Filter Cleaning Apparatus

Abstract

An apparatus for cleaning filters and the like having a pair of containers in a side-by-side relationship, one of the containers having a liquid solvent heated to a predetermined temperature for cleaning filters submerged therein; the other container being a storage tank adapted to dispense a pressurized solution for spray rinsing the cleaned filters; the two containers having a common partition adapted to transfer heat from the liquid solvent holding container to the storage tank for maintaining the temperature of the rinsing solution at a value less than the predetermined temperature of the liquid solvent. In a second embodiment, a dip rinse container is disposed intermediate the liquid solvent holding container and the storage tank, the dip rinse container and the storage tank having the common partition for the transfer of heat to the storage tank while the liquid solvent holding container and the dip rinsing container utilize a common heating means.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to apparatus for cleaning objects and more particularly to apparatus for cleaning filters which have become contaminated with cooking grease, dirt, food particles and the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Heretofore no attempt has been made to treat and wash filters of the type utilized in combination with commercial cooking apparatus, such as in restaurants and the like. Such filters are adapted to filter grease and food particles admitted to the atmosphere by such cooking apparatus. Normally, such filters are disposed of when they have become clogged and are replaced with a new filter, and since such filters are relatively expensive it would be desirable to provide apparatus for cleaning clogged filters to extend their useful life to four or five times that of the disposable-type filter.

Other related prior art apparatus have been employed to remove grease and the like from objects and generally are comprised of a plurality of open compartments each containing different solvents and rinsing solutions; the object to be cleaned being successively dipped into each tank to remove the grease and other foreign materials contained thereon. In certain prior art apparatus one of the open compartments is directly heated while the adjacent open compartments are maintained at a predetermined temperature by heat transferred through common partitions separating the several compartments. Other apparatus illustrate the several compartments as each being directly heated by one or more heating elements; however, none of the related prior art devices illustrate a liquid solvent holding compartment having a common partition with an enclosed storage tank containing a rinsing solution which is maintained at a predetermined temperature by heat transferred from the open compartment prior to the use of the rinsing solution.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, which will be subsequently described in greater detail, comprises an apparatus for cleaning objects such as filters and the like, having a pair of fluid containers connected to one another by a common partition. One of the containers is provided with a liquid solvent heated to a predetermined temperature for cleaning the objects submerged therein, while the other container is an enclosed storage tank that can selectively dispense a pressurized rinsing solution for spraying the clean filters to remove the liquid solvent therefrom. The pressurized solution within the storage tank is maintained at some lower temperature by the heat transferred from the liquid solvent holding tank through the aforementioned common partition.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel means for storing and heating a rinsing solution at some predetermined temperature without the necessity of direct heating.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a filter-cleaning apparatus having a cleaning compartment and a storage compartment arrangement which is not only of a compact construction and inexpensive to manufacture, but is of such a design that it is economical in operation.

Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the accompanying description of some examples of the best modes contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like or equivalent parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal plane view of a preferred apparatus employing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating a modification of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a top view of the modified apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The cleaning apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a vessel 10 which is subdivided transversely into two containers 12, 14, the container 12 being adapted to hold a liquid solvent 16 such as a metal stripper in which a plurality of filters (not shown) are submerged for the purpose of removing grease and other contaminating particles in a manner to be described in greater detail hereinafter. The container 14 is an enclosed storage tank adapted to hold a rinsing solution comprised of a rust inhibitor and a drying agent, which likewise will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

The vessel 10 is of a generally rectangular shape, the longer sides 18, 20 being welded at adjacent corners to the shorter sides 22, 24. A plurality of legs 25 are welded to the corners and midsections of the longer sides 18, 20 to support the vessel 10 at a sufficient distance above the ground floor to protect the same as the solvent and rinsing solutions are heated in a manner to be described hereinafter.

The cleaning container 12 and the storage container 14 are separated by a common partition 28, the peripheral edges of which are welded to the abutting longer sides 18 and 20 and the vessel bottom 30, which likewise is welded to the lower peripheral edges of longer and shorter sides 18, 20, 22 and 24.

The storage container 14 is enclosed by a top plate 31, the peripheral edges of which are welded to the abutting portions of the longer sides 18, 20 and the shorter side 24 and the partition 28. The top plate 31 carries a removable cap 32 which is adapted to permit refill of the storage container 14 with the rinsing solution as the same is removed therefrom during normal operation thereof. An air inlet nozzle 33 and a pressure gauge 34 are also carried on the upper surface of the top plate 31 and their mode of operation will be described subsequently. Proximate the bottom portion of the storage container 14 there is provided an outlet nozzle 38 which is adapted to attach thereto a flexible conduit, such as a rubber hose 40, having a spray nozzle 42 attached to the opposite end thereof.

The vessel 10 is preferably 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and 3 feet deep, and since both the cleaning container 12 and the storage container 14 are adapted to be respectively filled with a liquid solvent and a rinsing solution, the sidewalls 18, 20, 22 and 24 are subjected to a considerable outwardly directed pressure force. To insure the structural integrity of the vessel 10, a plurality of support members 44 extend diagonally across each of the wall members 18, 20, 22 and 24 and the bottom 30 of the vessel 10 and are secured to their abutting wall members by any suitable means such as welding.

The liquid solvent 16 in the cleaning container 12 is heated to a predetermined temperature, preferably between 160.degree.-190.degree. F., by means of a heating conduit 46, which is disposed in the lower portion of the cleaning container 12 and is fully submerged within the liquid solvent. The heating conduit 46 is of a generally W-shape having a circular cross section, the opposite ends being supported to the wall member 20 by any suitable means such as welding. Apertures 48, 50 extending through the longer sidewall member 20 carry the heating conduit 46 externally of the vessel 10. That portion of the heating conduit 46 extending through the aperture 50 is connected to a burner 52 which is adapted to heat air entering the inlet 54 of the conduit 46 and is further provided with a blower which forces the air through the conduit 46 to its outlet formed at the aperture 48. The burner 52 may be of any suitable type, such as gas- or oil-burning furnace. The outlet 48 of the heating conduit 46 is attached to any suitable exhaust to carry the flue externally of the building in which the apparatus is disposed. In order to insure proper heating of the solvent disposed within the cleaning container 12, the conduit 46 should have an outer diameter of approximately 41/2 inches. The conduit is supported against vertical movement by a plurality of supports indicated by the numeral 56.

The temperature of the liquid solvent within the container 12 is automatically maintained between a temperature range of 160.degree.-190.degree. F. by providing a temperature-sensing means such as a thermocouple 59 extending into the interior of the cleaning container 12 and attached to the burner 52. The burner 52 may be provided with suitable means to initiate the same in response to signals received from the thermocouple 59 in a manner well known in the art of controlling such burner operation.

As will be explained hereinafter, the liquid solvent 16 is agitated in order to insure the removal of the grease and other foreign matter lodged within the filters. Such agitation is provided by the admission of a plurality of airstreams from an air pipe 60 disposed proximate the bottom portion of the cleaning container 12 above the heating conduit 46. The air pipe 60 extends longitudinally across the container 12 and is supported at opposite ends by any suitable support means secured to the common partition 28 and extends through an aperture 62 formed in the shorter sidewall 22. Suitable sealing means must be provided between the outer periphery of the air pipe and the aperture 62 to prevent the leakage of liquid solvent therethrough. The air pipe 60 extends from the vessel 10 and is connected to any suitable supply of the air, such as an air pump or a tank of compressed air. A shutoff valve 64 is provided externally of the vessel 10 within the air pipe 60 to terminate the supply there when the same is not required.

The storage container 14 is adapted to be pressurized by supplying compressed air through the air inlet 33. In the same manner as the air pipe 60, compressed air may be supplied to the storage container by any one of a plurality of means, such as from a pump or a compressed air tank. A pressure gauge 34 is provided to indicate that the rinsing solution is being maintained at a proper pressure. Compressed air within the storage container 14 acts to force the rinsing solution therein through the outlet nozzle 38, and via the hose 40 and spray nozzle 42, the filters may be sprayed to remove the liquid solvent therefrom after the same have been removed from the cleaning container 12. Although not illustrated, other methods may be utilized for providing a pressure spray from the spray nozzle 42, such as providing a pressure pump intermediate the outlet nozzle 38 and the spray nozzle 42 in lieu of using pressurized air within the storage container 14.

The common partition 28 is of such a thickness as to permit the transfer of heat from the liquid solvent within the cleaning container 12 to the rinsing solution within the storage 14 such that the rinsing solution therein is maintained at a temperature between 120.degree.-125.degree. F. It can, thus, be seen that the rinsing solution may be heated and maintained at a predetermined temperature without the use of separate heating means while the same is simply being stored during the cleaning process of the filters which are disposed within the cleaning container 12.

In operation, the cleaning container 12 is filled to a predetermined level with the metal stripper liquid solvent. The cleaning container 12, which is approximately 6 feet long, 4 feet wide and 3 feet in depth, is adapted to receive approximately 60 filters for cleaning at one time. The liquid solvent is preheated to a temperature ranging between 160.degree.-190.degree. F. and the filters are submerged therein. During the 90 second period, the shutoff valve 64 is turned on so as to provide a source of air pressure into the air pipe 60 which in turn ejects a plurality of air streams through nozzles 66 axially spaced along the peripheral surface of the air pipe 58 and each of which is disposed in such a manner as to direct a vertical stream of air upwardly from the bottom portion of the cleaning container 12. At the specified temperature range and with the proper agitation of the liquid solvent by the aforementioned airstreams, the filters are cleaned of the grease and other foreign matter lodged therein in approximately 90 seconds. After the filters have been cleaned, the same are removed and sprayed with the rinsing solution by means of the spray nozzle 42 so as to remove the liquid solvent remaining thereon while at the same time providing a rust inhibitor and drying agent to the exposed surfaces of each filter. Since the rinsing solution is heated, the drying agent will tend to evaporate rather rapidly leaving a dried filter with a protective rust inhibitor coating thereon in a relatively short period of time.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a modification of the invention in having a dip container 70 disposed intermediate the container 12 and the storage container 14 and respectively having common partitions 72, 28 with the cleaning container 12 and the storage container 14. The dip container 70 is adapted to be filled with a rinsing solution, and preferably the same solution which is retained in the storage container 14. The modified form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 is substantially the same as the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the additional features of the dip tank 70 and the heating conduit 46 which now extends transversely of the cleaning container 12 and has its inlets and outlets extending through the shorter wall surface 22. The burner 52 is attached to the inlet side of the conduit 46 at an aperture 74 formed within the wall 22 while the outlet side thereof extends through an aperture 76. The heating conduit 46 of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 extends through the partition wall 72 and into the dip container 70 such as to provide direct heating of the rinsing-solution container therein. Suitable sealing means such as weld disposed between the outer periphery of the conduit 46 and the inner periphery of apertures 78 prevent fluid communication between the chambers 12 and 70, and thus prevents the direct mixing of the liquid solvent and the rinsing solution while permitting passage of the heating conduit 46 between the containers 12 and 70.

The rinsing solution contained within the storage container 14 is maintained between the temperature range 120.degree.-125.degree. F. by means of the heat transferred between the rinsing solution contained within the dip container 70 in the same manner as hereinbefore described in the description of the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2. In operation the filters are cleaned within the cleaning container 12 in the same manner as described hereinbefore. After the prescribed period of cleaning time (90 seconds of immersion within the agitation metal stripper at a temperature between 160.degree.-190.degree. F.) the clean filters are removed from the cleaning container 12 and are dip rinsed within the dip container 70 to remove substantially all of the solvent and at the same time to coat the filter with the rust inhibitor and drying agent to facilitate the drying thereof. The dip rinse may be utilized on those filters not having a very fine mesh. Such dip rinsing alone should suffice to remove all of the solvent contained on the filter. In those cases in which a finer mesh is utilized within the filters, the same are spray rinsed with the pressurized rinsing solution contained within the storage container 14 in the same manner as hereinbefore described in the description of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. It should be noted however that it is preferably to spray rinse all the filters as the use of the dip container alone will require more frequent changes of rinsing solution therein over a shorter period of time as the same becomes contaminated by the removal of solvent and other materials from the filters upon dipping therein.

Claims

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is as follows:

1. An apparatus for cleaning objects comprising:

a container having two compartments, the first one of which is adapted to hold a liquid solvent for cleaning objects submerged therein;

means associated with said one compartment for maintaining said liquid solvent at a predetermined temperature;

the second compartment adapted to store a rinsing solution therein, said first and second compartments having partitions to transfer heat from said first compartment to said second compartment to maintain the temperature of said rinsing solution at a value less than said first-mentioned predetermined temperature;

means connected with said second-mentioned compartment for forcibly spraying said objects with said rinsing solution upon removal of said objects from said liquid solvent; a third compartment having a rinsing solution therein, said third compartment being adapted to rinse said objects when submerged therein, said third compartment being positioned between said first- and second-mentioned compartments and having means associated therewith for maintaining said rinsing solution contained in said third compartment at substantially the same temperature as said liquid solvent, said second-mentioned and said third compartments having a common partition adapted to transfer heat from said third compartment, thereby maintaining the temperature of said second-mentioned compartment rinsing solution at a value less than the temperature of said liquid solvent; said means for maintaining said rinsing solution contained in said third compartment at said predetermined temperature comprises a heating conduit submerged in said first-mentioned compartment proximate the bottom portion of said first-mentioned compartment, and means for circulating the heated medium through said conduit.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said second-mentioned compartment is enclosed and includes means for pressurizing the rinsing solution stored therein.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2, wherein said second-mentioned compartment is supplied with compressed air to maintain said rinsing solution pressurized.

4. The combination as defined in claim 1, including means associated with said first-mentioned compartment for agitating said liquid solvent.

5. The combination as defined in claim 4, wherein said agitating means comprises a perforated wall member disposed proximate the bottom portion of said first-mentioned compartment and means for introducing pressurized air through said perforated wall member whereby air is distributed through said liquid solvent to agitate the same.

6. The combination as defined in claim 5, wherein said perforated wall member is an elongated cylindrically shaped pipe having a plurality of axially spaced holes extending therethrough, said pressurized air being directed from the interior of said pipe through said holes and into said liquid-filled first-mentioned compartment.

7. The combination as defined in claim 1, including sensing means responsive to the temperature of said liquid solvent to control the circulation of said heated medium.

8. The combination as defined in claim 7, wherein said heated medium is a hot gas.

9. The combination as defined in claim 1, including sensing means responsive to temperature of said liquid solvent to control the circulation of said heated medium through said conduit passing through said first-mentioned and third compartments.