US2694914A - Spotting table vacuum plate - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 23, 1954 w. c. GLovER, .JR 2,694,914

SPOTTING TABLE VACUUM PLATE Filed Oct. 5, 1951 INVENTOR. W/V//m 6.' 6701/64' .//z

Eby. 4. f g JM ATTO/@Nix 2,694,9l4 Patented Nov. 23, 195.4-

i'ff nce SPOTTING TABLE VACUUM PLATE William C; Glover, .l r., Kansas City, Mo.

Application ctober 5, 1951, Serial No. 249,998

Claims. (Cl. 6S--240) This invention relates to spotting tables and more particularly to spotting tables having a perforated surface on which a vacuum is imposed to aid in the spotting operation.

In dry cleaning fabrics, spots are customarily removed by a process known as spotting whereby the fabric is treated by hand with water or some liquid solvent to remove the more stubborn spots and stains. Unless the solvent is quickly removed from the material after the spot has been taken out, rings and stains are likely to be left in the fabric. For this purpose, various methods are used for imposing a vacuum on a perforated portion of the spotting table. The suction produced by the vacuum dissolves the solvent with a minimum of staining and ringing of the fabric.

Heretot'ore, the mechanism used in applying the vacuum has been cumbersome and complicated, requiring special vacuum appliances and fittings, which are not easily installed and which are ineffective to produce the desired suction.

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to produce a vacuum plate for a spotting table requiring no special or complicated mechanism for concentrating the vacuum beneath the plate.

A further object is to provide a vacuum plate for a spotting table with concentrated and diffuse suction areas of precise and limited area.

A further object is to provide a vacuum plate for a spotting table with concentrated and diffuse suction areas produced by the pattern or arrangement of the openings in the surface, rather than a special type of vacuum appliance.

A further object is to produce a vacuum plate for a spotting table that may be installed easily at any location along the length of the table.

Still another object is to produce a vacuum plate for a spotting table that is easily and conveniently removed for cleaning or other purposes.

Other and further objects of this invention Will appear from the following description.

ln the drawings which form a part of the specification and wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts of the various views,

Fig. l is a perspective view of a spotting table with a vacuum plate embodying the invention inset at its end,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the plate in Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a view taken along the line 3 3 in Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 4 is a view taken along the line 4 4 in Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. V5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the rim support for the plate.

In the drawings the numeral 1li designates a spotting table having a top board working surface 11 and a vacnum pan 12 attached to the underside of the board. The vacuum is produced by a suction pump or steam jet in the usual manner. A foraminous plate 13 is inset in the top board 11 to furnish a suction surface. ln the drawings this plate 13 is shown located at the end of the table, but may be located anywhere along the length of the table. Under certain circumstances, in the cleaning y of different types of fabrics it may be desirable to position the perforated section elsewhere than at the end. In use theplate 13 is usually covered by a screen 14.

The holes in said foraminous plate 13 are of different of greater suction and a region of lesser suction. In Fig.

2, the pattern is shown as a peripheral region of small holes 15a spaced at relatively great distances from each other to provide the area of lesser suction around a central cluster of larger roles 15b spaced closely together to provide the area of greater suction.

' A threaded tubular support member 16 extending from the foraminous plate 13 to the vacuum pan 12 furnishes a central support member for the plate. A threaded bolt 17 having an enlarged head 17a is inserted through an opening 12a in the vacuum pan and is screwed into the support member 16 so the head 17a abutting the underside of the vacuum pan holds the plate 13 in position. L

A rim support shown at 18 having substantially the contour of the edge of plate 13 and carried in part by the vacuum pan and in part by the edge of the top board is the edge support of plate 13. This rim support has a spacing portion 18a and a support portion 181: with an inverted cushioning channel strip 18e straddling the support portion 18h. The portions 18a and lb may be formed separately and combined or formed as one member. The spacing portion 18a is attached to the upper, inner edge of the vacuum pan 12 and the adjoining edge of the top board 11. To remove plate 13 for cleaning or replacement, bolt 17 is simply unscrewed and the plate lifted out.

In operation, the garment to be spotted is treated on the Working surface with the required solvent and then placed over or on the foraminous plate where the vacuum is applied. The precisely delimited areas of greater or lesser suction on the plate may be used as required by the material being processed or the amount of solvent present. Thus the solvent and dissolved impurities are removed before drying the material thus avoiding stain-- ing or ringing the fabric.

It is seen that a vacuum plate for a spotting table has been produced which requires no special mechanism for concentrating the vacuum beneath the plate and which may easily be installed anywhere along the surface of the table. There also has been produced a vacuum plate with concentrated and difruse suction areas, the suction areas being produced by the pattern of the openings in the surface rather than a special type of vacuum appliance. The vacuum plate produced may also be easily and conveniently removed for cleaning or replacement.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure.

lt will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. in a spotting unit of the character described, a generally horizontal work table, a vacuum pan below the table and attached thereto to form with the underside of the table a vacuum chamber, said table comprising a primary foraminous zone and a secondary foraminous zone providing openings through which air is drawn through the table into said chamber, said secondary zone encircling the margin of said primary zone, and the ratio of the aggregate opening area to the aggregate closed area being greater in said primary zone than in said secondary zone thereby to produce a greater suction effect in the former than in the latter.

2. A spotting unit as in claim l wherein said openings through the table in said primary zone are spaced more closely together than are the openings through the table in said secondary zone.

3. A spotting unit as in claim 1 wherein said openings through the table in said primary zone are of larger size than are the openings through the table in said secondary zone.

4. A spotting unit as in claim l wherein said openings through the table in said primary zone are larger 1n size and spaced more closely together than are the openings through the table in said secondary zone.

5. In a spotting unit of the type having a relatively broad but shallow suction chamber, the top wall of which comprises a generally horizontal work table, said top wall having a perforated zone of restricted area located at a point remote from that at which the suction is imposed on said chamber; the improvement which resides in said perforated zone being subdivided into a primary perforated zone and a secondary perforated zone, the ratio of the aggregate open area to the aggregate closed area being greater in said primary perforated zone than in said secondary perforated zone thereby to produce a region of greater suction in the former and a region of lesser suction in the latter, the perforations in said primary Zone being larger in size than those in the secondary zone, said larger perforations being arranged in a central cluster surrounded by the smaller perforatons of the secondary zone.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 18,035 Borrman Aug. 25, 1857 148,130 Moore Mar. 3, 1874 219,357 Howe Sept. 9, 1879 1,016,435 Overholt Feb. 6, 1912 1,053,665 Spencer Feb. 18, 1913 1,575,524 Benjamin Mar. 2, 1926 1,667,656 Dilzell Apr. 24, 1928 2,334,012 1943 2,363,956 1944 2,399,576 1946 2,550,493 Ohlson Apr. 24, 1951

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