Claims
- 1. A method for degreasing a continuous sheet of thin material comprising:
- (a) providing a degreasing tank having liquid solvent located in a liquid zone defined in the lower portion thereof;
- (b) heating said solvent in said liquid zone to vaporize a portion thereof and provide a cleaning zone above said liquid zone which contains saturated vaporous solvent;
- (c) condensing said solvent with a cooling device in a condensing zone defined in said tank above said cleaning zone; and
- (d) passing the sheet through said tank in a manner such that the sheet repeatedly passes first through said condensing zone and then through said cleaning zone.
- 2. The method of claim 1 including the step of passing the material into said liquid zone each time the material passes into said cleaning zone.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the rate at which the sheet passes between said cleaning zone and said condensing zone is such that the sheet remains in the condensing zone until the sheet has cooled to a temperature which is significantly below the temperature of the solvent vapor, and the sheets remain in the cleaning zone until the sheets temperature approaches the temperature of the solvent vapor.
- 4. The method of claim 1 including the step of directing solvent condensed in said condensing zone onto the sheet when the sheet is in said cleaning zone.
- 5. The method of claim 1 including the step of recycling said solvent when said solvent becomes contaminated with soil removed from the material by removing said soil from said solvent.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 700,525, filed 2/11/85.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
700525 |
Feb 1985 |
|