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said output is dry output, and die mist produced by the ultrasonic nebulizer is a non-wetting mist.
- 9. An Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said container can be collapsed to at least about 50% of its open volume.
Parent Case Info
This application claims priority to EP patent application 00 870 179.9 filed Aug. 16, 2000.
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